The Fall乐队

The Fall were an English post-punk band, formed in 1976 in Prestwich, Greater Manchester. They had many line-up changes, with vocalist and founder member Mark E. Smith being the only constant member. Their music was generally characterised by Smith's caustic lyrics and sprechgesang vocal delivery, an abrasive, repetitive guitar-driven sound, and tense bass and drum rhythms. Although never achieving widespread mainstream success beyond minor hit singles in the late 1980s and early 1990s, they maintained a strong cult following throughout the years. The Fall have been called "the most prolific band of the British post-punk movement".

Originally emerging out of the late 1970s punk movement, the Fall's music underwent numerous stylistic changes often concurrently with changes in the group's lineup. Long-term musicians included drummers Paul Hanley, Simon Wolstencroft and Karl Burns; guitarists Craig Scanlon, Marc Riley, and Brix Smith; and bassist Steve Hanley, whose melodic, circular bass lines are widely credited with shaping the band's sound from 1979 to 1998. The band were championed by British DJ John Peel, who regarded them as his personal favourite and invited them numerous times on the BBC's Peel Sessions, stating: "They are always different; they are always the same." From 1979 to 2017, they released 31 studio albums, plus dozens of live albums and compilations released against Smith's wishes. The group disbanded after Smith's death in 2018.

History

Late 1970s: early years

The Fall were formed in Prestwich, England in 1976 by Mark E. Smith, Martin Bramah, Una Baines, and Tony Friel. The four friends met to read their writings to each other and take drugs. Their musical influences included Can (which the band would later pay tribute to on the track "I Am Damo Suzuki"), the Velvet Underground, Captain Beefheart and garage rock bands like the Monks and the Stooges. The members were devoted readers, with Smith citing H. P. Lovecraft, Raymond Chandler and Malcolm Lowry among his favourite writers. After seeing the Sex Pistols play their second gig at Manchester's Lesser Free Trade Hall in July 1976, they decided to start a group. Smith wanted to name the group "the Outsiders", but Friel came up with the name "the Fall" after a 1956 novel by Albert Camus. Smith became the singer, Bramah the guitarist, Friel played bass guitar and Baines bashed biscuit tins instead of drums; unable to afford to buy a drum kit, she then switched to keyboards. Their music was intentionally raw and repetitive. The song "Repetition", declaring that "We dig repetition in the music And we're never going to lose it", served as a manifesto for the Fall's musical philosophy.

The group played their first concert on 23 May 1977, at the North West Arts basement. Their first drummer was remembered only as "Dave" or "Steve" for 34 years, until music writer Dave Simpson discovered that he had almost certainly been a man named Steve Ormrod. Ormrod lasted just one show, at least in part due to political differences with the other members of the group. He was replaced by Karl Burns, whom Friel played with in a band called Nuclear Angel. The Fall soon caught the attention of Buzzcocks manager Richard Boon, who funded their first recording session, and in November 1977 they recorded material for their debut EP, Bingo-Master's Break-Out! Boon planned to release the EP on his New Hormones label, but after discovering that he could not afford to do so he gave the tapes back to the group. Thus, the Fall's debut on vinyl came in June 1978 when "Stepping Out" and "Last Orders" were released by Virgin Records on Short Circuit: Live at the Electric Circus, a compilation of live recordings made at the Manchester venue The Electric Circus in October 1977 just before it was closed.