A young Steven Morrissey contemplating the state of punk rock
 
Recently, I spent some time collecting for you my dear Dangerous Minds readers, numerous amusing pieces of personal correspondence (adorable typos and all) from a young, pre-Smiths Morrissey. Even back then, Morrissey was busy cultivating the melancholy persona that we all know and love today.
 

The home address of a teenage Morrissey
 

Part of a letter from a young Morrissey to his pen pal, Robert Mackie, October 22nd, 1980
 
In addition to excerpts from many of his pen pal letters to Robert Mackie, I’ve included a few of Morrissey’s letters to various magazines and several of his reviews of bands like Depeche Mode and The Cramps that appeared in the weekly British newspaper, the Record Mirror from 1980.

I’m especially fond of the then teenaged Morrissey’s review of a live gig in April of 1980 by The Cramps at Manchester Polytechnic (which you can read below) that he wrote for Record Mirror in which he muses “Is it true that guitarist Ivy Rorschach sets fires to orphanages when she’s bored?” If only. What follows makes for some fantastic reading, enjoy!
 

A review of a live show of The Cramps at Manchester Polytechnic that appeared in the Record Mirror, April 4th, 1980 written by a 21-year-old Morrissey
 

A part of a letter from Morrissey to his pen pal, Robert Mackie. Read the entire letter, here
 

Morrissey responding to an ad in the UK music magazine Sounds about his recent trip to New York, CBGB’s, the New York Dolls and other punk bands, September 8th, 1976. The letter was auctioned off for $801 in July of 2015.
 

Part of a letter from Morrissey to his pen pal, Robert Mackie
 

A letter from Morrissey (published in the Record Mirror) asking the publication to “Wake Up!” to real rock and roll from musicians Patti Smith and the New York Dolls
 

Morrissey’s review of a live show of Wasted Youth in which he uses the words “indistinguishable fiddle-faddle,” to describe the experience that appeared in the Record Mirror on May 31st, 1980
 

Morrissey on the “sophisticated nonsense” that was a Depeche Mode live show, published in Record Mirror, August 22nd, 1980
 

Page three of a letter to Robert Mackie
 

A page of a letter from Morrissey to Robert Mackie
 

Previously on Dangerous Minds:
‘Ramones are Rubbish’: Morrissey’s thoughts on the Ramones, 1976