The Fall: Who's Who

- November 09, 2021

If you ask someone who has little more than a passing interest in / knowledge of The Fall what they know about them, it's likely that the sheer number of people who were in the group will be one of the things that they mention. This aspect is epitomised by Dave Simpson's Guardian article, Excuse Me, Weren't You In The Fall and his book, The Fallen.

The notion that MES repeatedly fired band members on a whim is undoubtedly overstated (as the info below will hopefully demonstrate) although it is true that there were periods - for example the late 90s - where Fall fans would turn up for gigs not entirely sure as to who on earth would be on stage with MES (a feeling very familiar to fans of The Wedding Present).

Defining who counts as a 'proper' or 'full' member of The Fall is a tricky business, and it's something that I've been wrestling with when finalising the You Must Get Them All book. In The Fallen, Dave Simpson includes anyone who ever appeared on stage with the group; which was fine for his purposes, but involves, for example, equating Ruth Daniel (half a gig on keyboards) with Steve Hanley's 19 years of stalwart service.

Toying with different criteria led me to the conclusion that it would be impossible to apply any black and white rule successfully. For me, just playing a single gig wouldn’t be enough to qualify, but setting the bar at ‘more than one’ would include, for example, Paul Bonney, who I don’t think many people would count as a ‘proper’ member. Any number above that would just be arbitrary. Another thought was ‘played at least a full season’ i.e. at least one album credit and a tour, but that would have excluded, for example, Una Baines, who clearly was a member of The Fall. In the end, I went for an unscientific gut feeling approach – the original membership plus (once Martin Bramah had departed) people who seem to have been appointed by MES on the basis that they were going to be part of the group for the foreseeable future.

Looking through this list of 'full' Fall members will also, I think, show that the notion that large swathes of the ex-members were sacked by MES (highlighted) is not really true.

Martin Bramah – resigned 1979, fired 1990
Tony Friel – resigned 1977
Una Baines – resigned 1978
Karl Burns – resigned 1978, fired 1986, fired 1996, resigned 1998
Jonnie Brown – fired 1978
Eric McGann – resigned 1978
Yvonne Pawlett – resigned 1979
Marc Riley – fired 1983
Mike Leigh – resigned 1980
Steve Hanley – resigned 1998
Craig Scanlon – fired 1995
Paul Hanley – resigned 1984
Brix Smith- resigned 1989 & 1996
Simon Rogers –Didn’t exactly resign, declared himself unavailable for an upcoming tour in 1986 (and of course still went on to make several contributions in the studio)
Simon Wolstencroft – resigned 1997
Marcia Schofield – fired 1990
Dave Bush – fired 1995
Julia Nagle – resigned 2001
Tommy Crooks – resigned 1998
Tom Head – resigned 2000
Neville Wilding – resigned 2001
Adam Helal – resigned 2001
Spencer Birtwistle – resigned 2001 & 2006
Ben Pritchard – resigned 2006
Jim Watts – fired 2003, resigned 2004
Dave Milner – resigned 2004
Eleni Poulou – resigned 2016
Steve Trafford – resigned 2006
Rob Barbato / Tim Presley / Orpheo McCord – all stopped being F/T members of the group in 2007 (although RB & TP made further contributions on stage and in the studio) but were neither fired or resigned – can only ever have been seen as temporary, one presumes.
Pete Greenway / Dave Spurr / Keiron Melling – the survivors.
Daren Garratt – stopped playing for them in 2015 – certainly didn’t resign, and wasn’t sacked exactly – MES just seemed to stop asking him.

There is also an enormous cast of characters who have played some sort of role in the group's studio / live output. This group (which I have described as “With…” / Guest Appearances / “One Night Only” in the book) varies widely in terms of their contribution to The Fall Sound.