When we loved a band, Corné would start picking up the phone to see if we could support them. That’s how we ended up playing all over the Netherlands and England with The Fall. One of my all-time favourites, there is no group I have more records of than The Fall.
I have one bad memory of a tour. We were supposed to open for The Fall in London, at The Lyceum I think, and had to drive from Leeds, where we had stayed the night at the student flat of Jon Langford, Sally Timms, Steven Wells, and others. Traffic was crazy. When we arrived at the venue, we heard the compère say: “Eton Crop unfortunately didn’t show up today.” Aaarrggghhh!
There’s a lot I can say about The Fall (I almost took care of Mark E. Smith’s cat for a few days!), but today I want to focus on my favourite phase of The Fall: the version with two drummers! I’ve never seen a better band live on stage: Karl Burns (drums), Paul Hanley (drums), Steve Hanley (bass), Craig Scanlon (guitar), Marc Riley (guitar), Mark E. Smith (vocals).
Again, I could have chosen so many great albums from The Fall, but Hex Enduction Hour is my pick for now, because of The Fall with two drummers! “The Classical”! The rolling drums, the brilliant basslines, the great repetition, the duelling guitars, the catchy backing vocals, plus Mark E. Smith :-)!
Music is making friends—I’m still great friends with Marc Riley!