Legendary Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr joined up with The Cribs at the Shockwaves NME Awards this evening (February 28) to perform two songs. - Source

M-S explains: *The third Manchester v Cancer gig was held at the MEN Arena on Saturday, February 23rd. At the end of the night, after the scheduled bands had played, for the finale, Badly Drawn Boy (Damon Gough) was joined on stage by Peter Hook (Joy Division/New Order), Andy Rourke (The Smiths) & David Potts (Monaco) to perform four songs - the first of which was The Smiths' 'Please Please Please Let Me Get What I Want'.* - Source

On the new site ShredOrDie -- a member of the OrDie Network -- skating legend Tony Hawk (did he ever find Animal Chin, btw?) interviews Isaac Brock and Johnny Marr before the start of one of Modest Mouse's shows. Yes, we're serious ... even about the site's name. Hawk does a pretty good job, getting Brock to talk about how MM landed Marr and asking the ex-Smith about his workout regimen back in the day (A: smoke a lot). Best moments: Brock subtly schooling Hawk on Treepeople and Hawk explaining that when you break your pelvis it hurts like hell to laugh, sneeze. Brock: "Which I imagine comes up."

"This dude is much hipper than me." Except when you're bugging him with your loud stereo, young Isaac! For his part, Johnny seems much more adjusted than Morrissey. Which, admittedly, doesn't seem too hard. - Source

Freebass, the group consisting of The Smiths' Andy Rourke, New Order's Peter Hook and The Stone Roses and Primal Scream bassist Mani, have revealed their new singer. - Source

Johnny Marr joined The Cribs on the Manchester leg of the Shockwaves NME Tour at the weekend, playing The Smiths' 'Panic' plus the Wakefield trio's 'I'm A Realist' as part of the band's headline set. - Source

The Cribs were joined onstage by The Smiths' Johnny Marr in Glasgow on the Shockwaves NME Awards Tour last night (February 1). - Source

Britpop band Dodgy will play their first gig in ten years for Manchester charity Versus Cancer, which is run by former Smtihs bassist Andy Rourke.  Source

Funny, just last night one of us was listening to the Smiths in a bar when someone asked if Morrissey still unbuttoned his shirt during his lives shows. The answer ... "Of course." And here's the James Dean-approved live video to prove it. In addition to Moz's chest, you'll catch his fancy microphone (and tambourine) work, his hardworking backup band of waiters, and the flower-toting fans who love to jump on stage and hug the man briefly, even if it means getting wiped by security.  Source

I can't think of odder music news of late than a story that appeared in The Guardian some weeks ago regarding Easter plans in Manchester...

"The BBC plans to mark the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ this Easter with an hour-long live procession through the streets of Manchester featuring pop stars from The Stone Roses and Happy Mondays and featuring songs by The Smiths and New Order.

In the programme, called Manchester Passion, a character representing Jesus will sing the legendary Joy Division anthem Love Will Tear Us Apart before dueting his arch-betrayer Judas on the New Order hit Blue Monday, according to senior church sources involved in the production.
..."

No, I am not making this up. The Guardian is not playing a practical joke on the interweb. I'm not sure I could make up a story this bizarre. The Church of England, BBC and Bez celebrating Easter in the street of Manchester with an actor dressed up as Jesus singing "Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now." Uhhhhh....

This came to our attention last week and we were so stunned by it that we completely forgot to pass the information along, sorry. Mike Joyce (ex-Smiths, eh?) went on BBC 6 last week to declare he was in such dire financial straits that he had to sell all his rare Smiths stuff on eBay. By rare we mean UNRELEASED demos and such that true Smiths enthusiasts would drool over (if they weren't all getting their knickers in a twist about Mike doing this on his own without the approval of any of the other members).