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The Los Angeles All Tomorrow's Parties, previously scheduled for June 20-22, has been postponed until September 26-28. The Fall are scheduled to play at the Echo in Los Angeles on June 20 instead.

June 9: Both Canadian dates (Toronto and Montreal) have been cancelled. Very sad indeed.

Several people have asked me why gigs were cancelled. I asked Billions about it but their Fall rep declined to comment. However, I've heard from a reliable source that the band would have had to pay for a working visa to enter Canada, and because the tour is running on a shoestring, they decided to forego the two Canadian gigs. If I'd been planning to go to one of the gigs, I would be royally pissed off. Like this guy:

TORONTO CANCELLED?!? What a load of bullshit! Do you know how long the people of Toronto have been waiting for The Fall to return? A decade (unless there have been secret gigs for only the cool people). Do you know what The Fall mean to the people of Toronto? The Fall are huge here. It is essentially a hometown gig for them. Is that the problem? Is that it? The band does not want to be too massive? Massive isn't cool/doesn't last?

Oh well, I guess everything happens for a reason. Might just have to travel to the "Hell parts of Chicago" or something.

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A worrying story from Damo Suzuki (on Damo's website) about his being sent home the other day by US customs officials.

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Vote for "Manchester's Greatest Frontman":

Selected current standings: Morrissey and Liam at 40%; Ian 3%; MES 6% (up from 1% Friday morning). I assume the site is logging IP addresses so you can't vote twice from the same computer... a shame.

http://www.citylife.co.uk/greatestfrontman/

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A request for MES:

we are in a band called the fall from norfolk, va and we are signed to an independent label..just wanted to let you know....maybe you can change your name to the fall uk so it does not conflict..thanks for your time.......

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Richard "Rhymes with Seltzer" Meltzer:

From the June 18-24 Seattle Weekly:

THE FALL

From 1979 to somewhere in the mid-'80s, me and Mark Smith of the Fall, the second greatest band of the late 20th century, were (let's call us) friends. We hung out when he was in town. We corresponded. He was a very funny guy. But sometimes, well, he could be a stickler for all variety of arcane et cetera, and while still funny he was not always fun.

One time he came over with some people including this very saucy redhead, a British journalist, who when I reached up her dress had no panties but something way more to the heart & soul of things: a dangling and saturated tampon string . . . oh baby. After he split (we'd been watching Plan Nine from Outer Space), she stayed the remainder of the night and it was, y'know, memorable. Very hotte and funky, very rock & roll.

Next day, when I met Mark at some pub, he said to me, kinda sharply: "Sex is not a good motivation for anything" . . . oh really? When he spotted some members of his band down at the far end of the room, we hadda scram before they spotted him—"It isn't a good idea to drink with your musicians."

Haw! And we changed bars TWICE 'cuz they were thinking—barwise at least—just like him.

Mark E. Smith. Funny guy!

I would like to go see him, but instead I'm gonna be getting my gallbladder removed. If you go, say hi for me.

The Rock & Roll Years! . . . ooooh boy . . . where the hell did they GO?

The Fall play Graceland at 9 p.m. Tues., June 24. $15

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Adult Net voted #15 in top 20 "Worst Post-Breakup Debacles," according to Pitchfork Media:

From http://pitchforkmedia.com/watw/03-06/afterglow/index2.shtml

The history of headstrong women who fucked up great bands goes in this order: Yoko Ono, Nancy Spungen, Brix Smith, Courtney Love. An earnest if flighty pop music fan, Laura Elise Smith met Fall singer Mark E. Smith at a Chicago gig on their 1983 tour -- one imagines the curt, dastardly M.E.S. was amused and increasingly enamored of her unchecked optimism and gall. The rest of his band most certainly were not: as Brix's cheeky pop intentions drove divisions between the lineup, she started the sunny side project Adult Net, roping in the rhythm section of the recently defunct Smiths for her first shows (Andy Rourke and Mike Joyce wouldn't stick around long enough to record anything with her). Adult Net's 1987 debut LP was scrapped when the Fall fell from favor with Beggars Banquet, and her band took on something of a laughable reputation in the UK press, painted as a "Yes dear" side project to keep her from overrunning her husband's act. You can lament how she tamed the Fall's explosive lunacy, but they'd have broken up without her. They definitely wouldn't have hit the Top 40.

When the house of cards calling itself Fontana picked up the Fall (after the overwrought ballet score I Am Kurious Oranj dented the coffers of Beggars Banquet), Brix built up another version of Adult Net, recording an effusively cheery version of Strawberry Alarm Clock's hippy smash "Incense and Peppermints". Their proper 1989 debut included the jangling, C86-flavored UK hit "Waking Up in the Sun", but Honey Tangle was a middling mixed bag, marked by an obnoxiously happy rendition of the P.F. Sloan/Grass Roots tune "Where Were You When I Needed You". Adult Net disintegrated after Brix left M.E.S. in 1990 for an utter ponce -- violinist Nigel Kennedy, later immortalized in the Fall song "Fiend With A Violin". She subsequently tried out as a potential replacement for Hole's Kristin Pfaff after she overdosed in 1992, but during this time, Brix reconciled with her ex-husband and, after bowing out of rehearsals with Hole, rejoined the Fall for their mid-90s albums Cerebral Caustic and Light-User Syndrome.

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Conway has fine-tuned the breathtakingly great discography section and also added many updates and notes sent in by legendary TBLY contributor Stephen Fall (real name) -- many thanks, Stephen!

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Another year, another Fall reissue campaign.
An announcement from Steve Hammonds, Fall A&R man at Sanctuary:

Sanctuary Records Group has bought the Fall catalogue owned by Voiceprint and plans to start an extensive reissue programme next year, providing definitive issues of all the Fall studio albums with sleeve notes by Daryl Easlea from Record Collector magazine and, hopefully, contributions from Mark E Smith.

The live albums that were released via Voiceprint may be reissued at a later date, but they would be packaged together in a box set at a cheap price.

This deal does not cover Country on the Click.

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Amazon now says Country on the Click will be out June 30, but I wouldn't put too much stock in that date. The CD's not on the upcoming release schedule, and Jim Watts says a September date is more realistic.

While waiting, you could stock up on some earlier releases. Voiceprint are getting rid of their Fall stock now that the catalogue's been bought by Sanctuary - all Voiceprint/Cog Sinister Fall CDs are £4.99.

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Steven Bending's wonderful The Fall Multimedia Project website has some MES-related clips from the recently released Inspiral Carpets DVD - grab them while you can cause they won't be up for long.

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Fall books:

	The Fall: A User's Guide by Dave Thompson I asked the publisher (Helter Skelter) about the release date - they expect Amazon to start shipping the book in about two weeks - I'd guess late June or early July.
	Hip Priest by Simon Ford Now scheduled for publication on August 20, according to Simon.
	The Fall by Mick Middles and Mark E. Smith (August 30, 2003, according to Amazon.co.uk) The Omnibus picture editor, Sarah Bacon, thanks everyone who helped with her request for Fall photos. She's now looking for one final photo: "I was relying on one particular photo agency to get hold of a shot of Hey! Luciani but they have now told me they don't have it." If anyone has a shot from this in any magazine or book, please email Sarah at sarah.bacon@musicsales.co.uk.

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There's a review of "Words of Expectation" by Nick Reynolds on the BBC website: http://www.bbc.co.uk/music/ classicpop/reviews/fall_bbc.shtml. There's also a link to a review of AYAMW with readers' feedback - all quite entertaining.

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And reviews of It's the New Thing and Time Enough At Last from Terrorizer (apparently "the world's number one magazine for extreme music of ANY kind") - thanks to Rick for typing it in.

Wire an acidic Mancunian commentary to a blend of Can, Velvet Underground and Captain Beefheart. This is The Fall.

Favourites of John Peel, The Fall's long (25+ years) and productive (25+ official albums, Christ knows how many compliations and crappy live albums) career demands respect, if only for their utter bloody mindedness towards the 'record industry'. Though with a back catalogue of Hawkwind proportions are these latest re-issues and repackages necessary? In three words; yes and no. Compiling the best of the four singles and two albums the Fall recorded in their 18 month stint at Step Forward Records, 'It's the New Thing' provides an excellent introduction to their earliest days. Of the two albums, 'Live at the Witch Trials', their 1979 debut, is the better, with 'Dragnet', following some nine moths later, suffering due to no production whatsoever. The singles are imaginative stabs at angular industrial pop and the albums have a dusting of classic Fall, 'Industrial Estate' and 'Crap Rap 2 Like To Blow' off 'Witch' and 'Psyckick Dancehall' and the disturbing 'Spector Vs Rector' off 'Dragnet'. Dark, dissonant and extremely corrosive, this is The Fall at their most primal (8).

On the other hand 'Time Enough at Last' collects three releases from the mid 90s that were of little point then and little point now. '15 Ways to Leave your Man' is an Astoria gig from 1996 and is of good bootleg quality, whilst 'Oxymoron' and 'Cheetham Hill' appear to have been randomly thrown together, mixing live and outtakes, all unsourced. Highpints are 'E.S.P. Disco' (an updated 'Psykick Dancehall') on the former and a keyboard led 'Idiot Joy Showland' and truncated 'Eat Y'self Fitter' on the latter, but unless you are a fanatic save your pennies for the forthcoming BBC Sessions double set that will see the first seven Peel Sessions released in full for the first time. (3)

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Bad Man Wagon ("a reggae-punk-influenced kind of sound"), featuring ex-Fall drummer Spencer Birtwistle, has a new CD out on Arthur Records. You can read about the band and order the CD on their website: http://www.badmanwagon.com.

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Very famous Fall discographer Jeff Higgott:

You may be interested to know that London band I, Ludicrous, the long-time Fall fans who have supported MES on several occasions are releasing a new album shortly titled "The Museum of Installation".

Of particular interest to Fall fans will be track 2: "I've Never Been Hit By Mark E Smith".

Full details and more as it becomes available can be found at the official I, Ludicrous web site: http://www.iludicrous.co.uk.

Jeff has a 2-minute clip of this track on his I, Ludicrous site, and very good it is too. I assume this is the same track that will appear on the Woog Riots tribute due out this summer (see previous Fall News for more info.)

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Many thanks indeed to Fall Fan Dave for typing up this Brix Smith interview from the February 21, 1987 issue of Sounds.

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And many thanks also to Richard for sending in this terrific, rambling 1982 interview with MES and Kay Carroll from Distant Violins, a Melbourne fanzine.

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Bootleg Box Set:

As reported a few weeks ago, Sanctuary/Castle are releasing a 5xCD box set of 2001 Fall gigs. According to Key Mail Order, it'll be out on July 14. The gigs are:

1. The Knitting Factory, New York, USA - November 23, 2001
2. Crocodile Cafe, Seattle, USA - November 20, 2001
3. Patronaat, Haarlem, The Netherlands - April 6, 2001
4. Melkweg, Amsterdam, The Netherlands - April 7, 2001
5. Concorde 2, Brighton, England - April 17, 2001

(tracklistings are on the gigography)

• Smith, Pritchard, Watts, Birtwistle + Nagle on 3, 4 & 5. Smith, Pritchard, Watts, + Birtwistle on 1 & 2. Ed Blaney vocals on Midwatch 1953 on 3 & 4.
• New York is missing the opening track, The Joke.
• The highlight of the Seattle show -- an aborted Mr Pharmacist followed by MES taking the band offstage for a bollocking -- has been edited out.
• Sound quality overall is very good. Slight distortion on vocal mic on the Haarlem gig.

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Key Mail Order have listed yet another live Fall CD compilation - Idiot Joy Show (Pilot173).

According to Key, it's a "2CD set - Disc 1 was recorded at the Cambridge Corn Exchange 1995. Disc 2 was recorded at the Roskilde & Phoenix Festivals in 1996 - recorded and produced by Mike Bennett."

Glad to see that Fall fact checking is true to form: The band didn't play the Cambridge Corn Exchange in 1995 (they did play the Cambridge Junction on October 24 though).

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Camden Joy reads from "Pan":

There's an excerpt from Pan read by the author himself on his website: http://www.camdenjoy.com/htm/rants1.shtml, complete with Flat of Angles and Spectre vs. Rector in the background. Camden also has a book out (The Long Ball, under his real name, Tom Adelman) about the 1975 Red Sox season - haven't read it yet but it's on my list.

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More Henry Rollins:

From a transcript from the TV show "Rage" (guest programmers Henry Rollins and Chris Haskett) borrowed from this HR fan site (thanks to Rutger for forwarding):

HR: The next video is a video by the band The Fall called ‘Why Are People Grudgeful’ and it features the incredible vocals of Mark Smith, a man who can never seem to completely vent all the venom out of his spleen. And after well over 27 albums the man still keeps spewing forth the highest quality vitriol. I never get tired of this guy. I have pretty much all those records. I like em a lot, and I wouldn’t wanna be caught in an elevator with him when it wasn’t working.
CHRIS: Why are you so grudgeful?
HR: Because I’m in a band with you.
CHRIS: Speaking of 20 yrs of spewing venom.
HR: Speaking of 20 yrs, well Ok, when I spew venom it has a more hunkier quality.
CHRIS: Is it time for this. Ok. (leans over and tugs at hank’s ear going "woo woo woo")
HR: Mark has a more Rowan Atkinson quality about him where I’m more, there’s more blood in my body, there’s more of a blood gorged kind of anger.
CHRIS: I think somebody needs a little time out.
HR: (laughs).

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William Stewart's designed this great poster for the Toronto gig. It seems whenever someone takes the time to do a poster, the gig gets cancelled (see last year's cancelled Detroit show in the gigography).

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June 19, 2003

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.

27may03 PBL/Leeds DVD reviews, Aarhus gig, great 1981 MES interview, Smiths Week, Woog Riots tribute, Sanctuary CDs, Rubber Banana Fall radio show
29apr03 ATP, PoSR review, Peel Session & Step Forward CDs, Made in the NW, Jeremy Vine show, bits
28mar03 Jim Watts sacked, Country on the Click details, Peel Session, Turkey gig, 85 & 88 gig photos, Luz's "The Joke" comic, Pascal LeGras new work, MES T-shirt, Fall on emusic, Fall Tattooing rip
24feb03 news about books, Mojo top 50, Claus Fall guitar, Beggars vids, Corsa ad link, 9feb83 + 88oct8 photos, '78 So It Goes clip, Hanley bros interview, several early music press scans, other bits
9jan03 Independent interview, Early Singles, Listening In, UK chart placing history, Razor Cuts, Pascal LeGras video, Record Collector, ring tones, Blue Orchids CDs, Peel's Fabriclive
4dec02 Electric Ballroom gig, Virgin Radio, Fall vs. 2003, MES death row picks, Conway's wallpaper
8nov02 PPP review and lyrics, Dave Harrop, Manchester Online soap opera
15oct02 UK gig reports, 1983 photos, Fall press kit
20sept02 loads of upcoming releases, jigsaws, Vauxhall advert, Mark Prindle int., couple of music press scans, Slates movie clip, Fall Tattooing
23aug02 singles box and Totally Wired reviews, Rocking Vicar, lots of old music press scans
3july02 2G+2 reviews, 6FM mp3, Bourgeois Blues, bits
13jun02 2G+2, Wire 25th anniversay piece, custom Fall gig, PDFs of four old articles
16may02 Blackburn, London, ATP gig reviews, BBC 6FM, Sydney 1990 int., French cartoon
19apr02 US tour cancelled, Mojo article, Select (June 91), bits & pieces
19mar02 Euro tour reviews, Record Collector interview., Wire review, new Fall discog., misc.
13feb02 comp results, Athens review, Bournemouth Runner, Pan
13jan02 Timekode, Pan, bad German translations, NME 2/25/89 interview
02jan02 album reviews, ancient Usenet refs
12dec01 MCR gig reviews, album reviews, Pan
28nov01 mammoth US tour edition
13nov01 first batch of AYAMW reviews, London Forum gig reports
5nov01 Euro gig reports, Knitting Factory Knotes interview
19oct01 UK gig reports, studybees interview
30sep01 tour / booking details, 1979 fanzine interview
9sep01 not much
28aug01 Flitwick single, 82/83 gig pics
27jun01 Faustus
31may01 Dublin pics, Cash for Questions, Guardian interview
29apr01 IR, UK gig reviews
9apr01 NL gig reviews
3mar01 Dublin gig, Invisible Jukebox
28jan01 World Bewitched details
1jan01 some ace Castlefield pics
19dec00 more reviews
1dec00 tour reviews, crap interviews
10nov00 Unutterable reviews
21oct00 Stanza festival, HighSmith Teeth, comedy dogs
11oct00 RFH reviews, new Cog Sinister releases
12sep00 DOSE interview, Fall calendar
22aug00 Portugal, Manchester gigs 
9aug00 bits & pieces
23jul00 Psykick Dance Hall, Pure As Oranj details, Triple Gang reviews
9jul00 few bits
20jun00 Ashton, Hull, Middlesbrough, Glasgow, Edinburgh reviews, old Volume piece
30may00 LA2 reviews
22may00 few old LP reviews
2may00 bits & pieces
24apr00 TBLY #19 details, Prop details
8apr00 more Leeds reviews. WSC interview, other interview snippets
26mar00 Doncaster, York, Leeds reviews, BravEar interview (plus others)
14mar00 various reviews, old Liz Kershaw i/view
24feb00 Past Gone Mad details
13feb00 few bits & pieces
30jan00 tour details, Tommy Blake stuff
20jan00 TBLY #18 details, Hanley in Mojo
10jan00 Dragnet doylum, New Year message, etc

older news: Nov 1997 - Dec 1999