would you even class them as a garage rock band, ive a few opinions on this, but im interested on finding out what you guys all think on it?

The Fall - Unreleased Documentary FunFunFun!

Sorry, the interview's not online. This was several years before Al Gore invented the internet. I might have a yellowed clip somewhere. But yes, Mark E. was in a great mood that night. I have a feeling those were less rare when he was younger.

gregor said:

ok here's what i think on it all,firstly i believe the fall are the closest and any band has ever came to perfection(in my ideals at least),and no i dont believe them to be the greatest garage act ever,without being at all controversial,if your speaking about the best garage bands ever,id have to mention bands like oblivions,standells,kingsmen,the seeds,maybe early white stripes,etc etc,but in amonst all that i believe the fall deserve an honourable mention,like tirc said above he'd never thought of them in that context,the reason i do is there total dedication to a non fuck around attitude to recording and production,there constant productivity,generally a total lack of pretention,a constant name checking and covering of garage bands like count five,the move,the monks and so many more,and mostly there total disregard for the mainstream,so no i dont believe them to be the best GR band ever but i do think they should be mentioned a lot more in the context of GR.

@jon,belter of a tune and album YFOC!!!mental recording that 30 ye into your career!:)

@swt.have you a copy of your interview online i could read,i take it he was in one of his better moods that night?

Would we dare ask Mark E.Smith this question? I bet not.

I don't know exactly how to categorize The Fall, but I do know Mark E. Smith is a freakin' lyrical genius.  

 Became a recluse
And bought a computer
Set it up in the home
Elusive big one
On the screen
Saw the Holy Ghost, I swear
On the screen

All those whose mind entitles themselves,
and whose main entitle is themselves,
shall feel the wrath of my bombast!

Nuff Said!!!!

i pretty much agree with what you said,i just believethey are equel parts garage and post punk,and some other parts of christ knows what!?

yeah it would be amazing for garage acts to pick up on them a bit more,only good can come of that!i think my point was really just that them being mentioned in the context of garage would be a positive thing.listening to uv race now,they are cracking!!whats the score wi them?

dave said:

Hey, everyone,

Let's see, how do I put my opinion? Yes, the Fall are one of my favorite bands EVARRR (listening to The Fall - Hex Enduction Hour [Full Album] now) because they embody so much of the punk attitude (endlessly curious, Mark E Smith is a rock and roll mulching machine, chewing up anything he likes, adding it to his band's slurry). He doesn't care who he pisses off, kinda like Miles Davis, he is true to his own ideas.

As TIRC replied, they seem more post-punky to me, but it's just a word, no need to get hung up on it. Call 'em what ya wish...

While they are fans of the garage sound/bands and attitude ("If you can't deliver it like a garage band, fuck it"), they don't stop there.

Also, as SWT added, there is no-one else like them, The Fall are a very tasty mutation! Like the first time I saw a challenging movie like Blade Runner or Brazil, I was intrigued by them because they had something that kept making my mind pink and come back to them (first exposure to them was "Marquis ChaCha" on college radio).

Also hope that future garage bands use them as grist for their mills. Does anyone else think that UV Race owes a debt to them (listen to Homo)?

So, punky but not garage-punk strictly. Great comments everyone!

Best, Dave

Hey, everyone,

Let's see, how do I put my opinion? Yes, the Fall are one of my favorite bands EVARRR (listening to The Fall - Hex Enduction Hour [Full Album] now) because they embody so much of the punk attitude (endlessly curious, Mark E Smith is a rock and roll mulching machine, chewing up anything he likes, adding it to his band's slurry). He doesn't care who he pisses off, kinda like Miles Davis, he is true to his own ideas.

As TIRC replied, they seem more post-punky to me, but it's just a word, no need to get hung up on it. Call 'em what ya wish...

While they are fans of the garage sound/bands and attitude ("If you can't deliver it like a garage band, fuck it"), they don't stop there.

Also, as SWT added, there is no-one else like them, The Fall are a very tasty mutation! Like the first time I saw a challenging movie like Blade Runner or Brazil, I was intrigued by them because they had something that kept making my mind pink and come back to them (first exposure to them was "Marquis ChaCha" on college radio).

Also hope that future garage bands use them as grist for their mills. Does anyone else think that UV Race owes a debt to them (listen to Homo)?

So, punky but not garage-punk strictly. Great comments everyone!

Best, Dave

ok here's what i think on it all,firstly i believe the fall are the closest and any band has ever came to perfection(in my ideals at least),and no i dont believe them to be the greatest garage act ever,without being at all controversial,if your speaking about the best garage bands ever,id have to mention bands like oblivions,standells,kingsmen,the seeds,maybe early white stripes,etc etc,but in amonst all that i believe the fall deserve an honourable mention,like tirc said above he'd never thought of them in that context,the reason i do is there total dedication to a non fuck around attitude to recording and production,there constant productivity,generally a total lack of pretention,a constant name checking and covering of garage bands like count five,the move,the monks and so many more,and mostly there total disregard for the mainstream,so no i dont believe them to be the best GR band ever but i do think they should be mentioned a lot more in the context of GR.

@jon,belter of a tune and album YFOC!!!mental recording that 30 ye into your career!:)

@swt.have you a copy of your interview online i could read,i take it he was in one of his better moods that night?

I love the Fall, but I have to admit that I've never really thought of them in a "garage rock" band context. I guess I thought of them more as post-punk or whatever. Who knows. 

I didn't read Fritz's comments as rude, though (but that may be just because I wasn't the one posing the questions). Not everyone is going to agree on everything here, so lighten up everybody!

Also, I'd like to add that even though the main musical obsession of this site and its inhabitants is garage (rock and/or punk), we obviously like all sorts of raw rock'n'roll and other styles of music that are somehow related or connected to it. Just reading back through the forum here will tell you that.

hey folks,thanks for replying,im in a bit of a rush just now,so ill get back to you all later,but......i have to reply to "fritz",him at the top of the thread,basically because he was just so totally fuckin rude,i/we are in a site dedicated to discussion on music,so i was starting a discussion,i never made a statement,there were question marks!!

you say that there are many better bands i should talk about,well im so sorry fritz,before i post next time,ill be in touch with you to find out exactly which bands you think are good enough!will that keep you happy?

"why lable everything" are you taking the piss,we are in a site thats dedictaed to,lofi,trash,surf,garage,punk,et etc etc,so i dont think im too out of step with things,again the key thing here is i was starting a discussion!!

cheers everyone else,speak later.

I had the pleasure of interviewing Mark E. Smith in the early 80s here in Santa Fe New Mexico at Evangelos' bar, which was across the street from the theater The Fall played at. I wasn't even familiar with their music at the time and wasn't sure what to expect at the concert or the interview. I expected Smith might have a lot of attitude, but it turned out he was friendly as hell. We just sat there drinking beer and talking about music. I remember I was impressed and felt a certain kinship because he liked both Johnny Cash and Capt. Beefheart. I do too, of course but at that point I didn't know that many people who liked both.

I wasn't that crazy about their music that night. It seemed so alien! I remember writing that I felt like Dylan's Mr. Jones. I KNEW something was happening but I wasn't sure what it was. They played a lot from Slates that night, which was their most recent EP at the time.

A few years later something clicked though and I became a rabid fan. The music grew on me. Like a weird fungus. I'd love to go back and see that Santa Fe show.

I agree, it doesn't matter if they're garage or not, though lots of their music draws from garage rock.

In one relatively recent review I wrote, "The band is actually sending coded messages to some alien/Lovecraftian sleeper cell. Some isolated Smith yelp in conjunction with some post-Standells guitar hook causes some shift in brain chemistry in some isolated listener, and next thing you know some unwitting Fall fan in Dalhart, Texas, is making a 4 a.m. drive to the Tucumcari airport to pick up a crate of something unspeakable delivered on a secret flight from Bohemian Grove."

http://steveterrell.blogspot.com/2007/04/terrells-tuneup-fall-forward.html

Here's my Fall story.  Some time in the early 80s I saw the Fall in a club in Brixton, London.  At that stage of their career they had released maybe 5 albums and twice as many singles - none of the single tracks were on the albums.  I had them all.  In that gig there was none of the plug-the-latest-album-play-the-hits crap. In a 15 song or so set, they only played 4 previously released tracks, all the rest was new material.  It was utterly uncompromising, made no concessions to the audience, and completely magnificent.  So, no, not garage in sound but embodying something far greater - a couldn't-care-less rock'n'roll spirit that will never die. 

OK, first, I'd say that NO, they're not "the best garage rock band ever." If you wanna talk about "garage rock bands," there are many better than the Fall.

To answer your 2nd question, I'd say, well, who cares? Yes, the Fall is great band (not the best of any genre, but a damned good one). Does it matter if they're "garage" or not? Why the need to label everything?