CC Photo of Mark E. Smith (1990) by Masao Nakagami
Hailing from Manchester England, Mark E. Smith founded the Fall, one of the most prolific post-punk bands in history. Not only did The Fall release thirty-two studio albums, their compilations and and live albums would boost their total album output by scores.
Fall founder Mark E. Smith was a talented vocalist, but he was also talented at being obnoxious and opinionated and very difficult to work with, or so says, the track record of over sixty different musicians being a part of the Fall over its forty year existence. However, as time passed, the band did become a bit more stable with no line-up changes from 2006 to 2016.
In his autobiography, Smith wrote about the Fall, its music and how he understood the fact that he would not be universally accepted and his music would never achieve mainstream success, “You’ve got to accept that you’re never going to be on Top of the Pops every week…”
The music of the Fall has influenced numerous bands over the years including The Happy Mondays, Nirvana, The Smiths, the Arctic Monkeys and more. Some of the Fall’s best albums were This Nation’s Saving Grace, Live at the Witch Trials and Perverted by Language.
The world is a less artistic place with the passing of Fall founder and vocalist Mark E. Smith.
