The Fall

Book excerpt: Over the years, The Fall have given me more pleasure than any other band and, when people ask me why I always say, 'they are always different, they are always the same' John Peel. The first ever authorised biography of this most inscrutable of bands! Together music writer Mick Middles and Fall leader Mark E. Smith have written an exhaustive biography of The Fall. Spanning their years on the fringe of the Manchester punk scene, three dozen albums, numerous tours, two successful stage plays and various 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 a string of classic albums that fly in the face of all fashion, fads and musical trends. 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. The book is the only authorised account of the enigma that is Mark E Smith. 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.