The Biggest Flop Songs Of Morrissey's Career

Until The Smiths decided to call it quits in 1987, it was one of the most popular bands in the U.K., and there was little question that its front man, Steven Patrick Morrissey, would go on to enjoy a similar level of success. Indeed, from his very first solo single, 1988's "Suedehead," Morrissey found himself nestled snugly in the top 10 of the U.K. Singles chart, hitting No. 5. Decades later, Morrissey is still more than capable of selling out shows (when he isn't canceling them), but his chart successes are a bit more inconsistent. While he's landed in the upper reaches of the charts many, many times over the decades, there have been a few flops along the way.

How does one define a flop single? Aside from chart success, we've also considered the merits of the songs themselves, as well as how they were received by critics at the time of their release. With these qualities in mind, we took into account the way Morrissey's career began and how it devolved at various points, marked by these songs, and how his acclaim turned into near dismissal by some critics.

After kicking off his solo career with his 1988 debut album, "Viva Hate," Morrissey eschewed the idea of immediately turning around a sophomore album effort in favor of a series of single-only releases. While the first two of these were top-10 hits in the U.K., with "The Last of the Famous International Playboys" hitting No. 6 and "Interesting Drug" climbing to No. 9, the third in the series continued the trend of declining chart returns, with 1989's "Ouija Board, Ouija Board" barely cracking the Top 20 and stalling at No. 18.

With its silly sing-song refrain that involves the words "Ouija Board" three times, the song — which is, as one might expect by its title, about trying to contact a dead friend — should be one that hits a sentimental tone, but instead falls flat. As for its relatively disappointing chart status, Morrissey blamed it at the time on "Top of the Pops" refusing to play the video and Radio 1 failing to playlist the record. Then again, it might also simply have been because it wasn't all that good a song: "Ouija Board was still being panned by the media a year after its release, and as recently as 2025, Classic Pop Magazine reckoned that it was "probably the worst single Moz has ever released."

After following up his series of single-only releases with a compilation of A-sides and many of their B-sides, plus an obligatory new single ("Piccadilly Palare"), Morrissey finally got around to the business of recording a proper sophomore album. Released in March 1991, "Kill Uncle" found him teaming up with Fairground Attraction guitarist Mark E. Nevin to write the majority of the LP, including the first single, "Our Frank."

The lyrics to "Our Frank" are more than a little bit memorable, although the reason they stand out is because they have the potential to make listeners queasy: "Give us a drink/ And make it quick/ Or else I'm gonna be sick/ Sick all over/ Your frankly vulgar/ Red pullover/ Now see how the colours blend." In a word: gross. All things being equal, it probably wasn't the best way to introduce audiences to the new album, although one could easily rationalize that simply from looking at the chart placement: Up to that point, "Our Frank" was the lowest-charting single in Morrissey's history as a solo artist, never climbing any higher on the U.K. charts than No. 26. 

Sporadically throughout his career, Morrissey has returned to the model of issuing single-only releases between albums, but one that particularly stands out for its oddness is "Sunny," released in December 1995. What's odd about it, or certainly what stood out at the time, was that Morrissey was signed to RCA Records at that point and, in fact, had released a new album on the label — "Southpaw Grammar" — less than six months prior. Before that, however, he'd recorded "Sunny" during the 1994 sessions for "Boxers," his final single for Parlophone, and it was originally intended to appear on that single, but it was ultimately pulled from that release. When Morrissey left Parlophone for RCA, his now-former label decided to utilize it and try and capitalize on the success of "Southpaw Grammar" with one more Morrissey single.

Although "Sunny" has arguably as much jangle as any of Morrissey's other songs from the era and a bouncy feel throughout, Melody Maker had little positive to say about the song or its singer, inexplicably calling it "yet another pack of partially-frozen peas" while dismissing Morrissey as "fast becoming the Asda of the pop music world: cheap, plenty of choice, but little quality control." As it happens, Morrissey's fans apparently didn't think much of it, either: to date, "Sunny" stands as the lowest-charting single-only release within Morrissey's formidable catalog, making it no higher on the U.K. singles chart than No. 42 before beginning to plummet. "Sunny"? More like "Stormy Weather."

The '90s were an odd period for Morrissey, an era during which he found himself doing a considerable amount of label jumping, and in 1997 he landed on Island Records for a lone full-length release: "Maladjusted," which was preceded in release by its first single, "Alma Matters." Re-teaming with Steve Lillywhite for the third — and, to date, final — time, Morrissey found himself on the receiving end of some of the most scalding reviews of his career up to that point, with Keith Phipps of the A.V. Club closing his review of the album as a whole by saying, "Hardcore fans will want to give it a listen, but all others should stay far away."

"Alma Matters" was co-written by Morrissey with his longtime guitarist and collaborator, Alain Whyte, and to say that it was an underwhelming way to introduce listeners to the record as a whole is an understatement. In a look back at "Maladjusted" upon its reissue in 2009, Uncut unhesitatingly skewered "Alma Matters" in particular, outright calling it "Morrissey's worst single." The song did manage to make it into the U.K. top 20, hitting No.16, but it was gone from the charts within three weeks.

In virtually every artist's career, there comes a time when the idea of doing an album consisting solely of cover songs seems like a good idea, and for Morrissey, that time arrived in 2019. Entitled "California Son," the LP in question featured a dozen tracks, including Morrissey's interpretations of tunes by everyone from Jobriath ("Morning Star Ship," a '70s flop song that we can't help but love) to Joni Mitchell, but for the first single, Mozzer opted to go with a Laura Nyro composition famously covered by the 5th Dimension: "Wedding Bell Blues."

While there's no question that Morrissey delivers a strong version of the song, which melds well with his dramatic vocal tendencies, the failure here is little to do with the performance and mostly with where Morrissey's popularity stood in the U.K. at the time of its release. Consider this: in addition to backing vocals from Lydia Night of the Los Angeles band the Regrettes, not to mention keyboards from former Jellyfish member Roger Manning Jr., one can also hear the distinct vocal contributions of none other than Billie Joe Armstrong of Green Day. Despite this level of star power, the single only just barely cracked the top 30 of the U.K. Singles Sales Chart, stalling at No. 29.