*In no particular order some of my favourite musical moments. No50 Interlude by Morrissey & Siouxsie
The first cover in Our Great Moments In Music series is an extraordinary duet between two of the most intriguing and iconoclastic personalities of their generation; Morrissey and Siouxsie Sioux.
The team up emerged out of Morrissey’s penchant for approaching his – usually female – musical heroes for collaborations.
The Smiths famously recorded with Sandie Shaw and Moz wrote for and befriended Nancy Sinatra.
He tried on numerous occasions to contact Shirley Bassey, and was very sniffy when she rebuffed his advances before going on to make a record with Swiss electronic duo Yello.
Interlude is a wonderful example of where his persistence paid off.
Siouxsie eventually agreed to the duet. after being won over by a series of letters sent by the bequiffed Mancunian to her base in France.
It’s a pretty faithful cover of Timi Yuro‘s original, which was recorded for the soundtrack of a 1968 film of the same name, featuring Donald Sutherland and John Cleese.
Long time Morrissey musical director Bob Boorer‘s deft string arrangements add both romance and drama to the track, which was recorded during sessions for Moz’s Vauzhall and I album.
Both principal performers are at the peak of their powers, their vocals recorded separately, but brilliantly intertwined by Boorer to wring every drop of emotion from the production.
Initial delight at the strength of the recording, however, soon gave way to bitter recrimination, as the pair fell out spectacularly over the video.
In a forerunner to more recent controversies, Siouxsie was disapproving of Morrissey’s desire to use what she’s variously described as ‘patriotic’ and ‘nationalistic’ imagery in the promo.
She flatly rejected his plans to incorporate a bulldog, Union Jacks and such like – amusingly suggesting they try a chihuahua instead.
In subsequent interviews she’s also expressed distaste for Morrissey’s failure to deal with her directly, employing others to do what she calls his ‘dirty work’.
The video issues were never resolved and with EMI refusing to release the song without a promo, the single was delayed for several months.
It was finally released on Parlophone in 1994 and an ‘official video’ below later emerged featuring clips from the film Dance With A Stranger about Ruth Ellis, the last woman to to be hanged in Britain.
The song achieved a respectable chart UK placing of 25, but may well have done rather better had its lead vocalists been able to resolve their differences
Not one to miss a chance to ‘re-issue re-package re-package’, Morrissey last year announced a 30th anniversary re-release of the single as a limited edition 12-inch on gold vinyl.
Whatever you may think of the vocalists now – and both have their fervent supporters and detractors – Interlude holds up as both a beguiling duet and fascinating document of a collaboration between two singular and contrasting artists.
