Sam Fox reviews The Fall and The Smiths: "very depressing"

Feast your eyes on this reviews section from a 1986 edition of Smash Hits magazine (see below). I've inserted the image below this post rather than aligned alongside the text because Blogger's fancy new user interface has made a right royal mess of image manipulation.

I'm not sure where this image came from as the original tweeter from 2016, who I think must own this scan, has disappeared. The clip was posted again a few days ago, which then got a signal-boost from movie reviewer Mark Kermode who then, in his words, heard from "a load of sanctimonious, humourless, preachy, self-pitying whingebag" Morrissey fans.

Because music editing was once my full-time job, I can only see this reviews section with the eyes of an editor / writer. It's totally the kind of silliness I would have wanted to put into Smash Hits magazine. The angle is clear. Get someone stereotyped for being vacuous to talk about indie bands so that the unwashed guitar kids can snigger into their sleeves. Classic 1980s music magazine humour. 

To be fair to Fox, her Duane Eddy comparison is a pretty fair one, and in that final sentence of the Panic review, she's got Morrissey's number. Even now, he really does go moan, moan, moan, but no longer in a fey 1980s wilting gladioli way. In a more sinister way. Yeeugh. He gives me the shivers.

In summary, (1) listen to that Fall single because it's really great, (2) listen to the Smiths but don't listen to the Morrissey bits and (3) Blogger, sort this interface out – having this image swimming in white space looks rubbish. 

Okay, I admit it, this was a blog post about Blogger. Ignore anything I said about Sam Fox, The Fall or The Smiths.

Further Fats: Hammer time for Fatty Bumchops: how to blog properly (2011)