An A-Z of The Fall - J
J is for...
J
In the OED, "J" is the second least frequently-used letter ("Q" is the rarest), so it's interesting (well, mildly interesting at least) that according to Dannyno’s Concordance, it comes equal ninth (tying with "M") in terms of single-use letters in Fall lyrics. ("I" and "A", obviously, are way out in front; third to eighth places are filled by C / O / R / T / G / B.)
Of course my stumbling across this fact is mainly due to the fact that I was a bit short of entries for J! Here they are anyway:
Alton Towers: 'the spawn of J "Loaded" Brown'
James Brown, journalist who founded 'lad mag' Loaded, for which MES undertook a notoriously well-oiled and antagonistic interview.
Dr. Bucks' Letter: 'J McCarthy, approximately ten - fifteen days'
The Annotated Fall suggests either British journalist John, American actress Jenny or communist hunter Joseph (in that order of likelihood).
Impression of J. Temperance: 'J Temperance'
Irish: 'J Murphy is their chief'
James Murphy, front man of LCD Soundsystem.
Is This New: 'Mr. J Archer'
Possibly Jeffrey Archer, disgraced politician and bafflingly popular novelist, although there's little you can be very certain about in this lyric.
Possibly Jeffrey Archer, disgraced politician and bafflingly popular novelist, although there's little you can be very certain about in this lyric.
Job Search: 'from J Whiley'
Jo Whiley, BBC DJ who found fame in the late 90s as the co-presenter of The Evening Session with Steve Lamacq; now on Radio 2. Conducted a rather testy interview with MES after he was presented with the ‘Godlike Genius’ award at the 1998 NME Brat Awards.
Jo Whiley, BBC DJ who found fame in the late 90s as the co-presenter of The Evening Session with Steve Lamacq; now on Radio 2. Conducted a rather testy interview with MES after he was presented with the ‘Godlike Genius’ award at the 1998 NME Brat Awards.
Kicker Conspiracy: 'J Hill's satanic reign'
Jimmy Hill, presenter of BBC's Match of the Day (1973-88). His contribution to British football was notable, although to my generation he was probably best known for his pointy chin.
Jack the Ripper
The Fall first performed a cover of Screaming Lord Sutch’s 1963 novelty single in 2008.
In 2012, they revisited the track, merging it with 'Cab It Up!'.
Dougie James
A friend of Smith’s, and the leader of Manchester act Dougie James’ Soul Train, he joined the group onstage to perform backing vocals on several dates in 2004-2006. He died in 2020.
M R James
Montague Rhodes James (1862-1936) was a medievalist scholar best known for his early twentieth century ghost stories. He was also one of MES's favourite writers, and is mentioned in 'Spectre vs. Rector'. What Smith says after mentioning him has been the subject of some considerable debate.
Jeanie
The Fall covered Eddie Cochran's 1958 song 'Jeanie Jeanie Jeanie' only once, at Cardiff Tramshed on 3 February 2017. There are further details, courtesy of Dannyno, here.
Jesus
In 2007, MES appeared in the Johnny Vegas sitcom Ideal as Jesus.
Jet Records
After leaving the Permanent label, The Fall signed a deal with Jet Records, best known for their association with ELO. The line in 'Cheetham Hill', ‘don’t scratch my nice blue Merc’ refers to the day that Frank Lea of Jet records arrived at Smith’s house to sign the group’s new contract.
It was a short-lived association, resulting in just two releases - 'The Chiselers' and The Light User Syndrome.
Jew on a motorbike
This memorable line from 'Garden' first appeared in early performances of 'Tempo House'. Smith explained it in a 1984 Melody Maker interview:
‘That song's like a skit on the “prophet syndrome”. Derives partly from those talks I'd have with a driver of ours who was Jewish, long talks about Judaism. I'd say to him, "Now there's one thing you'll never see, a Jewish person on a motorbike." Then one day I was going through Golders Green on the way to a London gig and suddenly the street was full of Jewish people on motorbikes.'
The driver in question was Sol Seaberg, singer in a band called FC Domestos, who also co-wrote ‘The Man Whose Head Expanded’.
John Quays
MES claimed that this was a real person, although this wasn't their real name. Speaking to the NME in 1979, he said:
'"Xmas" is about takers. It's anti-drugs in a lot of ways. A lot of people use drugs for getting off on 'n' they're just mind-fuckers, fucking their own brains. And they really try 'n' get your sympathy, saying 'Oh, I musthave some barbs' or whatever. And there was this guy - not called John Quays - who just kept wanting things. It's about him really. He was a real bastard.'
'No Xmas' was one of those 'oldies' that received a handful of one-off live revivals (1999, 2007, 2008 and 2014).
The Joke
A few years ago, someone posted a video to YouTube purporting to show the Russian synchronised skating team performing to Cerebral Caustic's opening track. The music matches the moves pretty well, although it is of course fake (the original video is here) - this doesn't stop some credulous soul posting it on social media every now and again, however.
Jon the Postman
Jon Ormrod, aka ‘Jon/John The Postman’ was a renowned figure in the late 70s Manchester punk scene, often jumping on stage at the end of gigs to perform impromptu a cappella versions of songs such as ‘Louie Louie’ (he appears on The Fall’s almost unlistenable performance of the track on Live 1977). His 1977 album Jon the Postman's Puerile features Smith’s first appearance on record, introducing a 13-minute version of the same song (that's not much more of an easy listen!)
Comments
Post a Comment