The Fallen: Life In and Out of Britain's Most Insane Group

(Paperback, Main)

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Description

The Fall are one of the world's most iconic groups, led for the last thirty years by the inimitable and enigmatic Mark E. Smith. They have released nearly thirty studio albums, with in excess of fifty musicians passing through their ranks. They are The Fallen; this is their story. Dave Simpson has spent two years of his life tracking down everyone who has ever played in The Fall. The resultant book is full of hilarious and shocking anecdotes about life in one of the country's most intense and insane bands. It is also a biography in reflection of Mark E. Smith, a man who runs his group like a football team, for whom no one member is greater than the Fall.

Featuring a host of new interviews, this is a fascinating insight for all of The Fall's devoted fanbase, which famously included John Peel, and anyone who has ever been curious about the group, and interested in the post-punk cultural landscape of Britain.

Reviews

* Riveting stuff **** Q magazine * Three decades of personal stories, of social change, shifting cultural landscapes and musical minimum wage slavery, seen through the eyes of a random collection of people whose only constant is that at some point, for some reason, they were members of The Fall. A Canterbury Tales for the MP3 generation. Stewart Lee * A tremendous read. I warmly recommend it. -- Stuart Maconie Radio 2 * A great book - a fucking amazingly great book ... a simple but excellent concept ... Absolutely brilliant. It has made me race back to all 554 Fall songs and put them on repeat. Everett True * The best book yet on a band that have evolved into a cross between a large Victorian family and a rehab unit. The Times * A right riveting read. -- Simon Reynolds Blissblog * I hate that f***ing t**t! I just f***ing burned it! -- Mark E. Smith * Brilliant and bloody awkward. Just like its subjects. The Word * A British, provincial take on Apocalypse Now! where Kurtz (Smith) is encountered by Capt. Willard (Simpson) before the latter gets on the boat -- John Doran The Quietus * Hilarious... horror stories... Dave Simpson's written the book we've been waiting our entire adult life to read. -- Peter Wild Bookmunch * The Fall are my favourite band. I also hate my favourite band. With a passion...I vow never to go to another Fall show and yet somehow always end up at the next one. I am sick. Julian Cope * An amusing study of what is without exaggeration Britain's most uncompromising band. Sunday Herald

Author Bio

Dave Simpson writes on music and the arts for the Guardian newspaper from an isolated base in the North of England. He has been a fan of the Fall since 1979, and once admitted to hating The Beatles.