The Fall
Mark E. Smith ran the Fall out of Prestwich for forty years, cycling through sixty-six musicians while refusing to let the band's core vision soften. He formed it after seeing the Sex Pistols play the Lesser Free Trade Hall in 1976, wanting to fuse 'primitive music with intelligent lyrics.' Even Ian Curtis, notoriously hard to impress, singled the Fall out in his final interview as one of the only new groups worth hearing, though he filed them, not quite accurately, as 'mostly old Factory groups really.' Steve Hanley's circular, hypnotic basslines gave Smith's rambling, half-sung, half-barked delivery something to spiral around, a tension that defined the band's sound for decades.
At a glance
- Active
- 1976–2018
- From
- Prestwich, Manchester, UK
- Records in the issues
- 1 (1982)
- Original label
- Kamera Records
Listen
In the issues
- UK Post-PunkPrincipal · 1977-1984
UK Post-Punk is a music scene from United Kingdom, 1977–1984. Its principal artists include Joy Division, Siouxsie and the Banshees, The Fall and Public Image Ltd. This issue covers 10 essential albums and 18 dated events.
Records
Hex Enduction Hour
1982 · For the obsessed in UK Post-PunkOriginal release: Kamera Records · KAM 005 · 12″ Vinyl · UK 1982Recorded with two drummers, Karl Burns and Paul Hanley, driving a relentless rhythmic assault that Mark E. Smith compared to a steamroller, Hex Enduction Hour caught the Fall at their most primitive and most powerful. Steve Hanley's circular basslines held the center while Smith's lyrics spiraled outward into increasingly surreal territory.
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Family tree
Bands that shared members with The Fall, and who.
- Public Image Ltd1978–Karl Burns
- Elastica1992–2001Dave Bush
Places
- Lesser Free Trade HallManchester · 1856-1996 · UK Post-Punk
This venue hosted the Sex Pistols' legendary June 4, 1976 gig that inspired the founding members of Joy Division, The Fall, Buzzcocks, and the Smiths, becoming post-punk's creation myth and launching Manchester's entire musical revolution.
Voices
Quotations from the issues, each matched word for word against the source it links to.
“The most original aspect of the Fall is Steve ... I've never heard a bass player like him ... I don't have to tell him what to play, he just knows. He is the Fall sound.”