The first ever 'authorised' biography of this most inscrutable of
bands - now updated.
Together music writer Mick Middles and Fall leader Mark E. Smith have
written an exhausting biography of the Fall. Spanning their years on the
fringe of the Manchester punk scene, three dozen albums, numerous tours,
two successfully stage plays and numerous 'spoken word' events, this
book is as strangely compelling as the band itself.
Laced with Smith's distinctive brand of working class intellectualism
and trenchant broadsides, this is a meticulously researched story to
thrill the famously disparate fans of the Fall who revel in the notion
that The Fall are "The only band in the world."
Mark E. Smith remains famously true to his roots. Uncomfortable in art
circles in London or, say, New York, he continues to live a full life in
his native Salford, perfectly at home amongst the artisans in the string
of local pubs - just one more reason why Mark E. Smith is a truly unique
phenomenon with assured longevity. Author Mick Middles has been a close
friend of Smith for over 25 years, and the book, written with Smith's
complete approval and assistance, delves deep into the heart of that
enigma.
This new edition incorporates a new epilogue in which Mick Middles
considers recent upheavals in the Fall camp, the Heads Roll album, Mark
E. Smith's appearance at its launch, and his ongoing tirades at anything
and everything.
