THE FALL - FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS - 10 Feb 94 CONTENTS: A SHORT DISCOGRAPHY albums videos REVIEWS albums videos RECOMMENDED LISTENING poll of fallnet favorite songs recommendations for a new fan BAND HISTORY phases THE FALL LIVE ephemeral whingeing aspects - uk live in amsterdam the high point of chris's life WHY ANYONE LIKES THE FALL why do people like the fall? aesthetic deconstructionists perversion of language in decline? MISCELLANEOUS covers the fall has done covers of fall songs sound-alikes most unlistenable tracks FOR FURTHER REFERENCE net resources books A SHORT DISCOGRAPHY =================== ALBUMS --------- From: Jeff Higgott From: dgolumbi@sas.upenn.edu (David Golumbia) From: Eston Martz From: eck@saul.cis.upenn.edu (Brian J. Eck) Date Album RSG Label Availability (OOP=Out of print) 01/79 Live at the Witch Trials 3.5 SF,IR UK only (OOP?) 10/79 Dragnet 3.0 SF,IR UK only (OOP?) 05/80 Totale's Turns 2.5 RT,DO UK/US (I assume Dojo has US dist.) 11/80 Grotesque 2.0 RT not available 04/81 Slates, etc. RT ? (10" EP) 09/81 Early Years 2.5 SF not available 03/82 Hex Enduction Hour 2.5 KA,LI UK only 05/82 Part of America Therein CO UK/US CD w/Slates (Dojo) 10/82 Room to Live 3.0 KA,LI not available ??/83 Fall in a Hole (NZ) FN not available 12/83 Perverted by Language 3.0 RT,LI UK only 10/84 Wonderful Frightening World 3.5 BB UK only (w/single trx) (OOP US?) 03/85 Hip Priest & Kamerads 2.5 S2 UK only (w/extra trx) (OOP US?) 09/85 This Nation's Saving Grace 4.5 BB UK only (w/single trx) (OOP US?) ??/86 Nord-West Gas (German) FV not available 10/86 Bend Sinister 4.5 BB UK only (w/single trx) Domesday Pay-Off 4.0 US only (OOP) 12/87 Palace of Swords Reversed 3.0 CS UK only (OOP?) (OOP US) 02/88 Frenz Experiment 4.5 BB UK only (w/single trx) (OOP US?) 10/88 Kurious Oranj 4.0 BB US OOP; UK only (2 extra trx) ??/89 Seminal Live 3.0 BB US/UK (US OOP?) (w/single trx) 02/90 Extricate 3.5 CS US/UK ??/90 458489 A Sides 5.0 BB US/UK 12/90 458489 B Sides 3.5 BB UK only 04/91 Shiftwork 3.0 CS,FO UK only 03/92 Code: Selfish 3.0 CS,FO UK only 12/92 Slates/Part-America Therein DO 03/93 The Collection CA UK only 04/93 Infotainment Scan PE,CS UK/US 08/93 BBC Radio 1 Live WI UK/US RSG: Rolling Stone Record Guide rating (out of 5.0) Labels: SF=Step Forward, IR=IRS, RT=Rough Trade, DO=Dojo, KA=Kamera, LI=Line, CO=Cottage, FN=Flying Nun, BB=Beggars Banquet, S2=Situation Two, FV=Funf und Vierzig, CS=Cog Sinister, FO=Fontana, CA=Castle, PE=Permanent, WI=Windsong International. VIDEOS ------ Jeff Higgott Perverted by Language Bis Ikon Videos IKON8 VHS8489 Beggars Banquet BB010 Shift-Work and Holidays Phonogram 083.590-3 REVIEWS ======= ALBUMS ------ Live At The Witch Trials - 1979 Douglas Wolk Sat, 11 Dec 1993 The full-length debut. "They say I rip off Johnny Rotten!" Mark ranted later, and this is the evidence for why: parts of this sound rather PiL-like, and kind of, well, late punk-like--as opposed to later Fall records, which sound like nothing else at all. Includes "Music Scene," the first super-lengthy MES rant. Dragnet - 1979 Douglas Wolk Sat, 11 Dec 1993 "The difficult second album," I guess. Possessed of the worst recording and mixing job this side of a Silver Jews record, "Dragnet"--which was also the first Fall record that guitarist Craig Scanlon played on--has a couple of genuine pop songs on it ("Put Away"!), and a lot of excursions into glorious murk--especially "Spectre Vs. Rector," which is as creepy as anything the Fall's done. With Scanlon's arrival, of course, comes the beginning of the Fall's devotion to hopelessly out-of-tune guitars... Totale's Turns (It's Now Or Never) - 1980 Douglas Wolk Sat, 11 Dec 1993 A live album with a couple of studio tracks thrown on, _Totale's Turns_ captures the Fall at their antagonistic early best. Mark baits the crowd, sings off-key, rants hilariously ("You puritan! You shook me! I wash every day! But still it's-- but still it's-- UN_CLEAN_-uh! UN_CLEAN_-uh!") and complains about everything; the band churns along, out of sync and badly out of tune. It doesn't sound that great, but believe me, it is. Grotesque (After The Gramme) - 1980 Eston Martz This is an incredible record. The music is really harsh (ah...but it's SO good!), but the lyrics are hilarious and scary. "Pay your Rates" from "Palace" is from this record. Douglas Wolk Sat, 11 Dec 1993 Wondering where Pavement learned everything they know? Look no further... a couple of tracks on this were ripped off wholesale on _Slanted And Enchanted_, and the younger band's general musical world-view is pretty seriously informed by it. For the first time, the Fall is comfortable enough as a band to ROCK OUT, albeit in a claustrophobic, flat-sounding way--"New Face In Hell" and "The Container-Drivers" are both super-propulsive. There's also a couple of weird audio squiggles and an endless MES showcase, "The N.W.R.A." Slates etc - 1981 ??? 77-Early Years-79 - 1981 Douglas Wolk Sat, 11 Dec 1993 Essential and long out of print, this one's worth the effort it'll take to track down. It's a collection of the first handful of singles plus a few album tracks. Highlights include their first single "Repetition" (simultaneously incredibly tedious and utterly compelling), "Bingo-Master's Breakout," "In My Area"... The musicianship is mostly pretty poor, but not inappropriate. Hex Enduction Hour - 1982 Eston Martz I think is the best recording they made in their two-drummer line up; the rhythms are really dense and driving, and Mark E. is inspiring. "Room to Live" is also from this period and also excellent, but I'll give this one the nod just for "The Classical." Room to Live (Undiluteable Slang Truth) - 1982 ??? A Part Of America Therein, 1981 - 1982 ??? Perverted By Language - 1983 Eston Martz This is the first LP to feature Brix, and it's a revelation. The two-drummer onslaught continues, and highlights some of Mark E.'s most gripping work. "Neighborhood of Infinity," which appears in an inferior live version on "Palace..." is here. Also present and utterly essential are "Garden," (extensively discussed earlier here--hey Chris, is the earlier stuff FTP'able? If not, Travis, I can with considerable trouble search my personal collection of fall mail and get you the relevant bits, assumin' yer that interested...), "Eat Y'Self Fitter" and my personal fave go-get-'em-tiger wake up song,"Smile" (it really starts the day off on an interesting note). Get this one before all others if you can--but be warned, it's not for the weak... The Wonderful and Frightening World of... - 1984 ??? Hip Priest and Kamerads - 1985 ??? This Nation's Saving Grace - 1985 Eston Martz This is the epitome of the Fall's "pop" period, with rave-ups like "Gut of the Quantifier," "LA," "Spoilt Victorian Child" and esp. the near-hit "Cruisers' Creek," which you should certainly have on the A-sides collection. This is really amazing stuff, with Brix fully integrated into the band and the music, as Jeff (I think) aptly put it, shit-hot. Buy this one second, or first if you can't find "perverted by language." This one's also more accessible to those distressed by dissonance. Bend Sinister - 1986 ??? in: Palace of Swords Reversed - 1987 ??? The Frenz Experiment - 1988 ??? I am Kurious, Oranj - 1988 ??? Seminal Live - 1989 ??? Extricate - 1990 ??? 458489 A Sides - 1990 ??? 458489 B Sides - 1990 ??? Shift-Work - 1991 ??? Code: Selfish - 1992 ??? The Collection - 1993 ??? The Infotainment Scan - 1993 Eston Martz 12 Jul 1993 ..I am swiftly growing to LOVE _The Infotainment Scan_. I'm wondering why, given the dour reviews by those here fortunate enough to hear it before it came out in the U.S. Perhaps I went into it, after those early comments, with such negative expectations that I couldn't HELP but like the damn thing. Or perhaps I've just been jonesing for new (at least to me) Fall stuff that ANYTHING seems like a good fix. .. I think this record kinda provides a nice (well, that's not the right word, Let's try: effective) summary of all of the styles the Fall has dabbled in over the years. Perhaps this indicates they're running out of ideas, but I don't get that impression...we hear echoes of old stuff (get to that in a minute) but it's recombined with stuff from other Fall eras in such a way as to not only create something different (not necessarily "new") but also to cast light on the previously issued matter. Take the opener, "Ladybird (Green Grass)"--the guitar harks back to prime Brix-era hookiness (could it be she WASN'T responsible for makin' em sell out, if you choose to interpret it that way?), the staggered beat seems to come straight from "Sing! Harpy," Mark sounds as pissed as he's been in a while (a good thing, I suppose), but the rap-influenced (I'm grasping at straws) opening and techno-styled whooshes that punctuate the track keep it from sounding like a retread. They thread together successful elements from past and present and thus keep things both familiar and a little unsettling... Maybe this is what they've always done, now that I think about it. Then there's "Glam-Racket." Will anyone here dispute that this is an incredible song? Smith is in rare piss-take form, and the music...gawd, the guitar is wonderful, the beat is ALMOST as punchy as, say, "Room to Live" or "Kicker Conspiracy," the backing chant could come from "2 x 4"....but to me, it doesn't sound like they're plundering the past; rather, they seem to be building on it. This track is damn near perfect. I even like "I'm Going to Spain." Someone here (forgive the discourtesy of not naming the person; it's been a while) called this a lame excuse for Mark to try to sing. Well, yeah, but you could say the same for "Mr. Pharmacist," right? Or even "Bill is Dead," for that matter. But dig the contrast between the ending of "Glam-Racket" and the strummed guitars that herald "...Spain"...it's a goddam shock. Took me by surprise, anyway, and that's one thing I can always count on at least once per Fall album. "It's A Curse" is prime MES ranting a la "My New House". How could I live without it, particularly given that insistent groove? We even get some mock-U2 guitar (it's funny, I tell ya) like that on "Free Range". Tell me you don't love it to death. "Service", god help me, reminds me of "I Confess" from the Beat's _Special Beat Service_ LP. Just the piano figure, I guess, there's no real similarity (yes, I checked)...naturally, the feeling is totally different. But to the best of my knowledge (not having heard the two previous elpees) this use of piano is a new element. A far cry from Una Baines, n'est-ce pas? But I couldn't honestly tell you which I like more. This could go on forever, but you probably want me to get to the goddam point already, which is that _The Infotainment Scan_ is a tremendous record even by standards the Fall have already set. Compare it to most anything else out there and then tell me which winds up on your turntable/in your disc player more after five years passes. VIDEOS ------ Perverted by Language Bis ??? VHS8489 ??? Shift-Work and Holidays ??? RECOMMENDED LISTENING ===================== POLL OF FALLNET --------------- James Little Mon, 31 Jan 94 Best Fall track released in 1993: 1st equal(8) The League of Bald Headed Men It's a Curse 3rd(7) War 4th(5) Paranoid Man 5th equal(4) Ladybird Glam Racket Behind The Counter 8th equal(3) Cab Driver Lost In Music I'm Going to Spain 11th equal(2) A Past Gone Mad Strychnine M5 Grudgeful james@aiil.co.uk (James Little) Thu, 7 Jan 93 1. Best Fall track released in 1992: Ed's Babe (2) School of Birmingham Business School(2) Crew Filth Free Range Return 2. Current (1992) all-time favourite Fall album. This Nation's saving Grace(3) Extricate(2) Hex Enduction Hour(2) Bend Sinister Escape from aie ..Wonderful World of.. Live at the Witch Trials Perverted by Language 3. Current (1992) all-time top three favorite Fall tracks. Bill is Dead(2) Hit The North(2) Winter(2) 2 x 4 Athlete Cured Blood Outa Stone C 'n C Stop Mithering Container Drivers Dead Beat Descendant Dktr Faustus Fantastic Life Guest Informant Gramme Friday Iceland In my Area Kicker Conspiracy Leave the Capital Lie Dream of a Casino Soul My New House New Big Prinz No Bulbs Paintwork Pat Trip Dispenser The Man Whose Head Expanded Two Steps Back Wings Wrong Place Wrong Time FAVORITE SONGS -------------- Eston Martz 09 Jul 1993 I'm putting together a Fall compilation tape for some friends (originally intended as an inducement to get said compatriots to attend now-deleted U.S. Fall gigs now occurring in some alternate universe) who've never heard 'em. I have 90 minutes of time in which to justify 15+ years of output... Various Times English Scheme A New Face In Hell Putta Block Leave the Capitol The Classical Room to Live Kicker Conspiracy Smile Mansion Cruiser's Creek L.A. Mr. Pharmacist Hey! Luciani Terry Waite Sez Hit the North, pt. 2 Tough Life Boogie Sing! Harpy Free Range Lost In Music Glam Racket I'm Going to Spain... RECOMMENDATIONS FOR A NEW FAN ----------------------------- "John Coryell." Tue, 03 Nov 92 ..I'd recommend first off _The Frenz Experiment_ and secondly _Domesday Pay-Off_ (the American version, which has more single sides and is somewhat less moody than the English version which has the title _Bend Sinister_. Also, _Code: Selfish_ ... ah, gee, what am I saying? Buy them all! They're all magnificent! Think I'll go listen to my entire collection right now... trtotu@uta.fi (Tommi Turkia) Tue, 3 Nov 1992 ..you might try to get the earlier compilations as well. "In: Palace of Swords Reversed" contains the aforementioned "Prole Art Threat" and other classic singles from the early 80's. A must, but I'm not sure how easy it is to come by. It came out in 1987 so I guess it is still possible to find it. "Hip Priest and Kamerads" covers approx. the years 81-83. The stuff is bit more demanding, especially on the CD release there are some rather longish and noisy live cuts. (By the way, it must be the longest CD I own, about 80 minutes.) "The Early Years" (or something like that) covers the years 1977-1979, but as far as I know it is extremely difficult to get. An easy way to get loads of great songs is to get the CD's "The wonderful and frightening world of the Fall", "This nation's saving grace", from 1984 and 1985, respectively. They contain the original LP's plus numerous single's A and B-sides. Of the recent records "Shift-Work" is a classic - "Bend Sinister" from 1986 could be a good place to start, also. cm1@aip.org (chris mohr) Tue, 3 Nov 92 Um, definitely avoid "Seminal Live." Someone (the other Chris?) described it as a contractual obligation abortion. BAND HISTORY ============ PHASES ------ Eston Martz Tue, 1 Dec 1992 [stuff deleted] Anyway, the early stuff--anything from 1977-1979--is pretty dissonant, harsh, grating stuff. I love it, but it's a lot different from the stuff you've got. If you're not afraid of a little guitar din, you'll probably dig this stuff. MES has some great rants on this material, particularly on the "Grotesque" LP if you can find it. The "Early Singles 1977-79" is also indispensable. The mid-period stuff--1980-1984--was from their two-drummer line up. The arrangements became more complex and the music (slightly) smoother. The Fall claim they were using "jazz" arrangements, so I've called this the "mutant jazz" period for lack of anything better to call it. The albums from this period include "Room to Live," "Hex Enduction Hour" and "Perverted by Language." Brix-period: 1984-89: This is when Brix, MES Californian, guitar-toting wife, became a key player in the band's sound. The stuff you've got is from this period. Brix brought a heightened awareness of pop sensibility to the mix without blunting MES characteristic acerbic wit or the Fall's unconventional aesthetic sense--even though they were making what is (for them) "pop music," it's unlike any other pop music of the period. Many people, myself included on some days, think this was the Fall's most fruitful period. Post-Brix: 89-present: I'm at a disadvantage here, cause I've only heard 1/3 of the Fall's output since Brix left Mark and the Fall. "Extricate" is a very good record with some outstanding tracks (including "Sing! Harpy," a blistering attack presumably aimed at Brix) along with some filler. If you get it, get it on CD, cause the LP drops many tracks. I haven't heard their two most recent, "Shiftwork" and "Code:Selfish" but they have their adherents here on the list, and I'm sure, given the consistency in quality (if variability in tone) of the Fall's previous work, they're fine. Here's my list of must-have Fall records, which is by no means definitive. Dragnet (1978) Early Fall (1979) Hex Enduction Hour (1981) Perverted by Language (1983) This Nation's Saving Grace (1986) Palace of Swords Reversed (singles compilation) 1987 Now, mind you, I love all the other records, but these are the ones I think represent the Fall at their best. THE FALL LIVE ============= EPHEMERAL WHINGING ASPECTS - UK ------------------------------- Jeff Higgott Thu, 13 May 93 > A friend of mine told me about the Fall gig in Norwich, claiming that at best > it was 'pleasant'. I've never been to Fall gig that was pleasant(lame yes; > excellent yes; pleasant never), so I have difficulty believing this. Anyone > (Jeff, I guess) care to put the record straight? "Pleasant" eh? Still what do you expect from a Ramones fan! I really enjoyed the gig (though not as much as the Cambridge one the following night). Of course the gig was excellent - Fall gigs always are. The atmosphere in the arena was a little muted - presumably not helped by the fact that the place was only half full. Mark had a nightmare with his reel to reel tape player - it didn't play the right noises at the right time all night. Other than that and some undue feedback which MES cringed at, the gig proceeded without a hitch. Has anyone noticed that MES is never happy with everything during a gig? He seems to spend almost as much time rearranging the furniture (Wolstencroft's mikes, keyboards, cardboard fences etc.) At the Cambs gig he had a good go at moving the entire drum kit in mid-song, which made SW grimace somewhat! LIVE IN AMSTERDAM ----------------- chris@wg.estec.esa.nl Mon Oct 18 1993 Last night I saw The Fall in Amsterdam. This time around they were playing as a 6 piece, with a second drummer (presumably Karl Burns, but he was kept in the shadows all night, and I'm not sure if I'd recognise him anyway). Gone were the radio mike and the tape machine, although the latter had just been put on the mixing desk. Mark was looking as enthusiastic as I've seen him. Those of you who've seen the Fall before will know that he normally looks as if he'd sooner be anywhere else, and although to call him happy would be a gross misrepresentation, he definitely let the disgruntled expression slip, waving his arms about during 'New Big Prinz' and 'lala'ing along to the guitar during 'A past gone mad' (does this signal the start of the Deep Purple revival?). They played four new songs, three of which were pretty damn good, the fourth sounding like an outtake from 'Hex Enduction Hour'. If these are representative of the new album it's going to be a stormer. I think the rest of the set list was similar to the one they were playing on the US tour, although the order was a bit different. I'd rate this as one of the best Fall shows I've seen. They're nearly always excellent, but this was excellently excellent. Sadly there were no T-shirts on sale. I'd gone for maximum pose value, wearing my American 'Infotainment' shirt, and had to fend off enquiries of "Where did you get the T-shirt?", with "erm, San Francisco", e.g self satisfied, smug :-) THE HIGH POINT OF CHRIS'S LIFE... --------------------------------- cm1@aip.org (chris mohr) Thu, 14 Jan 93 A free weekly newspaper here, New York Press, recently had a contest, for which they invited readers to write about the happiest day of their lives. So this led me to wonder if fall-listers have "best" or, better yet, "worst" Fall stories to tell. For example, three of the best days of my life were: 1) The day in early 1985 when the Fall played in Trenton, NJ, at City Gardens. (Long-term Fall-listers have heard this one already.) I got a ride from Brix's stepsister. We dropped in on Mark & Brix at their motel room (Holiday Inn on Route 1). I helped carry guitars in so that they wouldn't keep me out for being under 21. 2) The day in October 1986 of the 6th game of the Mets-Red Sox world series (that's baseball) AND the Fall show at the Ritz in New York. I visited my sister & her boyfriend uptown to watch the game on TV until the 9th inning, when I couldn't take the tension any more, plus it was almost midnight. I drove downtown, listening to the game on the radio. I found a parking spot _just_ as the Mets pulled it out by rolling a groundball through Bill Buckner's legs. The city erupted with noise, as people spilled out of stores that had TVs or radios and as cars honked their horns. I got to the Ritz and the Fall came onstage 10 minutes later. They proceeded to play an excellent set of material from "Bend Sinister," "Kurious Oranj" (it hadn't been released yet) and the previous couple of albums. They even played "Pay Your Rates," in the same arrangement that ended up on _Seminal Live._ 3) The day in December 1988 when the Fall opened their UK tour in Nottingham. I had gone to Oban in the Scottish Highlands, then was swinging back through Glasgow on my way to see a friend in Edinburgh (actually, I wanted to go back because I had left a pile of newly purchased albums there). In a newsstand in the Glasgow bus station I flipped through a glossy music mag (can't recall which) and there it was: an ad for the Fall's UK tour. It was scheduled to begin two days before my flight back to the US. So then and there I decided to spend a night in Nottingham. Waiting in line for tickets, I overheard someone else say, "He was the manager!" So I said, "Eat y'self fitter!" He said, "I came all the way from Birmingham to see the Fall." I said, "I came all the way from America to see the Fall." Okay, so it was an obnoxious exaggeration, but it was almost true. Marcia Schofield's husband (Paul? Schofield) was one of the opening acts, solo w/guitar. Marcia and Brix came out to watch. The audience took a while to realize they were there and to begin to besiege Brix w/autograph requests. The Fall put on a truly shit-hot show, to quote from one of Mark Smith's press releases. I had bought "Kurious Oranj" just a week before I flew to the UK, so I knew most of the songs. But the audience knew _every_ word to _every_ song, or so it seemed to me, and they bounced up and down in unison to the beat. It was absolutely exhilarating to me. In New York and Trenton fairly large crowds turn up to see the Fall, and they applaud heartily enough, but they usually just stand there watching, as if perplexed by the whole thing. Nottingham was much more exciting. The Fall fed off the energy, too. WHY ANYONE LIKES THE FALL :) ============================ WHY DO PEOPLE LIKE THE FALL? ---------------------------- Jeff Leane Thu, 25 Mar 93 > > Unfortunately, people I've tried to introduce to the Fall have not shared > > my enthusiasm, and I don't know any other fans. > > This is an interesting point. Why do some people like (or > worship) the Fall and some don't? I dunno. 1. LYRICS Tommi, I'll turn your question around: "Why does anyone like (chosen at random) Michael Bolton or any other singer with a beautiful voice yet with nothing to say?" Lyrics are important -- to me at least. Mark's status as pop icon :) is a triumph of substance over style. His lyrics are at the same time funny, scary, and wondrous. So what if he's ugly and has a range of one note? :) 2. BRAINS "The difference between you and us is that we have brains [or brain-ZUH]." When I hear Mark on record, and especially when I see him perform live, I enjoy watching his mind at work. Standing on stage he is thinking, planning, and calculating his next move. He is also unpredictable; when I saw "Hey Luciani" he cracked up at one of his own humorous stories -- the first time I had ever seen him do so -- and the audience, hanging on every word and gesture, INSTANTLY picked up on it and began laughing, too. Only a quick performer and a quick audience will do that. 3. MUSIC Face it, The Fall is a shit-hot band. They crank in about a dozen different styles of music, which has prompted me to ask, "Is The Fall the most versatile band in the world?" They play country, techno, rock-n-roll, noise, punk, and about every other style of popular and non-popular music from the last thirty years. 4. ART The Fall succeeds better than most other bands at forming a cohesive and consistent multi-media package. Their words work well with their music, and both work well with their still images, moving images, and dance accompaniment. They take on interesting challenges (opera, ballet, film) and pull them off. Stuart wrote: > But mostly I think the loathing is a reaction against Mark E. himself > rather than the music. Yeah, Mark is easy for many people to hate. He's smart, ugly, independent, critical, and unpredictable -- everything a pop star should not be. :) AESTHETIC DECONSTRUCTIONISTS ---------------------------- JKANDELL@CCIT.ARIZONA.EDU Mon, 29 Mar 93 The things about the Fall--and a lot of avant garde art for that matter--is that they are aesthetic deconstructionists. Their "beauty" isn't so much their positive affirmations, but, rather, the way they take established norms of western culture and proceed to take them apart, via cynicism and critique. The Fall often use "boppy" little tunes, because that represents mainstream popular music. The deep, sad lyrics over-top are like arrows pointing to the triviality of the tunes. the fact their tunes are catchy shows how brilliantly the band pulls it off. (That's why the band is undervalued compared with Mark E. smith. Their contribution is subtle but vital part of the package.) The lyrics are de-constructions of cultural values and even words. The way Mark stretches out the ends of words, the way he plays around with emphasis (perverts language, if you will) are the linguistic equivalents to the musical deconstructions. So that's why people don't like them. They're looking for the catchy tune and shallow lyrics. They don't want to be made to feel uncomfortable. PERVERSION OF LANGUAGE ---------------------- JKANDELL@CCIT.ARIZONA.EDU 29 Mar 1993 The Fall pervert language in at least this number of ways: -incorrect syllables are emphasized, or different syllables are emphasized with each repetition, -foreign sounding words are used [e.g. meindickhoff, oranj] -the ends of words are sttttrreeetchedddd [we all like that one!] -abbreviations are spoken literally, e.g. "dept." is pronounced "dept" and not department. (Colin Davis) Mon, 5 Apr 93 Just a few suggestions about other things that might count as perversion of language: - the structure of words is sometimes played with by decomposition, e.g. C.R.E.E.P., L.A. (well, sort of) - with regard to spelling, this is often corrupted, e.g. Nkroachment, Kurious, Prinz etc. - the syntax of sentences is often `perverted', e.g. placing adjectives after nouns, as in "proles rich" and "children four". This makes the lyrics less prosaic, and is a relatively common poetic device, but rare in speech or in song lyrics generally. Another example I like is "talks to me hardly" (from `I'm Into C.B.' or whatever it's called) which introduces a pun by rearranging the usual syntactic structure. It also seems that the definite article is often conspicuously absent. - cliches and other figures of speech are often perverted. The only example I can think of at the moment is the start of `Mere Pseud Mag. Ed.', in which the expression "His heart is in the right place" becomes "His heart organ was where it should be" which rather comically reverses the meaning. - regarding deliberate mispronunciations, it's interesting the way MES pronounces "D. Bowie" (to rhyme with "cow-ee"). I'd guess he's not a Bowie fan. - as for the Fall's self-referentiality, it certainly seems that very similar lyrics pop up in different songs, e.g. "drink the long draught down". On a slightly different note, I thought it was amusing that when the Fall eventually adopted the now ubiquitous sampling technique (on "Crew Filth" - apologies if they sampled music prior to this) they chose to sample themselves! IN DECLINE? ----------- davidb@dbadmin2.amgen.com (David Bennison) Tue, 27 Apr 93 ..whether the Fall are in decline or not is irrelevant. They seem to be equally as likely to record a track of god-like genius or tedious mediocrity, with or without Brix, Martin Bramah, Mark Riley... So their last few albums have been patchy, (I personally don't think they've ever done an album to beat This Nations Saving Grace), but as long as they record songs like Bournemouth Runner, Athlete Cured, Oswald Defence Lawyer, Bremen Nacht, New Big Prinz, Cab It Up!, Telephone Thing, And Therein..., A Lot of Wind and Ladybird (Green Grass) which can make me go "Yesssss - they've still got it" then I can't complain. MISCELLANEOUS ============= COVERS THE FALL HAS DONE ------------------------ Jeff Higgott Wed, 12 May 93 Songs THE FALL have recorded which weren't written by THE FALL: Rollin Dany Gene Vincent (J Stein/P Edwards) Mr Pharmacist The Other Half (Nowlen) Victoria The Kinks (R Davies) There's a Ghost in My House R. Dean Taylor (Holland/Dozier/Holland/R Dean Taylor) Jerusalem The Fall (M. E. Smith/William Blake) Pinball Machine ?? (Lonnie Irving) Black Monk Theme Part 1 Monks (Monks) Black Monk Theme Part 2 Monks (Monks) Popcorn Double Feature The Searchers ?? (Weiss/English) White Lightning The Big Bopper (The Big Bopper) Just Waiting Hank Williams (Hank Williams) Lost In Music Sister Sledge (Sister Sledge) Kimble Lee Perry (Lee Perry) A Day in the Life The Beatles (Lennon/McCartney) Legend of Xanadu ?? (Howard/Blaikley) I'm Going to Spain ?? (S Bent) Strychnine Sonics (Gerry Roslie) COVERS OF FALL SONGS -------------------- Jeff Higgott Tue, 4 Jan 94 Douglas Wolk Wed, 5 Jan 94 The Adult Net Searching for the Now B-side of Incense and Peppermints (Actually Rebellious Jukebox) Terry Edwards Terry Edwards salutes the magic of The Fall Four track EP containing Totally Wired, Container Drivers, Bingo Masters Breakout, Dice Man Sonic Youth Four Tunna Brix Four track EP containing Rowche Rumble, My New House, Victoria, Psycho Mafia Frank Sidebottom Frank Sidebottom's Indie Medley features How I Wrote Elastic Man [on a flexi given away free with an issue of Blah Blah Blah fanzine] Hit The North on Frank's 1988 album 13:9:88 Dustdevils female-voiced "Hip Priest" _Struggling Electric & Chemical_ album on Matador Wreck Various Times _Soul Train_ on Wax Trax ??? City Hobgoblins ("not-too-inspired version") _Teriyaki Asthma, Vol. IX_ 7" compilation on C/Z Nephews Your Heart Out ("a fairly pointless version") _Ask For Disorder_ compilation on Justice My Eye/Elevated Loin (Trumans Water's label, distributed by Dutch East) SOUND-ALIKES ------------ "A.J. Norman" "I am Damo Suzuki" is almost a carbon-copy of Can's "Oh Yeah", from the "Tago Mago" LP - MES has described this as one of his favourite LPs. Mike Higgott 'Elves' from Wonderful & Frightening is a rip-off of 'I wanna be your dog', from The Stooges first album. 'Barmy' sounds very much like The Monkees' 'Valerie'. Jeff Curtis Some article I read in Alternative Press, I think it was, said that "League of Bald Headed Men"'s riff was ripped off of Led Zeppelin's "Misty Mountain Hop" despite the fact that Mark sez he has never heard Led Zeppelin (yah, right I believe THAT!); now every time I hear "L.o.BHM" I think of ol' Jimmy Page soloing in the background... Eston Martz On this whole plaigiarism strand, has anyone ever noticed the marked similarity between (I think) "Athlete Cured" from _The Frenz Experiment_ and the song "Tonight I'm Gonna Rock You" from the Spinal Tap soundtrack? trtotu@uta.fi (Tommi Turkia) Isn't "Sing! Harpy" a copy of Stooges' "Little Doll"? MOST UNLISTENABLE TRACKS ------------------------ FallNet participants mentioned these tracks as the most unlistenable, either by conventional standards or by any standards you like: And this Day Twister Spector vs. Rector Cab Driver Hip Priest Putts Block Papal Visit Haf found Bormann All of _Shift-Work_ Crew Filth Fireworks W.M.C.- Blob 59 C.R.E.E.P. A Day in the Life of (from _Sgt Pepper Knew My Father_ compilation) FOR FURTHER REFERENCE ===================== NET RESOURCES ------------- To join FallNet: send e-mail to fall-request@wg.estec.esa.nl with "subscribe" as the subject NOTE: David Beus will take over the list after about 1 April 1994. Stay tuned. Detailed discography: Soft copy: Jeff Higgott Hard copy: Send a stamped addressed A4 envelope to: John Peel Radio 1 FM London W1N 4DJ and mark your envelope "Fall discography". Detailed lyrics: The quick'n'dirty way to get the lyrics automatically: Send mail to Brian Eck (eck@syl.nj.nec.com). In either the Subject line or the message body, include the words "FALL LYRICS REQUEST", without the quotes. Or write to Jonathan Kandell , who runs the lyrics project. BOOKS ----- Edge, B. (1989). Paintwork - A portrait of The Fall. Omnibus Press. Smith, M. E. (1985). The Fall Lyrics. Lough Press, Berlin.