Argues that since its inception, popular music has been a product of mass media and consumption. The audience of rock music is influenced by the media and their own experiences, particularly the distinction between "street" and "suburban" cultures. Relevant to my paper, many Latino Morrissey fans, especially in the LA area, seem to relate to both identities. He cites class and ideologies, as well as ethnicity, as critical for understanding the contexts of rock music.

Article from a Southern California alternative weekly newspaper discussing the local popularity of Morrissey amongst young Latinos. The perspective is that of a Latino journalist, whose friends and relatives are Morrissey fanatics, attempting to understand and appreciate the artist. Arellano suggests that Morrissey is the linkage between traditional Mexican ranchero music and the 1980s pop that his new fans heard on the radio while growing up. He is critical of the way the media has portrayed Latino fans as a sensation or novelty, often using stereotypical language, such as describing fans at a concert as "East L.A. homeboys." The author suggests that this is a misdirection of rock critics' disapproval of Morrissey as a wash-out who has continued far past his prime.

Journal article using the Smiths as a case study of a "star" who exists as a contradiction between image and reality, especially focusing on the "Englishness" exuded in both their existence and their music. Stringer argues that Morrissey's lyrical and public attention has always been a "white England," about which he often sang in protest, which is especially interestign in the context of Latino American fans. He concludes that it is unclear whether fans of The Smiths listen because they appreciate the foundations of the band's image, or their "working over" of often-repressed social and political boundaries.
(Link is to PennText - article available through JSTOR.)

Though Strausbaugh's volume is essentially a diatribe against aging rock artists who continue performing through middle age, it is a sentiment echoed by many critics and fans alike. His main argument is that rock has essentially been a music of political rebellion (though Morrissey as a "rock" artist is debatable, for these purposes he qualifies under this definition). Interestingly, though Morrissey has been often criticized, using Straughsbaugh's definitions, Morrissey is still "rebelling": his beliefs have never seemed to be controlled by a record label or manager, and he claims to still have the beliefs that he sings about in 20-year-old songs.