No Rock And Roll Fun

HALF A STICK PERSON: If you're on the look out for something pointless but pleasing, don't forget the Illustrated Smiths, a scheme inviting people to send in illustrations for Smiths lyrics. Some are touching, some are very, very scary, and some are a tad over literal. It reminds me of the old Multi Coloured Swap Shop slot, back before pop videos became an essential part of every record's tax write-off programme, where a class would be given the opportunity to get out the felt-tips and produce enough drawings to illustrate the full length of a song. I remember one time a class of ten year olds struggled to conjure up a picture to sum up Gerard Kennedy's profession of love for "all the scandal and the vice" of New York, New York (so good they named it twice). I think they went for a picture of a police car.