Morrissey Writes Note Detailing His Relationship and Dissatisfaction With Harvest Records

[DudeAsInCool]

Morrissey was dropped by his label Capitol/Harvest just three weeks after the release of World Peace Is None of Your Business. Later, it was reported that maybe he wasn't dropped at all, but then Morrissey retorted that yes, he was. Determined to clear up any confusion about the situation, he's written a lengthy letter on True To You, titled "Please Close the Door Behind Me", detailing his relationship with Harvest in full.

He began by saying that the label initially seemed like a good fit:

It is quite true that Harvest initially appeared like a saintly beacon of light, and they instantly packed us off to France where we recorded World peace is none of your business. The universe was back in balance, and we all considered this to be the very best Morrissey recording ever, and even the boo-hoo-suck-it-off elements of the press appeared to want to agree. At last I am born. It all seemed too good to be true. It was.

Apparently, a TV ad was created, but never aired, and despite "Istanbul" receiving radio play, they refused to let him do any proper music videos: 

I believed that the rich soil of the album had several strong hit singles. Frayed tempers began when Harvest arranged the 'spoken word' films, none of which gave any clue as to what World peace is none of your business intended to be, or is. The films were OK, but they went nowhere and stayed there.

He says that he was unhappy about how the label handled the album's release, and he hints that disagreements with label head Steve Barnett marked the end of his relationship with the label:

Sorrily botched the project may now be, but it's worth it to get Morrissey out of our Inbox. Yes, I can be intensely persistent, and I certainly have an over-active fantasy-life, but the Harvest experience tells us that despite the blinding flash of teeth and smiles, it doesn't take much for the coin to flip and suddenly we're all compromised and shattered. All you need to do is disagree with the vanity of the label boss and your beheading will be slotted in between bottles of the most average champagne on the market. Just one weak-chinned drone can assert the fist of injustice and all of our efforts are flushed away.

Among the revelations here is that World Peace may be removed from iTunes and shops altogether while Morrissey looks for a new label to release the album. 

That said, he had some nice things to say about the label:

Most of the Harvest team are very nice, and I sincerely thank them for trying and caring so much—even if their promotional duties were fully undertaken by the Morrissey audience themselves, whose YouTube videos for World peace is none of your business fully provide the art that the label could not muster. The listeners instantly understood how entertainment could also be art.

Read the entire thing here.

[url=http://pitchfork.com/news/56405-morrissey-writes-note-detailing-his-relationship-and-dissatisfaction-with-harvest-records/]View the full article[/url]