MARK E. SMITH

'Mark Edward Smith' (born 5 March 1957) is the lead singer, lyricist, frontman, and sole consistent member of The Fall, a renowned and idiosyncratic offshoot from the UK post-punk popular music scene.

Contents

Biography

Work without The Fall

Music

Writing and acting

Bibliography

Discography

References

External links

Biography

Born to a working-class family in Broughton, Salford, in Lancashire, England, Smith moved to nearby Prestwich, in Bury early in his life. He formed The Fall (named after the novel by Camus) with friends after dropping out of college at the age of 19. He gave up his job at Salford docks shortly after to devote his full energies to The Fall, and has continued to do so ever since. Smith married Californian guitarist (and Fall band member, 1983-89, 1994-96) Brix Smith on 19 July 1983, though they divorced in 1989. He has since remarried twice. He married his present wife, Eleni (sometimes called Elenor or Elena) Poulou, in 2001, and she joined The Fall in September 2002.
Smith has won much acclaim for his unique lyrical style, which mixes elements of social realism, surrealism, and absurdism, dwelling on subjects as far removed as unemployment and football violence to time travel and ghosts, all with the same wit, astute humour and precarious balance between brutalism and intellect. In interviews, he has cited Colin Wilson,^[1] Wyndham Lewis, H. P. Lovecraft, and Philip K. Dick as influences.^[2] When British DJ and Fall champion John Peel died in 2004, Smith made a notorious appearance on the BBC's ''Newsnight'' show.^[3] Regarded by many as a bewildering performance, Smith has made his appreciation for John Peel clear in several subsequent interviews. Nevertheless, the two only met a handful of times. Though he broke his hip while promoting the album ''The Real New Fall LP (Formerly Country on the Click)'' in 2004, Smith refused to cancel an upcoming American tour, instead choosing to perfom in a wheelchair. Unfortunately the pain and medication caused a number of dates to be cancelled.
In January 2005, The Fall were the subject of ''The Fall: The Wonderful and Frightening World of Mark E. Smith'', a BBC Four television documentary. The following August, Smith received the "Contribution to Music" award at the Diesel-U-Music Awards. Smith is currently working with Manchester-based writer Austin Collings on an autobiography, ''Renegade: The Gospel According to Mark E. Smith'', due to be published by Viking Books in February 2008. His latest musical project is Von Südenfed, a collaboration with Mouse on Mars, whose first album, ''Tromatic Reflexxions'', was released on May 21, 2007.

Work without The Fall

Music

Alongside his work with The Fall, Smith has released two spoken-word solo albums: ''The Post-Nearly Man'' (1998) and ''Pander! Panda! Panzer!'' (2002). Both albums feature readings of Fall lyrics, samples of Fall songs and contributions from members of The Fall, and the line between Smith's solo career and his work with the group remains somewhat blurred.
Smith has also appeared as a guest vocalist for Inspiral Carpets, Elastica, Long Fin Killie, Mouse on Mars, Coldcut, and Ghostigital.

Writing and acting

In 1987, Smith wrote the play "Hey Luciani!" based around the short-lived reign of Pope John Paul I. Smith has also periodically acted as guest contributor to publications including the NME. He has appeared in an acting role in several television programmes and films. He made a brief appearance as himself in the Michael Winterbottom film ''24 Hour Party People'' (2002) and in May 2007 he made an appearance on the BBC Three sitcom Ideal, playing a foulmouthed, chain-smoking Jesus.

Bibliography

★ Smith, Mark E (1985). ''The Fall Lyrics''. Berlin: Lough Press.

★ Edge, Brian (1989). ''Paintwork: A Portrait of The Fall''. London: Omnibus Press. ISBN 0-7119-1740-X

★ Ford, Simon (2003). ''Hip Priest: The Story Of Mark E Smith And The Fall''. London: Quartet Books. ISBN 0-7043-8167-2

★ Middles, Mick & Smith, Mark E (2003). ''The Fall''. London: Omnibus Press. ISBN 0-7119-9762-4

★ Thompson, Dave (2003). ''A User's Guide To The Fall''. London: Helter Skelter Publishing. ISBN 1-900924-57-9.

Discography

''For a detailed discography, see The Fall discography.''

References

1. "Mark E. Smith interview" Marvin, Joe
2. "Mark E Smith, Man At His Best" Lee, Stewart
3. Mark E Smith on John Peel BBC.co.uk. (2004) Retrieved on January 08, 2007.

External links

★ The Fall - Official Website

★ The Fall - Unofficial Website

★ Various interviews

★ ''Guardian'' interview (2005)

★ BBC Collective interview (2005)

★ ''Wire'' interview (1999)

★ ''Wire'' interview (1996)

★ Interview (1989)