RIP Mark E. Smith

Looked it up, it's both years but mostly 95, 4 songs from 96

I was there too in 96, first time I'd seen them and all I knew by them was This Nation's Saving Grace. I remember it was in the middle of the afternoon, which felt weird, and the cameraman spent the whole gig filming Brix and ignoring the rest of the group.

I was aware of the Fall then but all I'd heard was Why Are People Grudgeful because it was on one of those Indie Top 20 CDs. I did like that set though. I was a bit daunted by the huge discography, and this was around the time they put out all those dodgy compilations, so I didn't actually take the plunge and buy something by them for a couple of years when I bought Perverted By Language on CD, it was the version with the singles on it so it had Wings which quickly became my favourite song by them and has remained so.

It's a pity that Phoenix festival wasn't successful because it was only about 25 miles from my home town, I went with my sister in '96 and my grandma drove us there, she had aunts who lived in a village near the festival site so she knew all the back roads and we skipped all the traffic.

I saw 'em around that time, too... I remember them playing 'The Chiselers' and Karl Burns looking terrified during his bit.

I saw them once but got so drunk I don't remember a thing about the gig, which I guess is at least kinda appropriate.

Saw The Fall on the 1993 tour (w/ Scanlon/Hanley) and then again in 2001 when he had the young rockabilly backing band, lots of turning down the amps on that show. MES looked especially tired the 2nd time, as opposed to drunk (semi-functioning alcoholism?) the first time. Some setlists c/o the webz:

1993:
M5
Ladybird (Green Grass)
Glam Racket
Lost in Music
Why Are People Grudgeful
I'm Going to Spain
Big New Prinz
The Mixer
Free Range
The League of Bald-Headed Men
Paranoia Man in Cheap Shit Room
Idiot Joy Showland
Strychnine
War
Hit the North
Deadbeat Descendent
A Past Gone Mad
High Tension Line

2001:
The Joke
Cyber Insekt
Two Librans
And Therein
Touch Sensitive
Crop-Dust
Bourgeois Town
Kick The Can
F-oldin' Money
Mr. Pharmacist
Sons of Temperance
My Ex-Classmates' Kids
Enigrammatic Dream
I Wake up in the City
Reprise: Jane - Prof Mick - Ey Bastardo
Way Round
I Am Damo Suzuki

The Hearts DJ played 'Edinburgh Man' nice and loud at half time. The best part of the game for me.

xp I really like My Ex-Classmates' Kids (which is why I don't think Are You Are Missing Winner is that bad really)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=42EfHW5npko

i had a riot watching this tonight.

The Hearts DJ played 'Edinburgh Man' nice and loud at half time. The best part of the game for me.

Now that is cool.

That's really cool!

it is. and it's worth pointing out to non-scots that Hearts = Heart of Midlothian football club.

Xpost:mojo video. So nice to see him laughing and enjoying himself so much. Such a character. Man, I don't think I'll ever stop missing him. I haven't stopped blasting The Fall since Wednesday. Sometimes I think Peel was right, they really are all you need.

xp I really like My Ex-Classmates' Kids (which is why I don't think Are You Are Missing Winner is that bad really)

beginning to feel my way slightly, probably best expressed by messages to another fall fan (obv all getting in touch with each other):

hey! likewise. it’s hit me harder than i expected and tbh media reports/social media/personal reminiscences don’t really help. there’s something v central about them, and at the moment i don’t know how to represent that. feel it’s best done through small observations or categories of stuff than grand statements. will let you know how it goes as i would like to put something together but it will need to be different from anything else out there that i’ve seen.

yes, same here. paul hanley put it well just now i thought:

“I’m not one for crocodile tears and hagiography, but the thought that this is now a finished piece of work has made me genuinely sad.

Well, that was tearful. I've updated the 2017 Fall Gigography page, including videos from the last Fall outing on 4 November at QMU in Glasgow. Thanks to Mike Ritchie for those. And thank you to the immortal MES. https://t.co/hzJpQ16zaL

— Fall news (@fallnews) January 27, 2018

I’m not one for crocodile tears and hagiography, but the thought that this is now a finished piece of work has made me genuinely sad. https://t.co/ZgU39qldr4

— Paul Hanley (@hanleyPa) January 28, 2018

BBC6 has a concert available for a limited time from 1995 Roadhouse and lots of tributes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ry06oPMtB20

i hate the guts of shakin' stevens.

Hey little singer come on up
Show us your house and show us your cock

the working class has been shafted
so what are the fuck you staring at?
your philosophy in life it seems
living out some ad man’s dream

Finally felt up to listen to something and ended up going with New Facts Emerge for whatever reason. No real stereo setup at home so cranked it up in the car, incidentally the same setting that i’d first heard it back in the summer. Anyway, it’s not an original thought but it’s just impossible not to be affected by Nine Out of Ten; by the song itself and its position as the last song on (presumably) the last Fall album.
It reminds me a bit of Job Search, which has that similarly forlorn feel, pared-back, no drums. (At the time I was amazed at how close it came to the tones and colors of Perverted By Language)
But also of Ol’ Gang. Both songs use a backing track that repeats—on Ol’ Gang Smith lets it play out once and only starts singing the second time around. Nine Out of Ten flips that to devastating effect.

“Then I was older…”

The sound of the guitar absent Smith’s voice is so close to how death actually feels: (they were -just- here, they can’t be gone)

Just got the dvd of that Hacienda gig (includes 3 other gigs as well) and though it was a bit expensive (about $50)I'm very glad I did, as it's shit hot! MES is absolutely on fire, making an effort to get the lyrics right and in sync with the change-ups. Not often the case with many live shows. Sweetheart was prone to this as well. Anyway the dvd is outstanding and definitely recommended to whomevers inclined. Also was listening to that "red box" comp. from a few years back and was nearly in tears during last minute or so of O! Brother. Anyone who ever sex The Fall were a "one note/idea" proposition, just aren't really listening. I was overwhelmed by the poignancy of those last few verses and Mark's vocals are quite well...gorgeous.

Beefheart not fucking sweetheart. Fucking spell check on kindle sucks!!!!!

And "says" not "sex". For Christ sake man. Sorry folks!

*pogos furiously to oh brother bassline*

Beefheart not fucking sweetheart. Fucking spell check on kindle sucks!!!!!

Captain Sweetheart :)

At school, q Captain Beefheart concert had a surprising cameo in a history project. The teacher mistakenly read his name out as Captain Beefeater, annoying my friend Owain. Captain Sweetheart is better though.

Captain Sweetheart is my fav thing :)

But also of Ol’ Gang. Both songs use a backing track that repeats—on Ol’ Gang Smith lets it play out once and only starts singing the second time around. Nine Out of Ten flips that to devastating effect.

“Then I was older…”

The sound of the guitar absent Smith’s voice is so close to how death actually feels: (they were -just- here, they can’t be gone)

I was thinking what a good final track for... everything... 9 out of 10 was, but that's a really nice observation about the doubling up. It's also nice that his voice is so raw and exposed in the mix.

Great live clip of "Words Of Expectation" interspersed with MES talking about the group, and then Kay Carroll yelling at Tony Wilson on the phone.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rtUI7KSXZ68

btw research on the Gigography site reveals the first of the two Fall shows I saw required me to rush from home, TV-watching the Mets' miraculous World Series Game 6 win. So best night ever, or at least top 10.

Saturday, 25 October 1986 Ritz, New York City, New York

Barmy / City Hobgoblins / Living too Late / U.S. 80s-90s / Terry Waite Sez / Riddler / Mr. Pharmacist / Lucifer over Lancashire / Shoulder Pads / Gut of the Quantifier / Gross Chapel-GB Grenadiers / Bombast / Prole Art Threat // R.O.D. // L.A. / Cruiser's Creek

housemate borrowed me his signed copy of renegade. enchanting.

my 2-hour radio tribute:

https://spinitron.com/radio/playlist.php?station=kwva&month=Jan&year=2018&playlist=43814#here

no audio archive, sorry.

I am sure I was at that show, Morbs!

this is the first fall gig i went to during my first term at university:

Wednesday, 14 December 1988 Ritz, Manchester

Carry Bag Man / Wrong Place, Right Time / Hit the North / Bad News Girl / Dead Beat Descendant / Jerusalem / Van Plague / Yes, O Yes / Big New Prinz / Cab It Up / Squid Law / Totally Wired / Guest Informant / Bremen Nacht / Tuff Life Boogie / Mr. Pharmacist

first time i was really aware of the fall though was because of a smash hits panini sticker album in 85/86, kind of crazy that they were in it in hindsight

well, they do love pop-stock stickers...

in other news, copies of The Fallen have disappeared from Amazon except for the ones that are now priced at $50-200 or more :(

had two separate orders cancelled by sellers, really a drag

This band need more than a book, they require a fucking encyclopedia. Now that there's a definite end to the band, someone'll research and write the ultimate book on this band without feeling like they're shovelling snow while it's still snowing.

Don't even mean thus argumentatively but imo endless snow-shovelling is a good thing especially re Mark E. Can't demarkate that stuff

housemate borrowed me his signed copy of renegade. enchanting.

anyone else? an ebook at my library.

Don't think this has been linked here yet, a selection of MES/Fall articles from the archives of The Wire:
https://www.thewire.co.uk/in-writing/the-portal/archive-portal-marke-smith-the-fall

oh cool, cheers!

The Marshall Suite is really fun

Thanks for heads up on The Wire Fall archive. Some good stuff in there.

:)

Ian Cusack on MES

Not sure who Ian Cusack is but that was the single best post-death piece on Mark i've read yet.

fucking hell the live version of middl. mass on 'a part of america, therein' is incredible.

that whole album is really great, also has my favorite version of "Totally Wired"

Yeah, agreed, the CD with Slates/A Part of America... was my introduction to early Fall, and what an introduction it was.

I was just thinking about an essay I read in a book which analysed 'I Am Damo Suzuki' in depth - I read it round 1997 or so, it was in an anthology with all kinds of articles about pop music, some dating back to the very early 50s, and I'd really like to get hold of it again. Does anyone have any idea what it could be?