Morrissey's Teenage Letter Auctioned for IDR 525 Million

JAKARTA - Fans of music from the 1980s and the legendary British indie rock band, The Smiths, will be presented with one of the historical collections.

A private letter written by Morrissey when he was a teenager will be auctioned at Dawsons Auction House, London, England.

The auction titled "Before The Smiths: The Morrissey Letters" will be held on August 26, with the archive of the singer's letters estimated to be worth 22,000 pounds or around Rp525 million.

The collection of personal correspondence was written by Morrissey between 1974 and 1979 - when he was between 14 and 20 years old.

All the letters were addressed to the questioner's friend from Birmingham, Simon Pitt, a figure who would later be confirmed as the official poet for the city.

This precious archive opens the veil of the emotional journey, the great ambition, and the search for identity of a young Manchester boy before he met guitarist Johnny Marr and formed The Smiths in 1982.

In one of the pages of the letter, the musician known for his stage style and poetic lyrics that also hit the nail on the head expressed his youthful ideals clearly.

"My ambition is to be a *rock 'n' roll* star, an actor, or a writer," young Morrissey wrote in his letter, quoted by the BBC, Sunday, July 26.

Not stopping there, the high confidence also comes from his hand writing. "I always say that I am a genius, but no one wants to listen."

In addition to personal dreams, the letters record Morrissey's first contact with the punk music scene of the 1970s.

He recounted his experience watching a Sex Pistols show at the Lesser Free Trade Hall, Manchester, in June 1976 - a historic concert that changed the landscape of British music. However, instead of being fascinated, Morrissey launched a scathing criticism.

"Regarding the Pistols... they are really sad. I take back everything I ever said about the Pistols... They are really bad. Point," Morrissey said.

Another side that is no less interesting in this correspondence is his interest in social-political issues and his concern for the working class in England.

In the aftermath of the 1979 British election which saw Margaret Thatcher's Conservatives win power, Morrissey expressed his dismay to Pitt.

"Did you vote? Labour, I hope? God knows what torments that wretched Thatcher has in store for us, the working classes. I dread to think," he wrote.

Until the last letter, Morrissey told his friend that he had joined a band in London that already had a record contract.

The move was the first step before finally dominating the world's independent rock scene with The Smiths, which included Morrissey, Johnny Marr, Andy Rourke (bass), and Mike Joyce (drums).

Through popular songs such as "This Charming Man", "Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now", and "How Soon Is Now?", they managed to score three songs that broke into the top ten of the UK charts.