AND ONE MORE THING: Sire Records vice...

AND ONE MORE THING: Sire Records vice president Howie Klein was surprised enough when his star performer Morrissey dropped into town last week unexpectedly, but he was nearly floored when the notoriously shy singer agreed to Klein’s half-joking suggestion that they swing by a Morrissey look-alike contest that KROQ deejay Richard Blade happened to be hosting in Redondo Beach. Klein figured that they might actually have been able to sneak the real thing in among all the wanna-bes unnoticed.

No such luck. Klein reports that Morrissey was instantly mobbed by adoring fans, who ripped off pieces of their hero’s new jacket; one even yanked out a clump of his hair. Morrissey ended up shut away in an office, where he agreed to meet with the contest winners and then patiently signed autographs on items passed in to him.