Tributes paid to Manchester and Salford legend Mark E. Smith of The Fall

Debbie Manley | 24th January 2018

The Fall’s Ed Blaney and Mark E. Smith at the King’s Arms in Salford. Photo by Elspeth Moore.

The world is paying tribute to The Fall’s legendary frontman Mark E. Smith, who has died at the age of 60.

Born in Salford and having worked on the docks before it was Media City, Mark was the only constant member in The Fall, which went through more than 60 musicians in its 41 years from its formation in Prestwich in 1976. Ex-mmembers included Marc Riley from BBC 6 Music.

Named after the Albert Camus book, The Fall released more 32 studio albums, plus live albums and compilations, as well as Mark’s collaborations with bands such as The Inspiral Carpets, Gorillaz and Elastica.

They may never have been higher than number 30 in the charts with the Motown cover There’s A Ghost in My House in 1987 but their influence was far-reaching and inspired many other bands.

He had a reputation for being grumpy – falling out with members of the band live on stage, singing with his back to the audience with his megaphone and disappearing when I’d arranged interviews for him during my brief stint as his manager (yes he was in the pub, the trick was finding out which one) – but he was also incredibly sharp, sarcastic and funny. He loved winding people up.

A lifelong Manchester City fan, he’s read football results on BBC Sport, released football songs including Sparta F.C. and England’s Heartbeat with Ed Blaney and Jenny Shuttleworth – and produced a ballet project for I Am Kurious Orang with Michael Clark.

Ed, who has been collaborating with Mark since 1999, said: “I’m gutted beyond words, we’ve all lost a national treasure. A great friend to many.

“Mark was a diamond, a man of the people. Things will never be the same. A genius and one of the funniest people in the world.

“My thoughts are with his family and everyone else feeling pain at the moment. I’m going to miss him so much.”

Mark E Smith

Sam Riley (Ian Curtis in the film Control) played Mark in the Michael Winterbottom film 24 Hour Party People with Steve Coogan. Although the scenes were later cut, Mark did make a cameo appearance as himself.

He also showed he didn’t take himself too seriously when he appeared in the Johnny Vegas comedy Ideal on the BBC – see video below. Viz magazine joked about Mark giving everyone a chance to be in The Fall when they featured him in a cartoon.

It’s worth spending some time checking out his back catalogue – and read his autobiography Renegade: The Lives and Tales of Mark E.Smith. A true punk, a renegade, uncompromising to the end. He will be missed.

But don’t just take my word for it…. check out the Tweets below and The Fall website.

https://twitter.com/GigerPunk/status/956261393333936128

https://twitter.com/laurenlaverne/status/956252851449356288

 

https://twitter.com/lukewrightpoet/status/956268258533036033