Lost

Moz at Posers in Hollywood

"I am informed today that the projected tour of South America is snuffed out, thus euthanized - due, I'm reliably advised, to lack of funding. It's quite easy to sell tickets, yet impossible to transport band and crew from F to G.
In a year when far too many disappointments have been buried this really is the last of many final straws, and I am not alone in feeling this. The future is suddenly absent, and my apologies are now so frequent as to be somewhat ridiculous, and it is I who apologize because no one else would bother. It is agonizing to be responsible for imparting such news - especially when it springs upon me unexpectedly and inexplicably. But the collapse of South America rings the curtain down with a colossal thud, and the major problems remain as insoluble now as they were in 2009. The obvious conclusion stares back at me from the mirror, and the wheels are finally off the covered wagon. Cancellations and illness have sucked the life out of all of us, and the only sensible solution seems to be the art of doing nothing.
As always I ask your pardon, and I offer pangs of overwhelming love and gratitude to the band and the crew, whose loyalty stretched above and beyond.
I shall see you in my dreams,"
Morrissey
19 July 2013, Los Angeles
From True-to-you.net

Sometimes being a Morrissey fan is like checking your email and only finding adverts for penis enlargements. A bit disappointing.

Of course, the constant cancellations have much to do with health issues and I can say with complete conviction that any Morrissey fan wants our hero to feel better and to approach any upcoming tour in optimal health.

Its just the tone of his latest letter is rather somber and almost hopeless. Which frightens the hell out of your average adoring Morrissey fan.

What do we do with these feeling of despair and lost desire? Well, if you live in Los Angeles, you seek him out at his favorite LA haunts such as Amoeba music and The Cat and Fiddle Pub as well as a place called Posers (pictured above).

You might attend a Sweet and Tender Hooligans show or a Moz Disco night. You listen to Breakfast with the Smiths and send in a weekly request.

You give yourself things to look forward to such as the movie of the Hollywood High show Moz 25, which will be shown in various theaters around the country in August.

You might even get a Smiths fix and plan to see Johnny Marr on his US tour.

It isn't easy. I liken it to being a hard core fan of any athletic club when its going through a losing streak. You just hold out hope.

I Wouldn't Say No

Shamefully multi-talented, Jose Maldonado not only sings but spins your  favorite Morrissey tunes

I continue to keep myself occupied with Morrissey pursuits. Not only do I attend tribute band shows, but I also listen to the radio. In case you hadn't heard, there is an awesome weekly radio show dedicated to Morrissey and The Smiths. Not too shockingly, it is called Breakfast with the Smiths/The World of Morrissey and it airs on Indie1031.com Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays.

I know you probably think that its kind of unnecessary to listen to radio when you can simply download what you want to listen to on applications such as MOG or Pandora or any other number of resources. 

The difference here is like the difference between going through the self-check-out versus the regular check-out at a supermarket. Do you want to listen to a live, human being or else just hear the cold, metallic programmed playlist of your tunes? 

I am rather old-school so you might guess what I prefer.

Jose Maldonado meticulously arranges the playlist that is generally made up of listener's (otherwise known as Breakfast Champions) requests. He also has personal anecdotes of meeting not only Morrissey, but also former collaborators such as Mikey Farrell and Alain Whyte. In addition, Jose knows quite a lot about the music/recording production and the different versions of particular songs and he will play them as a nice surprise.

One of the things that I find so cool about the show is that I have either "discovered" or "rediscovered" songs that Jose has played on the show. Two songs that have rather grown on me in this manner is the song "Lost" from the Maladusted album and, more recently "The Edges Are No Longer Parallel." I'm sure we all know what its like to dig a song we heard before but had never REALLY listened to. I think on this radio show, the format allows you to finally hear what you may have missed before.

When you listen to the show every week, you get to know the regular listeners. Johnny Lima makes the best requests always and Daisy and Flor (both named for flowers and best friends) often make requests for each other. Jimi James, Clover Dean and Abby are other favorite regulars. We all come together for our favorite program.

There is an app that I use called TuneInPro and it allows you to not only listen to the broadcast on your smartphone or ipad but also record weekly shows right on to your devices. I actually enjoy listening to older shows that I have saved so that I have a nice kind of 'mixed tape" of a playlist created by friends that I listen to in the car while driving kids all over Orange County in my very cool mini van.

Breakfast with the Smiths/The World of Morrissey airs on Indie1031.com at 9 AM Pacific time on Wednesdays and Sundays; 5 PM in the UK and Ireland, and 12 AM Fridays Pacific, 8 PM UK and Ireland. 

Jose Maldonado is also the lead singer of the Smiths/Morrissey tribute band The Sweet and Tender Hooligans. I'd put him at the top five of the nicest people I've ever met.