MARK E. SMITH- THE FALL
Liking/Disking Mark E. Smith
What I liked about Mark E. Smith
by Richard Mason
(February 2018)
- That he liked The Move and preferred them to The Beatles or The Rolling Stones (quite right, too, for, as any fule kno, The Move were MUCH better) and that he saw The Move as a proper psychedelic group, which they were
- That he knew a fair bit about English football before 1990 and referred to it in his words for songs, decades before football became trendy in the UK
- That he lived a life which merited an autobiography of note and wrote one
- That he exhibited decent and proper behaviour to Fall fans; a friend of mine met him before one of the London "I Am Kurious, Oranj" concerts - he was friendly and took time to talk, greeting my friend as "me ol' cock"
- That he recognised that being in a band is a job and that you should do your job properly
- That he recognised the uncanny genius of "I'm going to Spain" by Steve Bent, as should we all
- That he saw the music press as the hideous twerps that they are and treated them with the contempt they deserve
- That he was an old man before his time and knew it and didn't care
- That he had standards and principles and applied them rigorously in practice
- That he never became a parody of himself, whatever that means
- That he made a great number of great recordings
What I disliked about Mark E Smith
- That he was a tedious, repetitive, boorish hypocrite, just like everyone else in the music business
- That he always either had the missus in the band or managing the band; "keep your friends close and your enemies closer" may be good business advice but it doesn't always make for good musical results
- That he didn't know when to stop until he was stopped (yesterday)
- That he sacked Craig Scanlan (although he subsequently admitted that in doing so he might well have been mistaken, a rare event in itself)
- That he made a great number of shite recordings
What my favourite Mark E Smith recording was
3-way tie between
- "In My Area" (b-side of "Rowche Rumble" 7", by The Fall; as much for Yvonne Pawlett's electric piano playing as anything, if truth be told)
- "Leave The Capitol" (side 2, track 3 on Slates)
- "Louie Louie (Slight Return)" (side 1, track 2 on "John The Postman's Puerile" 12", by John The Postman)
What my favourite Mark E Smith lyric line was
What I would have said to Mark E Smith if we'd ever met
- "Hotel maids smile in unison" from ""Leave The Capitol" (side 2, track 3 on Slates)
Either "Fancy a pint?" or nothing
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