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Click for the Mark E. Smith IN MEMORIAM page

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added 29 December

Yet more very sad news to report — David Cavanagh, aka Zoot Horn Polo, one of the funniest and most prolific contributors to the Fall Online Forum during its heydey a few years ago, has died.

David (1964-2018) was a much admired music journalist, writing for Uncut, Mojo, Q, Select, etc., and also author of three music-related books: "Music for Boys", "The Creation Records Story: My Magpie Eyes Are Hungry For The Prize", and "Good Night and Good Riddance: How Thirty-Five Years of John Peel Helped to Shape Modern Life."

Here he is talking about the latter with RTE's Dave Fanning; and again with Trevor Dann for the Word in Your Ear podcast, both from 2015. RIP David.

Here's the Zoot tribute thread on the FOF.

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added 17 September

Very sad news to report — Ken Sproat, a 40-year Fall fan and frequent TBLY contributor — has died at age 54. There's a tribute thread on the forum, and this_hideous_replica wrote a lovely tribute to the FOF's Granny On Bongos.

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added 17 September

To celebrate I Am Kurious Oranj's 30th birthday on 10 October 2018, Beggar's Banquet is reissuing the LP on oranj vinyl on 12 October. It'll include a facsimile of the ballet programme. I hope their Bend Sinister box set won't be too far behind.

There's an unusual analysis of IAKO and that time of The Fall by Alex Weston-Noond on The Quietus's website.

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added 17 September

Two random "Cog Sinister" live releases are in the pipeline: Frankfurt 11 October 1993 and Nijmegen 14 September 1999. I'd be surprised if these differ to the circulating recordings, but who knows.

Also Cherry Red is repackaging and expanding its "50,000 Fall Fans Can't Be Wrong" compilation — retitled 58 Golden Greats — with new tracks and ugly cover in homage to Elvis's "40 Greatest Hits" double LP (1975), which you can see in the MES flat's record rack on the back of "Grotesque" if you look closely. This 3xCD set is out on 30 November.

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added 17 September

Happening at Speck's Records & Tapes in Portland, Oregon on 22 September:

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added 17 September

Tommy Mackay of The Story of The Fall website, which reviewed every Fall song in chronological order, is publishing his work in a lavishly illustrated (by Greg Moodie) paperback book. They're raising money for printing on Indiegogo with books and artwork as premiums.

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added 5 July

Mark Aerial Waller:

I decided to put on an exhibition of two of the videos I made with Mark E Smith, back in 1998 — they're part of a nuclear trilogy, relating to interviews with two veterans of the first British nuclear tests off Australia in the 1950s, Operation Grapple and Mosaic. I have very fond memories of working with Mark, who gave his all to the videos and was a super trooper! He joked that we wouldn't have lasted a moment on a Coronation Street set and gave out some helpful tax advice to a member of the cast.

The exhibition runs for the rest of July, but is shut in August, then open for the first week of September.

Rodeo Gallery
125 Charing Cross Road
London WC2

The two videos showing are Glow Boys (1998) and Midwatch (1999). There's a good read about Mark's projects on Rodeo's website.

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added 1 July

Many thanks to the folks at Radio Lancashire's 'On the Wire' show for uploading The Fall's 16 June 1985 gig at Clitheroe Castle. Since it's on Mixcloud the bitrate is low, but I think it's from the BBC master reel.

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added 29 June

This lovely memorial to M.E.S. — 'Fall Circle' — was commissioned by Mark Kennedy (instagram @markkennedymosaics) and made by Mary Goodwin (@maylizgood). It was installed this morning on Short Street in Manchester, near Afflecks Palace.

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added 5 June

Here's a good interview in Loud and Quiet with Tim Presley & Cate le Bon — a.k.a. DRINKS (or SNACKS, as M.E.S. liked to call them), thanks to Hayley Scott.

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added 5 June

Longtime Fall devotee DJ Marcelle/Another Nice Mess is releasing a 10" EP — "Two Walls" — in memory of Mark E. Smith. 12 euro + postage, email djmarcelle@upcmail.nl to order.

Things to watch and read: Two Walls video; DJ Marcelle documentary; Two Walls press release. For inquiries please email djmarcelle@upcmail.nl

"There are five more versions of 'Two Walls' on this EP, but they differ so much from the original that you can count them as different tracks. 'Dubai Muezzin Dub' was partly recorded in the United Emirates when Marcelle played there earlier in 2018. 'Problematic Dub' is pure industrial techno torn apart by the wildest dub effects; its coming and going of sounds equals a ride in a calypso. 'Studio Door Dub' celebrates the repetition of The Fall and the 'Emerson, Lake & Palmer Symphony Dub' is both pure avant-garde and hilarious fun. And BELP, who owns the Jahmoni label, comes with a wicked abstract noise remix."

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added 11 May; updated 29 May

Out on 25 May on Cherry Red, an expanded edition of Levitate: 3 x LP edition • 2 x CD edition

I think Cherry Red and I have reached an agreement about the use of my photos for their Levitate reissue, so I'm returning the Fall news to its previous pique-free state.

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added 30 March; updated 14 May

Pete Greenway, Dave Spurr, and Keiron Melling — aka Imperial Wax — plus Ding, are playing with Damo Suzuki at the White Hotel in Salford on Saturday, 12 May. A one-off gig.

Details on Facebook and tickets on seetickets (still available!)

update: The performance was a triumph according to all reports I've read. The gig was recorded properly but needs some work done before releasing. In the meantime here are two audience recordings on mixcloud and dropbox (the latter sounds slightly better). Reviews on the forum.

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added 11 May; updated 22 May

Many thanks indeed to Chris Goodhead for sharing the one and only copy of Martin Bramah's "The Story of Dragnet", which was on offer as part of Martin's 2016 PledgeMusic campaign . Click below for the full thing.

Chris is promoting a couple of Blue Orchids gigs in the near future (Manchester 31 May & York 1 June), and if you want to buy tickets for those two gigs directly from him you can avoid the booking fee. PM him on the forum or email chris.goodhead20@gmail.com.

~~The Blue Orchids play...~~

~~Thu 31 May • Peer Hat, Manchester (support St. Christopher & Bingo Harry and the Chanting Plants)~~

~~Fri 1 June • City Screen Basement Bar, York (support as above)~~

~~Sat 2 June • Brudenell, Leeds (support St. Christopher & City Yelps)~~

GIGS CANCELLED says Chris on 22 May.

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added 11 May

Dazed published Mark's 2016 conversation with Irmin Schmidt, which is included in Rob Young's book — "All Gates Open: The Story of Can". Translated from English into German and then back into English makes for some unusual Smith phrasing.

Mark E Smith and Irmin Schmidt meet in a crowded craft-beer brewery near Highbury and Islington, London

Mark E Smith: How are you, Irmin?

Irmin Schmidt: Fine. Still.

Mark E Smith: That’s like a shock. I am finally meeting you. I was told that you wanted to meet me. I thought it was a joke.

Irmin Schmidt: Do you remember that you once called me? That was in the 70s.

Mark E Smith: What are you suggesting here?! I don’t think so.

Irmin Schmidt: Maybe you’ll remember when I mention what you proposed: you said that we should do a gig together. That must have been in 1977. Long ago...

Mark E Smith: Fuck me! That’s fucking right!

Irmin Schmidt: But it didn’t happen.

Mark E Smith: I was an insane fan of yours back then. I had just begun and formed a band. I had formed The Fall in 1976. Ah! Here comes the beer!

Irmin Schmidt: I like the temperature of the beer in England. In Germany they usually serve it way too cold.

Mark E Smith: These microbreweries brewing craft beer in the backyards are the biggest-growing business in the country. Four years ago there were only 60, and now there are over two thousand. They’re popping up like mushrooms. The people who are running these are fucking shit, certainly. In Manchester and Liverpool they wouldn’t let people like me in.

Irmin Schmidt: I’m more into wine. But I read in your book that wine isn’t your thing, is it?

Mark E Smith: I also drink wine – if it has to be. But why are we meeting anyways? What is this interview good for?

Irmin Schmidt: We are doing a book.

Irmin Schmidt: Did you ever see Can perform?

Mark E Smith: No, never.

Irmin Schmidt: Do you remember when you first heard of Can?

Mark E Smith: I recently saw a vinyl rerelease of Monster Movie in a record shop in Manchester. It’s hip to buy Can records nowadays.

Irmin Schmidt: That was our first album. It was released in 1969. You must have been twelve years old back then. You were born in 1957, weren’t you?

Mark E Smith: Yep. Do you still play live?

Irmin Schmidt: Sure I do! I recently did a collaborative concert with Thurston Moore. In 2017 I will turn eighty years old.

Mark E Smith: So what? That’s no age.

Irmin Schmidt: Exactly!

Mark E Smith: It is an honour to finally know another Smith. A Schmidt-Smith from Germany.

Irmin Schmidt: Welcome to the club.

“Can saved my life. Irmin, you fucking saved my life! And because you saved my life I even bought Soon Over Babaluma” Mark E Smith

Mark E Smith: You know what Can’s problem is? Many people just pretend that they like Can. But they don’t. For them it’s just a hipness thing to buy your records. You could have called your band ‘Coffee Table’. Then your records would be considered ‘coffee-table records’. For most of the Britons, Can were consisting of Damo Suzuki and the bass player, Holger Czukay. But I know that Can were Irmin and Jaki. People in Britain and America pretend to know the Can. But what they don’t understand is Irmin. And the problem with the Germans is that they are like fucking English people. They pretend to know you, but they don’t have a clue. The Germans never do appreciate what’s on their own doorstep.

Irmin Schmidt: That’s why I’m living in France.

Mark E Smith: I bet you did this one right.

Irmin Schmidt: Still, I’d be interested in your first encounter with ‘the’ Can...

Mark E Smith: I heard it then.

Irmin Schmidt: You heard it on the radio?

Mark E Smith: No, I ordered it by post. It was called mail order. The first record I bought was Tago Mago. When I was 15, I was a hardcore Velvet Underground fan. And other friends of mine who were also listening to The Velvet Underground told me that I should listen to Can. So I filled out a postcard, and two weeks later I got back a Can record – from London.

Irmin Schmidt: And did Tago Mago live up to your expectations?

Mark E Smith: Fucking yes. It formed my skills listening to it. I went to grammar school at that time and everybody was listening to Pink fucking Floyd and The Beatles. They were shit. But Can were great. As was Gary Glitter. And The Velvet Underground. Manchester people always liked Can. That’s why we are called ‘The Can People’ since 1973. To earn some money I was working on the docks. All music during that period was fucking shite – David Bowie, Genesis, Pink Floyd and James Taylor. Crap. Can saved my life. Irmin, you fucking saved my life! And because you saved my life I even bought Soon Over Babaluma.

Irmin Schmidt: I actually still quite like Soon Over Babaluma. At least to me, that was the last of the good Can records. After that we somehow lost the focus, I’d say. But that happens to a lot of bands.

Mark E Smith: We could have had this conversation in 1977.

Irmin Schmidt: I listened to The Fall’s records during the 80s. But I never saw you live.

Mark E Smith: You are joking. This is a cruel joke.

Irmin Schmidt: But it was me who wanted to meet you. Don’t you remember?

Mark E Smith: I should play the south of France more often then.

Irmin Schmidt: And we played Manchester quite a few times.

Mark E Smith: Ja, ja, ja. That was in the early and mid-70s. You had to be a student to get in. You had to be academic. But I was working at the docks.

Irmin Schmidt: We’d never have allowed only students at our gigs.

Mark E Smith: Didn’t you get it? That was a joke, Irmin.

Irmin Schmidt: We played for everybody.

Mark E Smith: Fuck the 70s. I don’t want to go back in time. Never ever, ever. But I would like to have a jukebox in this micro-draught-beer brewery to spin a Can record. In Manchester there is a bar with a jukebox that has tracks by Can in it. I always go there. I always spin ‘Yoo Doo Right’. Once I even played it twice.

Mark E Smith: About what?

Irmin Schmidt: It’s about Can. Actually, it’s less about Can and more a book about music and being an artist.

Mark E Smith: So it’s a book floating between Can and music. I like it when it’s floating and when everything suddenly changes.

Irmin Schmidt: You know, I recently read your book again, Renegade.

Mark E Smith: Oh, that was written a long time ago.

Irmin Schmidt: I loved the story about how you kicked out your band in America.

Mark E Smith: I have a new band now. Not like you.

Irmin Schmidt: I would probably come to see a show if you were playing Marseille.

Mark E Smith: I won’t go there. The French hate The Fall.

Irmin Schmidt: I don’t think so. The French actually love music like The Fall are doing.

Mark E Smith: But we played Marseille. And they fucking hated us.

Irmin Schmidt: Can were never well received in Marseille either.

Mark E Smith: We played there three years ago and it was a disaster.

Irmin Schmidt: We played there twice in the early seventies and stopped playing there thereafter for the same reasons. But in other French cities we’d always have a great time. In Bordeaux they even opened a club and called it Tago Mago.

Mark E Smith: It’s funny because we have a promoter in Paris. But he books us in cities like Nantes. I had to look at the map to find out where this city was supposed to be. You know, I’m English. It’s in the blood. I have a hate relationship with the French. I’m not a Londoner. I’m a real Englishman. I am allergic to France. Of course, I try to be nice. But they don’t like me and I don’t like them. And let me add that I get along very well with anyone else. The Japanese, the fucking Londoners, even you Germans.

Irmin Schmidt: Do you regularly play in Germany?

Mark E Smith: We often play Berlin. Almost every year we play there. And we’ve been very warmly received in Israel the other day. Before going there I received letters from London not to play there.

Irmin Schmidt: Why?

Mark E Smith: Because of the Palestinians.

Irmin Schmidt: It’s stupid, because as a musician you play for people – and not to political parties. I would try to play in Palestine and in Israel on the same tour.

Mark E Smith: I even got blacklisted by the Londoners because I played in Israel. You know what? We should play together in Israel. I might need a new keyboard player by then.

Irmin Schmidt: But I don’t play rock music any more.

All Gates Open: The Story of Can is out now from Faber. Click here for further details

29 Dec 2018

This is the latest news and gossip off the message board, Fallnet, and elsewhere. If you have something to contribute, please email Stefan Cooke at fallnews@gmail.com.

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Recent news...

26apr18 MARK E. SMITH • IN MEMORIAM

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