Smiths Drummer Mike Joyce Shuns Morrissey’s Memoir

Smiths drummer Mike Joyce is boycotting Morrissey’s autobiography. Although he said he would happily reform their old band, Joyce has no plans to page through the singer’s musings on their shared musical history.

“I’ve not read the book, and I never will,” Joyce recently told Q Magazine. “I’ve got a pretty good idea of what’s in there. I don’t want to go down that route of putting out a statement saying that this or that is wrong.”

Morrissey’s 630-page memoir, which was published by Penguin Classics, devotes only about 75 pages to the Smiths. But the singer dedicates dozens more to a 1996 lawsuit, brought by Joyce, claiming unpaid royalties by Morrissey and Johnny Marr. While Morrissey hails the Smiths’ music as a “gift from Jesus”, full of “rocket[ing] … bomb-burst drumming”, he refers to Joyce as a “flea in search of a dog”.

For his part, Joyce is effusive about Morrissey’s talents. “As a performer, there was nobody better than Morrissey,” he said. And Joyce reaffirmed his interest in reuniting the Smiths, even if it’s only wishful thinking. “We’d all do it we were asked. We were one of the greatest bands ever … But a reunion is never going to happen.” According to tabloid reports, Morrissey turned down as much as $75m (£46m) to reunite with Johnny Marr for a Smiths comeback.

A signed hardback copy of Morrissey’s autobiography recently sold at auction for £8,300. Overall, the book was the UK’s 47th-best-selling book of 2013.