The Fall

The Fall biography

The Fall are an English post-punk band, formed in Prestwich, Greater Manchester in 1976. Despite an ever changing line up, the group essentially consists of its founder and only constant member, Mark E. Smith, who has said "If it's me and your granny on bongos, then it's the Fall". First associated with the late 1970s punk movement, the band's music has evolved through numerous stylistic changes, often concurrently with changes in the group's membership. The Fall's music is often characterised by repetition, an abrasive guitar-driven sound, and is always underpinned by Smith's often cryptic lyrics, described by critic Steve Huey as "abstract poetry filled with complicated wordplay, bone-dry wit, cutting social observations, and general misanthropy."

The group's output is prolific-as of November 2011 they have released 29 studio albums, and more than triple that counting live albums and other releases. They have never achieved widespread public success beyond a handful of minor hit singles in the late 1980s, but have maintained a strong cult following. The band were long associated with BBC disc jockey John Peel, who championed them from early on in their career and cited The Fall as his favourite band, famously explaining, "They are always different, they are always the same."

The Fall was formed in Prestwich, Greater Manchester in 1976 by Mark E. Smith, Martin Bramah, Una Baines, and Tony Friel. Friel came up with the name "The Fall", after a 1956 novel by Albert Camus. The band's first drummer was remembered only as "Dave" or "Steve" for thirty-four years, until music writer Dave Simpson discovered that he had almost certainly been a man named Steve Ormrod. Ormrod was quickly replaced by Karl Burns, at least in part due to political differences with the other members of the group.

The four original members of The Fall would meet in order to read their writings to each other and take drugs. Their musical influences included Can, The Velvet Underground, Captain Beefheart, and garage rock bands like The Monks and The Stooges. The members were devoted readers, with Smith citing H.P. Lovecraft, Raymond Chandler, and Malcolm Lowry among his favourite writers. The Fall's music was intentionally raw and repetitive.

The group played its first concert on 23 May 1977. They recorded material for their debut EP in November 1977. The session was funded by Buzzcocks manager Richard Boon, who planned to release the EP on his New Hormones label. After discovering that he could not afford to release the EP, Boon gave the tapes back to the band. Two tracks, "Stepping Out" and "Last Orders", were released on the compilation Short Circuit: Live at the Electric Circus in June 1978 on Virgin Records, a compilation album recorded at the Manchester venue The Electric Circus in October 1977.

The Fall's line-up underwent several changes in 1977-78. Smith's girlfriend Kay Carroll became the group's manager and occasional backing vocalist. Founding members Tony Friel (who went on to form The Passage) and Una Baines left in December 1977 and March 1978, respectively. Jonnie Brown and Eric McGann had brief stints as The Fall's bass guitarist, the latter quitting in disgust of The Fall's van driver wearing a Hawaiian shirt. Marc Riley (bass) and Yvonne Pawlett (keyboards) were eventually recruited to the group. Martin Bramah blamed the dissolution of the original line-up on Smith's style of leadership: "The break-up wasn't so much about the music, though; it was more how we were being treated as people on a daily basis."

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