Paul Morley vs Ian Curtis?

Shocking article on the truth behind Ian Curtis's death and Paul Morley's filth. May force you to join the Russian Navy yes.

Paul Morley. Where did he go?

I'm looking at a map of Russia right now, i'm on my way. However they do have a point, Paul is a wanker, that "he died for you" crap makes me sick.

To be fair to Paul Morley, it wasn't him that wrote the "this man died for you" article - that was Dave McCullough in Sounds. I must admit that I've always found Morley's contributions to those Channel 4 '100 Most...' programmes quite amusing - certainly far funnier than most things that Peter Kay or Johnny Vegas or other 'comedians' used to contribute.

I stand corrected, thank you Phil.

Paul Morley's book 'Nothing' deals with the death of both his father and Ian Curtis. As it's a pain in the arse to read I've only got past the bit where he talks about his visit to see Ian's body. It's clear to me Paul had a great affection for Ian and the band.

I would call it a sick obssesion myself.

I especially like the version of 'Grinding Halt' (renamed 'Desperate Journalist') that The Cure played on a Peel session to take the piss out of a bad review Paul Morley gave their debut album. Lyrics here (including lots of direct quotes taken from Morley's review): http://www.musicfanclubs.org/cure/lyrics/desperatejournalist.html

Now cue the Cure haters....

Originally posted by His Holiness, The Pope I especially like the version of 'Grinding Halt' (renamed 'Desperate Journalist') that The Cure played on a Peel session to take the piss out of a bad review Paul Morley gave their debut album. Lyrics here (including lots of direct quotes taken from Morley's review): http://www.musicfanclubs.org/cure/lyrics/desperatejournalist.htmlNow cue the Cure haters....

I'm not a Cure hater, they were one of my favourite bands in the early 80's.

Originally posted by One Brain > Originally posted by FDISK> Paul Morley's book 'Nothing' deals with the death of both his father and Ian Curtis. As it's a pain in the arse to read I've only got past the bit where he talks about his visit to see Ian's body.

I quit reading just after the bit about Ian's body. Morley is a good writer, but I think his motto is "Why write two pages when you can do fourty?".

Eh??? Why did Joy Division write a bunch of songs when one would've done???? He's a writer, for fuck's sake!!!;)

Originally posted by His Holiness, The Pope I especially like the version of 'Grinding Halt' (renamed 'Desperate Journalist') that The Cure played on a Peel session to take the piss out of a bad review Paul Morley gave their debut album. Lyrics here (including lots of direct quotes taken from Morley's review): http://www.musicfanclubs.org/cure/lyrics/desperatejournalist.html

That's the second false credit to Paul Morley on this page! It's Ian Penman who is namechecked in the first verse of those lyrics...

Paul Morley's role in progressing the career of Joy Division has always been understated, and he deserves far more credit than he has ever had. Don't forget it was him who saw a glimpse of promise at the first/third/whatever early Warsaw gig, him who championed them in the music press, him who gave them opportunities by extending their fanbase across the UK. We all love to decry the music press as anally retentive idiots with a thesaurus and a faulty spleen, but the simple fact is that thousands of readers each week do hang on every word they read in the likes of the NME. We are all of the cyber age now, where we get instant access to just about anything. Twenty five years ago, the weekly arrival of the NME etc was a lifeline, what they said mattered, and it was a combination of the music press and John Peel that shaped many an outcome.

Originally posted by oldmonkey Paul Morley's role in progressing the career of Joy Division has always been understated, and he deserves far more credit than he has ever had. Don't forget it was him who saw a glimpse of promise at the first/third/whatever early Warsaw gig, him who championed them in the music press, him who gave them opportunities by extending their fanbase across the UK. We all love to decry the music press as anally retentive idiots with a thesaurus and a faulty spleen, but the simple fact is that thousands of readers each week do hang on every word they read in the likes of the NME. We are all of the cyber age now, where we get instant access to just about anything. Twenty five years ago, the weekly arrival of the NME etc was a lifeline, what they said mattered, and it was a combination of the music press and John Peel that shaped many an outcome.

As usual, you've said it all, Tim.

Only having the July '77 thrashings and the Short Circuit track to go by, I have always wondered just what that "glimpse of promise" was that Paul Morley noticed. If anything, the guy must have eagle eyes!

Was it a "twinkling evil charm", or was that someone else? As you say, PM must have a rare talent if he could spot future greatness from an early Warsaw gig with those songs.

OLDMONKEY is indeed CORRECT.NME was read by me and i can recall that MORLEY did a lot for the band.I used to enjoy his rantings although like me ONE can never make out what the FCUK he was on about.

I still haven't understood the bits he wrote in An Ideal for a Living, and I've had that book for 18 years.

Didn't bother me that I sometimes had to figure out what angle Paul was taking, that was easy compared to what Barney Hoskyns was writing in some of his stories, I'm specifically thinking of interviews with Green of Scritti Politti and MES of The Fall. Yes, I used to read the NME all of the time back then as well.

His liner notes for the Magazine compilation LP After The Fact are ace, it was nice to see him admit suprise that some of his preconceptions were totally wrong (the notes feature a bit with the singer of Iron Maiden, who made a point about the recollection of music).

Originally posted by little boy lost > Originally posted by His Holiness, The Pope> I especially like the version of 'Grinding Halt' (renamed 'Desperate Journalist') that The Cure played on a Peel session to take the piss out of a bad review Paul Morley gave their debut album. Lyrics here (including lots of direct quotes taken from Morley's review): http://www.musicfanclubs.org/cure/lyrics/desperatejournalist.html>

That's the second false credit to Paul Morley on this page! It's Ian Penman who is namechecked in the first verse of those lyrics... Ah well...I remember reading the original review on a Cure site somewhere long ago, but just assumed they had their facts straight.