Tour (** new)
**MES' DJ-ing in Manchester 26 March is OFF
30 Mar Coney Island High, NYC
31 Mar Coney Island High, NYC
**2 Apr Loop Lounge Passaic Park NJ
3 Apr Middle East, Boston
4 Apr Trocadero, Phila.
5 Apr Black Cat, WDC
7 Apr Brownie's, NYC
8 Apr Brownie's, NYC
**27 Apr Camden Dingwalls
**28 Apr Camden Dingwalls
**30 Apr Reading Alleycat
Dingwalls - tickets £10 from over the bar, else from Stargreen
Reading - Alleycat, Gun Street, Reading. Tel: 0118 956 1116. Tickets: 10/(9
members)
Records
The Peel Sessions album, who knows. This week? Next?
CD-Now has Levitate down for a US release, to come out on April 7th
Arghhh - in the pre-release lists comes:
Smile...It's The Best Of The Fall CD $15.99
A unique and uncompromising collection of tracks mostly compiled from early
80's tracks, including "New Face In Hell", "An Older Lover", "DIY Meat",
"He Pep" & "Oxymoron". Release Date: 30-Mar-98
From the Bent Crayon update list.....collection is predominantly compiled from the early 80's, a period where consolidation of their early abrasiv style gave way to more conventional pop values. feat. scuba scuba, 21st cen common man, zen garden, and more. on castle - think there's been a mix-up here.....
Interview
MES makes an appearance in the April VOX issue, below.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Mark E Smith remembers the '70's
He might never have worn a tank top, but The Fall's overlord certainly wasn't averse to shaking his booty. (pic titled Mr Smith: disco mad?)
The late 70's are regarded by pop historians as the punk era, but at the same time it was very much the disco era. As someone vaguely affiliated to the punk era, did you have strong anti-disco feelings?
I never had a problem with it. The Philly stuff you were getting around that time was just about the only stuff worth hearing anywhere. What makes me laugh nowadays is people I used to hang around with back then, who I distinctly remember hating Boney M, who thought you were an idiot for liking that stuff, now think it's cool, really chic.
So you were always against anti-dance snobbery?
White Americans were the worst for that. They had no idea about disco. Same now. I remember when I was in Chicago going out with Chicago's "leading rock critic" and he was really interested in what was going on in Manchester, the whole Northern Soul thing and the house scene and telling me how it was all coming from Manchester. I said "No it's not, mate, it's coming from round the fucking corner!"
So did you used to strut your Travolta stuff on the dancefloors of Manchester?
I never really went to any of the disco places in Manchester, I could never afford to. Places like Pips, they'd have four or five floors, a soul floor, a Roxy floor, a Bowie floor, and so on - and you had to have the right haircut. It's getting like that again in Manchester. They won't let you in if your hair's too long, or too short, or even if you're dressed too smart. I've had that recently!
Manchester and Wigan were the hotbeds of the Northern Soul scene which was thriving in the 70's. Were you into that?
Not the clubs - that was a bit much - but the music, yeah. You forget though, how raw and horrible dome of that Northern Soul was. It was heavier than punk. They've started having a Northern Soul night, like, at our local. The music's great, but everyone in there's about 40, still wearing the trousers and the tank tops. It's sad!
Saturday Night Fever, now there was a film...
Saturday Night Fever was actually a really good film and very true. I used to know lads like that. It's a sad life really. Just live for the weekend. No drugs or anything. They were all in bed for one o'clock. A very depressing scene. Actually, think about it: who wants to bring them days back? The late 70's? It's like, you know what they're showing at the moment on telly? Re-runs of Blankety Blank! Everyone gets nostalgic, but the70's was a horrible decade really. Out of the pubs at 10.20 pm, you could never get anything to eat anywhere at any time....it's still like that in Manchester. You try to get a pint at midnight in Manchester, it's fucking hard work - it's as bad as 1974!
There was a dance element to The Fall at one point wasn't there?
We did some remix crossover stuff later on, but we never thought of going dancey back in the 70's. We had a rockabilly drummer for a start. Anyway, there's nothing worse than white punk groups trying to play funk.
Burt Reynolds has enjoyed a revival after Boogie Nights. What does Burt mean to you?
He does those glasses adverts now, but he was the biggest earning star in the world in the 70's. I remember when I was living in LA, everyone thought he was gay because he used to hang around Hollywood Boulevard. But with his career on a downturn, he just used to have nothing to do. He drove round in this old van y'know, jeans on, like my brother-in-law, or something. I used to walk everywhere in LA and you'd often see Burt Reynolds trundling around in his van. He'd always smile at you too. That was when the macho thing as a gay look started, through disco and the Village People, I suppose. My brother-in-law has that look. Family and kids and all that. I took him out for a drink once, as a joke, to Manchester's gay village. He didn't really realise. He says: They're very nice people around here aren't they, Mark? Terrible pint though. Can we go back to Salford? I'm starting to feel uncomfortable for some reason....
David Stubbs
------------------------------------------------------
From: Perfect Sound Forever
Greetings,
We're doing a tribute to the Fall at our online magazine (http://www.furious.com/perfect) and we're looking for anyone out there who would like to contribute a review of their favorite Fall album/CD. So far, we have these covered:
Bend Sinister
Hex Enduction Hour
The Infotainment Scan
The Legendary Chaos Tape
Perverted By Language
Slates
Please e-mail me if you'd like to be part of this tribute. Articles are generally 1-2 pages for this.
Thanks in advance,
Jason -
perfect-sound@furious.com
----------------------------
From: Pete Conkerton
Okay. "The Morning of the Magicians", by Louis Pauwels & Jacques Bergier. Originally published in Paris (France, not Texas) as 'Le Matin des Mages', Editions Gallimard 1960. First UK publication as 'The Dawn of Magic', Panther Books 1963. Second edition as 'The Morning of the Magicians', Granada 1971. No ISDN. My copy is a v. battered paperback from 1975 (cost 75p!), which I bought because at 17 I was a lot more open-minded and/or credulous than I am now. I've never seen a copy since, but then I haven't been looking.
Basically it's a collection of odd stories & facts from the fringes of history, the kind that don't make it into the official textbooks. Rosicrucians, alchemy, the legend of the Nine Unknown Men, the Thule society and other bizarre stuff popular with the nazis, etc etc. Themes that crop up regularly in MES's lyrics. The general conclusion was that humanity was on the verge of the next step in evolution, a kind of super-intelligent information conduit. This from 1960, pre-IT & assorted social revolutions. Now, for all I know, MES got it all from "The Readers Digest Big Book of Weird Shit" but, being nearly contemporary in time & place*, I just _feel_ that he bought this book about the same time as me. it's, y'know, like _synchronicity_...
Sample para: "We are not indulging in philosophy-fiction or history-fiction, but in a fantastic realism. We are sceptical with regard to many points about which others, who are considered to be 'reasonable' men, are less so. We are not in any way trying to focus attention on some empty kind of occultism, or to suggest a semi-crazy, semi-magical interpretation of facts. Nor are we proposing some form of religion. We believe only in human intelligence..."
And there's this, from the book: "It was in 1926 that a small Hindu and Thibetan [sic] colony settled in Berlin and Munich. When the Russians entered Berlin, they found among the corpses a thousand volunteers for death in German uniform, without any papers or badges, of Himalayan origin."
And this, from 'Hotel Bloedel': Gregoror, satiated walking thru' capitol Stumbles on two thousand dead Thai monks in SS uniforms
Interesting, hm? There's plenty more where that came from - an in-depth discussion of 'Various Times', anyone? - but it'll have to wait until I have time to wade through the book again.
----------------------------
Then, Steve Beeho:
I did an infoseek search on these 2 chaps and discovered that Jacques Bergier is also a bit of an HP Lovecraft-head as well (see below - translation NOT available on request) - even going so far as to write a preface to the Colour Out of Space.
http://www.worldnet.fr/~c_thill/hpl/press/index.html
Deux points intéressants sont à noter :
Contrairement à d'autres auteurs, Lovecraft a dès le début ét mentionné, non seulement dans la presse de science-fiction, mais dans la presse d'informations générale et même dans les revues littéraires. Ceci est sans doute lié au travail acharné effectué par Jacques Bergier, qui n'a jamais cess de déployer ses efforts auprès de ses amis journalistes pour que ceux-ci ouvrent leurs colonnes à son auteur préféré. On remarquera une quantité considérable d'inexactitudes, allant de la plus petite (le prénom et le middle name de Lovecraft pris pour un prénom composé Howard-Philip) à la plus ahurissante (Lovecraft parlant couramment quatre langues africaines). Dans l'ensemble les journalistes qui s'en tirent le mieux sont ceux qui renoncent à donner des informations biographiques (ou alors en les recouvrant d'une paisse couche de conditionnels) et préfèrent procéder à une analyse approfondie des thèmes et du langage de Lovecraft. On ne s'étonnera donc pas de constater que les meilleurs articles ont été publié dans des revues littéraires.
Note : Les textes sont reproduits dans leur intégralité, les points aberrants dans l'original étant signalés par un [sic]. Le découpage en paragraphes et la typographie rendent autant que possible la présentation originale de chaque article.
Préface de Jacques Bergier à La Couleur tombée du ciel (1954)
Premier recueil de Lovecraft publié en France, ce livre est aussi le numéro 2 de la célèbre collection "Présence du Futur" des éditions Denoël. Fraîchement lancée, celle-ci n'était même pas encore au format poche. Dans sa préface, Bergier parle finalement peu du livre et beaucoup de sa propre conception de la science-fiction conçue comme un art du possible.
And Duncan Lynskey translates:
In English... oh yes and spot Fallcon in the translation!
"Two interesting points should be noted:
Unlike other authors, since the beginning Lovecraft has been mentioned not just in the science fiction press but also in the general press and even in literary reviews. This is doubtless due to the relentless efforts of Jacques Bergier who has been unceasing in his efforts to convince his journalist acquaintances to give column space to his favourite author.
There is a considerable quantity of inaccuracies, from the smallest (Lovecraft's forename and middle name mistaken for a hyphenated name Howard-Philip) to the most stupefying (Lovecraft speaking four African languages fluently). On the whole the journalists that made the best job of it were those that did not provide biographical information (or qualified it with a liberal sprinklings of the word "reputedly") and preferred rather to make an in-depth analysis of Lovecraft's themes and language. It is no surprise therefore that the best articles have been published in literary reviews."
"Preface by Jacque Bergier to La Couleur tombée du ciel (1954)
The first Lovecraft collection to be published in France, this book is also the second in the famous collection "Presence of the future" from the Denoël publishing company. Newly issued, this was not yet even available in paperback. In its preface Bergier in the end talks little about the book and much more about his own conception of science fiction as the art of the possible.
----------------------------
From: Graham Coleman
Some Lee and Herring FallCon...
Curious orange pics http://mudhole.spodnet.uk.com/fist/show/page5.html
Curious orange video http://mudhole.spodnet.uk.com/fist/show5/video.html you need some shyte called RealPlayer 5.0 to view it, though
& these quotes from Lee and Herring on IRC chat channel on Thursday 14th August 97... (Edinburgh Festival time)
Stew: Yes - the Fall obvioulsy, but nothing nw for a year. They were here the other night but I was working. The bloke who used to so the sleeves in the early 90*s has replaced Scanlon - I*d love to have seen his foirst gig but there y*go...
Stew: I like radiohad now because they sound more like King Crimson than a crap English indie band... they got loafds better. The first album is still rubbish though.
Stew: xxxxx - did you see a review of The Fall gig? What did it say? Was Smith straight?
Stew: - I saw this band last month called the country teasers who were exactly like Totale*s Turns era Fall and they played this song that was the same as Fiery jack and afterwards I shouted out, *Are you doing waht you did three years ago?* and the singer said, *Yeah - but i won*t make a career out of it.* I was clever
Stew: - the best Fall album is not KO. It is HEX ENDUCTION HOUR
Stew: - I don*t have the Electric Circus ep, but I have got Fall In A Hole ON VINYL!
xxxxx: so has all of FallNet
Stew: K - my Fall in a Hole is on Flying Nun, with a 12* and a 33. Sorry for being sexist.
Stew: We want to have a character in our next series called The Curious Orange, which will be an ornage that is curious about a different thing each week. You heard it here first.
Stew: Chris Morris is a really nice bloke actually.
----------------------------
Toby Blake, showing a shocking lack of respect, fed some tacky poem about Diana through the MES filter....
IN THE-ah END
When-ah we fuckin' glimpse yer image bloody and we
Hunger for you and-ah we-ah
Want yer comfort-ah and we
Make fuckin' mistakes will fuckin' we
Hold the-ah power will we
Make you break?
Was the bloody castle-ah haunted?
Were the ghosts too rough?
Was-ah our passion wounding?
Was the love enough?
And the lonely-ah spaces
Were they our-ah fault too?
And the-ah awful faces-ah in the-ah crowd
Scared you, you know.
And-ah the pictures took you
Piece bleeding by piece-ah
And the end fuckin' was bloody no fuckin' release:
Lights like flash bulbs
Voices like bloody lies-ah
People like objects of air and sky
Leave me alone
Leave me fuckin' alone
I fuckin' miss me boys-ah
I fuckin' want to go home-ah
Pain like daggers-ah
Memory staggers
Life bleeding unveiling-ah
Destiny's bloody made --
And I'm fuckin' a bleeding shadow:
Watch-ah me fade, son.
Septembah 11, 1997
----------------------------
Stephen Daly:
That's what you get for having a hobby.
Associated Press, 03/20/98 12:19 FAIR HAVEN, Vt. (AP) - A teen-ager killed
by a bomb contained in a just-delivered package had made enemies through
his hobbies, the Internet and CB radio, according to a published report.
The bomb, contained in a parcel delivered Thursday from out of state by United
Parcel Service, killed Christopher Marquis, 17, and seriously injured his
mother. The bomb exploded around 3 p.m. in Marquis' bedroom. He died a short
while later at the Rutland Regional Medical Center, police said.
----------------------------
From: Jeff Curtis
Copyright 1998 Globe Newspaper Company The Boston Globe, March 5, 1998, Thursday, City Edition, ARTS & FILM; Pg. E4
The Fall, Dictators coming to town
By Jim Sullivan, Globe Staff
The wordiest, crankiest band in the world, the Fall - Mark E. Smith and his rhythm grinders from Manchester, England - are back upon us and will play the Middle East Downstairs April 3 with Bush Tetras, part of a brief US tour.
Copyright 1998 Times Newspapers Limited The Times, February 7, 1998, Saturday
Singled out
Charlie Porter
...Finally, a Fall update. Today, they are still together, though where they will be in 24 hours is anyone's guess.
Masquerade is a remix from the fabulous Levitate album, and adds more beat to a song already laden with attitude. So what's it about? Well, a masquerade suggests something false, and Mark E. Smith sings about comrades, so I conclude that it is about the rightward shift of those previously on the left wing. God, anyone would think this job was easy.
---------------------
From: Graham Coleman
Has no one reported the FallCon in TMWRNJ (Lee and Herring's Sunday lunchtime show)? Viewers were asked to send in their pictures of celebrities heads attached to animals bodies, following the previous week's successful experiment in genetic engineering that resulted in an ant's head atop Natalie Umbruglia's body (you had to be there). They had a Vision On-style gallery of entrants and talked through some of them... and then there was not one but two (as Stewart Lee pointed out as if suspecting a minor conspiracy) Mark E Smiths' heads on top of small dogs. A missed opportunity here - we could've bombarded them with 100 MES heads on a -------- (insert FallNet animal of choice). The Curious Orange segment is getting funnier. He got a well-deserved slap in his irritating citrus face yesterday.
------------------------------------------------------
Recent news....
------------------------------------------------------
980315 TBLY/Info service
details
980308 Peel session details; US tour dates
980227 a few bits & pieces, RTL, PoSR
out
980222 NME interview
980215 Destroy punk covers exhibition, Masquerade single details
980207 Brats award transcript
980130 Bits on NME Award, POSR/RTL reissue
details
980125 Shanley i/view
980118 Time Out interview w/pics, Melody Maker
review, Oh Brother press release, Oxford review
980111 Dutch Opscene interview
980104 Melody Maker interview
971221 Not much
971211 Portsmouth, London, Cambridge, Norwich,
Bristol reviews
971203 Oxford, Stoke, Leeds, Liverpool reviews;
Esquire interview
971125 Newcastle, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Stoke
reviews
971116 Manchester reviews, Loaded interview
971112 Band back together, teletext interview
971110 NME report, various Dublin/Belfast disaster
reports
971109 First Dublin/Belfast reviews
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