The Fall - Interview, Bombast and Cruiser's Creek

[@andrewjohnstone963]

I met this man one morning in Edinburgh in 1981 i was buying food and said to him bugger me its Mark E Smith i had never seen them live but the early singles i had most of them. I stood and spoke to him for about 20 mins we talked about music and asked him about the oject of his work it was the most natural conversation ive evet had he asked about me and what interested me music literary stuff and Architecture and both our dislikes for politics people on the make Manchester Edinburgh where i came from my background. We shook hands and he put his hand on my shoulder this is the way we go and parted. A once in a lifetime pure chance meeting chance came up in the conversation also as well as jam and bread 🍞 i felt when we parted i made a friend but we never had any reasons to meet again but it still fills me with love for this man. A chance meeting that has lasted a lifetime and when he passed away i was overcome by the chance meeting! 1 of the best friends i ever had And a very funny and much misunderstood man thanx for the memory Mark ❤

[@cliffwebb1621]

Great anecdote. I met James Brown once, he stepped out into the hallway between sets right in front of me, very genuine friendly cat.

[@slyasleep]

Oh wow, he obviously made quite the impression on you

[@matttilley8620]

Your description of meeting Mark E Smith reminds me of the opening scene in Shoot the Piano Player. Two complete strangers spend a few minutes inadvertently sharing their life stories before running off.

[@andrewjohnstone963]

@matt Tilley no athletics involved or acting skils required just 2 people meeting by chance and giving their time to each other It was 42 years ago and becomes more relevant as time passes and the fact Mark is no longer with us. It had relevance in my life and still does Have you no poetry in your bones meister film quoter 🥸

[@JJONNYREPP]

The Fall - Interview, Bombast and Cruiser's Creek 2100pm 19.9.23 i never saw the fall as pretentious. that was her slight - no matter whoever she met they became pretentious. due to her disdain for the hilarities of life... not my problem, really. the disdain for the dole dosser is well to the fore with mark e smith. this interview seemed speed driven. seemed they'd had a cheeky livener prior to the interview. not that they seem enlivened. this is the performance that used to make some dude i knew laugh - wherein he screeches down a loud hailer and the chap, probably a family member of scanlon's, looks somewhat distraught and/or put out. yeah, ok, i suppose that could be amusing... as i say i dont condone anything in life. especially shit i aint party to... but music is the thing. and there's usually a tale enmeshed within a tune or a band's (mis)fortunes... anyhow, more amusing than anyone gave it credit for - the fall. they must have played it so straight as to be hilarious... to the uninitiated. especially Scanlon's witty guitar ripostes refer to totales turns etc etc etc.... indeed. that was our bag - watching facial expressions and listening to the delivery of words... though i wasn't one for taking the laughable and making it a literal rendition - refer to some gang who would make their peer pull a funny face or say something incomprehensible - for a larf.... abstract where it's at. else you go senile.

[@louiesimon5292]

Freaking unbelievable. I saw them at this time. Life-changing. Karl's drumming here is absolutely BRUTAL as is Hanley's and Scanlon's playing (Brix too). They are on fire. Two of their best songs. Dada meets the Stooges. Live forever, Hip Priest!

[@kamrynzahir9836]

instablaster

[@JJONNYREPP]

The Fall - Interview, Bombast and Cruiser's Creek 2342pm 12.2.22 150 year old painting appears to show a woman using an iPhone... other than that a fine set of songs but... why the make up? and was the band in melt down during this time? i hate conversing with literal minded...

[@user-js9in4lr3e]

Seriously. Bombast is one of those ever-so-often powerful ass Fall songs. The bass just...damn.

[@jasongairn]

Dada meets Stooges. That's such a perfect description. That first date Brix mentioned was the first time I saw the band. I knew their name of course. Next day me: the entire back catalogue of The Fall in every record shop in London.

[@eyelooksawaythenlooksback3077]

@@JJONNYREPP Probably Brix's influence. Bringing a bit of style to The Fall.

[@sidDkid87]

"the people who follow The Fall are the salt of the earth" . . . without blinking or flinching - - - Ha ha!! I love Mark E Smith and The Fall!!!

[@stevec1770]

I love MES staring at his fingers when answering a question as to whether the Fall was a self-indulgent band.

[@GNeuman]

Can't believe how good this is in 2020....RIP MES

[@brianwilson49]

hanley - in the top 3 bassists of all time.

[@joeypatrickmullan9921]

Absolutely. A machine. Karl's drumming is really fantastic here too & Brix looks cool as fuck.

[@elizabethhann4028]

Doesn't she, though? I love her. I mean, I love Mark, too, but I REALLY love Brixie.

[@stephenmaxwell]

Top 3 ... I think he is the top bassist of all time!

[@ahippy8972]

brianwilson49 top two after the stranglers bassist which was his main influence

[@arlingtonhynes]

Top three Fall bassists anyway.

[@samajax]

God dang, every time I hear this it makes me grin so wide. I mean Cruiser’s is the pop hit, but Bombast hits all the right spots. For every mood, there is a Fall song to match

[@owengarpblaine]

This was my introduction to The Fall. I went into town the next morning which was a Saturday and bought This Nations Saving Grace 😎

[@Bluenose-mx5ej]

Exactly the same for me. Cruisers Creek got me straight away.

[@manusmcgrogan3495]

Their best album imo

[@Helio144]

Can still recall living in W11 in 1985 & watching this one Friday night. It knocked me out then & still does,the same as The Fall in 2012 still knock me out. One of the best bands this country's ever produced.

[@victoroladuja2416]

It was on Channel 4 programme The Tube I taped Cruiser Creek on my VHS recorder… intense track. I’m 60 now I still love it!

[@LeeSaintLewHiss]

While the leaves are falling here, we also have a return of summer temperatures this week. This is exactly what makes my evening walk much better! Sounds awesome, great work Ken.

[@cazb877]

What an articulate, intelligent guy MES was.

[@cmjones83]

Great interview. Muriel is a good match for him here, pushes him just enough without pushing him away.

[@chrisst8922]

I thought the Muriel was always good. I remember she was adversely criticised at the time but now I can'remember why.

[@YOURTECHFRIEND]

Agreed, one of the most “reasonable” interviews with Marc I’ve heard! 👍👍

[@beat.spectral]

Feel the wrath, of my Bombast !! RIP Mark E. Smith

[@ericrhodes5174]

RIP, Pub Philosopher

[@MrDoremouse]

''Self indulgence'' can be a good thing, cuz there are tens of thousands of Fall fans, yet Mark has always done his own weird thing. It makes 'em special.

[@elizabethhann4028]

IT does make 'em special indeed. Mark E. Smith is the greatest weirdo in rock; that's why I'll love him forever. Him and Brix; I'll love 'em both forever. WEIRD FOREVER!

[@lewiswyndham9285]

This live performance of Bombast is peak music

[@LondonDada]

As Frank Zappa once said " without deviation from the norm progress is impossible" Smith talks as a genuine creative - he's effectively saying true creativity is a tap that wont turn off... and he's right, its so true.

[@Turfdeanthantrax]

Mister London Dada I see your comments all over this site on all the same music I am listening to. Just wanted to say you are a real one and I hope your doing well in this weird timeline.

[@LondonDada]

@@Turfdeanthantrax How kind are you heh. Cheers my friend :-)

[@vibemunster]

I saw the Fall 3 times back in the day, the first time was fantastic at the Cambridge corn exchange, the second time at Norwich Uni was a disaster, they came on, played two tracks and told everyone to fck off and walked off stage, came on again played one track and did the same, Mark wasn't happy, third time at the Reading festival, another amazing set, I've been a fan for life, RIP MES.

[@walterwackerhage2460]

I got more than usual pissed and I grief.M.e.smith has passt away. I can remember in 1991 - the Fall in Munich ( Theaterfabik) . Shift- Work Tour . 1st LSD Trip ever. First fall Concert ..I met him in 2004 (registratur munich) after the gig on the toilet and spotaniously invited him for a beer - and more ....because it was such a great Show and all the old stuff they played. Malysc in Tirol ,Mr. Pharmacist, wrong Place- right time, big new prinz ,...and an epic Version of blindness.he stage dived into the crowd at the end of the Show.hahaha..The Fall stage diving ...Great moments r.i.p.. grief.

[@stevencowie7151]

Took mushrooms the first time I saw them, Frenz .... some night ahem. HUG.

[@matooli]

The interview is priceless... "how long will you keep going?" 2011 now, God knows how many line-ups later and still fucking incredible. I defy anyone to name even ONE other band that have managed this.Thanks for posting these.

[@fryewerk]

The very definition of inevitable unemployment is being the number three(!) guitarist of The Fall.

[@costas2by4]

🤣😂😅

[@markcooper3084]

The song that blooded me. Loved it then, still love it and my heart forever belongs to the Fall.

[@jonathanbrown673]

Even Mark don't understand why all his music is so good

[@albysmith3747]

Loved the fall RIP Mark E Smith

[@thehowlingterror]

Ahhh Mark's eyeshadow period. Marvellous and lucid.

[@silentforum616]

THIS is it. This sums it all up.

[@oolongoolong789]

Nice to hear Mark sounding so lucid and articulate in this interview. Wish it were the case these days...

[@thegloriousmoodman2152]

This set highlights the bass drive.

[@MadderMel]

Great version of Bombast , totally rock n roll !!

[@alasdairrobertmacaulay9519]

brilliant basslines from this epoch yes

[@stevenuuu1212]

Props to Steve Hanley, the bloke can half play

[@spurtfather]

"Do you know what I'm saying?" "Absolutely!" Brilliant stuff

[@alvarojaimeloperarios4348]

Excelente LÍDER DE GRUPO ME ENCANTA SU ESTILO, DESDE VENEZUELA ANIMOO

[@jaysilverstone7221]

Can really hear the beefheart in this

[@mistrzpoledvica]

The Fall at their peak.

[@alwoo5645]

These two tracks are just pure rock n roll

[@ianrobson9601]

How can anyone have , ONE , favourite Fall track

[@billbailey695]

Iceland. But, yup, I agree.

[@davidsmith6355]

beyond awesome ! (then and now)

[@guitarchoonz]

I "laughed out loud" when he said he throws his fan mail away

[@swirlingfudge]

😂 Me too

[@thomasroberthillmclean4638]

Yep 😂😂

[@YHIRMAW]

Long Live The Fall and MES

[@Theodorus5]

The Fall at Peak Cool

[@BREN-t1i]

Love youre ethos, drinking and making music in these underground caves we practice in?? Prestwich etc

[@stuartwray6175]

That's a question?

[@Farmlandsfallfan]

Love it when Brix says Lancaster

[@victoroladuja2416]

She was gorgeous.

[@pintpot]

Ah, the long black sinister leather coat years

[@elizabethhann4028]

Yeah, Mark could rock a long black sinister leather coat. Sinisterness looked good on him.

[@LondonDada]

Brix, bless her, tried to turn Mark into a pop star during that Fall era.

[@FadGadget1]

London Dada and then she banged Nigel Kennedy. The irony.

[@samajax]

And actually did for a time. The world was a better place for that brief moment when a band like this was almost “pop”. I know what you meant, but glad they went through all the phases. ✌️

[@chrisbinckes2732]

kewpie doll 'n all...! thanks for upl0ading

[@CaptBombscare]

Muriel Gray lookin quite hot there. She climbed aw the Munro hills ye know. Every few months i get an itch that only the fall can scratch.

[@hayman-lx2ze]

Peavey T-40 + S. Hanley=GOD

[@cclewes7373]

Smith was touched by genius.

[@leebritnell2405]

The Fall transformed my teenage life.After total despondance t the 'choice ' offered by high street record shops I chanced upon them(via John Peel),and I KNEW.Like falling in love with that special person(though my missus loathes them).

[@SloopeyC]

RIP LEGEND

[@stephenmurray4128]

Seen the fall in Glasgow fuckin brilliant

[@kenkovar2647]

Legends of the Fall 😎

[@vargaso]

So good.

[@Alessio669]

This Nation's Saving Grace is the best The Fall album

[@solinvictus39]

Great album, but my vote is for the Frighting and Wonderful World of...

[@kimmohietala5359]

Some days it is, some days some other album is

[@douglasarthur2673]

"Are u a self-indulgent band?" It doesn't look like Brix is too impressed.

[@OldSethOnetooth]

A couple of years after walking away from the band outside a pub in America Kay Carroll went to see them in New York and was kicked out of the dressing room after seeing MES in what could be this same jacket and asking him "who do you think you are, Mark Bolan?". Hopefully in another dimension the pair of them are being barred from every pub in the universe and laughing about it.

[@clinthowardlol]

rip ya legend

[@motionsuggests]

"all those whose minds e... garbles themselves.." fuckin nice quick thinking, Mark

[@Miomate123]

his voice in the Interview sounds like coming from or distorted by a real good 1980s voice synthesizer

[@LondonDada]

He's talking about the dreadful Bob whose main end title is Geldof, there

[@elizabethhann4028]

Ha! Ha! I think you're right!

[@kimmohietala5359]

Poor Brix trying to understand all those British accents 😅

[@ClueSign]

I didn't realize Brix was American. Rest in Power, Mark.

[@peterlawson777]

ClueSign she left MES for Nigel Kennedy, the mockney cockney wanker.

[@nisbend]

@@peterlawson777 The hippy halfwit who thinks he's Mr Mark Smith :-)

[@MadderMel]

They fucking killed it on Bombast !

[@Judderfish]

Pre-cog Hellraiser chic. Just joshing

[@MrWitchtrials]

BOMBAST! If I were a boxer or pro-darts player I'd walk out to this. Come and have a go if .......

[@_ms.mannequin_]

If I were a pro boxer I would walk out to "Rowche Rumble"

[@dankoloski3731]

This is good the pro walk out song. Think I’d go with the live version of ‘Hey Student”

[@mackenziebowles2443]

this is a great example of how MES' 'assholishness' is a bit of a myth or at least needs to be properly contextualized. The interviewer just about directly said to Mark's face that 1) the Fall are self indulgent 2) She wanted them to break up (I thought the same thing as Mark when she said 'how long can you go on like this?' lol) 3) They're not as 'underground' as MES was saying they were. She said these things outright and what did Mark do? Two of those times he laughed and the other he just answered her question. I actually liked the interviewer though I don't even think she was a Fall fan lol. She wasn't afraid to ask these crazy questions. Just think how many other musicians or artists would've acted as well as Mark did. Most of the times he's one of the more genuinely good natured interviews I've seen. Usually he's laughing his head off or sometimes he'll even ask the interviewer about themselves. I think it was only a few times in the 90s when he was in a bad way or if an interview is pretty dumb he'll get snarky. I just never bought that he was this giant shit head.

[@brianwilson9681]

Mackenzie Bowles in fairness she didn’t say the fall were self indulgent she asked “are the fall self indulgent”. It could have been tedious ass licking but she asked direct, pertinent questions and I think MES appreciates that. Or perhaps he wasn’t more than usual pissed.

[@ahippy8972]

Mackenzie Bowles the interviewer was Muriel Spark resident asshole conservative of 80s pop journalists

[@ahippy8972]

Mackenzie Bowles mark answered her with irony and sarcasm I'm surprised u failed to get his reference that these people will be gone in 6 months and we won't reference? Where is she now ?

[@YHIRMAW]

Its Muriel Gray not Spark

[@YHIRMAW]

and she's still busy in Scotland :)

[@1lightheaded]

A good looking lad before the alcohol ate him . They were my favorite band cause they saved me from the musical mediocrity of the eighties and it was Cruisers Creek which first alerted me to their or rather his genius ( not overstated ) The beginning of Bombast makes me laugh every time I hear it Those who entitle themselves and whose entitlement is themselves shall feel the wrath of my Bombast like I said genius

[@Harpdashian]

He really started to age towards the end of the 90s I noticed.

[@solinvictus39]

Don't forget all that chain smoking... I'm in my 50s and every one of my friends who are dead from health problems were smokers.

[@caseyramone]

@@solinvictus39 true story...so incredibly many people smoked in the 70s, 80s..noone had a real clue how harmful it really is i think

[@solinvictus39]

@@caseyramone Yes and no. Everybody knew it caused cancer when I was a kid. They even showed us pictures of a dead smoker's lung when I was in elementary school to discourage the kids from starting smoking. The thing is, when you're young and you have your whole future ahead of you, you think death is far away. Alot of the guys I grew up with wanted to look "cool" and like a badass. They knew smoking was dangerous, but like doing drugs and drunk driving, they did it anyway because they felt the invincibility of youth.

[@bernicia-sc2iw]

He still looked like himself in 1990 . By 1994/95 he looked like a different person , or one who had aged fifteen to twenty years in a short period of time. Anyway , this tube appearance was still peak Fall for me . That period of 79-85 was an incredibly fertile time for the group and they never surpassed it.

[@salmonico]

November the eleven...Veteran's Day poppy its on tv

[@ericrhodes5174]

2:31 Articulate, chin stroking Mark

[@danielpeel7100]

an academic kneaded his chin!

[@diskochimp]

Yarbles.

[@Neontrifle]

The mighty Fall

[@geminifilms5341]

Excellent performance. Is Mark wearing eye make-up?

[@stuartwray6175]

Yes, looks like he is.

[@lewiswyndham9285]

why even try after The Fall?

[@mxa1axm]

it has been described as pyschobilly

[@themelted4614]

The day i got into the fall.....

[@turnipbursttalcumpowder7141]

Sorry can't watch that, love the mighty fall

[@stuartwray6175]

Can't watch that, love them.

[@splak_5624]

RIP MES

[@ianrobson9601]

THIS IS THE FALL

[@ahippy8972]

When he said know what I'm saying Muriel really didn't get that it was aimed at her

[@messthetics]

Is Mark wearing eye make up?

[@arcrs40]

LIKE

[@phat111]

Thought the interviewer did a great job here. Challenged what Mark was saying. Don’t get em like that anymore, it’s yes sir no sir three bags…

[@MrRRHHMM]

Its almost as if the Media/Powers that be, want to crush ''originality''... its originality that keeps thing fresh and free... is it that THEY don't want this .... that will be a mistake...

[@thirdeye147]

Drowning the beast of nature

[@kunt1969]

No not really, The fall have released 22 albums 24 peel sessions, and 20 odd live albums so Kraftwerk don't come close..

[@matooli]

Kraftwerk have lost a couple of members and released only 2 studio albums (only one of which consisted of entirely new material) since this interview was filmed. Would still kill to see them, though...

[@pinkitypink6246]

matooli the fall lost all their members but one along the way. Now they are gone. Unique

[@andrewcounts7136]

All The Way Genius

[@robbie73vespa]

Fuckin amazin

[@Lieu3C4]

This interviewer 0:04 starts off asking if the band is a self-indulgence, to which Mark says no, then by 2:14 is protesting that the band is hugely popular, in the face of opposition from Mark. It's crazy!

[@StratsRUs]

It's not a BAND, Brix !!!

[@OldMod67]

I bought records by The Fall (loved Cruisers Creek!) and later The Adult Net. Unfortunately Muriel Gray gets on my wiggins, awful interviewer. I remember on the first Tube she went to interview Weller, with The Jam making a final tv appearance. Excruciating stuff.

[@mulangira79]

Is crossing your legs like that comfortable?

[@theother6505]

He's kinda like a hip priest

[@arlingtonhynes]

Why is Brix dressed like the Creature from the Black Lagoon on stage?

[@styxcreek]

its an awful outfit, totally unflattering

[@adencapps5700]

blody brill

[@NickRowsell]

“Good commercial records” What the fuck does that mean ….

[@malonca3278]

Kraftwerk

[@alexfletcher5192]

No such thing as a bad Fall song.

[@xyloplax]

Is that eyeshadow? Shouldn't have listen to the missus, man.

[@ahippy8972]

FYI Brix was copying Fur who played in the Cramps in the mid 80s go check fur out