WHTG 106.3 documentary: Alternative music radio from a Jersey house
What happened on the air at WHTG, an alternative rock station based in a tiny house in N.J., changed the sound of radio in the U.S. for decades.
Brian Johnston, Asbury Park Press
The band Sparks is from California.Morrissey’s support of the For Britain party in the UK, as well as off-color comments, have led some to charge he’s racist.
Jersey music legend John Easdale is done with Morrissey.
The Dramarama lead singer delivered a pointed March 28 Facebook post on Morrissey, former lead singer the Smiths, attached to an article of Morrissey’s long-running feud with the ’70s art rock duo Sparks, fronted by brothers Ron and Russell Mael.
“Well, I’ve tried to stay out of the ‘Bash Morrissey’ fray, but he’s dead to me now,” Easdale said.
The Morrissey and Sparks feud has been ongoing for 15 years or so, with the latter releasing a song called “Lighten Up Morrissey” in 2009.
The latest escalation occurred on recent Morrissey social media post where the singer shared a handwritten note to Morrissey written by the group with the caption: “A nice note from Ron and Russell Mael — before they turned into headless Palisades savages who threw their old friends into hot molten lava for sexy kicks.” (The Maels are from Pacific Palisades in Los Angeles.)
“I really admire them,” said Easdale of Sparks to the Asbury Park Press. “I appreciate them. They started in the early ’70s and I adore their first few rock albums … They got a little synth-y, but I still like them a lot. i just think they’re legends.”
Morrissey has cast himself as a perpetually wounded victim of adolescent angst, and also an outspoken observer of contemporary events.
His support of the For Britain party in the UK, as well as off-color comments — such as that Sadiq Khan, the first Muslim mayor of London, “cannot talk properly” — has led some to charge he’s racist.
“Mr. Morrissey is very outspoken and always has been,” said Easdale, a native of Wayne. “I’ve been to his shows. I went to see the last Smith’s concerts, and I did see Morrissey by himself one time. I’ve always admired his art.
“There’s been stuff flying around for years about how he doesn’t show up for shows, his politics — I don’t like those but obviously everybody loves to talk about it,” he continued. “But I just thought this was ridiculous. It was the needle that broke this camel’s back.”
Dramarama’s hits include “Anything Anything,” “Last Cigarette,” “Haven’t Got a Clue,” “I’ve Got Spies,” “What Are We Gonna Do?” and “Wonderamaland.”
The band performed at the Light of Day festival in Asbury Park and Red Bank in January, and are expected back at the Jersey Shore this summer.
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Chris Jordan, a Jersey Shore native, covers entertainment and features for the USA Today Network New Jersey. Contact him at cjordan@app.com