2019-07-01_Uncut_UK

94 • UNCUT • jUly 2019

asPhonogramthrewmoneyatThe
Fall.WhenI walkedintoSwan
Streetstudio,AdrianSherwoodand
Markplayedmethebackingtracks
andhesaid,“Thissoundscrap,it’s
likeDavidBowie.”I playedoverit
andhewent,“You’vesavedit,
Martin.”I wasjustlearningthe
song!ButI supposeit gaveit edge.
S HANlEy:Craigcameupwiththe
rifffor“BillIs Dead”.Marksang
“Thesearethegreatesttimesofmy
life” withbrilliantirony.A fantastic
song,butherefusedtoreleaseit as
a single.Maybeit wastoopersonal.
“TelephoneThing”wasColdcut’s
song,initially.It hada very
complicatedbassline.I spenttwo
hoursworkingit outandtheysaid,
“Oh,weonlyneedtwonotes.We
wantit tosoundlikeTheFall.”
BRAMAH:Markwrotethewordsto
thatafterreadingSpycatcher. He
thoughtthesecretservicewas
listeningintohiscalls,becausehe
hadopinions.Maybetheywere.

THEINFOTAINMENT
SCAN PERMANENT, 1993
DroppedbyPhonogramafter
1992’sCode:Selfish,TheFallgoindie
againandhavea Top10.Keyboard
playerDavidBushis a significant
recruit as The Fallgodancey.
DAVEB US H
[KEyBOARDS]:
I’ddoneback-
lineforTheFall
andtoldMarkI
coulddosome
programming
forthemandmakethemsound
brilliant.HeaskedwhatI knew
aboutthegroupandI said,“Ifit’s
youandyourgrannyonbongos,it’s
TheFall.”Helaughedsomuchhe
usedthatlinehimself.Code:Selfish
hadbeenrushed,butwehadmore
timeandpreppedInfotainment...at
myhouse.Therewasa runningjoke
between me andSi[Wolstencroft,

drums]whowantedtomakeit

dancey,andCraigandStevewho

wantedrock,andthatjokey

in-fightingworkedout.Thesessions

werebrilliant.Hephonedmeat2am

about“APastGoneMad”andasked

formoreprogramming.Thatwas

tense,butthepressureworked.

S HANlEy:I thinkMarkfeltit was

gettingawayfromhima bit.Dave

wasreallyfriendlywithSiandhad

a studioathishouseinStockport.

We’dmeetuptheretwicea week,

writemusic,havea beer,play

badminton,butit hadnothingto

dowithMark.Sohehadtopull

somethingoutofthebag.It’sa great

record.SisterSledge’s“LostIn

Music”wasona listofsongsthe

NMEsentusfora charityalbum.The

othercover,“I’mGoingToSpain”,

camefroma KennyEverettcomp

Markhad.“GlamRacket”washim

slaggingmeoff,buteveryone

thoughtit wasaboutthem.

FAllHEADSROll

SLOGAN, 2005

ApartfromSmith’sthirdwife,Elena

Poulou[keyboards],thelatestFall

lineupabandonthesingerafterhe

poursbeeroverthedriver’shead

astheirtourbusspeedsthrough

theArizonadesert.They’ dalready

made a late-periodFallclassic

STEVE

TRAFFORD

[BASS]:Slogan

Recordsasked

ustodoan

albuminPhilip

Glass’s studio in

NewYork,butMarkflippedoutat

theairport– shouting,“There’snot

enoughfuelontheaircraft!”– and

gotkickedofftheplane.Wehadan

enjoyabletimelayingdowntracks

inNewYorkwithouthim,thenMark

turnedup.Helockedusoutofthe

studioandstoppedthecreditcard

attheChineserestaurant,sowehad

tobefriendpeopleforfood.Inthe

studio,he’dtellBen[Pritchard,

guitarist], “Playyourguitarhigher”,

untilit wassohighunderhischin,

hewasunabletoplay.Madstuff.

We’dhavetoscore[speed] forMark

tokeephimgoing,thenanother

timehe’dmakecupsofteaandbe

weirdlynormal.Markcouldbe

sadistic,thenhilarious,butthe

creativetensionworked.

“Blindness”startedwithmy

basslineandMarksplicedtogether

twoversionsfromNewYorkand

Rochdale.I wrotethetunefor

“MidnightInAspen”andhe

pennedwordsintributetoHunterS

Thompson.Markwrotesomegreat

lyrics.“PacifyingJoint”,“with

carrotsandmeat”, alwaysmademe

chuckle.Thatwasa two-noteElena

riff.ElenaandMarkhada stuffedtoy

rabbitcalledGunther,so“What

AboutUs”waswrittenfrom

Gunther’sperspective:“I ama rabbit

fromeastGermany...” Thenit goes

intostuffaboutHaroldShipman.

Markwasthemasterofconfusion.

NEWFACTSEMERGE

CHERRYRED, 2017

TheFall’smoststablelineup[10

years] deliver Smith’s final barrage

ofriffs,weirdnessandimagery.

They’ dplanneda 32ndalbum

whenhediedofcancerin January

2018, aged 60

PETE

GREENWAy

[G U I TA R] :We

didn’tknowat

thetimethatit

wouldbethe

lastalbumand

I’msureMarkdidn’t.Peoplehave

drawnconclusionsfromthelast

track,“NineOutOfTen”,andhowit

ends[withoutvocalsforthesecond

half]. I’dmetMarkfora beerandwe

endedupatthestudio.I wastoo

drunktoplayandMarkjustspouted

lyricsabouthislife,spontaneously.

I wassurprisedit endeduponthe

album.“VictoriaStationMassacre”

wasaboutthestation’sfacelift,

whichmeanthecouldn’tnegotiate

hiswayaround.Hesaid,“They’ve

massacredtheplace.”[Followingthe

subsequentterroristbombing] the

recordcompanywantedhimto

renameit.Hissuggestedalternative

titlewasinfinitelymoreoffensive.

KEIRONMEllING[DRUMS]:Wehad

a greattimemakingthealbum,in

Castleford.Markkepteverything

fromthesessions,whichwas

unusual.We’dbecomeclosemates.

He’dhavemeinstitches.Westarted

“CouplesVsJobless”ina hotelroom

andrecordedit withthewholeband

goingthrougha guitaramp,andthe

vocalsona dictaphone.

GREENWAy:Althoughrecording

couldbeverystressful,myabiding

memoryis ofhimlaughingand

howmuchfunwehad.I treasure

thosemoments.I thinkMark

eventuallyrealisedwewereonhis

side.Healwayswantedthemusic

tobeinteresting.He’ddoanything

tomakeit soundrawandless

produced,andtheeffectis that

theyallsoundtimeless.

“Markalwayswantedthemusictobe

interesting.He’ddoanythingtomake

it soundrawand less produced”

PETE GREENWAy

ThepenultimateFalllineup

• (l–r)KeironMelling,David
  Spurr,ElenaPoulou,MarkE
  Smith,PeterGreenway


• and(right)thefinal
  formation without Poulou

ThefinalFalllineuphave

regrouped– withSmith’sblessing

• witha newsingerasImperial
  Waxandreleasetheirdebutin
  May.CherryRedreissueLiveAt
  TheWitchTrialsandDragneton
  May 24 aspartoftheirFall Sound
  Archive reissue series