Mozipedia: The Encyclopedia of Morrissey and The Smiths

by Simon Goddard

Steven Patrick Morrissey is one of the most original and controversial voices in the history of popular music. With The Smiths, he led the most influential British guitar group of the 1980s, his enigmatic wit and style defining a generation. As a solo artist, he has continued to broach subjects no other singer would dare. Worshipped by some, vilified by others, Morrissey is a unique rock and roll creation. The 300,000 words of "Mozipedia" make this the most intimate and in-depth biographical portrait of the man and his music yet. Bringing together every song, album, collaborator, key location, every hero, book, film and record to have influenced his art, it is the summation of years of meticulous research. Morrissey authority Simon Goddard has interviewed almost everybody of any importance, making "Mozipedia" the last word on Morrissey and The Smiths.

Genres: Music, Nonfiction, Biography, Reference, Pop Culture, Ebooks, History

532 pages, Hardcover

First published August 6, 2009

About the author

Simon Goddard was born in Cardiff in 1971.

He is the author of over a dozen books, most prominently the Bowie Odyssey series.

He is not religious and ought not be confused with anyone of the same name on Goodreads who has written religious stuff.

agent: thenorthlitagency.com

Reviews

[brian · Rating 4 out of 5]

has their ever been another music better capable of capturing what wordsworth referred to as 'the still, sad music of humanity?'

no.

what daffodils were to wordsworth, what deprivation was to larkin, what the new york dolls are to morrissey = what morrissey is to me.

SMITHS - top 40

40. this night has opened my eyes
39. girlfriend in a coma
38. cemetry gates
37. is it really so strange?
36. paint a vulgar picture
35. unloveable
34. meat is murder
33. death of a disco dancer
32. shakespeare's sister
31. pretty girls make graves
30. nowhere fast
29. shoplifters of the world unite
28. back to the old house (acoustic)
27. a rush and a push and the land is ours
26. reel around the fountain
25. the queen is dead
24. heaven knows i'm miserable now
23. rubber ring
22. i want the one i can't have
21. these things take time
20. panic
19. suffer little children
18. still ill
17. stretch out and wait
16. what difference does it make?
15. handsome devil
14. some girls are bigger than others
13. well, i wonder
12. the boy with the thorn in his side
11. please, please, please let me get what i want
10. last night i dreamt that someone loved me
9. that joke isn't funny anymore
8. how soon is now?
7. william, it was really nothing
6. bigmouth strikes again
5. this charming man
4. stop me if you've heard this one before
3. half a person
2. i know it's over
1. there is a light that never goes out


MORRISSEY - top 40

40. margaret on the guillotine
39. spring-heeled jim
38. sister, i'm a poet
37. at last i am born
36. dear god, please help me
35. moonriver
34. last of the famous international playboys
33. the national front disco
32. you're gonna need someone on your side
31. when i last spoke to carol
30. i don't mind if you forget me
29. the more you ignore me, the closer i get
28. i have forgiven jesus
27. the never played symphonies
26. the loop
25. we'll let you know
24. will never marry
23. christian dior
22. mama, lay softly on the riverbed
21. you have killed me
20. picadilly palare
19. alma matters
18. trouble loves me
17. irish blood, english heart
16. i'm throwing my arms around paris
15. one day goodbye will be farewell
14. alsatian cousin
13. boxers
12. reader meet author
11. now my heart is full
10. november spawned a monster
9. hairdresser on fire
8. sunny
7. find out for yourself
6. jack the ripper (live)
5. first of the gang to die
4. seasick, yet still docked
3. everyday is like sunday
2. late night, maudlin street
1. suedehead

[Mark Desrosiers · Rating 5 out of 5]

From the preface: "He's one of those rare artists whose impact upon our culture is as irreversibly dramatic as the asteroid which slammed into the surface of the earth some 65 million years ago, snuffing out all dinosaur life in a flash."

Well I'm sure you can see the joke in the last three words of that sentence, which shall one day join "Now I know how Joan of Arc felt" in its magnetic attraction to countless ragged claws scuttling across the floors of silent seas.

Simon Goddard is already renowned as the Smiths uber-geek for The Smiths: Songs That Saved Your Life, which detailed every Smiths tune, the recording history, lyrical borrowings, etc. Mozipedia expands that to Morrissey's solo songs, and, even better, includes entries on all his cinematic, musical, and literary crushes, James Dean to Diana Dors, New York Dolls to Anthony Newley, Ronnie to Reggie Kray. Plus all the various collaborators and musicians and hangers-on that've populated Moz snow-globe since 1959. Just a fascinating treasure trove of facts, a diverting tour of the brainscape of our weirdest singing asteroid. Hell, it's only here, in this witty, chatty encyclopedia, that I found out that Albert Finney recorded a solo album for Motown (!) in 1977. Or (in the lengthy entry entitled "Sex") that he lost his virginity -- whatever that means -- at age "12 or 13".

They don't make fanatical encyclopedias better than this. I should also add that randomly flipping through this substantial 500-page book was much more rewarding than clicking around on a Moz-devoted website, another example of how digitizing everything really ain't gonna make the world a better place.

[Jayaprakash Satyamurthy · Rating 5 out of 5]

No I haven't read this from cover to cover, but I've read enough to say it's a great companion to the work of one of the most artful lyricists in popular music.

ETA, 3 days later: I've now read this from cover to cover and I'm upgrading it to 5 stars. Not least for the wonderfully dismissive summations of the big M's less well-conceived songs (few as these are).

[Klaudia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ilość researchu wykonana przypisaniu tej książki robi ogromne wrażenie. Można tu znaleźć w zasadzie wszystko, co powiązane z the Smiths, zarówno muzycznie, jak i od bardziej prywatnej strony. Prawdziwa kopalnia ciekawostek!

[Tosh · Rating 5 out of 5]

Totally fascinating and perhaps even perfect. The book is basically Morrissey culture as an encyclopedia and what is great is that you don't even have to like Morrissey to enjoy the book. Of course the author Simon Goddard goes through every Smiths/Morrissey song or album, but more important focuses on Morrissey's influences on his work.

On one level this could be the ultimate biography on Morrissey, but the the great thing about it is that its about the singer's work and what one gets from his music/lyrics. Favorite films, songs, and people are represented with a small bio - and it is truly a remarkable feat in getting in someone's head and how that person or artwork influenced the artist.

And Morrissey is the perfect artist for this type of book. He's a walking open book with respect to his love for British or European culture - its books, its music, its films and for certain social groupings that also fascinated Morrissey through out the years.

If you are going to get one book on Morrissey - this is it. And again if you are not a fan, but just interested in one's particular taste in pop culture - this is an incredible reference book for the purpose of exploring Morrissey's bookcase, record collection and films for future enjoyment.

[Stephen McQuiggan · Rating 5 out of 5]

More akin to aggressive stalking than the collection of trivia - an absolute treasure trove of detail. As addictive as Crack, and as invaluable as its subject matter.

[c. cansu m. · Rating 5 out of 5]

finished this book in about 3 days, which tells you everything you need to know about simon goddard and his excellent storytelling abilities. the book is obviously formatted like an encyclopedia but it reads almost like a linear story at times?? or maybe it feels that way because i know the story of the smiths/moz so well, i don't know. it's to goddard's credit that even the most mundane, irrelevant and downright boring entries in the book sound like they're essential though. also, side-note: i appreciate that moz is a natural obsessive/fandom person but some of the stuff he's into makes you kind of go REALLY?? at times lmao. anyway, like i said i read the book obsessively in about 3 days, which is unprecedented for me cos it's a VERY long book. and now i have to go hunt for his other smiths book as well because the excerpt i read on amazon, which describes the legendary first meeting between moz and marr sounds right up my alley. seriously, i felt like i was reading a well-written pg fanfic, of course i'm into it. someone buy this book for me, i'm on a roll.

[Anna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting and thorough look at Morrissey's life, solo career and work with The Smiths. There is lots of trivia in here--probably more than a casual fan such as myself *needs*, but much of the material is still enlightening.

My biggest quibble with the volume is the author's entry on "racism," as he comes off sounding like the ultimate apologist for some of Morrissey's more bigoted comments. Goddard suggests that Morrissey cannot POSSIBLY be racist since he is a lonely, sexually ambiguous white dude musician, but this seems more like a deflection than anything resembling an honest look at comments that Moz has made throughout his career that are, well, pretty racist. The world will not end if we call racist comments what they are. You can still be a fan and still disapprove of the bigoted comments that your idol has made. Really. It's not a difficult concept.

[Erin Baigrie · Rating 3 out of 5]

interesting but no sex since not a trashy chic flick so gotta deduct points.

[Niklas Pivic · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is quite what the title implies: an encyclopaedia on Morrissey and his world, by journalist Simon Goddard. While the his subjective takes on what the songs are about are mostly worthless, as are his way of trying to be funny and witty - just read the end of his bit about Johnny Rogan's "The Severed Alliance" and you'll see what I mean - the real goodness in owning this book is that it serves as a collection of interesting trivia.

I'm your average trainspotter when it comes to music: things like label changes, singles, b-sides, shows, changes in lyrics are cool to me; vague, bizarre stuff about music sticks in my mind. And as Morrissey is my favourite living artist and seems to be extremely nerdy when it comes to music, he's left a legacy of borrowing elements from all types of media for his lyrics and music - for instance many a lyric he's culled off Shelagh Delaney's plays, or the music from The Cookies' "Only To Other People" for his "Girl Least Likely To" - not to mention obscure stuff like excommunicating people and leaving messages in the run-out grooves of vinyl records, his unique style and varying likes and dislikes are very much enhanced through this knowledge. If you're a music-sicko like me, that is.

I read this book from page one and forth, and as such it was beautiful to take an inner journey through Morrissey's work. For instance, reading of the workings surrounding the album "Vauxhall & I" really added depth for me, in relation to even the lyrics for the songs, those on the album, those reserved for b-sides and those discarded completely.

If the reader is a Morrissey neophyte, watch out: he has often given pretty varying accounts of events, times and likes/dislikes in the past, consciously or/and unconsciously. Hence, this feels a bit like treading water in wait for Morrissey's autobiography to drop, whenever and if-ever it will.

So, all in all, is this book worth a read? Fairly. If you're as much into minutiae regarding Morrissey and The Smiths as I am and you have a fair amount of common sense in order to try and separate gossip from fact, I'd say go for it. If you've heard "Girlfriend In A Coma" and say "Who?" when you hear the name Timi Yuro or see a picture of The Salford Lads Club, you'd probably fare better with another book.

[Chris Estey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Since my buddy Craven Rock mocked me for loving this book -- the subject being overexposed, for sure -- I thought I might as well relate to him (and you, the gentle Goodreads reader) why I gave it five stars. Well, you know how Route 19 is a literary fountain gushing trivia, analysis, extrapolation, etc. about The Clash? Goddard does the same thing with Morrissey in Mozipedia, which may seem redundant after all the other goddamned Moz books, but is handled as clearly and deeply as it is obsessively. It is not about the author and not for the average Smiths fan -- hence the devotion to Phil Ochs, which wouldn't make a lot of sense in a regular rock book about the Moz.

[Hekates Lady · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book has all you ever wanted to know about the great MOZ. Every song, album, activity, etc. is within this thick volume. I got it for about $15.00 and from the photo, thought it would be a hand-sized, simple book. But when it arrived, I was stunned at how thick each letterd chapter was. I am so glad I took the chance and have this book in my collection!

[Marcus · Rating 5 out of 5]

The sacred text for all aficionados of The Mozfather. As you would expect from an encyclopedia, everything from Animal Rights and Ask through to Your Arsenal and You Are The Quarry is included. Goddard could find no entries for the letter Z.

[Katherine · Rating 4 out of 5]

How could I not love reading about the delightful Morrissey? Luxuriously comprehensive.

[Kylie Olsen]

How could I not love reading about the god that is Morrissey??

[Kent · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must for any Smiths/Moz fan. Just an incredible amount of detail and back story.

[Jon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sandie Shaw, Michael Stipe, Coronation Street, Charles Hawtrey. Sigh.

Brilliant stuff.

[Krystal · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love Morrissey and The Smiths. This book is very interesting and covers topics from The Beatles to Frank Sinatra. A must-have for Smiths fans everywhere.

[shay allyn]

This is the definitive resource for all things Moz and Smiths. It's in my coffee table book rotation!

[Lariste · Rating 3 out of 5]

Look up: Twat in the Oxford Dictionary, it says:

"a man concealed beneath layers of false charm and self-regard, softly dismissive, but ultimately vulgar and contemptible despite his sophistry. ie: Morrissey".

And so it goes.

This book is OK if you are (eighteen years old) and "love Morrissey", by which I mean love the Smiths - the band that ultimately collapsed due to Morrissey. There isn't THAT MUCH to tell about the Smiths that isn't apparent from their music, however this encyclopedia of Smiths-knowledge explains that Groovin' with Mr Bloe, an obscure AM radio single provided the harmonica inspiration for one of the bands earlier singles. For whatever reason the entire "T" section of this pop culture encyclopedia wasn't in the copy I found.

[Juha · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Smithseistä kun ei käsittääkseni ole hyvää kirjaa, niin tämä hakuteos paikkaa hyvin sitä. En nyt sentään kokonaan lukenut tätä, mutta huolestuttavan suuren osan. Ainakin tuli luettua artikkelit The Smithsin jokaisesta albumista ja biisistä ja kyllä aika ison osan myös Morrisseyn vastaavista. Kirja on vuodelta 2012, joten koko soolouraa se ei kata. Biisien ja albumien lisäksi hakusanat löytyvät kaikista soittajista ja muusta merkityksellisestä, kuten Morrisseyn suosikkielokuvista, kullekin erikseen. Simon Goddard on kyllä perehtynyt asiaan ja on samaa mieltä kanssani, että Strangeways, here we come on paras.

[Rob Levy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love How Goddard organized the book. It is well researched and loaded with lots of information about Moz and The Smiths. I read it more for info on the band than the solo artist, but it was still really useful.

The book also has it's moments of humor and snideness that make it great. A recommended read for any fan of Moz or The Smiths.

[Amy W · Rating 5 out of 5]

Finally finished this book after nearly 6 months' reading. Although I've only been reading it at weekends since it's such a weighty tome and nowhere near portable. It's pretty much A4 in size. If it had been nearer A5, like fiction books, it would definitely have been at the 1000-page mark. So a lot to get through.

This book made great reading though. It's certainly thorough, including every Smiths song/album and every Morrissey song/album (up to publication of this issue in 2012). Also included is every single musical influence, reference, person Morrissey knew or knows, every book he's read, film he's watched, and song he's listened to. It covers everything. It's unfortunate that Morrissey's own Autobiography was published in 2013, just after this book, as a few of the points only speculated on here would have been confirmed. Any further reissues of Mozipedia would have a lot more direct information to go on.

Besides length, the main reason the book took me so long to get through was the need to Google/Youtube a lot of the entries. I couldn't always put a face to the name being talked about or the song being referenced. I guess that's an age thing. On the upside, a couple of the entries led me to two separate books I wouldn't otherwise have discovered:

- By Grand Central Station I Sat Down and Wept
- Saturday Night and Sunday Morning

Both of which, like Morrissey, I rated highly.

Mozipedia is so well researched that even the most hardcore fan couldn't fail to be impressed. Author Goddard sets the record straight on multiple occasions, but also injects a sense of humour into the entries. I particularly liked the fact he didn't shy away from criticising Morrissey's weaker output. He wasn't constantly fawning over Morrissey or claiming that Morrissey has done no wrong. Given the amount of deluded Morrissey apostles out there, this felt like a refreshing change. Goddard was at times firm, but always fair.

Can't rate this anything other than 5 stars. Along with Autobiography, this is truly a must-have for Morrissey fans.

[Martyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

The best book about the best lyricist and the best band that has ever seen fit to grace a speaker.

Quite a phenomenal achievement by the author in managing to track down and gather so many facts, influences and opinions into one place. It is clearly not meant to be a “biography” but the entries are so varied and complete that, if you are aware of the basic timelines involved, you can easily read this as a history.

I was going to ‘dip-in’ to the entries – that lasted about 5 minutes - and I then decided to read it from cover to cover. The best thing about the book is that it really feels like an encyclopedia – it’s oversized and unwieldy and so I felt like a kid with a boys own annual, swinging my feet in my chair and reading with a happy grin all over my face.

I will say that whenever Goddard gave his own opinion about the music, favorite songs etc, I almost always failed to agree with him - but that's all subjective anyway. Mostly I found the writing style objective and lacking intrusion.

Awesome, as the Americans say.

[Slh · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read a review on Goodreads and decided to buy this book. It was a great decision!

If you are a disciple of all things Morrissey/The Smiths this encyclopedia unlocks many doors and shines a light as to possible or plausible inner workings of his poetry, the band, people connected to the artist, literary and cultural references, context of, history of, relevance to, and importance of all things MOZ, become illuminated.

Many times I have heard something in a lyric and wondered - well this cool hardcover book will most likely give you a good answer. I'm so glad Goddard wrote this book, it's for fans everywhere.

[Melusina · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really great book, with loads of funny and entertaining details. However, I didn't care much for Mr Goddard's judgmental writing style. Music is, as every kind of art, dependent on personal likings. However, this author likes to think that he found the key to "Moz-wisdom" and knows exactly which song is wonderful and which isn't. But the subject of investigation (i.e. Morrissey) makes the book highly enjoyable, of course.

[Zachary · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this straight through even though it is an encyclopedia. Of course it is full or rumors and editorial bias about the music, but I did like it for the insight into the recording of the songs and to get a better idea of when all the early Moz solo career stuff was recorded. I could care less what bad movies from the 50's Moz watched, but on the other hand it was interesting to hear what music he and Johnny were listening to at the time they were making Smiths records.

[Viv · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a well written and researched book. As a ridiculous Smiths/Morrissey fangirl, I really enjoyed reading through these entries even though I'm not sure that this book was supposed to be read cover to cover. As interesting as it was, by the time I got to the last entries it was a bit tiring to read another entry about a "kitchen sink drama" that Morrissey loved. but still a very good book.

[Mauberley]

Masterful and magisterial, this probably the most important reference book published to date in the twenty-first century. Long-time residents of Smithdom cannot be expected to maintain their citizenship without owning a copy. New arrivals will not be admitted without one. Under the entry for the 'Rolling Stones', Goddard tells of an encounter between Johnny Marr and Keith Richards that would not have been out of place in Seamus Heaney's poem, 'Station Island'.

[Jacob Dougherty · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I got this, I thought there was no way I'd read it cover to cover, but I ended up doing just that. Lots of good juicy details and things I didn't know (like who knew that Morrissey took ecstasy in 1992, and said that was one of the only times he liked what he saw when he looked in the mirror?)