The band Mark E. Smith called “the enemy” of The Fall
The late leader of The Fall, Mark E. Smith, was nothing if not an uber-realist. While he might be known for his heavy drinking and somewhat misanthropic outlook, the post-punk legend provided many agreeable takes in his time, cementing his status as a genuine icon.
Smith took his cues from some of the outstanding boundary-pushers music has ever known, including The Velvet Underground and Can. These groups would serve as the basis for the young Lancastrian establishing his now-iconic approach. He once even revealed to Can founding member Irmin Schmidt that the German band saved his life and provided solace when all his school friends listened to what he deemed terrible established acts such as The Beatles and Pink Floyd.
“Can saved my life”, Smith told his namesake when discussing Can’s 1971 sophomore effort, Tago Mago. “It formed my skills listening to it. I went to grammar school at that time, and everybody was listening to Pink fucking Floyd and The Beatles. They were shit. But Can were great. As was Gary Glitter. And The Velvet Underground. Manchester people always liked Can. That’s why we are called ‘The Can People’ since 1973.”
The provocative work of Can and the like would fuel everything that Mark E. Smith did. When speaking on VBS: TV’s Soft Focus in 2007, he reflected on the reasons behind forming The Fall in 1976. He told the host, former Nation of Ulysses and The Make-Up frontman Ian Svenonius, that it was not because of the emergence of punk pioneers Sex Pistols but to move music away from the likes of Pink Floyd, The Eagles, and Neil Young; the mainstream groups that Smith had always hated.
He said: “To get away from fuckers like, you know, Pink Floyd, the Eagles and Neil Young, ‘cos you know, everywhere you went… that was sort of a driving force; it wasn’t the Sex Pistols or anything. That was a driving force to do something proper. All these groups who claim to be influenced by me, I think they’re more influenced by the Talking Heads. Yeah, Talking Heads, Bowie, it’s all the same in British music.”
Although the remark about the Sex Pistols was intriguing, it was almost a given in light of Smith’s penchant for artistic subversion. However, his comment regarding the groups who cite The Fall as an influence being inspired by New York art-rockers Talking Heads was the most fascinating aspect. Following this, Smith made his disdain for David Byrne’s group known and called them “the enemy”. They were the real reason he started his band, he asserted.
Asked if he liked the ‘Psycho Killer’ quartet, Smith responded without further clarification: “No, to me they’re the enemy. That’s why The Fall started.”
Watch the interview below.
