FROM THE ARCHIVES....

I'm conscious that more people have discovered TVV over the past 12 months or so than ever before, and it's a very fair bet that not many go back too far in the archives, especially as the mp3s attached to the writing have long been made unavailable.

There's a few of the early posts that I remain quite proud of for one reason or another - others make me squirm a little bit as I've gone out on a limb to make a bold prediction that subsequently turns out to be well wide of the mark, or else I go on at length about a song that within a few weeks I end up being bored with myself. I'm also amazed that I actually made so little music available....it was usually just one mp3 per feature in the earliest days.

But with your indulgence dear readers, I'm going to dig back into the archives every now and again and re-post something in its entirety, including the image that I used last time out. Today's blast from the past was just the 70th posting on TVV (the count is now well above 1,000).

THE NATION'S SAVING GRACE

Last week it was Morrissey who made a long-overdue debut on the blog. This week it is the band dominated by the mercurial, (isn’t that always the adjective that you have to apply?), talents of Mark E. Smith.

I’m referring of course to The Fall.

I’ll be honest – I wasn’t someone who loved this band from the outset. I did hear them on John Peel time after time, but I didn’t quite ‘get it.’ And things weren’t helped by my first live experience of the band back in late 1982 (it might have been early 83) at Night Moves in Glasgow.

I’d gone along to see the Cocteau Twins but stayed on to watch the main act, which turned out to be The Fall. It was a pretty poor gig – the sound was all over the place and the band were not even talking to one another far less having any communication with the audience. Thankfully, it turned out to be a short event (maybe 30 mins at the most), and then there was an hour or so of ‘indie-disco’ to send everyone home in a good mood.

So I more or less ignored them for a while. But a couple of years later, a move to a new record label – and a crucial change in personnel – led to the release of a run of records that were easier to listen to, and to the horror of the hip-priests, The Fall got radio-friendly with a broader appeal. I started paying attention again.

With a recording history going back almost 30 years, featuring dozens of singles, EPs and albums, there’s plenty to choose from. But I’m sticking with a song that has turned into something quite personal in recent years.

I’ve been lucky in that almost all of my close friends are still alive. But there is one who passed away a couple of years ago after a long illness, and I do think of him every now and again. Especially at this time of year.

This is for AGF. And while he would have abhorred The Fall – he was a classical music buff – he would have been very amused that there is a song out there that makes me think of him every time I hear it.

mp3 : The Fall – Edinburgh Man

It’s a 1991 release, originally on the LP Shift-Work. It’s also available on a multitude of compilations, but surprisingly not on 50,000 Fall Fans Can’t Be Wrong – 39 Golden Greats which is pretty much indispensable.

Click here for a comprehensive list of all recordings made by the band.

JC, FRIDAY 22 DECEMBER 2006

Oh and I also provide a link to the then active Video Villain blog where I had made this available:-

MARK E SMITH READS THE CLASSIFIED FOOTBALL RESULTS



Strange, but true