An A-Z of The Fall - A

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A is for...


Abattoir

In June 1983, when touring Germany, the group's van broke down just outside Dachau and they ended up staying in the Hotel Bloëdel. The hotel had a rancid odour (‘a reasonable smell of death’) and was disturbing enough to give Smith nightmares. In the morning, he and Brix witnessed what appeared to be a member of staff carrying ‘a large, clear plastic bag of blood’ – it transpired that the hotel was next door to an abattoir. Coincidentally, 'Rebellious Jukebox' contains a reference to 'drinkers from the slaughterhouse'.



Abdominizer

The abdominizer (sometimes spelled 'abdomenizer') was a piece of exercise equipment invented in 1984 by Canadian chiropractor Dennis Colonello. Oddly, it made two appearances in Fall lyrics: 'Noel's Chemical Effluence' ('the abdominizer, in excellence') and 'The Past #2' ('like the abdominizers and private investigators').


Ace In The Hole

Kirk Douglas starred in this 1951 Billy Wilder film about press manipulation of the public. He plays Chuck Tatum, a cynical reporter covering a story about a man called Leo Minosa who becomes trapped in a cave-in. The rescue site attracts hundreds of people, and in one scene a band plays a song called 'We're Coming Leo' which bears a striking resemblance to The Fall's 'Pumpkin Head Xscapes', b-side to the 1992 single 'Ed's Babe'.


Adidas

The introduction to 'Octo Realm/Ketamine Sun' from 2000's Unutterable album features one of Smith's finest put-downs: 'you’re a walking tower of Adidas crap’.



Akse P19 

The painting of MES on the side of a Prestwich chippy was created by Manchester street artist Akse P19. The quotation 'fear is something I try not to absorb' comes from a 2011 interview with The Guardian.



All Bran

'Eat yourself fitter' was an advertising slogan for Kellogg's All-Bran, used in this 1982 TV advert.



Alone In The Dark

In this 1982 slasher film, Donald Pleasence plays Dr. Leo Bain, a psychiatrist terrorised by four escaped patients. In 'Craigness', Smith repeats one of his speeches almost verbatim: ‘Mind moving fast is crazy. Mind slow is saint. Mind stopped... is God.’


Phil Ames

Brix’s guitar technician, he covered for her departure at a February 1989 gig in Munich that was broadcast on German TV.


Anorimoi

Greek thrash-metallers whose 'Gameboy' was purloined by the group for 'Greenway'. Their name in their native language is ανώριμοι, Greek for 'the immature ones'.




Athens

In Croydon on 15 March 2006, The Fall played a ‘mystery’ tune: largely an instrumental, with Smith only adding ‘over four hundred years in Athens’ before his traditional ‘good evening, we are The Fall’. Nobody seems to know what this might have been called. Reviews confirm that it wasn’t any other known song, and the setlist (which they didn’t keep to anyway) doesn’t provide any clues.



Awards

In January 1998 Smith was presented with the title of ‘Godlike Genius’ at NME ‘Brat Awards’ by Eddie Izzard. After a brief speech, MES wandered off stage, leaving the award on the podium. Backstage, he managed to break the finger off the statuette before giving it to manager John Lennard.  It was put up for auction in 2018, fetching £5000. The picture below shows  Jim Spencer, valuer from auctioneers Hansons, with the award.


MES also received the ‘Maverick’ award at the 2008 Mojo awards. 


He put it on Ebay shortly after the ceremony, proceeds going to Manchester Victim Support. It fetched £720.


Rob Ayling 

Head of Voiceprint Records, which, from the late 90s onwards, released an apparently endless stream of Fall live albums (using the Cog Sinister imprint) that varied hugely in quality. He also appeared on 'Octo Realm' ('I'm Rob and I'm cynical') from The Unutterable.


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