It took me a long, long time to "get" The Fall although I'm not sure that anyone ever totally gets the band.
They can be brilliant or totally unlistenable, This is exemplified by the two times I saw them at The Ferry in Glasgow. The first time they they were fantastic, the second time they came on very late and only played for about 20 minutes and were truly awful. That gig was fortunately saved by having John Cooper Clarke as support.
I fairly recently missed the opportunities to acknowledge the 100th birthday and subsequent death of Jimmy Carter. I am however comforted that he enjoyed Repetition.
My introduction, and indeed most of my knowledge of the band, was the compilation 50000 Fall Fans Can't Be Wrong from which today's tracks are taken.
I also have a burn of their much sought after The Complete Peel Sessions which sells for a tidy sum Excerpts from this box set are currently taking place at JC's place.
Saw them at that first time at the Ferry once myself. Tenner on the door from memory and a great night.
ReplyDeleteJamie
Thanks for the shout-out! Really pleased that you've grown to appreciate The Fall, and yup, the 50,000 fans compilation is the perfect introduction for any doubters.
ReplyDeleteSaw them a few times but have always regretted that I didn't see them more often. Saw them once at the Boardwalk in Sheff supported by JCC and on that occasion Mark was on top form . At that time I knew the promoter who was putting the show on and he told me he was "shitting himself" that Mark wouldn't behave but that he was actually "as good as gold". On another occasion, at that same venue I was there when after the first song he left the stage for 50 minutes due to some obscure reason about the height of the mic stand!
ReplyDeleteI love that Regal Zonophone get a name check in that Repetition track. The Marshall Suite is a great album to get if you come across it on your travels