RIP Mark E. Smith

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?

been listening to the comp - A Past Gone Mad

comp of 90s Fall material, very good listen....assembled by the comedian Stewart Lee

anyway seems to be a pretty good overview of the era

Man, Brix and the Extricated doing "Hotel Bloedel" sure is sweet.

LOL

You recently played in London with 60s American surf rock legend Dick Dale. How did that go down?

It was all right (laughs). All you heard all night was Dick Dale. He was on before us and we couldn't get away from him. Everywhere you went back stage at the QEH—twas Dick Dale this, Dick Dale that. We went to the hotel and all his people were there. You turned on the radio and it was talking about Dick Dale. Everywhere you went he was there. According to Dick Dale he Invented Link Wray, The Beach Boys, psychedelic Frank Zappa muslc, Elvis Costello. Dick Dale Invented every sort of music, according to him.

Did you meet Dick Dale?

(Laughs) I didn't want to meet him. We were all trying to avoid him. He was Dick Dale!

^from that Wire trove, one of the Invisible Jukeboxes

Brix and the Extricated doing "Hotel Bloedel" sure is sweet.

I was so glad I got to see Brix and the Extricated late last year. It now seems...fitting. Great gig, too.

I hope MES got to hear the Longmont Potion Castle call to Dick Dale.

arid al's dream!

very good track, underrated compilation obscurity

xxxp sounds like MES learned a trick or two from Dick Dale about claiming to have invented various types of music!

Arid Al is possibly top 10 fall for me

i was listening to a dad's army radio episode when falling asleep last night and, half-awake, was surprised upon hearing captain mainwaring say "i love you all but cannot embrace you all" -- the last words in MES's final message. turns out the captain was dreaming about being napoleon and those were his words. maybe this is common knowledge?

not to me, thanks for that!

oh cool! jesus, he knew he was done

Righteous mes Easter egg

Good spot - I had no idea where that phrase came from - but he'd been using it as a sign off for some of his irregular dispatches for quite a while. He issued this statement via VISI.com in 2009 (but obviously has extra poignancy in his final usage):

HEREWITH annual May missive message from I, Mark E. Smith on this day of celebration/reformation:

ANOTHER year has passed - rapidly for some, too slowly for I, one-legged yet again. And yet, things re: The Fall improve, our new label, although young, are coping just about with 'The Fall". Yea, in a Castleford studio built on gravel the group cracked down some odd things. The main concern to avoid the much-ripped off already 'Imperial'. Our next record will be something that scum like that choke on. We will not be playing 'I.O.W.' 'FEST' either but will play the Mojo sick-trio.

STICK ENEMIES IN FRONT OF DAYTIME T.V. AVOID GERMAN-BERT'S MOCK ART EXHIBITION IN L.S.W.

I love you all but i cannot embrace you all/ -As of last year, your dearest pal-

MARK E. SMITH for 'The Fall' 2009

As I type this in the swirling gales of consequence I wish you, my pals, all the very best. MAY THEIR INSIDIOUS RAPPINGS DISINTEGRATE INTO THE FOREGROUND

Although... now that I say this. If this was written during the period he was in his wheelchair, he did become so ill *I believe* that he nearly died.

I interviewed him not long afterwards told him I was glad to see him on two feet and looking well because I'd heard he'd become so ill at one point he had nearly joined the majority and he said something along the lines of: "Yeah, that's right but this isn't fucking Loose Women John, why don't you ask me about the album?"

Don't want to put two and two together and come up with five though. Kind of depends how many other times he's used the phrase I guess.

Nope. He used it quite a lot it seems. Here's a variation from 2008:

ANNUAL BULLETIN FROM THE DESK OF M.E.S. May-14-08

Dearest Friends:

The Real Mark E. Smith here:

1)Your contempt for the squirrel thing.

2)Your support for the tour of "L.P. that wasn't out yet.".

3)Your toleration of ghost-writer Collings absurd chapter titles.

--TO YOU I GIVE MY GREATEST THANKS.

I LOVE YOU ALL, MEIN COMRADES, But I cannot embrace you all-
because, in the main, I have pulled out the lap-top lead to use as a handy throttling device for mediaists, activists, groupies and Alan Wise(show not on ever).

From all this, dear friend, there are two things.

1) Beware, Big Dave from Duesseldorf is out of hospital and planning a new book- it is good.
2)BUT the main perogative is "The Fall" group and always will be.

Your pal,
Mark E. Smith
May 2008

Quoting Captain Mainwaring? That is so perfect!

Just watched the Decline of Western Civilization, and spotted an MES sticker on the door of Slash magazine's office

more details plz! did it just say "Mark E Smith?"

hah okay here's a screenshot, I think it's MES though I could be wrong

https://www.instagram.com/p/BetgpvBB2BR/