The Fall In Fives

  When MES died, many of his obituaries made extensive reference to Brix and her influence on the group. Which was entirely reasonable, as I talked about in the previous post . However, very few made more than a passing reference to Eleni Poulou (her first name seems to get a range of spellings, but Eleni is what was on most Fall sleeve credits and it's also what she uses on her Instagram ), who was not only Smith's third wife but the third-longest serving member of the group other than MES himself, her fourteen years' service only being topped by Steve Hanley (19) and Craig Scanlon (16).  Eleni's vocals and her effective if not always virtuosic keyboard work were a key component of late period Fall, so here are ten of her most notable moments. Spotify playlist YouTube Playlist [N.B. There are differences between the two - see below.] I've Been Duped Sounds like Nico covering The Rezillos. Live versions tend to outstrip the IWS  take, this being a prime example: [Th...

  The Fall played Chicago’s Cabaret Metro on 23 April 1983. In the audience was Laura Elisse Salenger, also known as Brix, a name she took from The Clash's 'Guns Of Brixton'. On meeting MES after the gig, she detected ‘something a little scary about him… he seemed angry, as if a simmering rage lay just below the surface’. A post-gig drink led to a whirlwind romance, with Brix and MES spending much of the rest of the tour in each other’s company. She came to England in May, and they were married on 19 July. Brix had an undeniably significant impact on the Fall story, and it's certainly true that most of the group's most commercially viable moments occurred during her first stint in The Fall. That said, some commentators rather oversell the notion that she transformed them into some sort of pop act. The Wonderful And Frightening World was undoubtedly their most accessible album so far, but it still contained relatively 'difficult' material such as 'Lay Of ...

This rather random musical excursion was unwittingly inspired by my good friend 'Fulham Bob'. Like me, Bob has been a member of Scopitones , The Wedding Present fan forum, for many years. One little diversion a few of us occasionally partake in is a Spotify playlist exchange. We choose a theme around which we all compile a 12-song playlist, and then review each other's suggestions. All good, clean and harmless fun (except that I am regularly castigated for having the temerity to choose prog and psych tracks, but that's another story...) Anyway, the most recent theme was 'family' and one of Bob's selections was 'Mothers' by The John-Paul Sartre Experience. JPSE were a New Zealand band active in the late 80s / early 90s on the Flying Nun label, on which  In A Hole   was first released. (They changed their name to 'JPS Experience' after a lawsuit by the estate of Jean-Paul Sartre.) 'Mothers' is a fine tune, one that Bob was likely expose...

"Good evening, we are The Fall; from the long, long days..."  In playlist #8 , I selected ten songs that mentioned MES himself. There's an equally rich seam of Fall tracks that refer to the group as a whole. Smith's customary introduction to Fall performances (having given the musicians a few minutes to churn away at a riff before making his grand entrance) was 'Good evening, we are The Fall'. More often than not, it followed a few random snippets of the lyrics to the song the group were playing - frequently this was a relatively new and not yet fully developed tune. On several occasions, it was accompanied by one of his favourite phrases, 'from the long, long days' (or variations thereof). Here are a few examples: 'Kwik Save started there. The Fall started there. Good evening, we are The Fall. [to audience member] You've got nice hair.' (Tilburg, The Netherlands, 13 May 1981) 'Good evening, we are The Fall. Touchstone, as all is stone....

  The 'Session vs Official' League And so, we reach the final chapter... By the end of the last instalment , the Peel versions had opened up a two-point lead. Here's a summary of the results so far: Of the 72 tracks recorded for the first 18 sessions, six did not receive a 'proper' recording elsewhere:  Mess Of My  Words Of Expectation  Kimble  Strychnine Jingle Bell Rock Hark The Herald Angels Sing Much to the derision of a vocal minority (you know who you are) 'C' n' C-S.Mithering' / 'C'N'C - Hassle Schmuck' was declared a draw. The following 'official' versions were winners: Mother-Sister!  Rebellious Jukebox  Put Away  Like To Blow  Jawbone And The Air Rifle  Middle Mass  Lie Dream Of A Casino Soul  Hip Priest  Look, Know  Winter  Smile  Pat-Trip Dispenser  2 X 4  Cruisers Creek  Spoilt Victorian Child  Gut Of The Quantifier  The Man Whose Head Expanded  What You Need  ...