RIP Mark E Smith

Why did Mark E Smith live his life the way he did?  He wrote great songs.  He made great music.  he was an intelligent man.

I first remember hearing the fall in the late eighties, on the John Peel show. I remember sitting in the back of my parents car, driving, late at night with John Peel on the radio, playing tracks by the fall.  As a young punk obsessive in 1989 I would borrow records by the Fall from the local library, specifically live at the witch trials and hex education hour although I didn't really get them straight away.

The music on the infotainment scam made more sense to me a few years later.  Free Range was the first Fall track that totally clicked with me.  Their cover of Lost in Music was great too.

I first saw them play live at the phoenix festival in 1994 - the stand out track from that day was Paranoia Man in Cheap Shit Room although it doesn't seem to be on the video of the show on youtube.  I just remember pissing myself at the line about masturbating over pearl jam.

I saw them in Primavera a few years back and at ATP festivals a couple of times.   I probably saw them in Leeds in 1999 too.  Sometimes they were amazing, sometimes they fucked up.  It seemed to depend on Smiths mood and alcohol intake.

His death at a relatively young age is not a shock but it's still sad.

RIP