2019-07-01_Uncut_UK

(singke) #1

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

Free download pdf