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Fri., Apr. 19	North Cafe Bar, Blackburn (16 Town Hall Street) "Tickets would be advantageous owing to limited capacity," according to Ronnie Brown of the North Bar. Phone venue 01254 682670.......07790 279557 or email ronnie@north-bar.co.uk for details. Tickets also available from Action Records (Preston); X Records (Bolton); and Astonishing (Burnley).
Sat. Apr. 20	The Garage, London Tix £12 advance; doors 19:30, Fall on stage 21:45. Ticket Outlets: Credit Card hotline 020 - 7344 0044 (24hrs) Stargreen: 020 - 7734 8932. Also from www.meanfiddler.com & www.ticketmaster.co.uk & in person from Ticketmaster in selected HMV, Tower Records & Waitrose stores, plus usual agents (subject to booking fee) Tickets without bkg fee for cash from Camden Ticketshop and Astoria Box Office. Info line: 020 - 8963 0940
Sun., Apr. 21	All Tomorrow's Parties, Camber Sands Holiday Centre, East Sussex Stage 2, 12:30 - 1:30 a.m.
Sun., Apr. 28	All Tomorrow's Parties, Camber Sands Holiday Centre, East Sussex Stage 1, 10:15 - 11:15 p.m.
Sun., May 19	11th Annual Wave-Gottik-Treffen goth festival in Leipzig, Germany
Tues., May 21	Starclub, Dresden, Germany (phone +493514210302, doors @ 8pm)
Fri., May 24	Loppen, Christiana, Copenhagen, Denmark (phone +45 3257 8422)

band at present: MES (v.), Ben Pritchard (g.), Jim Watts (b.), Dave Milner (d.). Ed Blaney is still the manager, despite rumours to the contrary.

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The May edition of Wire has found its way to the magazine racks of Massachusetts, finally. What a terrific article by Simon Ford, with equally great photos by Kevin Cummings. There's a ton of stuff in there that was news to me. I can't wait to read Simon's book (as previously reported, out on Quartet sometime next year).

I have permission to reprint the article on the Fall News, but not before the magazine's shelf-life has expired, sometime towards the end of May.

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Mark was on Bruce Dickinson's "Freak Show" ("for freaks, rockers, headbangers and closet cases everywhere") on May 5. A couple of reviews:

Martin Wheatley:

It was in the middle hour of Dickinson's show (about 50 minutes taking out the intro and outro). They played a few records Mark brought in and chatted the rest of the time.

It started badly since Dickinson played 'Victoria' which he said was the only Fall record 6Music had!

To start with he and Mark seemed to be talking different languages. Dickinson is not the best interviewer in the world and he seemed to be going through a standard list of questions which as we all know doesn't work with Mark. He also had problems telling when he was serious or when he was being ironic or just taking the piss.

However as the interview went along and they relaxed and it became more freeform it got a lot better. Mark was in good humour throughout.

It became a very wide ranging discussion. There is a nice incongruity in a HM singer who specialises in satanic lyrics and a singer with a progressive punk band spending several minutes of a radio interview discussing how kids should be brought up! Other topics of conversation included vinyl vs CDs, MES father's musical tastes, the Internet (inevitably!), Fall bootlegs and much else. Curiously I heard no mention of squirrels!

Once the interview was over and MES had gone Dickinson said Mark was very tired he had been working very hard last night - which is near as anyone could get to saying 'my guest was pissed'. Whilst not being your average radio interview (he'd be letting us down if it was!) I don't think he had anything to apologise about. I enjoyed it.

Andrew Crane:

Listened to it last night. MES was on between 10 and 11 pm. The usual interview subjects - the internet, kids today, computers, bad compilations, trusting the band, 24 hour party people, etc. Classic joke, however - after Bruce said that Mark resembled Steve Davis, he replied "you look like Cheggers as a youth!", after which Dickinson didn't rib MES further. Other than that, Mark was as incomprehensible as you'd expect, which was a treat as my mum and brother were also listening to it.

MES played some interesting records (all vinyl, natch) - an experimental reggae one called 'I Bust It In The Name Of Jah', some Mexican psychedelia, a weird electronic-ish group from Berlin, and a hilarious Country & Western record entitled 'Life Gets Tedious, Don't It?', which The Fall really badly need to cover. And The Monks' 'I Hate You'. Possibly one more as well.

6Music's "Dream Ticket" page currently has five tracks from the Manchester Roadhouse March 22, 1995 gig. http://www.bbc.co.uk/6music/bbcsessions/dream_ticket.shtml.

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Upcoming releases:

2G+2, out on Action Records on June 10 (cat# TAKE18CD) will comprise nine tracks recorded at the Nov. 2001 US gigs, plus three studio tracks (New Formation Sermon and Distilled Mug Art are from the withdrawn "The Present" EP; I Wake Up in the City was on the Flitwick freebie):

1. The Joke
2. New Formation Sermon (studio)
3. My Ex-Classmates' Kids
4. Enigrammatic Dream
5. I Wake Up in the City (studio)
6. Kick the Can
7. F-'Oldin' Money
8. Bourgeois Town
9. Distilled Mug Art (studio)
10. Ibis Afro-Man
11. Mr. Pharmacist
12. I Am Damo Suzuki
sleeve by Pascal Le Gras

You can pre-order the CD from Action for £8.99 at http://www.action-records.co.uk/cgi-bin/tame/Action/fall.tam. Don't forget to claim the Fall website 10% discount - just make a note in the comments box when ordering online.

According to Amazon UK the 2xCD (downgraded from a 3xCD box?) "Totally Wired" (Essential #CMETD461) has been pushed back to July 15. Tracks are:

CD1
TOTALLY WIRED / NEW FACE IN HELL / FIT AND WORKING AGAIN / THAT MAN / CONTAINER DRIVERS / ROWCHE RUMBLE / HOW I WROTE ELASTIC MAN / AN OLDER LOVER / CARY GRANT'S WEDDING / PAY YOUR RATES / CITY HOBGOBLINS / MIDDLE MASS / GRAMME FRIDAY / LEAVE THE CAPITOL / ENGLISH SCHEME / NEW PURITAN / PROLE ART THREAT

CD2
THE NWRA / THE MAN WHOSE HEAD EXPANDED / LIE DREAM OF A CASINO SOUL / I FEEL VOXISH / HIP PRIEST / HOTEL BLOEDEL / WINTER ONE / LUDD GANG / SMILE / TEMPO HOUSE / HEXEN DEFINITIVE-STRIFE KNOT / WINGS / EAT YOURSELF FITTER / KICKER CONSPIRACY

(sorry about the CAPS - I didn't feel like rekeying it all)

Castle/Essential/Sanctuary also have a "Singles Box" 4xCD set (#CMGBX526) due for release on the same day:

The Singles Box Set
The FALL
Sanctuary Records Group Ltd (Record Producer)
CMGBX 526 SET (4 CD)

CD1: HOW I WROTE ELASTIC MAN / CITY HOBGOBLINS
CD2: TOTALLY WIRED / PUTTA BLOCK
CD3: THE MAN WHOSE HEAD EXPANDED / LUDD GANG
CD4: KICKER CONSPIRACY / WINGS / CONTAINER DRIVERS / NEW PURITAN

Also it looks like the Derby Hall, Bury (27apr82) gig will be out at some point on Cog Sinister/ Voiceprint. This was supposed to be a two-gig set coupled with the terrific Queen Mary Union, London (05feb81) soundboard and to be sold at regular price -- doesn't look like that's going ahead now. To make matters worse, purchasers of the recent Cog/Voiceprint reissues of Room to Live and Palace of Swords Reversed will already own several tracks from this Bury gig (although the discs claim the tracks were recorded at Manchester's Band on the Wall club, they're really from this Derby Hall gig).

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In addition to his excellent Fall at a Glance (http://fallwatch.cjb.net) and Fall Timeline (http://liquid2k.com/fall/timeline.html) pages, Conway Paton has taken over stewardship of the Fall Lyrics Parade (http://liquid2k.com/fall/lyrics/lyrics.html), and it looks great. Yay Conway!

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North Cafe Bar, Blackburn, April 19:

Yousef:

Bit of an adventure this one.

So the gig's in Blackburn, a town famous only for its 4000 holes and Jack Straw and with only one thing to recommend it: the fact that it isn't Burnley. Whereas places like Bury and Bolton have been forced to progress and modernize (after a fashion) due to their proximity to Manchester, these twin mill towns are too isolated and too far north to be to held in the city's influence. They are a fetid and unwelcoming cultural and intellectual black hole with a quaint line in misogyny, racism and violence.

To be fair they do make the place hard to get to; there isn't a light on the main road into Blackburn and they stop signposting the place a safe distance out of town. You really have to be truly determined or truly lost to get there. Anyway, we did finally get into town, parked up and set off for the venue. The first three people we asked for directions didn't even pause to answer, just stomped on with fixed stare and not a step missed. Finally we got directions from a barmaid (which turned out to be wrong) and after a couple more conversations consisting of little more than grunts and finger pointing, we rolled up at North at about 9:25. Manning the door a petite middle-aged blonde and a completely hairless Brian Glover dead ringer.

"Tickets lads?"

What the fuck? A sellout. In Blackburn. They told us to give it half an hour so we retired to a local pub. Settling down with a pint I struck up a conversation with a thick set boss-eyed lad on the next table. He was a dj (ever noticed how everyone you meet in pubs nowadays is a dj?) and scaffolder, up from Manchester himself. I explained our situation and he gave his recommendations for local clubs should we not be able to get in the gig. And then came the classic line, "Don't go in the one round here, it's full of pakkis and queers." So Yousef carefully hides his silver painted fingernails and gently tries to steer the conversation onto something less likely to get my back up.

No need in the event, because at that very moment a dwarfish middle- aged chap chose to make his exit by flinging a pint pot at the pool table, showering the whole room in shattered glass. Eight bouncers (approx. twice the number of punters in the pub) flew out of the door after him while the bar staff began trying to relocate the shards. My two companions (both originally from much more gentle climes) exchanged worried glances while I fished chunks of glass from out of my pint.

We returned to the venue at about 10pm and waited about 5 minutes to the strains of a heavy metal cover of I'm a Believer (where do they find those support bands?) before we were let in. The place was absolutely packed (well above capacity) with the usual suspects: the majority 30 & 40-something spectacled ones plus the ones that look like far too old to be there and the ones that look far too young to be there. And where the hell do all those attractive and seemingly unattached young girls appear from at every Fall gig?

It's safe to guess that MES hadn't picked the intro music (Strokes, White Stripes, Joy Division) but a swiftly removed Blue Monday suggested that he might have been exerting some influence. A small keyboard at the back of the stage boded well and the atmosphere in the audience was fantastic; all those r'n'r starved Lancastrians packed into the tiny room. The indie-rock gave way to an MES spoken word recording and the band took the stage.

Mansion opened and sounded fantastic, full-on menace and dirty great lurching bass. "Good evening we are the Fall. From the hills of Accrington we descend." A great start and sadly the most lucid Smith would be all evening. A line or two from Race with the Devil (this year's amp-fiddling, anyone?) and the dying notes give way to the heavy metal version of the Joke. We got a long rendition with complete lyrics, though predictably not in the correct order. Throughout the evening MES would take a decidedly more minimalist approach to the vocals.

An abortive Cyber Insekt prefaced the best And Therein I've heard for a while, followed by a full Insket, tonight complete with "Oh Christine from the FM radio station in your knowingness" lyrics. A brief pause during which the audience shouted requests (the best being a slightly surreal "Play whatever song you feel comfortable with") and then a muscular 2 Librans which set of a brief flurry of female-led slam dancing down the front and was easily the best song of the night.

And then the rot set in. A far-too-long Antidotes was reduced to repetition of its (or even Kashmir's) riff and little more than its title. Microphone problems began around this time too, MES had three mics on the go and consistently (deliberately?) managed to sing into whichever one had been buried lowest in the mix. It led to an amusing moment, though, when both he and Ben bemusedly watched the abandoned one topple over in seeming slow motion until it hit the floor with a deafening thud.

The Kick the Can/F-Oldin Money medley was still present although I wish they'd drop the initial segment with its horrendous sound of '68 Clapto-blues riff. Bourgeois Town was the only other offering from AYAMW.

You may have noticed that I haven't yet mentioned the much- anticipated keyboards but that's only because they weren't much in evidence. The only time I noticed them was at the beginning Ketamine Sun and I don't think they made it to the end of the song. KS also saw an unfortunate incident when MES started fiddling with what I presume were Jim's effects pedals. Jim (who had already missed the first verse of Mr. Pharmacist due to bass problems) looked extremely and genuinely pissed off, balled at Smith and gave him a sharp shove back to the front of stage. For a second it looked as though he was about to walk, but he strapped his guitar back on again and led the song to a venomous finish. And good on him.

They all returned for an encore of what I hesitate to call Dr Buck's Letter. Blaney (I guess, he looks a hell of a lot older than he did at the Firkin) was reading lyrics from a large white book, sample: "it's Dr Buck's letter, what the fuck is in the letter, please tell me Dr Buck. Oh shit, open the letter. Dr Buck, Dr What- the-Fuck." At this point Mark reached over, took the mic from him mid- syllable, sang a couple of lines, gave up, handed it back to him and fucked off. A couple more choruses and that's your lot.

Strange one this, definitely had the feel of a warm up or even a rehearsal but that would beg the question of why Blackburn for the venue. MES, despite the occasional grin, clearly wasn't overly enthusiastic (relying largely on repetition of one or two lines of each song) and a lot of the songs were stretched far and unproductively beyond their usual lengths. I almost got the feeling that the band had been forced into the gig against their wishes and were merely filling their slot. A shame because the tightly-packed crowd were well up for it. They have a great, tight, abrasive sound (and the new drummer is ace) but there isn't enough variety; 2 Librans shone because of the contrast between the swooping verses and pounding chorus and F-oldin Money was flawless but on other occasions (Way Round, Joke, Antidotes etc) the endless and unsubtle repetition became tiring. I reckon a delve into the back catalogue could be productive here, there's so much neglected material and surely no-one needs to hear another version of the Joke or Pharmacist at this stage. Either that or get some keyboards in there. B- more light and shade next time please.

Setlist: Mansion/Joke/And Therein/Cyber Insekt/2 Librans/Antidotes/Kick the Can-F-Oldin Money/Bourgeois Town/Mr Pharmacist/Way Round/Ketamine Sun/Dr Buck

Ed Blaney:

Re The attempted reviews from Blackburn,1st of all,Mr Youseff? Who are you to call anyone a prostitute,Let alone make comments on the venue,Town,Club even the carpet colour and the dynamics of THE FALL,You were so wrong,Steve Evetts joined MES on stage,The promoters wife was the Lady you referred to on the door(who let you in by mistake)I suggest you follow another group because you aint no real fan of THE FALL,In Blackburn The FALL had a great time both with the fans and the venues staff who looked after THE FALL very,very well,So next time keep out,Stop peddling MP3s and buy a ticket otherwise go and follow Gareth from Pop idols.

Also a message from the staff in Blackburn,Call in anytime for a drink! Wanker

Ian Leaver:

I've only been to Blackburn once in my life before and that was to see The Pogues 17 years ago. Yousef is right though - getting into Blackburn itself is near impossible due to lack of signs. Getting out (in the correct direction) is worse. What a fucking shithole. In Dodge City the sheriff would take the guns off you before entering town. In Blackburn he gives them to you on the way in. Hideous atmosphere of latent violence and racism shrouds the whole place.

The North Cafe Bar or whatever was far too small. I thought at first its intimate atmosphere might make for an interesting gig, but if you were any distance from the front you couldn't see much and the acoustics weren't good. Smith and Jim were on good form. Ben seemed to be enjoying himself, but I can't really approve of members of The Fall wearing denim jackets and chewing gum. I enjoyed bits, notably the beginning (mansion was it?) and the end with Ketamine Sun and then Ed excelling himself on Dr Buck's Letter.

I like Led Zeppelin as much as the next person, but Antidote sung over Kashmir? Come on now, it's not really on!

I'm the one who always enjoys himself - I even enjoyed The Ritz three years ago but I was not unhappy when this one finished. I was expecting something more positive here from Yousef, who seemed to have enjoyed it. Sorry I didn't get to the pub Paul - I didn't manage to even get into Blackburn itself until about half nine and the venue was hard enough to find never mind a pub! Gig number 35 won't go down as a classic and I'm never going to Blackburn in my life again! Drinking whiskey until 3.30am with my mate Peter in Huddersfield wasn't a good idea either, even though I did get a lie in until 10am as I hadn't got the kids with me!

Mick Travis:

Blackburn gig was excellent. Depends on where you were standing I guess. The sound got lost a few rows back....but the Blackburn stuff so far is harsh and ill informed...racist...yep probably, like Manchester isn't??? kids in Blackburn live 30 mins from manchester and whoever thinks that this is pure hicksville is an idiot. The towns a shit hole..carbon copy of all towns in the north...and most of manchester...unless your sat outside some wine bar on deansgate.

Jesus Christ fall fans complaining about a working class shit hole.Perhaps a gig in kensington will suit ?

Great gig tho...and I promise you the band wanted to be there. The Blackburn Gig could turn out to be one of the most fortuitous they have played in a long while.

Ed Blaney:

A Big huge thanks for MICK TRAVIS and his genuine top of the northern range comments,Go on Lad! Ed

Stephen:

Finally retrieved the setlist from my car. It reads:

MANSION / JOKE / CYBER / 2 LIBRANS / ANTIDOTES / SHAKE OFF / BOURJOUIS / BEN/F'OLDIN/KICK / PHARM / ENIGRAM / KETAMINE / WAYROUND / DAMO // BUCKS / CLASS

Needless to say, it wasn't stuck to. Cyber Insect was halted as it started, to be replaced by And Therein. I don't think Shake Off was attempted, and the 'BEN' bit in the medley refers to some brief random guitaring before the usual Kick The Can/F'Olding/Kick The Can stuff. F'Oldin' and Mr. Pharmacist were pretty much the only songs all night that all the lyrics were present and correct for. We even got an improvised verse of F'Oldin' referring to 'I went to my manager just to get a little money...'.

Damo Suzuki wasn't played, neither was Classmates Kids, possibly due to what had happened on stage. Toward the end of a glorious Ketamine Sun, Mark had staggered over to Jim's brand new laptop, picked it up off the two crates it was resting on, and thrown it to the floor. Jim looked furious, shoved MES in the back, and took off his bass, looking like he was about to leave. He decided against it, however, and carried on playing it as if his life depended on it.

MES seemed to find it amusing and smiled at Ben, but did decide to pat Jim on the arm as they walked off stage. The encore was a piss poor Dr. Buck, with Blaney improvising some truly god awful lyrics, based around the titles of various Fall songs such as Kurious Oranj and Paranoia Man In Cheap Shit Room and suchlike. Clearly not reading from the lyric folder that Mark had offered him.

Still, it was a bloody good gig. I've seen the Fall four times now, at the tender age of 21 (ahem) and the only gig that was better was the Footage and Firkin one from November. Or so I think anyway. My girlfriend was converted, even if Mark had taken to the stage with a disturbing stain around his crotch.

Even with the stripped down line up they do work well. It was a shame that the keyboards weren't working, but Jim more than made up for it with his bass playing. Ben is also a fine musician, and manages to help carry the set when Mark is barking into three different microphones. The new drummer's not as good as Spencer or Tom, but he does a good enough job. Mark was good when he was trying. But all too often he wasn't...

Alan McBride:

Most memorable thing of the night for me was the piss stain on Mark's charcoal cacks, which was presented rather unfortunately just six inches from my face for much of the gig. Only the second fall gig that I ever considered leaving early from, the first being the last London one - was so uninspired I didn't even bother ambling down to Garage even though I was in town. Set list lying on stage was promising with Mansion and lots from Unutterable - but of course they trotted out Joke, Pharmacist, Kick the can. Shake off was on the list but they didn't do it - shame. Ketamine was good - for the first while I thought it was a new track. No applause for encore at end virtually, so a silly abortive thing with the other chappie doing Dr Bucks (although it was an amusing take). Bourgeois Town weak, a pale echo of the Belfast gig where I first heard that. The main problem I have with the latest incarnation of Mark and band is that the band settle into a riff repetition thing and then he settles into a vocal repetition thing and it just stalls and goes nowhere - like '...just can't find my way...' or '...you gotta kick the can...' or whatever. Totally loses the point of 'we dig repetition' in my ho.

Ah there were some highlights, and funny one-liners ('...we are the fall...we wish we could be celebreties...') but I can't recall them. Some of the usual drama when Mark knocked over a glass on stage, snaking leads splashing about (don't they stop gigs for lesser hazards?), Mark fucking a mike stand back rather deliberately at Jim (maybe pissed that Jim had deposited the glass in that rather dubious spot), Mark covering guitarists eyes and laughing at something I guess only he knew was funny, owner of establishment standing at door pointing and laughing openly at Mark when the gig started (though he and skinhead bouncer seemed to 'get' it by the end).

Interesting that the band are now heavily reliant on material from the penultimate album rather than Arse Mithering Whiner.

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The Garage, London, April 20:

Gez Wood:

Just got back from the fun that was The Garage.

McLusky were superb.

And to think it was only a few days ago that it was said that The Fall never have a decent support band.

The Fall Band, highly coherent, same set list as Blackburn, the same length of songs as Blackburn, otherwise imagine Frank Sinatra, New York 1973.

Otherwise, no fun travel stories to relate. As I watched McLusky, I had a group of five 45+ year old blokes to my right, four teenage girls to my left. The usual Fall crowd, then.

Jonathan Norton:

Pretty good, MES apparently sober.

To Nkroachment:Yarbles/ The Joke/ Cyber Insekt/ Two Librans (abandoned)/ And Therein/ Kick The Can&F-Oldin' Money (medley)/ Bourgeouis Town/ Mr Pharmacist/ Antidotes/ Ketamine Sun

Goes offstage. Band return, start up playing. Ed Blamey comes on to sing "I Wake Up In The City", then MES replaces him to "Ex-Classmates" (band continue same tune throughout). Then play "Way Round".

Maurice Leahy:

SOLD OUT! but luckily we got tickets outside for more or less face value. One tout was selling them at 30 quid a piece and they were being snapped up. Most people we approached en route to the door wished us luck in getting in - v. polite Fall fans.

Nice to see venue packed. Band v. tight. Mark stops bemused bass player at one point while muttering something about '"the bass player and Camden".

Lengthy versions of 'The Joke' and 'Cyber Insekt'. Great version of 'B.Town' also Mr. Pharmacist went down really. Ed. came out first for encore 'I Wake Up in the City' adding some improvisation (even giving the two blokes selling t-shirts at the back a mention which had them grinning) before Mark went into 'My Ex-Class Mates Kids'. T-shirts pretty cool by the way. pic of MES holding fag with the words The Fall - 2002 Tour

My girlfriend who'd hadn't seen them since Edinburgh circa '95/'96 thought they were better then she'd expected ("he walked off after only a few numbers last time").

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Graham Coleman:

Greil Marcus finally pronounces judgement on The Fall... scroll down quite a bit or search for my name!!

http://www.rockcritics.com/gre_marc_online_exchange_march_2002.html

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All Tomorrow's Parties, Camber Sands Holiday Centre, April 28:

Mick Cunningham:

Just got back from Camber Sands - excellent festival, interesting music and not having to sleep in a tent although it must be said that Camber Sands is truly a depressing, soulless place.

The Fall came on 10.15 pm on Sunday night and delivered a blistering set similar to recent sets except for doing I wake up in the city (sung by Ed Blaney) which turned into Ex Classmates when MES came back on stage. A lot of people there were obviously not too well up on the Fall, but the entire audience response was the best of the weekend with probably 1,500 attending.

Bougieous (i can't spell) Town was the highlight of the evening and you had to feel sorry for the Breeders who came on afterwards because it was impossible to follow an excellent set by the Fall.

An 11 track CD is available (ATPR3CD) featuring bands from the festival. Fall track included is Two Librans. This will be available through record shops.

With your ticket, you got a triple cd featuring every artist performing and on CD1 there is Way Round.

Both tracks are taken straight from Unutterable.

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Thanks to John Blakeley for typing up this interview with MES from the Sydney Morning Herald, July 13, 1990:

"Still Getting Up," by Shane Danielson

Age has wearied them, the children of punk. Some have lapsed into an almost bourgeois respectability, making safe, charmless records that do nothing but discredit their history; the others, their enthusiasm withered, their resources depleted have fallen silent, and are lost to us.

But some - a very few - have persevered, every bit as furious and uncompromising as they ever were. Amongst them are The Fall: for more than a decade, the purveyors of splintered rhythms, skewed guitar lines, songs that hover at some imprecise point between slashing anger and deranged mantra. Their fuel is scraps of media and culture, snatched, chewed up and spat out in a manner uniquely their own.

The creative process enabling this - as explained by their songwriter and leader, Mark E. Smith - is essentially one of premeditated sabotage: "We've got three songwriters in the band at the moment, and they're all contributing material. What usually happens is someone brings in a melody or chord progression or something and plays it. And then," he laughs, "I get at it and just completely wreck it."

"But to me, that process of attacking a song is a pretty vital one. Those kind of quirks are what distinguishes the music I like; they're what makes it interesting, because I must admit, when I listen to the radio, most of it just slides past me completely. It's just wallpaper - very, very predictable and repetitive, with no surprises or risk whatsoever. And that's kind of sad."

It was once said of Smith that he shifted styles between each successive Fall album, so as to alienate deliberately the fans he had won with his last. The suggestion amuses him, though he admits: "I think it's more to do with the fact that I'm basically a very undisciplined sort of writer, actually. It's not much more profound than that. I write like I do simply because I can't any other way."

With titles like Haf Found Bormann and Shoulderpads, and lyrics that often seem designed more to obscure than enlighten, Smith has long enjoyed a reputation as something of a linguistic escape artist, one taking shelter in his own strange dialect, into which ordinary English intrudes only peripherally.

"I've never believed that there are subjects which are 'right' for songs, and the way I write reflects that. People's reaction to my lyrics is very funny, actually. Often, over the years, I've had these supposed intellectuals completely at a loss to understand what the hell I'm talking about - yet as often as not, some ordinary person working in a shop can understand it perfectly. Which is good, because - without wanting to sound like a wanker - The Fall has always been much more a working class band than any kind of art band. We've never allied ourselves to any of that, with the result that people have never known quite how to take us."

The sheer number of line-ups the band has enjoyed over its lifetime might easily have led Smith to give it away, yet he has remained optimistic. "In a way, I'm almost glad that it does change often - if it hadn't, the group would have never survived that long; it would have become too stale and ...well, familiar, I suppose. Whereas, this way you've always got new people coming in and bringing their own ideas with them, their own unique way of doing things."

One question remains unanswered: how can Smith know that his interference is for the best? Certainly, The Fall have produced some fine music - yet who is to say that, under his ministrations, some potentially magnificent songs have not been smothered? "Look, it's simple: lots of people think they have good taste, but of course they haven't. Whereas I know I have. I'm always right."

Never fear: Smith is (still) here.

The Fall play tonight at The Venue, Dee Why, supported by Tactics, and tomorrow night at Selinas, Coogee Bay Hotel.

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Thanks to Sebastian Morlighem for telling me about this great cartoon (in French) about a journey to a Fall gig in London at http://www.homme-moderne.org/images/graf/luz/.

And many thanks to Olli Czoske for translating it into English.

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Tom Hingley (ex Inspiral Carpets) and the Lovers (including Steve and Paul Hanley) tour dates:

May 10 hartlepool studio 01429273615
May 11 newcastle uni 01912393926
May 18 salisbury arts festival old ale house 07799553889
May 21 life, manchester
June 27 sheffield boardwalk 01142799090
Aug. 23 scooter rally isle of wight 07774893178
Sept 14 fibbers york

Also Tom says: "more dates to come, call 07973861540 for more details."
http://www.tomhingley.co.uk/

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The Fall are at number 21 in NME's laughable 50 most influential artists list. You can read all about it in this Guardian article: http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,3604,685630,00.html.

May 16, 2002

This is the latest news and gossip off FallNet for those with weak stomachs.

If you have anything to say, you can mail Stefan, but you can't mail the FallNet mailing list direct anymore. To subscribe to FallNet, send mail to fallnet-subscribe@ yahoogroups.com. The Freedonia list is out of action.