22 December 2023
Iconic post-punk misfits THE FALL released their
cover of The Kinks‘ 1969 classic VICTORIA 35 years
ago in 1988.
It featured on their The Frenz Experiment LP.
Back to the Victorian era with lord Mark E. Smith.
The Kinks original (1969)
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THE FALL: Facebook
Back in time
Band: ECHO & THE BUNNYMEN
Active: 1978–1993, 1996–present
Album: PORPUCINE – 3rd LP
Released: 4 February 1983
Score: #2 in the UK
Stream here…
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ECHO & THE BUNNYMEN: Bio – Discography
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Band: R.E.M.
Active: 1981-2011
Album: MURMUR – debut LP
Released: 12 April 1983
Score: #36 in the US
Stream here…
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R.E.M: Bio – Discography
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Band: MARK STEWART + THE MAFFIA
Who: One of the adventurous dub projects of
The Pop Group‘s centipede musician Mark Stewart
Album: LEARNING TO COPE WITH COWARDICE – first and last LP
Released: January 1983
Stream here…
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MARK STEWART: Bio – Discography
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Artist: TOM WAITS
Album: SWORDFISHTROMBONES – 8th LP
Released: 6 March 1983
Stream here…
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TOM WAITS: Bio – Discography
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Artist: BILLY BRAGG
Album: LIFE’S A RIOT WITH SPY Vs SPY – debut LP
Released: May 1983
Stream here…
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BILLY BRAGG: Bio – Discography
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Band: THE FALL
Active: 1976–2018
Album: PERVERTED BY LANGUAGE – 6th LP
Released: 12 December 1983
Stream here…
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THE FALL: Bio – Discography
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Band: CABARET VOLTAIRE
Active: 1973–1994, 2009–2022
Album: THE CRACKDOWN – 3rd LP
released: 18 August 1983
Stream here…
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CABARET VOLTAIRE: Bio – Discography
Band: THE THE
Matt Johnson‘s band
Album: SOUL MINING – debut LP
Released: 21 October 1983
Stream here…
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THE THE: Bio – Discography
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Band: NEW ORDER
Active: 1980–1993, 1998–2007, 2011–present
Album: POWER, CORRUPTION AND LIES
Their second LP
Released: 2 May 1983
Score: #4 in the UK
Stream here…
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NO: Bio – Discography
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Band: BIG COUNTRY
Active: 981–2000, 2007, 2010–present
Album: THE CROSSING – debut LP
Released: 29 July 1983
Stream here…
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BIG COUNTRY: Bio – Discography
Concert posters from the past
JOHN COOPER CLARKE
THE FALL
Hulme, UK
2 Dec 1978
Geniuses at work.
– J.C.C –
– M.E.S –
Eye-catching album cover(s) art
9 March 2022
Band: THE FALL (Manchester)
R.I.P. Mark E. Smith (5 March 1957 – 24 January 2018)
Artwork: Cover of the group’s 4th LP (out of a total
of 31 studio albums), released 40 years ago, yesterday,
on 8 March 1982.
There’s a chaos of pen scribbles by the late great Smith on the front sleeve.
Just random (well, it looks like that) rhetorical phrases and sentence snippets
like “Lie-Dream 80% of 10% OR 6% over no less than 1/4 = ??????”,, “Hail Sainsbury’s!”,
“CHUMMY LIFESTYLE”, “HAVE A BLEEDIN GUESS” and “CIGS. SMOKED HERE”.
Afterward in an interview, Smith said that he wanted an LP’s artwork
to be the reflection of the content. He explained how he was drawn to
cheap and misspelled posters, amateur layouts of local papers and
printed cash and carry signs
And I just thought that Smith was bored and
started to write some BS just to pass time, while
waiting for the pubs to open.
Back sleeve
Stream here, 1 rattling hour of The Fall…
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THE FALL: All Albums
Back in time…
21 April 2021
Band: THE FALL (Manchester)
Active: 1976–2018 / 31 albums
Album: SHIFT-WORK – 13th LP
Released: 22 April 1991 – 30 years ago
Note: ‘The War Against Intelligence’ was the original title of the album until the outbreak of the Gulf War. Smith agreed to change the title. Then in 2003, Universal released ‘The War Against Intelligence – The Fontana Years‘, a collection of Fall songs from the LPs ‘Extricate, Shift-Work, Code: Selfish’ and related singles although the UK was involved in another Persian Gulf war.
AllMusic wrote: “Shift-Work marked the sophomore effort from a new Brix-less Fall and is a slightly more subdued effort than the raging Extricate. It also marked a new direction for Mark E. Smith and the band as what once was repetitious grooves became interspersed with pop song structures… There are hooks and melodies here, and the group ineffably remain the Fall. The following year’s Code: Selfish would return to a much harder sound, leaving this a melancholic, introspective album.” Score: 2.5/5.
Turn Up The Volume: Except for a couple of good singles this is a disappointing longplayer. But hey, even the best sports athletes have an off-day now ad then.
– WHITE LIGHTING –
Full album…
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THE FALL: All Albums
MARK E. SMITH
THE FALL
Record Collector
March 2018
18 March 2021
British Uncut Magazine has an Ultimate Music Guide to the visionary genius
of The Fall out. Every album reviewed! ! Featuring encounters with hip priest
Mark E Smith! The complete guide to the wonderful and frightening world of
Britain’s most original band.
You can buy a copy online here.
5 March 2021
The late genial word’smith’,
mega ego and lager junkie
MARK E. SMITH would
have turned 64 today.
Happy B. Mark E.
Let’s go to the basement to celebrate…
00:00 – Is This New
02:30 – Wolf Kidult Man
07:51 – Fifty Year Old Man
13:28 – Latchkey Kid
9 January 2021
A new live THE FALL album will see the day of light next month. The Fall: Live at St. Helens Technical College ’81’ was rediscovered by radio presenter and former Fall
bassist Marc Riley and will be released via Castle Records.
Here’s a taster ‘Leave The Capitol’…
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THE FALL: Facebook
17 November 2020
Band: THE FALL
Album: GROTESQUE (AFTER THE GRAMME) – the band’s third LP
Released: 17 November 1980 – 40 years ago today
AllMusic/Ned Raggett wrote: “The Fall really started hitting its stride, with Marc Riley and Craig Scanlon now a devastatingly effective combination, somehow managing to sound exactly placed between random sloppiness and perfect precision. The sharp rockabilly leads and random art-rock racket thrived on both counts, with Smith as always the mad jester ripping into anything and everything while having a great time doing so… As a side note, the hilarious music scene caricatures on the front cover and wind-up liner notes add just the right level of acidic wit to the proceedings.” Full review here. Score: 4/5.
Mark E. Smith: “I was never ever into all that punk stuff to be quite frank with you, or that new wave, it’s not what I was going for. I was just trying to do very basic music, very savage music, with intelligent lyrics.”
Paul Morley (famous former NME writer) about MES: “What if he wasn’t a genius.
What if he was just an old drunken tramp?”
Turn Up The Volume: The genial drunk tramp on a roll here.
Full album…
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THE FALL: All Albums
Back sleeve