The Fall (band)

The Fall
The Fall Perverted by Language Tour, Hamburg (Markthalle), 13.April 1984. L-R: Scanlon, M.E. Smith, Burns, S. Hanley
Background information
Origin	Prestwich, Greater Manchester, England
Genres	Post-punk alternative rock
Years active	1976–present
Labels	Step forward/Faulty Products Rough Trade Kamera Beggars Banquet Situation Two Narnack Phonogram/Fontana Matador Permanent Slogan Domino Action Cherry Red
Associated acts	The Adult Net Blue Orchids The Creepers Darker My Love Elastica The Teardrops
Members	Mark E. Smith Dave Spurr Pete Greenway Keiron Melling
Past members	List of The Fall members

The Fall are an English post-punk band, formed in 1976 in Prestwich, Greater Manchester. The Fall essentially consists of founder and only constant member Mark E. Smith with an ever-changing lineup; he has said that "If it's me and your granny on bongos, then it's The Fall." First associated with the late 1970s punk movement, the band's music has evolved through numerous stylistic changes, often concurrently with changes in the group's lineup. Nonetheless, the Fall's music is typically characterised by repetition, tense rhythms, an abrasive guitar-driven sound and always underpinned by Smith's typically cryptic lyrics, described by Simon Reynolds as "a kind of Northern English magic realism that mixed industrial grime with the unearthly and uncanny, voiced through a unique, one-note delivery somewhere between amphetamine-spiked rant and alcohol-addled yarn."

The Fall have been called "the most prolific band of the British post-punk movement." They have released thirty-one studio albums as of 2015^[update], and more than three times that number when live albums and compilations (often released against Smith's wishes) are taken into account. While the Fall have never achieved widespread success beyond minor hit singles in the late 1980s, they have maintained a strong cult following. They were long associated with BBC disc jockey John Peel, who championed them from early on in their career and described them as his favourite band, famously explaining, "they are always different; they are always the same."

The Fall were formed in Prestwich, Greater Manchester in 1976 by Mark E. Smith, Martin Bramah, Una Baines and Tony Friel. The four friends would meet to read their writings to each other and take drugs. Their musical influences included Can (which the band would later pay tribute to on the track "I Am Damo Suzuki"), The Velvet Underground, Captain Beefheart and garage rock bands like The Monks and The Stooges. The members were devoted readers, with Smith citing H.P. Lovecraft, Raymond Chandler and Malcolm Lowry among his favourite writers. After seeing the Sex Pistols play Manchester's Lesser Free Trade Hall in June 1976, they decided to start a group. Smith wanted to name the group "The Outsiders", but Friel came up with the name "The Fall" after a 1956 novel by Albert Camus. Smith became the singer, Bramah the guitarist, Friel played bass guitar and Baines bashed biscuit tins instead of drums; unable to afford buying a drum kit, she then switched to keyboards. The Fall's music was intentionally raw and repetitive. The song "Repetition", declaring that "we've repetition in the music, and we're never going to lose it", served as a manifesto for the Fall's musical philosophy.