David Bowie Reportedly Feuding with Morrissey
In a bizarre bit of news that has the unintended side effect of making album artwork interesting again for the first time in years, David Bowie is rumored to be miffed about the cover of Morrissey's upcoming single.
It sounds silly -- and it very well might be -- but it also makes more sense than you might think. According to Pitchfork, Bowie's consternation stems from Morrissey's plans to use Bowie's likeness for the cover in question: a reissue of Morrissey's 1989 single 'The Last Of The Famous International Playboys.'
How did all this happen? It's kind of a long story. Apparently, in 1992, photographer Linder Sterling took a picture of Bowie and Morrissey together, and it's remained unpublished until now -- which is reportedly exactly the way Bowie likes it. In fact, according to the Morrissey fansite True to You, "David Bowie has ordered EMI UK not to run the proposed artwork for Morrissey's April 8th issue of the re-mastered 'The Last of the Famous International Playboys' single and CD. ... Although Bowie has no legal rights to the photograph, most of his back catalogue is presently licensed to EMI."
It's anyone's guess as to why Bowie -- who, we remind you, has signed off on some questionable artwork of his own -- saw fit to put a stop to Morrissey's plans. Sadly, it looks like we'll never know.