12 Albums in 10 Years, 1983-1992

Strangers sometimes tell me I look like Quentin Tarantino, and unfortunately that may be true, but I like to hope I also look at least a little like Steven Patrick Morrissey (you can judge for yourself with the album cover pictured here). I used to work with a punk rock girl who was possibly a cokehead but admittedly a swinger. You wouldn't think I'd share anything in common with her but one day I combed my bangs up high and she smiled when she asked me if I was going for the Morrissey look. Now the pompadour hairstyle dates back to French court of Louis XV and it reached its height (no pun intended) of popularity with Elvis Presley, so my coworker should've made those comparisons first, but she didn't. She could've called me a retro hipster or wannabe cholo and I wouldn't have been as surprised, so I said, "Yes! I mean, wow, how did you guess?" She told me that her amputee mechanic husband had been trying to perfect the Morrissey hair for years. Then she followed up with a concert story about someone throwing a water bottle at Morrissey after he complained about the smell of "burning flesh" (he's a vegetarian), and how he dropped the microphone right on the spot and walked off the stage, ending the show less than halfway through. She also mentioned that tickets for that show weren't cheap, but he didn't seem to care. From what I've read about Morrissey, that story sums up the singer/songwriter pretty well. If it doesn't mean anything to you, check out the funniest of his many funny, mean song titles: "Dial-a-Cliché" (Viva Hate), "Lucky Lisp" (Bona Drag) and "You're the One for Me, Fatty" (Your Arsenal). I don't know him personally so it's not really my place to comment on his demeanor or personality, but I do know that he was prolific. If you count official live recordings and singles compilations, he was involved with the releases for twelve albums in only ten years. This is the twelfth top twenty playlist I've posted for a band or individual music artists, yet I haven't even covered all of my top ten favorites. The reason for this is that some of my favorites, like Panda Bear, P.M. Dawn and Propaganda, released less than a handful of albums, so a top twenty list would just come off as a ranked list of ALL their songs. I'd love to do top twenty lists for other prolific favorites like The Rolling Stones, but I don't I'll ever be able to evenly weigh all their thirty-some albums and EPs. Similarly, what follows is not a career-spanning top twenty list for Morrissey, but know that if you like what's here, he's still performing and recording to this day.

Morrissey with The Smiths
1. "Accept Yourself" (1983) - from the compilation album, Hatful of Hollow
2. "Back to the Old House (acoustic version)" (1983) from the compilation album, Hatful of Hollow
3. "This Charming Man" (1983) from the single of the same name
4. "Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now" (1984) from the single of the same name
5. "Please Please Please Let Me Get What I Want" (1984) B-side on the single, William, It Was Really Nothing; my absolute favorite Morrissey song
6. "How Soon Is Now?" (1984) from the single of the same name
7. "That Joke Isn't Funny Anymore" (1985) from the album, Meat Is Murder
8. "Asleep" (1985) B-side on the single, The Boy with the Thorn in His Side
9. "Unloveable" (1986) B-side on the single, Bigmouth Strikes Again
10. "London (Live)" (1986) from the album, Rank, released a year after the band broke up
11. "Is It Really So Strange? (BBC session)" (1986) from the compilation album, Louder Than Bombs
12. "Shoplifters of the World Unite" (1987) from the single of the same name

Morrissey on his own
13. "I Don't Mind If You Forget Me" (1988) from his debut solo album, Viva Hate
14. "Interesting Drug" (1988) from the compilation album, Bona Drag
15. "The Loop" (1990) B-side on the single, Sing Your Life
16. "King Leer" (1991) from the album, Kill Uncle
17. "We Hate It When Our Friends Become Successful" (1992) from the single of the same name
18. "Certain People I Know" (1992) from the album, Your Arsenal
19. "Seaside, Yet Still Docked" (1992) from the album, Your Arsenal
20. "Suedehead (Sparks Mix)" (2006) from the remix compilation, Future Retro; original version (1988) from the album, Viva Hate