Today marks another occasion where Morrissey departs a record label. The vocalist's website included a post on Sunday that claimed the performer was once again looking for a new imprint, due to his firing by order of Harvest Records head Steve Barnett. Harvest hasn't commented on the situation yet, but it wouldn't be that surprising if the label opted to dump the performer following his lashing out at the company last week. An irritable Morrissey briefly praised some homemade music videos from fans for his new album, World Peace Is None of Your Business, before promptly laying into his label for not producing an official video for the title track.
It's not the first time the performer has aired out perceived grievances against record labels. Check out our brief timeline of quotes detailing Morrisey's criticisms for his promoters.
Rough Trade Records (The Smiths, Meat Is Murder, The Queen Is Dead and Strangeways, Here We Come) :
"Reissue! Repackage! Repackage!/Re-evaluate the songs/Double pack with a photograph/Extra track and a tacky badge."
Such were the lyrics of "Paint A Vulgar Picture," a song aimed at Rough Trade boss Geoff Travis. It was The Smiths' last album on Rough Trade, although Morrisey's lyrics were pointed again at Travis during "Frankly, Mr. Shankly" off of The Queen Is Dead. Morrissey would later call the label that hosted the historic band's entire career "brutally drab."
Island Records (Maladjusted) :
"I never could count on record labels for anything in my life. Record labels never helped me. I've never known what it's like to have support from a record label. In general, they treat artists as disposable things. It seems that they worried about immediate success and not about a career. And now, with the changes due to Internet, record labels are feeling themselves threatened."
Morrissey continued to butt heads with labels well into his solo career. His time with Island was well publicized as negative, although both the performer and the imprint deny that first single "Alma Matters" was aimed at the label. The quote listed above was reported by Brazilian newspaper O Globo after the performer was asked about being without a label following his exit at Island.
Sanctuary Records (You Are The Quarry and Ringleader of the Tormentors) :
"The announcement that I would play was made by Sanctuary and it was their error. However, record companies will never take the blame for their own mistakes and Sanctuary's press statement today reflects this."
Morrissey had legitimate reasons for releasing a statement on mistaken tour schedules being released, but he also took the time to point out that he was no longer signed to Sanctuary. Why he split from the imprint is never revealed but you can tell based on his "record-labels-will-never" statement that it probably wasn't a happy ending.
Decca Records (Years of Refusal) :
"Universal and my then manager decided to release my last album during Brit Awards weeks, an unwinnable situation for someone like me who is the exact opposite of Brit Awards wretchedness. So, I suffered badly against the usual sandblast of Brit Awards publicity, and my relationship with Universal and my management collapsed due to their bad judgment. Everything matters."
Apparently Universal and its Decca branch screwed up by casting Morrissey against an awards show. Circa 2009, when this album was released, it was a little tough to find a weekend without an awards show. This interview with Billboard did explain why he hadn't opted to go independent despite apparently hating all labels: It's because you need to be major to get any attention in the music industry. An underhanded slight against indie performers?
Harvest Records (World Peace Is None of Your Business) :
"A similar document ought to have been harvested by the record label. Please understand that the pop or rock industry can be as dedicated to perpetuating public deception as the world of politics itself."
Such was Moz's quote last week when bashing his now ex-label for not releasing a music video for his title song. An act that, according to the performer, equates to "perpetuating public deception" on a scale almost equal with government conspiracies.
