Fall News - 25 August 1998

No firm news on "Post Nearly Man" release date (possibly 31 Aug).

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A report from Gerhard Pichler of Vienna who flew to London for the gig.

hi stefan,

back again, and I must say, "I have survived". These four days have been a lot of action, and I´m more than just pretty done.

Shopping wasnt so great as not very much of interest was available. No T-shirts, eg. I am sorry. For my own humble self I only found the Dresden Dolls 7", which is quite a sucsess. Well, and a few other vinyl-things which are not worth talking about and I also bought the new-release of PBL, because of the Pilsner Trail-track enclosed, which I so far only had on the Levitate-Bonus-CD (and this is a different version, and live also).

So, now to the important news: The gig itself. Track-list first: Intro Ol Gang Calendar Touch Sensitive Spencer Scareball Joke 10 Houses of Eve Levitate Hey Pep White Lightning (I wrote back telling him this was in fact Folding Money) Powder Keg Plug Myself In (interlude) (??? - new one, ended with the words "I need no cure Im just your fall", provided Ive heard correctly) (Filled him in on this as well)

To sum it up, it was a MARVELLOUS gig. Never before had so much to laugh than at this one. Lets go into detail:

The intro reminded me of some song, maybe it was kinda instrumental and also changed or mixed-uped version from the Light User Syndrom. Oxymoron or so. Ok, forget it.

Ol Gang was fantastic. It was a pretty different version from the ones we know, I had a hard time to identify it as first, before our old man came up on stage and started to mumble and shout into his mic. He was in pretty good shape, at least ten times better than when I saw him in April at Dingwalls. Also wearing a nice dark-grey suit, mind you. And he was in no way "touch-sensitive": he went to the front of the stage and people were touching him all over on the legs, some reaching for his balls, some trying to put the odd piece of paper or message inside of one of his pockets (they all failed).

Ah, I have to add here, the LA2 is two-floored and I was upstairs on the right side of the stage, overlooking all of it perfectly. Sound also was good, even up there, and the venue was packed.

Nxt song, Calendar, Mark started to look for some of his notes - he brought quite of a package of those when entering stage, but seemed not to be able to find the right page - crawling around on the ground in the vicinity of the drums, throwing papers around him and mumbling into the microphone during all this.

It took him until Spencer when he finally gave up his search. During the Ten Houses some idiot jumped onto the stage and Mark was a bit pissed off about that, so he threw the mic into the audience, which had kinda special effect, hearing individuals shouting and talking over the amps.

White Lightning [Folding Money] was the next funny part; Mark sang the song but left the refrain, always with a very very bored expression on his face, knowing that it will be useless to wait on the audience to just sing "Whiiiite Lightning!", and he was right up front - no one picked it up.

Between Powder Keg and Plug he started to search again for one of his notes, finally pulling a crumpled one out of his pocket, seemingly it was the one he was looking for before, because with a disgusted expression he threw it away. Then he gave the microphone to the audience again and let them have their fun with it.

And the last, for the time being unknown song, was really good.

gerhard.

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From: Paul Wilson
Subject: <fallnet> From this morning's Guardian (22 08 98)

All this broadsheet 'publicity' must be worth something. First The Observer last weekend and now The Guardian. Who's responsible for this barrage?

Arts diary: Decline and Fall Grouchy rock star scraps with burghers What with being beaten up by his own band - after he attacked them on stage in New York - you'd think a period of purdah might be in order for The Fall's Mark E. Smith, the gobbiest man in rock.

But Mark being Mark, and Mancunian, that would go against nature. First he sacked The Fall for hitting back and now he's at it again, talking up a fight by slagging his home town and its "rank" New Labour Council for repackaging the place as a yuppie playground.

"I miss the thrust of vicious, old Manchester," he raged. "The handkerchief over the mouth to go to work...The spirit does live on, though. It gladdened my heart when Oasis played Maine Road last year and an estimated two out of five 'males' in the queue were mugged by youngsters of nine."

The burghers are not best pleased. Several councilors have called him a "traitor" and threatened terrible retribution. Smith - who has nothing to lose, certainly no more teeth - has given them the metaphorical finger.

Given that he is due back in New York next month to explain why he shouldn't be locked up, we counsel caution.

There are also the Gallaghers to think of, vocal champions of the New Manchester, who are so mad for it they moved to Maida Vale as soon as they made a bit of money. Any more lip and a rumble with the Eyebrow Brothers will be inevitable.

Whatever happens, we strongly recommend Smith never again falls out with The Fall. Not only is his girlfriend Julia Nagle in the new line-up, so is drummer Thomas Patrick Murray, a man with a world-famous collection of "I Love Mum" tattoos.

----

From: Graham Coleman
Subject: <fallnet> Exit this Roman show

Another Scottish writer namechecks the Fall in not-really-a-surprise-anymore story: reading Alan Warner's 'The Sopranos' and look, on p.88 there is this chapter heading "Leave the Capital, Exit this Roman Show." The Fall. (The girls have arrived in Edinburgh for a singing contest but they are more interested in getting drunk and going shoplifting.)

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From: John Andrew Roberts

You'll have to excuse me if this has popped up before but the Fall get a mention in Martin Millar's novel, 'Milk, Sulphate, and Alby Starvation'.The hero is listening to the Fall on his walkman whilst walking through Brixton and says something like 'yeah you tell em Mark' to himself.

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As someone else pointed out, this book contains a chapter entitled Legends of The Fall - essentially about McCulloch and Copey hanging round Smithy's flat. It's VERY BIG PRINT and only a few pages long, so don't buy it just for that.

(PJ: 'I met them in '78 and their idea of a good time was walking round Liverpool with dyed red hair.' - MES, 'City Fun', 1981)

From NME:

IAN McCULLOCH - KING OF COOL by Mick Middles (Independent Music Press, £9.99)

AMBITION AND jealousy. Wild success and ignominious failure. Tragic endings and happy reinventions. The story of Echo & The Bunnymen has all the components of The Greatest Rock'N'Roll Story Ever Told - at least up until that point where Ian McCulloch decided recording a football song with the Spice Girls would be a good move. 'King Of Cool'? No chance of that any more, Ian. Back in the old days, though, he could happily lay claim to the title, well aware that a young man who knew Mark E Smith could go a long way with that hair, those lips and a secret desire to be Frank Sinatra. >From the petty rivalries of the Liverpool scene - starring Julian Cope and Bill Drummond in their usual lunatic roles - to the massive jealousies existing within the Bunnymen themselves, journalist Mick Middles, an acquaintance of the band from the start, tells their story with often acerbic insight. Yet scurrilously interesting as all the squabbling and scene-making is, you never lose sight of the fact the Bunnymen, at their best, could make music that meant the world. As Bill Drummond would have justly put it: "Lay down your raincoat and groove." 6/10 Victoria Segal

----

AmC:
Grimm of the Week:

Why Dogs Sniff Each Other

During a feast given by the lion, to which most of the animals had been invited, it was found that the pepper was missing. The lion at once called a dog who was sitting with them at the high table, and asked him to run quickly to the next town and fetch some pepper.

The dog growled with vexation at leaving behind so many delicious morsels; all the same he went off, as otherwise he would have got a beating. But, instead of fetching the pepper, he played a trick--and ran away with it.

So they waited for an hour, and another hour, but no dog turned up! This made the lion angry, and he sent the other dogs out to search for the one with the pepper. Wherever they found him they were to tear him to pieces; and so long as they didn't find the dog with the pepperand pay him out for it they would only get bones--and not meat--at the royal table.

From that very day dogs sniff one another to find the dog with the pepper. But ....... wait for it ........

---

St. Peter's Mother

When St. Peter got to Heaven he saw that his mother was still in Purgatory. He felt sad and pleaded, 'Dear Lord, let me free my mother from Purgatory.' And his request was granted.

Now, when St. Peter rose with her from Purgatory to journey up to Heaven, many poor souls clung to her skirt, hoping to rise with her. But she was grudging, and shook them off. So they all dropped back. When St. Peter saw this he knew his mother's heart to be wicked, and let go of her again. Then back she fell to Purgatory, where she may be still if her heart hasn't softened

----

From: John Howard
Subject: <fallnet> Review with Fall reference

Another hilarious Mark Prindle review, this of a Police album. Go to his site for a passel of Fall reviews http://www.users.interport.net/~aske/

Ghost In The Machine - A&M 1981.

>From what I understand, I'm one of the very, very few people that would rate this one as highly as three that came before it. Synths and horns and whatnot are creeping in on the old reliable Police sound, and the songwriting itself seems to be all over the place with no cohesion at all. Yeah, the other albums were diverse, but this one just seems CONFUSED, especially on side two, which keeps jerking back and forth between dipshit pop songs and almost unnoticably minor somber pieces. But for me, that's fine. The bass lines on here KILL. Not literally, but close. They're incredibly simple and repetitive, but darn it, that's what THE FALL do, and I LOVE The Fall! The guitar might be a bit too quiet in the mix on some tracks, but the moodiness and solid bass riffage keeps me grooving and hanging on from beginning to end, with the exception of "Rehumanize Yourself," "One World (Not Three)" and the boring chorus of the otherwise beautiful "Invisible Sun." The hits were the spooky "Spirits In The Material World" (which, at age eight, I could have sworn was saying, "Whee! I swear it's in the material, whoa!") and the decaffeinated pop gem "Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic." I say buy it. Police purists might despise the intrusion of the outside instruments, but very few bands this messed up on narcotics can pull off an album this interesting. Wrong? Say, did I mention that it took me a good twelve years to realize that that little digital blip on the cover is a portrait of the band members? That's really neat!

---

> Go to his site for a passel of Fall reviews
> http://www.users.interport.net/~aske/

Like any good Fall-y drone I quickly and without question followed this advice. In his review of HEH the following line:

"Who Makes The Nazis?" has a harmonics-only bass line (unheard of since Yes's "The Fish!"),

slid off the page, scurried up my leg like so many silverfish and bit me in the roundies. My taste in music is moldy on occasion but I really don't know what to make of this.

Good, bad, or a lot of wind?

gert

----

Stefan:

from a Chicago rag vintage 1989:

The Fall's plangent dissonance transfixed their fans with hypnotic
viciousness, raping the clandestine reaches of the mind like an
unconscious yet uncontrollable urge. With Mark E. Smith's android-a-billy
vocals pinballing through fractured cobblestone rhythms and disembodied,
ghoulish noise, The Fall suceeded worldwide attracting fans and deflecting
critics with every new release. But enduring through it all was Brix's
lunging lashing lead guitar cutting like a sharp icicle into the hearts of
rock and roll fans all across the globe.

All this and more will be posted soon to the Fall bibliography

http://www.geocities.com/sunsetstrip/alley/8090

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Graeme:

>Any spider you can hear walking is just WAY to big

Wahey! time for my scary, woken from sleep story methinks.

Picture this.....

The innocent hero lying sleeping in bed (me of course).......

<sound effect> tsshhhhhhhh tssshhhhhhhh tssssshhhhhhhhhhh

Innocent hero rouses from slumber, looks around, hears tsshhhhhhhh

tssshhhhhhhh tssssshhhhhhhhhhh

Looks around some more, hears tsshhhhhhhh tssshhhhhhhh tssssshhhhhhhhhhh

Switches off light, the sound doesn't abate.

Innocent hero rises from bed, searches room, finds safeway bag crumpled on floor.

Attempting to march across the crumpled bag is a big black beetle, unable to gain any traction.

Hero lifts bag around beetle, takes bag to front door and sends the black messenger off into the night. Which is one ending to the story.

In the other, a poor beetle marches relentlessly across a never ending sea of safeway bag...

can you hear it? tsshhhhhhhh tssshhhhhhhh tssssshhhhhhhhhhh?

----

From: Ezra Mark
Sinister Walser

We all seem to enjoy the Grimm stories immensely; they remind me at times of Robert Walser, and thought to share a few brief bits re this sadly neglected writer...

_The Maid_

A rich lady had a maid and this maid had to look after her child. The child was as delicate as a moonbeam, pure as freshly fallen snow, and as lovable as the sun. The maid loved the child as much as she loved the moon, the sun, almost as much as her own dear God Himself. But one day the child got lost, nobody knew how, and so the maid went looking for it, looked for it everywhere in the world, in all the cities and countries, even Persia. Over there in Persia the maid came one night to a broad dark tower, it stood by a broad dark river. But high up in the tower a red light was burning, and the faithful maid asked this light: Can you tell me where my child is? It got lost and for ten years I have been looking for it. Then go on looking for another ten years, said the light, and it went out. So the maid looked for the child another ten years, an all the parts and on all the byparts of the earth, even in France. In France there is a great and splendid city, called Paris, and to this city she came. One evening she stood by the entrance to a beautiful garden, wept, because she could not find the child, and took out her red hankerchief to wipe her eyes. Then suddenly the garden opened and her child came out. She saw it and died of joy. Why did she die? Did it do her any good? Yet she was old now and could not endure so much any more. The child is now a grand and beautiful lady. If you should ever meet her, give her my best regards.

============Rick===========

Date: Wed, 28 Jun 1995
From: andrew john richardson
Subject: Stop Press [fortunately knocked off the front pages by Hugh Grant]

Music industry darling Mark Edward Smith is this morning counting the cost of a 30 second dalliance with a prostitute iNside a chip shop on the Oldham Road. Smith, real name, MES, was spotted by a Greater Manchester Police Curb Crawl and Lollipop Lady SWAT team panda car entering Macari's Cod Sinister Chipper at 432 Oldham Road, Manchester on the night of the 27 June at around 23.54 hours GMT (Greater Manchester Time). The SWAT team comprising 2 armed police officers and a 'Knock the ethnic minorities head off the door, load em up with planted drugs' operative followed Mr Smith into the chip shop where he alledgedly approached local lady of the night Bella Donna 'Deep Kecks' Fellatini for 'a chip' (see Greater Manchester Police Totally Fabricated Salford Non-Rhyming Slang Dictionary p347 Chip : a thirty second screw up against the deep fat frier in a chipper, extra salt and vinegar). After a brief scuffle in which Ms Fellatini kneed Mr Smith in the goolies and headed off down Oldham Road shouting "Now that Mr Grant he was a good shag, but this smelly load mouthed git" Mr Smith was arrested by the SWAT team and banged up in Longsight Police Station E-Wing. Mr Smith is unavailable for comment at the present time. It is believed Mr Smith will be charged with 'lewd behavior and pubic misdemeanour in a chipper, extra scrapings.'

REUTERS chip-shop feed RE 28.w.32.1 Reporter: Harry Ramsden

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Recent news....
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