Blossoms on how they “hugged it out” with Johnny Marr after Smiths covers band fall-out

nme.com:

Blossoms have revealed how their unlikely feud with Johnny Marr over forming a Smiths covers band was put to bed.Last year, the band teamed up with Rick Astley to cover The Smiths.

While playing a gig in London, they invited Astley on stage to perform ‘Panic’ and ‘This Charming Man’.The artists subsequently announced two Smiths covers shows in Manchester and London the following month, with Blossoms becoming Astley’s backing band for a full set of theirs and fans’ most-loved Smiths songs.At the time, Marr gave her verdict on the covers, writing on Twitter: “This is both funny and horrible at the same time”.

He also added: “Well, I met The Blossoms a few weeks ago and they elected to not mention it. Nice.”He later told NME about his thoughts on the stunt and surrounding drama, saying: “I didn’t ask for that, but sometimes stuff like that happens when you’re in the public eye.

There was an M.O. there that just wasn’t very cool – but I’ve dealt with it. I think I’m a pretty reasonable person, and I’ve dealt with it.”Speaking to NME for this week’s Big Read cover story, the band were asked about the influence of The Smiths and Marr on their new album ‘Ribbon Around The Bomb’. “Well, we’ve made no secrets about our love for them…” frontman Tom Ogden said referring to their collaboration with Astley.On the cover band fall-out, drummer Joe Donovan continued: “I mean, we were expecting the opposite.