Morrissey biography
Morrissey initially planned to release a follow-up album entitled Bona Drag after releasing a few holdover singles from the Viva Hate sessions. As such, he released "The Last of the Famous International Playboys," "Interesting Drug," and "Ouija Board, Ouija Board" over the course of 1989. The first two of these became top ten hits. However, by the end of 1989 it became apparent that he would not be able to put out an album of new material soon enough. Morrissey decided to scrap the idea of a full-length LP and release Bona Drag as a compilation of singles and B-sides instead. The album collected these early singles along with further non-album cuts such as "November Spawned a Monster," "Piccadilly Palare," "Disappointed" and the B-side "Hairdresser on Fire."
After a falling out with Stephen Street, Morrissey recruited the production aid of Clive Langer and songwriting services of Mark E. Nevin, of Fairground Attraction, for the studio follow-up to Viva Hate, entitled Kill Uncle. The album peaked at number eight on the UK charts. The two singles released in promotion of the album, "Our Frank" and "Sing Your Life," failed to break the Top 20 on the singles charts reaching number 26 and number 33 respectively. Morrissey released two non-album singles, "Pregnant for the Last Time" and "My Love Life." The band Morrissey assembled in 1991 for his Kill Uncle tour went on to record 1992's hit album Your Arsenal. Composition duties were split between guitarists Boz Boorer and Alain Whyte, who have been the core of Morrissey's band until the later stages of his comeback period. Your Arsenal was produced by former David Bowie guitarist Mick Ronson, and earned a Grammy Award nomination for Best Alternative Album. The album peaked at number four on the UK charts, with two of its three singles, "We Hate It When Our Friends Become Successful" and "You're the One for Me, Fatty," both debuting in the Top 20 in the UK.
By 1994, Morrissey had suffered the loss of three people close to him: Mick Ronson, Tim Broad (Morrissey's video director) and Nigel Thomas (Morrissey's manager during year 1992). Channelling his grief, Morrissey wrote and recorded his second number one album in the UK, That year, he also released a single "Interlude" in duet with Siouxsie Sioux of Siouxsie and the Banshees. Following the success of Vauxhall and I Morrissey began work on Southpaw Grammar in early 1995. When released in August, the album was a hit, reaching number four in the UK. However, both of its singles failed to chart in the Top 20. The nature of the album was different to past Morrissey releases. Musically, the inclusion of two tracks which surpass the ten minute mark, the near two and half minute drum solo courtesy of Spencer Cobrin which opens the track "The Operation" and the sampling of a Shostakovich symphony have led some to dub the album as "Morrissey's flirtation with prog-rock." Some critics were impressed by this apparent attempt at progression, while others dismissed the longer tracks as mere self-indulgence. With the exception of the single "Sunny" in that December it would be another year before Morrissey released a new album or single.
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