Twitter tells me it’s 4 years since Mark E Smith died. Seems hard to believe (but then we have all just lost 2 years more or less). Despite buying 20,000 Fall Fans can’t be wrong around 20 years ago I admit I still can’t make head nor tail of their catalogue, so can’t claim to be a proper fan. (Admittedly while I was married I could never listen to this sort of thing out loud). But they really did make quite a remarkable noise and he was truly unique. Recently got the Extricate book but it’s sitting in the middle of a pile of similarly sized books/bricks before I can get to it. But I hope I’ll work through that ‘body of work’ properly eventually. But today I’m Spotifying them as seems right and proper and it’s bloody great.
I’d never heard this one until the inevitable posthumous ‘best of’ lists appeared but it’s wonderful stuff and has become a firm favourite. He was still carrying it off, even at my age.
Anyone else feel like adding one?
Mark E Smith
Well I’m stuck on Slates/A Part of America Therein as my favourite, but if people are interestd the music blog https://thenewvinylvillain.com/ is doing all the Fall singles one per week (up to part 31 and everything from part 17 still has live mp3 links).
It is filling gaps in my Fall knowledge. ah.
Four years, that’s probably ten albums.
I think the dearth of gigging during covid would have sat badly with the Markster. Perhaps he’d have to have gone round adjusting the volume on people’s TikToks…
So many to choose from, but this is a personal favourite.
Similar period, loved this one – tried it with my band at the time…
https://rave.dj/IF4uyp3sMLUccQ
With extra Jam(ms) and Jerusalem
Meanwhile in the sticks…
Yes, a great single, and one of my five favourite Fall songs.
I love this bit:
“Went home to my slum canyon
On my way I looked up – I saw turrets of Victorian wealth”
This is my favourite. The poor sods in the room (the “audience”) must have thought they weren’t going to get out alive.
Bit of a non-proper Fall fan here as I much prefer the poppier, commercial stuff – when they actually had songs in the Top 40! Having said that, some of the best nights out were at Fall gigs, for very many reasons. The band, particularly Steve Hanley, could work up a fair old head of steam.
Made a terrible faux pas the first time I posted on the Fall-net, got the year of an album tour wrong, ouch.
Blindness, back up there ⬆️, is a late period highlight. …I think their version of Lost in Music is brilliant.
Me too, Fred. I prefer the mid-80s Beggars Banquet / John Leckie years, when the decent production meant you could hear the words.
And what words!
How long have you got? Here’s at least a short track. Like many bands, their best tracks were usually the singles – though On This Day…
Too many favourites to mention, but I’ll go with this one. The first Fall song I ever heard and the last one sung by MES at the Newcastle gig on the final tour.
Theme from Sparta FC.
Brilliant.
From Code:Selfish, Return
I will add the b-side “Putta Block” as it (and the fugitive compilation LP “Palace of Swords Reversed”) really opened my eyes to The Fall.
Anyone missing The Fall should check out Yard Act from Leeds. Their album came out last Friday, and their frontman is like a more jovial MES.
This is the song that made me a convert. (Terrific vid too.)
You can on the 90s Fontana albums too. It’s only after Chiselergate that he descended into incoherence.
That was in reply to @fentonsteve above. Bloody blimey space invader smartphone.
Whatever happened to Wayne Fontana?
Ted Rodgers’ brains burn in hell!
He played the G-Mex in 1986, supporting The Smiths and New Order, at Tony Wilson’s Festival of the Tenth Summer. Very “That Tony Wilson”.
The Fall’s set at the Festival of the Tenth Summer at the G-Mex in 1986 is one scene in the novel “Mayflies” by Andrew O’Hagan.
I just thought I’d mention that.
Introduced by Bill Grundy – the only occasion MES wasn’t the most drunk person on stage.
Just because no one else has posted it… Wings.