There's an entry on his appeal to Latin Americans which refers to his crooning being part of this, which you'll enjoy. Moz himself has cited his embracing of Mexican immigrants to the US as an example of his non-racism. I just think he has some pretty complex takes on Britishness and identity, and whilst I admire the overall attempt in his work to avoid black and white simplification, I think he definitely took the whole thing too far on this topic, and he think he's acknowledged that too. The book, bizarrely, ain't due for publication in the US for another year, but I'd order from Amazon UK if I were you! It's seriously good.
Glad you too are liking Y of R, and 'Mama...' is arguably my favourite. Classic Moz railing against 'bailiffs with bad breath', and the heart-breaking contrast of waving away the mother's suicide with 'life is nothing much to lose' with the hurt of 'it's just so lonely here without you'. Played 'Ringleader...' again today in its entirety and whilst it contains some huge highlights ('Dear God...' is one of my favourites of his entire career, and 'Pigsty', which Goddard is sniffy about, whilst I would compare it's epic miserablism with 'How Soon Is Now'), it's generally not as strong as a whole. Still very good. Don't have
Bona Drag, though I know most of the songs, and in fact yesterday picked up the
Hulmerist DVD for all of £2 in Fopp, which contains the 7 most well-known songs of BD. They're fun promos, often a bit silly (e.g. the moment where Moz is driving a tractor in Fairmount, Indiana, paying homage to his hero Jimmy Dean), but what makes it truly great is that the promos are all intercut with amazing footage of the fans sleeping out overnight and queuing to get into Wolverhapmton Civic Hall for the first ever Moz solo gig, which was free, and then with later concert footage including 'Sister I'm a Poet' live. Incredible testament to the adoration of the man, and a real cultural record of the clothing and hairstyles of the time, with a general tendency towards quiffs, glasses and cardigans! Highly recommended for Moz fans.