Afternoon Tonic: Pop Stars Aging (Dis)gracefully

For some reason this picture just cracks me up, and I can’t explain why. At least not easily.

Morrissey’s such an easy target, he’s one of those love him or hate him kind of guys. I’m sure that even those who vehemently claim to hate the man and take the piss out of him at every opportunity have at least two or three Smiths songs that they secretly love. It’s much like hating Britney but admitting to nobody that you enjoyed the hell out of “Toxic,” even the video, because she’s doing the Ailas thing with all those costumes and wigs. Don’t like her as a blonde? Well how ’bout as a redhead?

Morrissey doesn’t do wigs or costumes, just fine English tailored suits, which he wears with serious panache. Nick Cave’s been doing the same for years. It’s refreshing in a way to see that he’s aging so much and not fighting it a jot. Granted, it’s now some 23 years since their eponymous album hit the shelves; he’s allowed to be an elder statesman now, but if we look back on images of Morrissey the Younger, the difference is dramatic. He’s really filled out, so much that one wonders if the man is still a do-or-die vegetarian. And he isn’t coloring his hair, and that natural graying at the temples looks quite refined indeed, and that same haircut he’s had for the last two+ decades doesn’t look silly anymore. But he’s still poncey old Morrissey, whining away at how miserable life is, standing in a spotlight and seeing only the shadow he’s casting. He hasn’t changed a trick.

To contrast we have Jimmy Osterberg, AKA Iggy Pop, who also hasn’t changed a trick. Here’s a guy just turned 60 and celebrated it by stage diving into a massive crowd of his sickest fans. While his face has gone to hell in a big way over the years (the heroin didn’t really help there), the man has more energy than most guys a third of his age do. He’s still performing shirtless, in a pair of jeans so tight you can tell he’s Jewish through them. For years he was right up there with Keef Richards as the rocker most likely to O.D. but, god bless ‘em, they’re still with us, somehow.

So why is the Iggy/Morrissey picture funny? You can’t have two less likely matchups in a single frame, I guess. Maybe it’s the stupid grin on Iggy’s face, as if to say, “yeah, I know he’s kind of a wuss, but you gotta love the guy; he looks like my girlfriend’s dad.” And Morrissey is simply funny because he’s smiling, period. He’s also probably caught up in a glow of hero worship; once upon a time when he was just a kid, Morrissey was big into punk rock, and was actually the president of The Cramps’ fan club, something that, no matter what he does, will always earn him at least a shred of credibility from me.

Anyway, just like David Bowie, they’re old farts who are still kicking it to greater or lesser degrees, which is kind of encouraging to think about as we are all only getting older with each passing day. That’s a fine enough thought to take into the weekend.

(images: true-to-you.net)