MARK FLEMING
  • Home
  • 1976
  • Blog
  • About me
  • My bands
    • 4 Minute Warning
    • Desperation A.M.
    • Little Big Dig
    • Axidents
    • Noniconic
  • Contact
  • Home
  • 1976
  • Blog
  • About me
  • My bands
    • 4 Minute Warning
    • Desperation A.M.
    • Little Big Dig
    • Axidents
    • Noniconic
  • Contact

END OF THE FALL. MARK E SMITH 1957-2018

26/1/2018

 
Picture
It's the New Thing

I've played in bands, on and off, since the late 1970s, but am still in touch with the vocalist of the first, 4 Minute Warning. It was he who texted in the middle of my latest band's practice to break the sad news of the death of Mark E Smith.

I got into The Fall in 1978 when their 2nd single 'It's The New Thing' came out on Step Forward, the label run by Mark Perry of ATV and Sniffin' Glue fame. Three years later, in March 1981, I saw The Fall for the first time, at Edinburgh's seminal punk venue Clouds, supported by two local bands also championed by John Peel, The Prats and Visitors. It was a particularly fertile period for the Manchester band, touring on the back of 'Grotesque After The Gramme' and showcasing the forthcoming 'Slates' E.P.

​Smith leaves a massive legacy. 32 studio albums. 32 live albums. 40 compilations. But the defining aspect of The Fall was that the music was driven by Smith's idiosyncratic lyrics. His caustic writing lay at the heart of The Fall. He could be contradictory, telling one journalist he preferred Bernard Manning's stand-up misogyny to anything that might be framed as 'topical' or 'alternative'; although you suspect that, as with many of his alcohol-laced outpourings, he was merely delighting in winding-up the type of imagination-free, pretentious wannabes he lambasted as 'pseuds.' There was also the fierce integrity that ensured that while The Fall never savoured much in the way of mainstream success (not as if they ever courted it anyway) they retained hugely loyal fans. They may have started by appealing to the leather-jacketed punk rockers who would pogo and spit at most bands preceded with 'The' in the late 1970s, but Smith didn't so much shy away from being pigeon-holed as punk or post-punk as pour utter scorn on the very idea his band could be categorised alongside Siouxsie and The Banshees or Adam and The Ants or any number of The Fall's contemporaries who ended up as Top of the Pops regulars.

Attacked by a drunk

'Totale's Turns,' The Fall's 1980 live album, was so far removed from conventional live rock n' roll it was hilarious. According to Smith's sleeve notes, it was partly recorded before an '80% disco mating audience.' Two tracks were taped at home while 'said home was being attacked by a drunk.' Smith was also at his acerbic best, antagonising the punk fashionistas in the crowd: "Are you doing what you did two years ago? Yeah!?! Well don't make a career out of it." But he seemed to reserve his main gripes for the rest of his band, and by the last song, 'No Xmas For John Quays', he is berating them for perceived slackness: "Will you lot fucking get it together instead of showing off!"

Never destined to become a stadium-filling band like the U2s or Coldplays of this world, The Fall were nevertheless a huge 'cult' band with a diverse fan base and a habit of cropping up in places you'd least expect them to. They soundtracked the BBCi football results ('Theme from Sparta F.C.') They provided the sinister backdrop to the serial killer's murky lair in 'Silence of the Lambs' ('Hip Priest.') Their ragged anthems made an unlikely but apt soundtrack for Scottish choreographer Michael Clark's ballet 'I Am Curious, Orange.'

I saw John the ex-fox, sleeping in some outside bogs

The immediate post-punk era in Edinburgh spawned an outburst of creativity, with musicians exploring new horizons, record labels springing up and clubs like J Js (above Valentino's in East Fountainbridge) celebrating the innovative soundscapes. We'd go there on Thursday nights and listen to everything from Pete Shelley to Heaven 17, Blue Rondo A La Turk to Bauhaus, Fire Engines to The Higsons. You could take your own singles along, and on one occasion I handed the DJ a batch of 45s including The Fall's latest, 'Lie Dream of a Casino Soul.' When the rattling drum intro crashed across the club's PA, the floor cleared, leaving myself and a mate dancing shambolically to this paean to Northern Soul, against a backdrop of bemused New Romantics.

​"Craig. Give the lad a beer."

I saw The Fall a number of times in Edinburgh and Glasgow over the years. One particular highlight was in 1985 at Coasters, the latest incarnation of what had been Clouds, just after 'This Nation's Saving Grace' had come out. At one point I spied Smith dodging into the cloakroom that was doubling as the changing room on the night. Nervously I knocked on the door. The man himself opened it and eyed me suspiciously. "I've got some stuff I've written to show you," I blustered, digging out some typewriter-written short stories I'd jammed into my pockets earlier 'just in case.' (These were sub-James Kelman efforts; although one, 'Legless in Gatsby's,' about my getting barred from a long-gone Edinburgh nightspot, did get published in my local newspaper, Gorgie Dalry Gazette.) Compared to anything this Mancunian wordsmith could produce I'm sure Smith crumpled them into the nearest bin after skimming the first few paragraphs of Scottish dialect. But I did arrest his attention. He looked over his shoulder and snapped to his guitarist: "Hey, Craig. Give the lad a beer." I was duly handed a tin of Carlsberg Special from Mark E Smith. I arsed it before the end of the night, but it was eventually given pride of place on a shelf in my bedroom, like some sporting trophy, until my Mum mistook it for one of my Dad's empties and chucked it out.

Customary adjustments of amp settings

My last Fall gig was in Edinburgh's Liquid Rooms in the early 2000s. They were as fabulously unpredictable as ever, or at least Smith was. The rest of the band churned out all their new riffs with professional tightness. But Smith appeared from stage-left long after the others had kick-started proceedings, his gait unsteady as he proceeded to perform his customary adjustments of guitar amp settings before repositioning elements of the drum kit. Eventually the drummer got so pissed off with this that he kicked his kit apart before storming off stage. As gigs went, it was chaotic and mesmerising in equal measures.

The Fall's final performance was at Glasgow's Queen Margaret Union on November 4 2017. Smith's last song was 'Stout Man.'

The Fall, as featured in the music press, 1978-1982

Finally, a montage of my own cuttings of The Fall culled from Sounds and NME at the peak of my obsession with Mark E Smith's band 1978-1982.
    Picture
    MARK FLEMING
    ​EDINBURGH | SCOTLAND


    ​Categories

    All
    404 Ink - Space
    9/11
    Alan Brazil
    Albums Of 2021
    Albums Of 2022
    Amanda Prowse
    Amy Winehouse
    Andrew Mitchell
    Anna B Savage: A Common Tern
    Ari Up
    Armistice
    Arts Festival
    Balconing
    Barack Obama
    Berlin Wall
    Best Books 2016
    Blackshirts
    Bobby Smith 'One Love Two Colours'
    Book Censorship
    Britains Got Talent
    Can: Flow Motion
    Caroline Flack
    Changing Room; Transforming Lives
    Chavs And Filthy Rich
    Child Cage Fight
    Christmas Truce 1914
    Citizens Advice Scotland
    City Boys Deride NHS
    Claire Connor: Art In Scots
    Clinton STD Scandal
    David Walliams
    Denise Johnson RIP
    Depression Awareness
    Desperation A.M.
    Dick Smith RIP
    Disability
    DOK Exhibitions
    Domestic Violence
    Edinburgh Festival
    Faisal Shahzad
    Falklands War
    Featuring Mark Fleming
    Fisherrow At Night
    Fortitude
    Frankie Abbbott
    Gaelic Suppression
    Game Of Thrones
    Garry O'Connor: Highs/lows
    Gary Alikivi: Northeast Culture
    Gary Speed
    Gerry Anderson
    Gettysburg
    Gore Vidal
    Graham Crowden
    Ground Zero
    Hacking Scandal
    Helga Etsby
    Hillsborough Justice
    Hiroshima 75th
    Homelessness
    Ian Curtis: 40 Years On
    Ibiza
    Ibrox Disaster
    Idlewild - 25th Anniversary
    Internet Petitions
    Ireland's Rocky Journey
    It's A Kind Of A Funny Story
    Ivor Tiefenbrun
    Jake Bugg
    Jenny Saville
    Jeremy Clarkson
    Jeremy Clarkson On PQ17
    Joe Strummer
    John Cormack
    John Hume RIP
    John Peel
    John Terry
    Keira Knightley
    Keith Levene RIP
    Kelly Lee Owens: Inner Song
    Kelvin MacKenzie: Wants Police Apology
    Kirkcaldy High School: Writer In Residence
    Kristallnacht
    Lemmy
    Llyr George
    Lovely Eggs
    Lying About Mental Health
    Malvinas V Falklands
    Manic Street Preachers: Ultra Vivid Lament
    Mark E Smith RIP
    Mental Health And Fat-shaming
    Mental Health Awareness Week 2018
    Mental Health During COVID-19
    Mental Health Prejudice
    Michael Portillo: Death Of A School Friend
    Middle East Peace Process
    Mosley
    Musselburgh Mudflats
    Mysterines: Love's Not Enough
    National Rifle Association
    Neo Fascism
    News International
    Newtown Killings
    Nicolas Winding Refn
    Noel Edmunds
    Organ Donation
    Ozark: Bipolar Disorder
    Paddy Ashdown Delusions
    Paul Research: Skate The Royal Mile
    Paul Weller: On Sunset
    Pete Shelley RIP
    Picnics And Paedophiles
    Poly Styrene
    Porty Shore
    Porty Sunrise
    Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
    Predator Drones
    Primal Scream
    Private Ellison
    Protestant Action 1930s
    PTSD
    Public Service Broadcasting: Bright Magic
    Public Service Broadcasting: Lit Up
    Punishment Of Luxury
    Punk's Impact 35 Years On
    Quadrophenia And The 1979 Mod Revival
    Racism In Football
    Revenant
    Richard Ashcroft
    Richey Edwards
    Rick Perry
    Robbie Hance
    Rupert Murdoch
    Samaritans
    Sarrazin
    Saughton Prison Visit
    Scars Reunion
    Scottish Tories
    Seafield Sunrise
    Seafield Waste Plant
    Self Harm And Ronaldo
    Sepp Blatter
    Sex And Violence
    Shane Meadows
    Shaw Trust
    She Drew The Gun
    Shoegaze: 30 Years Of Loud Dream Pop
    Simon Cowell
    Simon Weston
    Slaughter And The Dogs
    Soldiers Suffering Breakdowns
    SS Mendi Disaster
    Stigma
    Storm Arwen
    Stranglers Live Review
    Suicide
    Suicide And Ignorance
    Surgeon's Hall And The Edinburgh Seven
    Susan Boyle
    Swearing: Dead Man's Shoes
    Syria - Crossing The Red Line
    Teleman: Brilliant Sanity
    Terry Jones
    The Chase
    The Clash Debut
    The Damned
    The Responder: Freeman's Tour-de-force
    The Slits
    The Sun - One-finger Salute To Lord Leveson
    The Wolf Warriors And Werewolves
    This Is England
    This Is England 86 Review
    Time To Change
    Tombstoning
    Tom Chapman
    Tony Scott
    Tories
    Tragedy House And 90s Leith
    Troy Davis
    Unloved: Heartbreak
    Urban Noir Photo Exhibition
    U.S. Slavery Ends 1865
    US War Hystria
    Vic And Bob's Shooting Stars
    Voyager
    Wags
    Wayne Bridge
    Web Trolls
    'When Two Sevens Clash' By Andrew Watson
    Wolf Alice: Space And Time
    World Alzheimer's Day
    World Suicide Prevention Day 2020
    X Factor
    X Ray Spex

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.