They don’t own Grotesque or PBL, the Beggars stuff, or the Fontana stuff. I would like to see a focus on vinyl reissues of the indie albums that weren’t originally released during vinyl’s heyday, e.g. The Infotainment Scan, Cerebral Caustic, The Unutterable. My LP collection skips from Extricate to Levitate. I don’t know that I’ve ever even seen Light User on LP.
It's not a great Fall album. It's ok, worth owning the normal version, it is too long though - some of the songs seem to go on and on. It really doesn't warrant an expanded edition, only for the real real completists I think. The band were a already existing US indie band, so it feels more of a MES solo project with him singing over the music of this band to an extent.
Yes, you would think RT long lost the rights to those records, when they went bust originally, and they wouldn't have gone out and re-bought the rights when they formed the current company?
Grotesque has been released on vinyl, and cd, by numerous labels since the RT day’s too, unless they all licensed it from them.
I've got Middle Class Revolt on LP from the original US issue on Matador, it's gotten pretty expensive I see.
The members of the group were from three different bands from what I've read - and it includes Eleni Poulou, Dave Spurr and Peter Greenway who went on to be the next incarnation of The Fall. So not MES singing over the top of an already established indie band.
From memory most of the music was composed by two members of the support band that were on the US tour, Darker My Love. That was the press at the time.
The US tour was completed by Tim Pressley, Rob Barbato and Orpheo McCord - Pressley and Barbato were members of Darker My Love who were out of action because their drummer had broken an limb or joint; my memory says it was an ankle. McCord was a friend of the group's US label, Narnack. Upon returning to the UK, Smith and Poulou had to look at their options. Greenway was known to MES from various Fall support slots in his previous band but I don't know how Spurr was recruited. The plan was essentially to have Pressley and Barbato when they were available and Greenway and Spurr when they weren't. Happily, someone noticed that Barbato and Spurr sounded amazing together. As much as RPTLC is far from a great album, that live band was absolutely stunning.
Such a massive thread for The Fall - Wonderful John Peel started me off with Live at the Witch Trials then hammered out all their albums and I gladly followed along. "Always the same, always different" Few people I come into contact with have heard of them, apart from here Will catch up on the thread ....
It's true that RPTLC is a flawed album but if you are a fan, it's essential anyway. I mean, I depending on how you define "fan," anyone who is a fan fan has it already, of course...
yeah, they were a good line up live, Rob Barbato had quite a stage presence. Orpheo McCord is also given writing credits on most of the RPTLC tracks. I definitely considered them to be The Fall.
They gave us "Fall Sound!" And the irony in a one-album lineup producing that track is somehow entirely appropriate...if MES was at the helm, it was always distinctively and uniquely the Fall, and not just because of his overt contribution....he got them to Fall, whoever they were....
I do remember "Fall Sound" being especially stunning live - Smith's pride and delight in his resilience was so clear when the group played that song. Of course, it was played in the last handful of shows the group played in 2017, which has made it something of a valedictory for Smith.
A video appeared on Youtube recently of the group's first date on their UK tour in support of the Reformation album at Robin2, Bilston 5 March 2007. It's not the complete gig but most of it. Seven group memebers on a small stage. 20070305 - Robin 2, Bilston, England - Reformation!
My grandma is 80 odd and could outrun some 40 year olds. 71 isn't old. But I didn't realise she was that old.
