I’m a musician myself. I have never met Vini, but he always strikes me as an adorable, authentic and utterly decent chap. Musicians like Vini are sadly often left languishing in the shadows, whilst the ones who make it big are more often than not quite banal, mediocre personalities. Why certain artists and groups become well known and revered, and the really amazing ones don’t will forever be a mystery, but for all his idiosyncrasies, the music world is an infinitely more enriching place with Vini in it. Lovely chap

Vinnie is an articulate dignified and likeable guy. What a shame he didn't get what was due to him.

No wonder I thought the album was great......yes it is the best thing Morrissey has done on his own by far, great music Vini.

Man is a genius. Such a shame he never got the credit he deserved for Viva Hate.

When you listen to Viva Hate and Morrissey's subsequent output it's difficult not to reach the conclusion that Vini Reilly was responsible for much of what was great about the album.

Viva Hate is Mozzers best album by a country mile....he should have kept the partnership with Vini going !!

Agreed. Vini made Viva Hate worth listening to. This was the last Morrissey record I bought, probably because I realised that listening to songs about self pity is a poor use of time. I've loved listening to Vini bending notes for thirty years. Still do. And I am grateful.

Respect.

It appears the Record Company and/or Stephen Street owe Vini a shitload of money! Poor fella.

Food fights and wrestling matches with Morrissey, the mind boggles!

If you're visiting or working at someone's house and you have to stay into their dinner hour and they ask you if you'd like to stay for dinner, it's a special kind of gesture to say, no, thank you and continue on without food. It means something besides what is actually said. It means: that's not why you came. But it's also the right thing to do to make them a plate anyway and put it in front of them regardless. If they don't want to eat, it's okay, but it's not right to eat in front of them. Esp. if they are there because you asked them to be there and need them in the first place. Jesus, people. Simple courtesy. Plain common freakin' sense. But whatever.

I had always thought Vini composed the introduction to Suedehead, now I know. I would put that intro as the best in Morrissey’s career, and up there with Stop Me and How Soon Is Now. It is just that good.

He should have put it on an agreement contract. Great album. I think he is telling the truth. I think he did the music on viva hate. It really sounds like his project.

Comes down to this: Street and Morrissey used Vini, but what else could you expect...........thats who they were at the time.........users. Those types are a dime a dozen in the music world. I've come across them myself in my own endeavors...........opportunists who take what does not belong to them and then pretend they are something they are not. There is no Peace in living a lie.........

What comes around goes around..what Stephen Street did to Vini...is exactly what Morrissey did to Stephen Street sometime later..

I love Morrissey. I ordered his book from England when its publishing was held up out here and every Smiths album is accounted for in my small record collection. But he's kind of full of (crap) sometimes.

It seems like Vini is just one of a long list of people who have been eaten, chewed up and spat out by that vulnerable narcissist known as Morrissey. It's a good thing he's an amazing poet because otherwise that man would have absolutely no redeeming features!

in less than two years after this interview vini stated in an other interview that it WAS steven street who was responsible for crafting morrissey's early sound,

"It has its own identity, unlike the rest of the albums that Morrissey's done since" I think Viva Hate is his best solo album, but you can't really say that "Kill Uncle", "Your Arsenal" and "Ringleader Of The Tormentors" don't have their own identities. Having a good producer helps too though, like Mick Ronson for "Your Arsenal" and Tony Visconti for "Ringleader of the Tormentors"...

Sad tale but I do think that Vini is a little mad about the bad decision that he made. Good interview, though. I wonder if Mors was there when this Vini guy said that he won't have credits. Maybe Morrissey was, given that Steven was apparently uptight about losing credits, and I can imagine the studio being a small space. But all of them in the same room at that specific time when it happened?, I'm not sure.

Oh my goodness ..Why Morrissey ?

i thought morrissey was a better man than that...

Morrissey’s best album…. No wonder with Vini running things. Shame he didn’t get the credit he deserved, though.

In 2014 Vini told Julie Hamill: "I want to talk about Stephen Street about whom I’ve said wrong things in the past; this is not an excuse, this is fact, I have suffered from what they call ‘displaced anger’ and this is where you’re very angry with yourself and you don’t understand, you just shout at people you really care about. Stephen Street, I’ve got to tell you, you will never find a nicer man. He is one of the nicest people I’ve ever met in my life. Endless patience, his skills are astonishing, his ability to hear… all those skills, a fabulous result. I loved the guy." "Stephen gave him a solid foundation (=Morrissey) to write songs from, his demos." "Stephen Street produced it how he wanted to produce it. He had written it down, how he knew it should be, what he wanted it to sound like."

He wasn't treated very well, was he. It doesn't reflect very well on Morrissey - I thought he was a stickler about sleeve design and contents? Poor form. I think I was introduced to Vini via that Morrissey album. Does it affect what royalties he due?

All of Morrissey’s guitarist have been pretty boring since Vini.

An immensely naive and weak person. Should have 50% royalty