The Fall - Entrevista no fanzine Grim Humour #4, de "June / July" de 1984

 

The Fall interview

Background informations: The late John Peel’s favorites, The Fall, were one of several groups (alongside The Residents, Wire and Whitehouse) that newcomer to the magazine Andy Pearson (or, simply, Andy P. as he soon became known) forever got excited about to the point of often inflicting their countless records on me as a birthday and Xmas presents. With the benefit of hindsight, of course, he was doing me a huge favor, but I can’t claim to have been to fond of The Fall at the time. All the same, never wishing to appear completely ungrateful for anything, the very least I could do in return was succumb to Andy’s offer of an interview with Mark E. Smith and his then wife Brix for Grim Humour, thus heralding his triumphant debut into the publishing world. Of course, anybody still retaining an ear glued to such matters will be fully aware of the fact The Fall continued to remain a going concern for Smith until his untimely death in late January 2018. Until this sad news interrupted proceedings it was quite probable that the group would have kept going until he finally alumped over his doubtlessly battered typewriter with his chemical-drenched muse gasping as it witnessed the last word spewing across a sheet of A4, such was the determination afoot. And, think whatever you like about The Fall, their place in the music history has been long secured and seized upon as a huge source of inspiration for countless others, particularly former runners in the US and NZ underground such as Sonic Youth, Pavement, The Dead C. and various others prone to pontificating over slovenly instrumentation and all manner of musical imperfections most would do their utmost to iron out in their inevitable quest to sound more ‘professional’ as time goes on. UK duo Sleaford Mods have often been compared to The Fall, too, and whilst there are certain similarities in their approach, at least on a surface level, they’re far more coincidental than anything else. All the same, this once again illustrates just how great a stamp The Fall made on the public consciousness.

 

Original interview:

 

Since forming in Manchester in 1977, The Fall have continued to produce a succession of progressive and highly individual records which, although usually totally ignored by trendy ‘experimentalists’, have produced a sound as far from Culture Club, and Duran Duran drivel as is possible without losing the factor of ‘entertainment’. The following interview took place just before their December gig at the Electric Ballroom, which coincided with the release of their latest LP, Perverted by Language. Group members present were Mark E. Smith and his wife Brix, who plays guitar and adds backing vocals.

 

GH You’ve been playing material from your new album live for some time now. Do you prefer playing unrecorded material?

MARK We’ve been doing it for about nine months… we just wrote the songs. It’s a natural process to play ‘em. It’s not out of any sort of principle. Especially with record companies being as they are, you have to wait so long if you only want to do stuff you’ve recorded.

 

GH You tend not to do old songs, though…

MARK Sometimes we do… you’d be surprised. Brix helps me a lot with the set, ‘cos what I was finding I was doing was sort of a quest for the perfect set, so I was spending all me bleeding time, sort of two hours before we went on, scribbling on bits of paper, trying to get a proper order. It’s good to have another viewpoint sometimes.

 

GH Your live shows are much more effective than your recorded work. Do you see this as a drawback?

MARK Well, they are two different worlds altogether. We have come to terms with recording. A lot of the time, we don’t like recording, but we’re going to spend a lot more time on it in the future… we throw a lot of studio time away, in fact, by doing new songs, y’know. By the time we get into the studio, we’re usually fed up with what we were going to do, so we’ll do something different, which will take longer.

 

GH A recent review of one of your gigs criticized people dancing. Do you prefer people to dance or just to listen?

BRIX I would say dance…

MARK It doesn’t do any harm… as long as they think the music’s good enough…

 

GH Your stage show has often been criticized, but at your recent Brixton Ace gig a lavishly costumed character came on stage during ‘Tempo House’ to read out press reports. What was he doing?

MARK That was Allan Pellay, who just, like, hangs around when we come to London. The song finishes with no guitar or vocals. I thought it would be a good idea to have a report journal of how we’re supposed to be getting on.

 

GH What happened to the single version of ‘Marquis Cha-Cha’?

MARK Err, well, we were in Australia and the record company we were on (Kamara) did, like, a dirty on us and pressed ‘em up wrong. As we were away, the record company, which was only two blokes anyway, handed it over to some bloke from The Face (NB: The Face was another monthly magazine devoted to music and culture, albeit the more stylized end of it, generally, with fashion playing as prominent a role within its pages as everything else. Very occasionally, it featured somebody interesting, but its core interest appeared to be in priming its readers to be ‘hip’ and possess whatever ‘street credibility’ may have been necessary in order to get along in the art colleges, boutiques, clothes shops and hip bars they all doubtlessly hung around at. On the, ho hum, ‘face’ of it, it wasn’t an especially great magazine but, rather, a generally pathetic ‘style bible’ – Ed.) or summat, and he did the cover too, which he fucked up… It’s out again now, ‘cos the company went bankrupt and sold, like, 500 copies to pay the bills. If you look at it, it’s got ‘Papal Visit’ as the B-side, and it’s really “Room to Live’, which is, like, a complete fuck up… it wasn’t that funny at the time, but he didn’t press that many up as we (weren’t) into the idea. So it was out, then we went away, and when we got back it justn’t wasn’t mentioned.

 

GH Kamara didn’t do the Room to Live LP right as well, did they?

MARK Yeah, it wasn’t mean to be an LP, in fact. There are only seven songs on it, and two of them are short. It’s only, like, ten minutes a side. It was meant to be a big single and sell for £2.00 odd.

 

GH Going on to your more recent stuff, one of the verses in ‘Ludd Gang’ goes on about Shakin’ Stevens. What’s the song about, cheap nostalgia?

BRIX It’s anti-Shakin’ Stevens! We hate him!

MARK Yeah, all that sort of stuff… like, where I live in Manchester, the houses and all that crap. The Luddites were from where I’m from; they used to smash machines and stuff. I don’t know whether it’s nostalgia. I just thought that would be good ‘cos, like, ‘Blue Christmas’ by Elvis Presley was a really beautiful record, and to hear that bastard (Shakin’ Stevens) do it really pissed me off. In fact, the cover to that was also fucked up, ‘cos the cover I did for ‘Ludd Ganf’ was really good, weren’t it?

BRIX Oh, err, yeah – sorry, I’ve forgotten the tape recorder can’t see me nod my head!

 

GH Why was the cover of ‘The Man Whose Head Expanded” so different to any of your previous artwork?

MARK Well, I wrote the song on a home computer, hahaha! That’s why the computer lines are all across it. That’s just a joke! But, seriously, the way they do covers now has changed. You seem to be able to get more colours. They’re no so bothered with expense.

 

GH Why did you choose to sell ‘Kicker Conspiracy’ as a double pack, including the older tracks?

MARK Well, it was part of Rough Trade’s smart ideas, which usually fall flat on their faces, but it appealed to me in the way that it was a bit disorientated; it sorta fits in with ‘Wings’, which is about time and stuff. It was something no-one would expect us to do. I was surprised to find out how different those tracks were as well… people did actually want ‘em.

 

GH ‘Kicker Conspiracy’ is about football hooliganism. Do you enjoy writing about controversial subjects?

MARK Yeah, well, if you’re going to do a single it’s got to be either a dance tune or very interesting, and the idea of, like, writing a song about football hooliganism appealed to me… like, inn a rock song, it made me laugh. The idea behind it was to question whether it’s so bad anyway, y’know… question why everyone gets so worked up about it. I don’t see the point. If you send English people abroad, it’s obvious they’re going to fight. It’s talking about England, in a way. I think it’s good to put stuff like that in a song, y’know… it’s not like people like ABC, who think that getting serious is talking about fucking egg on toast and stuff. That sort of thing really makes me sick.

 

GH Do you get annoyed that a a lot of people don’t recognize the humour in your lyrics?

MARK I think that’s a lot of fun. I mean, anyone who says they’re not funny, the jokes on them. I think it’s good that people can share in it, like, without it having to be fucking shoved forward in an advertisement, like, “WE ARE FUNNY”, ‘cos then there’s not much point in it.

 

GH Do you enjoy doing narratives, such as ‘Wings’, ‘Spectre vs. Rector’ and ‘New Face in Hell’?

MARK I’ve gotta admit I like doing ‘em, but a lot of people won’t get ‘em, especially in one night… but the challenge of them interests me, and I think the weirdness of ‘em is good.

 

GH What’s the ‘Haxan’ thing that crops up a lot in your lyrics?

MARK Haxan is a German word for a group of witches around a cauldron. There’s no such word as ‘enduction, though I could have sworn I’d seen it after I wrote ir down…

 

GH Why don’t you ever include lyric sheets with your records?

MARK Err, we just thought we’d take the fun out of it, really. It’s a boring job saying, like, “I’m very important, look at me. I’m writing lyrics on the back of records.”

 

GH Then why do you include vague notes on the covers?

MARK That is just to confuse a lot of the time, hahaha, but also to give an insight to the songs.

 

GH How did you get on The Tube, and why did you do two unreleased tracks?

BRIX Well, one is on the album (Smile), and it was on a Peel session…

MARK It didn’t strike me to do any of our old stuff.

BRIX They’d expect you to do something like ‘Kicker’ so, y’know, why do it?

MARK It was good actually as they didn’t want us on, like John Peel wanted us on. We were shoved on really early. It was great. I thought ‘cos we had a load of shit to put up with. It was funny. They wanted to put dry ice on the stage, drum elevations, stuff like that.

 

GH I read recently that you were going to be on a Cherry Red compilation cassette along with groups such as Virgin Prunes and Throbbing Gristle. What happened to this?

MARK I’ve no idea. I believe the bloke who was getting it together has left now. All it was was a live version of ‘Slates’ from Berlin or somewhere. It was some sorts double cassette with so many acts on it. It would have been good.

 

GH You’re releasing a video soon. Could you give some details about this?

MARK Err, we thought we’d do it ‘cos Factory Records have now got, like, a video part called Ikon, run by a good mate of mine, the video DJ at The Hacienda, and he said there would be a lot of interest. It’s like a hotchpotch of stuff… there’s some live stuff, ‘Kicker Conspiracy’ filmed at a football ground… I don’t really like watching rock videos, so I was trying to make a laugh out of it. It’s pretty funny when we mime and stuff. It’s come out really good. It should cost about £12.00.

 

GH Now that you are married, are we ever likely to hear you singing love songs?

MARK I don’t know… hahaha… I was thinking about it in the other day. Surely, if you’ve been married, you’ve been in love, so that’s it, you don’t need to write about it. Hahaha! It’s not as you if you’re homosexual like Marc Almond and you, like, want to put it into a song… hahaha!

BRIX We don’t do love songs, but we sing duets on things like ‘Creep’…

MARK Yeah, but… I’ve never wanted to write one. I’ve never seen the appeal in ‘em… I like some (though).

BRIX They’re sloppy and embarrassing. It’s like showing your underpants in public. I’d feel embarrassed if he wrotes one. I wouldn’t want him to sing it. I’d feel, like, “Oh god, everyone knows it’s about me, fucking hell…”

 

GH What do you think of bands like The Birthday Party, The Nightingales and The Smiths, who claimed to have been ‘inspired’ by your musical style?

MARK Enough said… hahaha. No, The Birthday Party have always been alright by me…

BRIX Shall I say… The Nightingales, never heard of ‘em… The Smiths, no comment, NO FUCKING COMMENT!

MARK I do like several of The Nightingales’ singles, I must admit. They used to play with us a lot. I was a big fan of The Perfects…

 

GH To end with, do you ever think The Fall will ever become superstars and appear on Top Of The Pops?

MARK I think there’s an outside chance… hahaha… I don’t see why not… when the others catch up with us!

 

The Fall: Selected Discography

 

NB: The Fall possibly rank as the most prolific group to have emerged from post-punk. As all the other discographies noted, we are just focusing on several releases especially liked or lauded here. Most of The Fall’s official output is worth getting, anyway. Of course, you can find the complete discography online, but here’s a selection from some of the records personally owned, at least. Nearly all the early albums have been released on either CD or vinyl via different labels.

 

‘It’s the New Thing’ 7” (Step-Forward, 1978)

‘Bingo-Master’s Break Out’ 7” (Step-Forward, 1978)

Live at the Witch Trials LP (Step-Forward, 1979)

Dragnet LP (Step-Forward, 1979)

‘How I Wrote Elastic Man’ 7” (Rough Trade, 1980)

Hex Enduction Hour LP (Camera, 1982)

Perverted By Language LP (Rough Trade, 1983)

The Wonderful and Frightening World Of… (Beggars Banquet, 1984)

This Nation’s Saving Grace LP (Beggars Banquet, 1985)

The Frenz Experiment LP + 7” (Beggars Banquet, 1988)

Extricate LP (Cog Sinister, 1990)

Code: Selfish LP (Cog Sinister, 1992)

Cerebral Caustic LP (Cog Sinister, 1995)

Levitate LP (Artful, 1997)

Are You Are Missing Winner LP (Cog Sinister, 2001)

Fall Heads Roll LP (Slogan, 2005)

Reformation Post TLC  2LP (Slogan, 2007)

Your Future Our Clutter CD (Domino, 2010)

Re-Mit LP/CD (Cherry Red, 2013)

Sub-Lingual Tablet LP (Cherry Red, 2015)

New Facts Emerge CD/2x10” (Cherry Red, 2017)

Mark’s Personal Holiday Tony Tapes LP (Dandelion Records, 2019)

Livros sobre música que vale a pena ler - Cromo #85: Richard Johnson - "Grim Humour - Volume 1 - 1983-1987: Highlights And Lowlights From The First 10 Issues Of This Popular UK Fanzine, Back By No Demand Whatsoever"

autor: Richard Johnson

título: Grim Humour - Volume 1 - 1983-1987: Highlights And Lowlights From The First 10 Issues Of This Popular UK Fanzine, Back By No Demand Whatsoever
editora: Fourth Dimension
nº de páginas: 350
isbn: 978-83-948138-1-9
data: 2020

AS ENTREVISTAS DE DEATH IN JUNE, THE FALL E COIL SERÃO TRANSPOSTAS PARA ESTE BLOG EM POSTERIORES POSTS

GRIM HUMOUR

VOLUME 1

1983-1987

Highlights and lowlights from the first 10 issues of this popular UK fanzine, back by no demand whatsoever

 

Published by Fourth Dimension 2020

© Richard Johnson / Grim Humour / Fourth Dimension

Everything published is © the respective contributors and cannot be reproduced without permission.

Artwork and Design by puppy38 and Richard Johnson

ISBN: 978-83-948138-1-9

Fourth Dimension Records & Publishing

 

CONTENTS

Chapter 1

Introduction – 7

Contributors / Credits – 10

Grim Humour #1

Abbo interview – 13

UK Decay New Hope for the Dead CD review (2013) – 17

Gary Glitter / Tenpole Tudor / The Defects review – 18

Chapter 2 - Grim Humour #2

Death in June interview – 29

Virgin Prune interview – 32

Killing Joke interview – 42

Rising from the Red Sands cassette review – 50

Chapter 3 - Grim Humour #3

Crass interview – 57

Public Image Limited review – 69

Flesh For Lulu interview – 74

Chapter 4 - Grim Humour #4

In The Nursery interview – 85

Record and Tape reviews – 89

The Fall interview – 91

The Cramps review – 102

Sisters of Mercy review – 102

Xmal Deutschland review – 108

Chapter 5 - Grim Humour #5

The Damned interview – 121

And Also The Trees review – 131

Mick Mercer interview – 135

Communicate and Participate – 150

Chapter 6 - Grim Humour #6

Portion Control interview – 159

And Also The Trees interview – 167

Fool’s Dance interview – 177

Cured book review – 185

400 Blows interview – 193

Chapter 7 – Grim Humour #7

Nick Cave interview – 205

The vinyl Frontier – 209

Soundtracks – 212

Sonic Youth interview – 213

More reviews – 220

Chapter 8 – Grim Humour #8

Ausgang + Rose of Avalanche review – 229

The Cure review – 231

Record Reviews - 232

The Leather Nun interview - 236

The Ramones interview - 243

Motivation – 246

Chapter 9 – Grim Humour #9

Life Would Be Grim Without Humour – 253

Cassette and Safety In Numbers fanzine

Chapter 10 – Grim Humour #10

Head of David interview – 257

Record Reviews – 265

Venus Fly Trap – 273

New Order review – 282

Big Black interview – 287

Coil interview – 304

Alternative TV interview – 314

 

Tearing Down the Barricades – 331

(pieces on Grim Humour by Andy Pearson, Harvey Francis, Steve Snelling, Mark Stevens, Karren Ablazel, Mick Mercer, James Machin and Matthew Worley)

A Final Word, by Richo – 345

Thank You’s – 347

 

The magazine, of course, also shuffled into view at a time when the musical landscape was much different from how it is now. Cassette culture reigned in the underground, John Peel’s radio show was the thing to listen to as a teenager unable to keep up with everything (blank cassette at the ready to record anything of interest, no less), flexidiscs were sometimes produced to document, very cheaply, new artists via giveaways with publications (two even appeared with Grim Humour irself in the early editions), vinyl was truly king (long before, of course, becoming a vogue trend of limited editions mostly dominated by the majors or boutique labels), record shops were places to hang out at, live music was generally affordable, a variety of different youth factions existed and occasionally looked horns, independent music hadn’t been completely turned into yet another wholly makestable commodity nullifying its original meaning )’indie’ as such, thankfully, wasn’t around when GH started and certainly was not synonymous with lame guitar music), weekly papers existed that were devoted to music, the Thatcher/Reagan political presence fuelled an even greater sense of hopelessness which itself, it could be argued, inspired many to kick against it, low-budget horror films created a huge public furore, and certain groups entries into the charts embraced and occasionally clever, wry or even more colourful descent into a possible sense of abandonment not really seen since. Basically, it was a different world, without the instant accessibility of the download. YouTube or ‘social networking’ sites reducing everything to a level where little effort is involved in discovering exciting new worlds and which, in turn, operates at a pace now so fast that disposability looms an even larger presence than ever…

But don’t get me wrong. There’s no misty-eyed sentimentality at work here. There’s much to be said in favour of many things presently unfolding around us, plus it´s likewise interesting to note that certain artists who helped to soundtrack Grim Humour are still not only very much active but also continue to create astounding and inspiring new work. Rather, I merely want to emphasise the ways in which the parameters have shifted in more recent times. The world wasn´t completely different when GH existed… but it was different enough and this in itself created an environment perfect for certain people thus inclined to, well, do something as they foundered to get a foothold.

Grim Humour was but just one speck on a landscape where fanzines formed a significant part of a network that could be readily tapped into in order to discover more about certain areas of music and some of the ideas propelling then. Titles such as Tone Death, Vague, Panache, Kill Your Pet Puppy, Chainsaw, Artificial Life, Murder By Guitar, NMX, Ablaze!, Abstract and Rox! Constituted a mere handful of titles to be found in the early 1980s. Sometimes they ere found at gigs, sold at the Better Badges stall in London, or punted directly from a carrier bag stuffed full of them. They could also be found in decent record shops, although few could match the stock forever on sale at the Rough Trade Shop in Talbot Road (who’d also willingly take on Grim Humour’zines following some kind of deal in the shop’s backroom). Whilst there’s little use in pretending each and every fanzine scribe got on with each other or even, in many cases, the groups they covered, it cannot be denied that what

 

INTRODUCTION

Grim Humour was as underground magazine, or ‘fanzine’ – call it what you will – that existed between 1983 and 1993. It run for a total of eighteen editions during its ten-year existence and was responsible for documenting a significant number of bands largely aligned with or inspired by punk or post-punk music as well as their cousins in industrial culture, the other reaches of electronic music and so on. It also published features on writers, filmmakers and film directors, columns, editorials that often spiraled into crevices foaming with vitriol, cartoon strips, occasional artwork and a vast black tide of reviews largely scribed whilst pepped up on adrenalin, frustration and gallons of cheap beer. Throughout its lifetime it was widely recognized as one of the largest and most popular UK publications of its kind, garnered a mountain of praise, equally attracted much in the way of criticism or even downright envy, and helped pave the way for several other concerns by a few of those responsible for putting it together. Above all, it was always far more than just a mere ‘fanzine’.

Something that probably warrants mentioning is that Grim Humour followed a tradition of underground magazines assembled as much from old cut ‘n’ paste techniques as teenage passion and a yearning to find a foothold in the world unfurling around us. It began before DTP technology was available in every home and at a time when buying glue came wedded to nefarious connotations (that’s the subtle doffing of the cap out the way to a certain early punk fanzine). With no computer programmes to assist us, we had to suffice with sheets of A3 paper, a couple of battered Smith-Corona typewriters, scissors, Pritt-stick, Letraset and a pile of comics, magazines and photocopies to cut up and crumbled as soon as we applied it, sometimes the pasted cut-outs peeled at their corners and sometimes we had to make do with a leaky black pen to help fill in the gaps. It was always enjoyable, though, and never once lost this slant even as it began to dabble with DTP technology in those final editions before it folded, took a six year break and transmogrified into the equally hap-hazard Adverse Effect (which still, after four published editions between 2000 and 2005, loosely exists today as a mainly online mag).

 

They together did made for a great source of information for those craving more than whatever was offered by the weeklies. Despite often being badly written or appearing like they’d been put together over a drunken weekend, there were countless titles clearly produced by those articulate and impassioned enough to perfectly reflect the energy of the times. Where Grim Humour fitted in with all this is up to others to decide, but there was certainly a period of several years where, helped along by national distribution courtesy of Southern Records, it at least seemed as though it resided amongst the cream.

 

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

 

What follows in this compendium is brief background information to each edition of Grim Humour, reprints of several of the original pages, a significant number of re-edited highlights (interviews, features, reviews, etc.) given over to additional information and new editorial comments (in italics, as opposed to those original editorial comments that, simply, are not) where it is either necessary or simply feels right, and a perhaps slightly carefree smattering of pieces previously unpublished or even written more recently. Whilst the original pages have been reprinted exactly as first published (unless stated otherwise due to, for instance, ink colour changes), the reworked highlights (and, indeed, lowlights) have been tweaked to banish previous typos or mistakes without compromising their original form too heavily. When the ‘zine started nobody involved could, in any sense, especially ‘write’ and had no illusions otherwise. The proliferation of grammar and spelling mistakes pay testament to this in the original publications, but it is apparent that, thankfully and naturally, such matters got better with each passing edition. All the same, outside the reprinted original pages, it is impossible to attack this material without deploying the, uh, deft hand of experience. I hope readers will find this acceptable and that the (cough) ‘magic’ of the original writing will not have been compromised too heavily. Likewise, I hope you, being but one of the said readers, will notice the improvements marking every step of the way from the first edition to the tenth one, where this particular collection ends? The confidence gained throughout this course should be more than evident as the later editions here begin to galvanise a style, or even attitude, pushed even further from #11 on, but there’ll be more of that in the next volume, should I ever get to it (and I certainly hope to).

As I write, my work on a project long thought about, discussed and then inevitably buried and procrastinated over has only just commenced. I can only hope you’ll find it as enjoyable as I presently am.

Richo

 

Editor: Richard Johnson (a.k.a. ‘Richo’)

Sub-Editors: Andy Pearson, Rob Hale, Andy Jones, Jim Crosland

Original contributors: Karen Willoughby-White, Kerry White, Harvey Francis (a.k.a. ‘Havoc’), Gary Levermore, Gerald Houghton (R.I.P.), Hassni Malik, Mark Stevens (a.k.a. Anton Black), Andrea Johnson, Mick Mercer, Jan R. Bruun, Tom Vague,

Molly, Ian.

Acknowledgments for the book: Mark Stevens (invaluable proofreading/editing help and contributor), Michael Everett (a.k.a. ‘puppy38’, design), Andy Pearson (editing and contributor), Marcin Barski (initial artwork assistance), Mick Mercer, Steve Snelling, Karren Ablazel, Matthew Worley, Harvey Francis, Mark Perry, Klive Humberstone, Steven Burrows, Alex Novak, Gary Warner, Stuart Curran, Peter Gardner, Steve Spoon.

All photos credited (where known) accordingly.

Apologies if anybody has been overlooked. Please let me know if you feel you have been.

Special thank you to Iwona Palka (support and perseverance beyond the call of duty).

Thanks also to those who’ve offered help or even indirectly encouraging and motivating everything, including Darren Crawford, Mark Stevens and Wojtek Kozielski.

Please note that all of the opinions expressed within this book revert to the individuals responsible for them and not Grim Humour/Fourth Dimension or those amongst the board of editors.

All writing not otherwise credited is by Richard Johnson.

Memorabilia / Retalhos - John Peel

Memorabilia / Retalhos
John Peel
Obituário
Por - Vítor Junqueira
Revista Mondo Bizarre Nº 21

Retalhos - The Fall - "Fall Heds Roll"

Memorabilia: Revistas / Magazines / Fanzines (8) - Mondo Bizarre - Nº 6 - Fevereiro de 2001

Mondo Bizarre
Nº6
Fevereiro de 2001
Revista Trimestral - Portugal

A apresentação deste fanzine / magazine / revista já foi feito neste post.

THE FALL

A Luta Continua

Com uma existência que remonta ao final dos anos setenta e com dezenas de álbuns no activo, o que não é coisa que se encontre todos os dias, os The Fall, de Mark E. Smith, são uma raridade. Seja pela longevidade, seja pelo carácter irascível do seu líder. "The Unutterable", saído no final do ano passado, mantêm toda a fúria dos primeiros discos.

Em 1977 Manchester era um fervilhar de bandas, ideias, acontecimentos. Rapidamente a cidade se tornou um dos centros do punk e da new wave britânica, dando ao mundo os Joy Division, os Buzzcocks, e os Fall. Com um nome tirado do livro homónimo de Camus, os Fall (ou seja, A Queda), tiveram em "Short Circuit, Live At The Electric Circus", um disco que se tornou um marco do espírito manchesteriano da altura, a sua primeira exposição pública. Seguiu-se "Live At The Witch Trial", o álbum de estreia, que era um chinfrim desenfreado e descoordenado. Depois vem "Dragnet", o primeiro mergulho dos Fall no universo da dança, aqui em estado latente. A seguinte a realização do grupo digna de nota é "Xex Induction Hour", disco onde a paranóia sonora é domesticada e transformada em canções hipnóticas e ritmadas. "Perverted By Language" e "The Wonderfull and Frightening World Of The Fall", dois trabalhos de raiz mais pop, muito influenciados pela então mulher de Mark, Brix E. Smith.
1985 é o ano de "This Nation Saving Grace", o disco mais emblemático da banda. Manifesto político, saído da cabeça de Mark ao observar a Inglaterra infeliz e quase destruída de Margaret Tatcher, "This Nation Saving Grace" é a primeira síntese coerente entre o rock áspero, visceral e sórdido dos Fall com os sintetizadores, tudo condimentado por guitarras ferozmente sónicas. E a política continua a ser o mote de "Bend Sinister" um regresso ao som sujo e pouco sofisticado dos primeiros tempos. "Extricate" de 1990 é o paraíso dos sintetizadores e caixas de ritmos e abre caminho para este "The Unutterable". "The Unutterable" saído no final do ano passado, é uma súmula dos sons praticados pelos Fall ao longo dos seus 23 anos de carreira. As guitarras rugem sob um fundo maciçamente electrónico e dançável por cima do qual Mark E. Smith continua a cuspir as suas vítriolicas letras. Os Fall nunca tiveram uma carreira de sucesso, nunca arrebataram os primeiros lugares do top mas permanecem uma referência incontornável da música britânica. Presume-se que assim será até ao dia da morte de Mark E. Smith.



Raquel Pinheiro

 

Livros sobre música que vale a pena ler (e que eu tenho, lol) - Cromo #32: Mark E. Smith (with Austin Collings) - "Renegade - The Lives And Tales Of Mark E. Smith"

autor: Mark E. Smith (with Austin Collings)
título: Renegade - The Lives And Tales Of Mark E. Smith
editora: Penguin Books / Penguin Music
nº de páginas: 240
isbn: 978-0-141-02866-8
data: 2009 (Viking - 2008 - 1st)

sinopse:

'Tenho andado por aí há muito tempo, então porquê desistir agora? Isto é tudo o que os Fall são, de qualquer modo: o esforço persistente, esforço que se dirige directamente ao enfrentamento, a recomeçar sempre, e as vezes em que o grupo atinge a excelência e tu vais depois tomar uma bebida...'

'Vociferante, furioso, inflamado... pode ser o mais divertido livro de música de todos os tempos' OBSERVER

'Indizivelmente engraçado... um motim de visados e culpados e liquidados. Smith gere as coisas para ter sempre pronta uma gargalhada pronta, e revela-se como uma figura importante e deslumbrante' INDEPENDENT TODAY

'Notável, brilhante. Um prazer provocativo. Smith vocifera arrebatamento como uma fonte furiosa de lâminas, invectivas sobre a sua infância e os primórdios dos The Fall, relações/casamento, a indústria musical/músicos e os seus pontos de vista sobre tudo, desde o futebol aos telemóveis, desde as drogas à bebida, desde os livros à bancarrota, passando por Paul Morley e os pubs. Imbatível' TIME OUT

'Absorvente, denso, com nível de detalhe fascinente. Tanto como memória e como história cultural, Renegade é notável.' DAILY TELEGRAPH

'Smith é quase tão sólido como narrador como os membros dos Motley Crue o foram no seu depravado livro de memórias The Dirt. E também tão divertido.' SCOTSMAN

Renegade – The Lives and Tales of Mark E. Smith

Renegade – The Lives and Tales of Mark E. Smith




Mark E. Smith apresenta neste livro algumas das peripécias por que foi passando ao longo de toda a sua vida com o grupo musical inventado por si: os The Fall.
Os The Fall são uma instituição musical britânica, banda criada no período pós-punk e que desde então apenas conheceu um líder, apesar de ter passado até aos dias de hoje por milhentas formações, num corrupio de músicos sem par.
Existe até um livro que conta a história dos “outros” Fall.
A ideia generalizada é que essa instabilidade acontece devido ao carácter irascível do seu timoneiro.



Ora, aqui Mark E. Smith dispõe-se a desmistificar essa “verdade” apresentando o seu lado da história. Uma história composta por largas dezenas de edições de álbuns de originais, muitos concertos e muitos equívocos.
Segundo Smith, o problema é que os seus companheiros ou pretendiam ser estrelas rock, ou não suportavam a pressão, ou pretendiam obter créditos de coisas que não haviam feito, ou simplesmente as relações degradavam-se com tempo, entre outras razões para as várias cisões verificadas ao longo da história do grupo.
Conta ainda a sua longa luta para manter sempre os The Fall em actividade, a sua exigência na qualidade do seu trabalho, quer artística quer técnica, os muitos baixos por que passou.
Não tenhamos dúvidas que Smith é realmente uma personagem. Com uma personalidade muito forte, traçou desde o início uma estratégia de vida, que passava pela manutenção da banda em actividade, e tem lutado contra ventos e marés para continuar a perseguir esse objectivo.
O livro está escrito numa forma cronológica, acompanhando essencialmente as sucessivas edições dos trabalhos mais marcantes da banda, que comenta, mas servindo isso também para recordar os factos contextuais em que cada uma dessas obras foi escrita, desde a sociedade à política, passando pelo futebol e a sua vida privada (mulheres e família), até à indústria da música e aos livros, telemóveis, drogas e bebida.
Destas suas memórias escritas ressalta um homem que podia ter sido uma estrela rock se quisesse, mas optou por manter a sua integridade pessoal e estética, lutando sempre por mudar e evoluir, fazer a música que gosta e não vender-se à indústria musical, como várias vezes teve oportunidade. Nesta aspecto Mark sublinha até que as editoras ditas independentes são muito piores que as majors, aproveitando-se muito mais dos artistas e explorando-os sem qualquer dose de vergonha., dando exemplos concretos que se passaram consigo.
Também sempre preferiu manter os velhos amigos de sempre, nunca se misturando com a socialite musical, aproveitando aqui para pôr a nu o comportamento de algumas stars, como David Bowie e outros.
Filho de pais pertencentes à classe operária (o pai era canalizador) nunca renegou esse passado que lhe incutiu os valores que ainda hoje mantém e que o têm posto a salvo de todas as tentações que a profissão que exerce proporcionam.
Chama ainda a atenção para a podridão em que o futebol, a música, a política e a sociedade têm caído, por comparação aos tempos em que era criança e jovem, mas sem qualquer mágoa nostálgica, limitando-se a apontar factos indesmentíveis.
E a todos os que sempre o acusaram de suicidário, depressivo, alcoólico, entre outros mimos, apenas responde que enquanto ele ainda por cá se mantém, e em plena forma artística, muitos desses já desapareceram há muito, literal ou artisticamente.
Uma personalidade fascinante que este pequeno livro de duzentas e poucas páginas permite conhecer: Mark E. Smith, o “dono” dos The Fall, de quem o saudoso John Peel não se fartava de dizer serem a melhor banda de rock do mundo.

Citações do Livro

Fiquem agora com algumas citações respigadas ao acaso do livro, por forma a sentirem minimamente o tipo de atmosfera criada pela descrição de alguns factos e opiniões de Mark E. Smith.
“eu sempre acreditei fortemente no casamento. Não há nada pior que viver com uma mulher se não se for casado com ela – pelo menos, segundo a minha experiência. Porque nunca se tem a certeza do que se passa. Sou um conservador com um ‘c’ pequeno nestas matérias. Para começar, não ficas tão lixado – podes dizer, ‘esta é a minha mulher’, e os tipos deixam-na em paz. E ela sente-se bem também.”

“Eu não julgo as pessoas pela aparência. Nunca encontrarás ninguém interessante se o fizeres – essa é a minha filosofia. Qual é o gozo de andar com pessoas que se parecem contigo? Em todo o caso, ninguém se parece comigo. Na realidade são todos iguais – todos diferentes mas a mesma coisa: hippies, góticos e todos os outros.”

“Sempre pensei que na sua pura essência do rock era completamente uma forma-não musical. O rock não é de certeza uma forma de música. Odeio quando as pessoas dizem: ‘Oh. Mas a produção é tão má que nem conseguimos perceber as letras.’ Se é só isso que querem, então deviam ouvir música clássica ou o Leonard Cohen”

“… Foi a mesma coisa com o The Culture Show. Eles entrevistaram-me em Wolverhampton no dia em que fiz 50 anos. Apareceram três deles a olhar como o Mork e a Mindy e o meio-irmão do Mork. Não tinham a mínima noção acerca da banda, nem sequer tiveram a preocupação de ouvir o novo álbum. Faziam perguntas como: ‘O David Bowie também vai fazer cinquenta anos este ano mas eu não o estou a ver a celebrar em Wolverhampton num Domingo chuvoso à noite. Isto é muito à Fall, não é? Celebrar o seu aniversário desta forma? ‘ Quer dizer, que merda de pergunta é esta? Primeiro, eu não sou o David Bowie – é uma comparação sem sentido. E o facto de estarmos a tocar em Wolverhampton é porque simplesmente tínhamos um concerto marcado para Wolverhampton num Domingo à noite”.

Obter mais informação

Este interessante site apresenta dezenas de críticas e classificações aos álbuns mais significativos do The Fall:
http://www.adriandenning.co.uk/thefall.html

Link site official
E o site oficial dos The Fall, muito completo e com uma navegação sóbria mas muito eficiente e cativante. Encontram lá toda a informação acerca do grupo:
http://www.visi.com/fall/



Álbuns importantes dos The Fall (pequena amostra)

Dragnet (1979)



LINK

Hex Enduction Hour (1982)



LINK

Wonderful And Frightening World Of (1984)



LINK (Vídeo)
LINK (disco 1)
LINK (disco 2)

The Fall - 50.000 Fall Fans Can't Be Wrong. 39 Golden Greats (2004)



LINK (disco 1)
LINK (disco 2)

Reformation Post TLC (2007)



LINK

Tags: The Fall, Mark E. Smith, livro