You can see the big boys in their ivory tower, rubbing their hands together as Mr Flowers rattled through his list of ‘Kings’ and included the The Smiths’ singer. “Here we go lads,” they say, knowing that by removing ALL important context, they would probably get their highest number of clicks yet. “Wahoo! We’re gonna be rich and famous… again!” *click click* *type type
An institution once respected as the pinnacle of the music press has become nothing more than a tabloid website, desperate for views and stats rather than covering REAL stuff. Since the Las Vegas foursome first arrived on our shores, it’s been widely known the influence British bands, including Morrissey and The Smiths, have had on them. Without these bands, including Oasis and Pet Shop Boys, we wouldn’t have The Killers, we wouldn’t have Mr. Brightside and we wouldn’t have had that Saturday night set at Glasto. Therefore, why is it a shock that Flowers regards Morrissey so highly? Many people still idolise MJ, and he’s not exactly an angel is he? Your childhood heroes are hard to shake off, even if you disagree with some of their views.
Brandon distances himself from Morrissey’s personal viewpoints and political statements in the exact interview they’ve taken the time to write. Flowers explains: “He’s still a king. He’s unparalleled in what he’s achieved and his prowess and his lyrics and his sense of melody. It’s just incredible. I forgot he was in hot water though, so I shouldn’t have brought him up.” Here it is clear Flowers sees Morrissey as a musical King and nothing more, even attempting to retract his comment after he realised the NME were ready to shaft him.
And of course, they did. NME had an interview – and front cover spread – with a Glastonbury headliner. That’s a BIG deal. The band have given their time and their platform to them. But, how do NME tell people about this nice gesture? What 15 words can they come up between the vastness of their offices to tell people the most interesting thing they found out? Well, they do this…
Out of everything. The collabs, the performance, the new record, they choose that to best encapsulate their encounter with Brandon Flowers. I mean yeah, he might not be your cuppa, but come on he was given just over 100 words. Of which 10 were people’s names, a list of people’s name, meaning more than just Morrissey…
The point here isn’t even whether Flowers should’ve listed Morrissey as a King – that’s another conversation. But enough is enough with this shoddy website. It’s become a place that twists words and creates angles unbeknownst to anyone else, in order to get clicks, chart statistics and ad-revenue. Rather than trusting that the quality of their writing or interviews is good enough to stand alone and reel readers in, this is what NME has become.
NME is no better than Lad Bible or whatever other tabloid click-bait nonsense you’ll find on social media. Stop pandering to it, stop doing exactly what it wants you to do.
P.s. Equally, those assuming the rest of the article from one shite tweet from NME, read the damn article… don’t fall for their tricks that bait you into RTing and sharing and whatever. C’mon people, you’re better than that, you’re better than them.
