PATTI SMITH - PATTI SMITH SOUGHT MORRISSEY'S ADVICE OVER MELTDOWN

Punk icon PATTI SMITH got in contact with morose rocker MORRISSEY for advice when she landed the prestigious position as artistic director of this year's (05) MELTDOWN FESTIVAL in London.

The BECAUSE THE NIGHT singer has invited SINEAD O'CONNOR, JOHN CALE, ED HARCOURT, TORI AMOS and BETH ORTON to perform at various theatres on the British capital's South Bank at the 15-day long event, which starts tomorrow (11JUN05).

After landing the role, Smith was straight on the phone to Morrissey, who curated the festival last year (04).

She says, "He was really helpful.

"At first I was not quite sure if I was qualified to do this because I worry that I am not very social and I don't know many musicians. I didn't know if I could pull together an interesting evening, not to mention two weeks of events.

"But Morrissey was very encouraging. He told me to just barrel on through because the Meltdown people shepherd you along. And it's been true."