Did Morrissey Crib From The Rheostatics?

Rheostatics don't often get their proper due or respect, and that's the case yet again. They may no longer exist, but they remain a highly influential band — even outside this country.

You may have seen the inside sleeve for Morrissey's new "I'm Throwing My Arms Around Paris" single, in which Moz and several other men pose nude with 45s covering their willies:



What do the Rheos have to do with this? Well, as was recently pointed out in the Yahoo! Rheostatics group, in 1993, they issued a set of Green Sprouts Collectors Cards that were photographed by Cathy Bidini, Rheos' singer/guitarist Dave Bidini's sister. The descriptions on the back were written by Dave Bidini, drummer Dave Clark and 102.1 The Edge's Dave Bookman.

According to the back of a card called "The Nakedstatics," the Rheostatics were hanging out in Thunder Bay in 1986 when a bit of silliness happened. Clark jokingly took off singer/guitarist Martin Tielli's shirt and threatened to take off the rest of his clothes. All of a sudden, everyone was naked and the Rheos were posing for a cheeky photo, which was used for this Green Sprouts card:



Morrissey has previously acknowledged the New York Dolls, Sandie Shaw, Oscar Wilde and James Dean as influences. Perhaps he'd like to acknowledge the Rheostatics as another?

Sure, you could argue that the Red Hot Chili Peppers did this whole "cover up the naughty bits with something cheeky" thing first, since they used to perform wearing only socks on their privates. But nobody's performing here, so that doesn't count.

And speaking of the Peppers, the Rheos have been victims of those funk rock hasbeens' lack of original ideas, too. Californication, as this website previously pointed out, is actually a Rheostatics reference.