"GLAMOROUS GLUE" MORRISSEY (1992)

Each day in November, I’m revisiting a song from the 90’s — a decade that was a sorta coming of age for me. In that span, I experienced high school, college and my time as a young single guy in New York City. It was a decade of ups and downs, and the music never stopped playing during that span. It was always there with me. #30DaysOf90sSongs

In the winter of ‘92, a few friends of mine at Boston College took a short T-ride over to the nearby campus of Brandeis University. Brandeis turned their Gosman Center into a money-making machine, attracting several great college rock acts, including 10,000 Maniacs, Live and many others. On this particular night, we saw Morrissey. His stage presence was quite something. There were times I felt like he was staring right at me. During the tour, Morrissey was clearly in love with his new album Your Arsenal — playing nearly every track from it. While I like Your Arsenal a lot, this meant that the older material sadly got shortchanged. But one new song that really excelled in the live setting was “Glamorous Glue”.

There’s an irresistible, head-nod-inducing strut driving “Glamorous Glue” from beginning to end. The drum beat reminds me of that old Smiths classic, “Panic”. But there were hints of rockabilly and glam rock seeping into the spaces. What made this song strangely addictive was the guitar, which sounded super-charged at points like a T.Rex guitar hook. Hearing it live, something strange occurred that I wasn’t expecting. I didn’t miss or crave The Smiths one bit. “Glamorous Glue” proved that Morrissey could rock out without his old bandmates.

“Everyone lies, nobody minds.”

"TOMORROW" MORRISSEY (1992)

For the second half of September, I’m putting my Mental Jukebox into a time machine, featuring the best songs on the best albums from the very best years of music. #70sThrough90sBestAlbum

I’ll choose The Smiths over Morrissey’s solo catalog any day of the week, mostly because of the prominence of Johnny Marr’s guitar riffs that countered Morrissey’s unique songwriting style. But when Arsenal came out, it was like Morrissey flipped a switch. He was using a different band, went heavier on the guitars, and started dabbling with sub-genres like rockabilly and glam rock. Each song picked up where the other left off on the album, which finished off on a high note with “Tomorrow”.

I remember seeing Morrissey in ‘93 at Brandeis University, a college that managed to attract dozens of great alt rock staples, like Live, 10,000 Maniacs and others. When I saw Morrissey, we were standing in the Gosman Center gymnasium and he was practically staring right through us. The great paradox of “Tomorrow” and most of Morrissey’s catalog is that these songs of insecurity are sung and performed with such conviction. “Tomorrow” couldn’t fulfill my longing for a Smiths reunion, but every time I hear it I’m reminded of Andy Rourke, Mike Joyce and Marr — from the intro bass line to the piano epilogue.

“Tomorrow, will it really come? And if it does come, will I still be human?”

"NOVEMBER SPAWNED A MONSTER" MORRISSEY (1990)

Inspired by Albumism, I’m doing my own version of Flying Solo with individual tracks. Band breakups and hiatuses are never fun, but these solo jams were defining moments in my life’s soundtrack.

“November Spawned a Monster” will never be viewed as the quintessential Morrissey track, but it’s one of the artist’s personal favorites and it’s definitely one of mine. When I first heard it air on WDRE, it struck me as potentially the closest thing we’ll hear to The Smiths ever again.

In an uncharacteristic move, Morrissey invited former bandmate Andy Rourke to play bass on “November”. But the most striking resemblance to The Smiths sound wasn’t the rhythm, but the heavy use of not one, not two, but multiple power guitar riffs. And while the style wasn’t emblematic of Johnny Marr’s guitar playing, it wasn’t totally unlike it either. “November” gave us a glimpse of what could’ve been if only one of rock’s most influential acts had stayed together.

“But Jesus made me, so Jesus save me from pity, sympathy and people discussing me.”

"SUEDEHEAD" MORRISSEY (1988)

Inspired by Albumism, I’m doing my own version of Flying Solo with individual tracks. Band breakups and hiatuses are never fun, but these solo jams were defining moments in my life’s soundtrack.

The Smiths breakup is something I still somewhat mourn to this day. One of my all-time favorite bands, it felt like a divorce because Marr’s ingenious guitar riffs were married to Morrissey’s morose, operatic vocals like partners that make up for each other’s weaknesses. “Suedehead” was the first solo single from Morrissey that gave us hope that he could still do brilliant things with music without Marr. He became more melodic. More universal. More insistently satiric. The opening tune-up guitar strum in “Suedehead” is like Morrissey’s mating call for his next music partner. Us.

“You had to sneak into my room just to read my diary.”

"EVERYDAY IS LIKE SUNDAY" MORRISSEY (1988)

With no addictive Johnny Marr guitar riffs to lean on, Morrissey churned out one of his most melodic songs ever on his debut solo album. The song was “Everyday is Like Sunday”. Hearing it back, it brings me back to a time when all was good with music. The 80’s were hell bent against packing things up. The Smiths disbanded, but Morrissey didn’t skip a beat.

“Hide on the promenade. Etch a postcard: "How I Dearly Wish I Was Not Here". In the seaside town that they forgot to bomb. Come, come, come, nuclear bomb.”