Do you run a website? Want to compare book prices within it and earn money doing it? Click here to find out how.

Great piece, Len. I loved The Smiths and still remember the chregad, euphoric atmosphere at the early London gigs of theirs in the summer of 1983. Occasionally I get irked by Morrissey's comments or his relentless lack of joy, but overall I have a lot of time for him. Maybe because most Brits tend to be quite buttoned up emotionally he evokes disquiet in some ranks when he emotes so publicly. I'd rather have that, though, than the endless trivia that clogs up the charts. It's easy to deride people that seem permanently negative but Morrissey does capture the essence of sadness in a very pure way. I rarely get sad now, but in my youth, for those occasions when it was unavoidable (like the suicide of a sib that you also experienced), a songwriter that could emote was comforting. I think that if he did ever kill himself, he would posthumously attain the widespread respect that poets like Ian Curtis did in a so he really meant it' way. Don't do it, though, Mozza.