" Steve Wright, Annie Nightingale, Janice Long, John Peel … a generation gone. I once bumped into Steve outside Woolworths in Henley-on-Thames. He said "what the hell are YOU doing here?" and I replied "precisely." During an interview he edited out diarist when I mis-pronounced it as diary-ist … he resisted the perfect opportunity to make fun of me. He played 'I Have Forgiven Jesus' and 'That Joke Isn't Funny Anymore' when no other radio DJ would. Great minds play the music, small minds block the music. But it's too late for compliments now. Appreciating the living is still a ludicrous concept for most people, alas. "

MORRISSEY 13 February 2024.

SONG: "Morrissey"

https://www.instagram.com/reel/C2xepK6LQhR/?igsh=OTU1ODAwZWUxYg==

"I heard of Melanie Safka's death with a white-knuckle shiver. Her lyric poetry arrested me at the age of 11, and it made me whatever it is I became. She was one of those now extinct songwriters who encouraged you to see the truth … long before this 2024 … where people are suddenly petrified of opening dialogue. Melanie Safka immediately earned the status of Art, and none more deservedly so. I pray that she went to sleep in peace, and that she can hear my words of deathless gratitude." MORRISSEY.