Just reported on twitter - apparently, it's official:
Not my cup of tea but a very long career and gigging up to his final breath.
Not my cup of tea but a very long career and gigging up to his final breath.
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....a new face in hell....
bong ching -
...and the end of the Prole Art Threat....
I don't suppose he really wanted to be understood, completely. Who knows? Every so often, there is no substitute for a blast of The Fall.
Unique.
I will not be pushed, filed, stamped, indexed, briefed, debriefed or numbered. My life is my own.
I am not a number, I am a free man.Comment
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Sad news.
A true original - although he had something of a debt to Captain Beefheart - who was about as non charts as anyone could be and yet still found ways of disturbing them on occasions. For all of his ability to encapsulate the north - architecturally the sound was of bedrooms in old terraced backsteets and driving at night on the M62 through its routine but atmospheric wastelands - there was, dare I say it, some sort of real pop and rock sensibility there, from punk and funk through to Tamla and onto motorik and behind it all a nod towards the blues.
It is impossible to think about Mark E Smith without imagining the voice of John Peel who championed him. That the visual image that springs to mind is not of either of them but Brix Smith sitting on a giant hamburger seems entirely appropriate, even if I am Kurious, Oranj with which it was linked wasn't anywhere near his strongest work. Perhaps one of the most surprising things is the sheer volume of his output. There were over 30 studio albums from The Fall between 1979 and 2017. Simultaneously varied and samey, most had the ability to startle not least in the lyrics. I suppose one can argue that the likes of Shaun Ryder picked up that ball. It is less clear whether there will be a long term legacy. Smith's own voice was, of course, his major weapon. No matter how many times it had been heard before, it wasn't one that was intended that people would get used to. Which made it uniquely delightful.
The Fall:
Mr Pharmacist - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cl34oJEoO7s
Hey! Luciani - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KPr2ENnp_GI
RIP Mark E Smith
Last edited by Lat-Literal; 24-01-18, 21:20.Comment
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I thought he was indestructible. Such amazing energy. RIP Mark E Smith
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Very sad even if not unexpected. Still remember dancing to Hey Luciani at the university disco. Gulp.Comment
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Reading about him and his attitude toward 'recruitment and dismissal'...he makes Ritchie Blackmore look like a highly skilled and empathetic HR manager.Comment
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There's an extraordinary performance of 'Blindness' from the DVD 'Last Night at the Palais' on YouTube:
Interview:
RIP ~ Mark E Smith
JRLast edited by Jazzrook; 31-01-18, 10:03.Comment
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'The Fall: The Wonderful and Frightening World of Mark E Smith' on BBC FOUR(Saturday 10 Feb, 10.30pm)
JRLast edited by Jazzrook; 06-02-18, 09:39.Comment
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'I'm Frank' dedicated to Frank Zappa:
JRComment
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