1994 - Glam Racket - Star
12 January: 17th John Peel Session - M5, Behind The Counter, Reckoning, Hey Student
18 April: Single - 15 Ways
3 May: Album - Middle Class Revolt
17 December: 18th John Peel Session - Glam Racket - Star, Jingle Bell Rock, Hark the Herald Angels Sing, Numb at the Lodge
Unusually there was a gap of more than a month between recording (2 December 1993) and transmission of this John Peel session. It was actually recorded before the release of the Behind The Counter single, last year's choice. I haven't found out why that should be the case. Perhaps Black Country Rock's Fall Peel Sessions Project or the You Must Get Them All blog will have the answer when they reach this session.
M5 is quicker than the recorded version and the keyboard has more of an echoey sci-fi effect but it's none the worse for both of those things. Reckoning seems a return to the more considered Shift-Work style of song (another reference to Brix perhaps) while Hey! Student is a proper throwback. Fast, punky, shouty - not surprising when the general idea of the song had been knocking around since 1977 (as Hey! Fascist).
15 Ways was this year's only single. A poppy effort it doesn't really catch fire but is worth a listen for "fly direct, post office box" whatever that may mean. It can probably be argued that the best tracks had already seen the light of day before the Middle Class Revolt album came out. Different versions of the January Peel session were all on the record as were War and M5 that had been b-sides of Behind the Counter. The $500 Bottle of Wine was a b-side to 15 Ways.
The friend who introduced me to The Fall gave up on them after Middle Class Revolt. While he's missed more incredible records than he could have imagined you can see why he might have been struggling. The excellent Infotainment Scan, on reflection, looks to be an oasis of good tunes in the surrounding desert of Shift-Work, Code:Selfish and this. I know we don't listen to The Fall for the production values and I'm certainly no expert but there's a 'muddiness' to the record, everything sounds clumped together.
If you're familiar with (upcoming) The 27 Points live album you'll know how good the title track could have been. The other new songs Surmount All Obstacles, You're Not Up to Much, Symbol of Mordgan (Craig Scanlon talking to John Peel about a Manchester City game), and City Dweller are all much of a muchness. And as for the covers of Junk Man (originally by The Groundhogs) and another Monks track in Shut Up!, the joke soon wears off.
A shock came later in the year when Brix returned to the band. Living in LA she had an answering machine message from MES asking her to come back to the group and "kick ass." She accepted.
The new line-up had time to record a John Peel Session before the year was out. Transmitted the week before Christmas it featured a ramshackle Jingle Bell Rock and a surprisingly straight treatment of Hark the Herald Angels Sing. It's the other two tracks that grab our interest though.
I do love a Fall song with a female backing vocal. It seems to add some structure to the music while MES does his own, brilliant thing. Numb at the Lodge (later Feeling Numb), co-written by Brix is a great example of this type of Fall Sound.
An even better example is my choice for this year, Glam Racket - Star. A good song in its own right it's elevated by Brix's backing vocals and her 'Star' section. An addition to the original composition from last year, it's her riposte to MES for Bad News Girl which she believed to be aimed at her.
Her vocals work when they're in time with MES and when they are doing different things, all while the group smash out this absolute stomper of a tune. It's magnificent.
18 April: Single - 15 Ways
3 May: Album - Middle Class Revolt
17 December: 18th John Peel Session - Glam Racket - Star, Jingle Bell Rock, Hark the Herald Angels Sing, Numb at the Lodge
"You post out 60-page computer printouts on the death of earth's forests"
Unusually there was a gap of more than a month between recording (2 December 1993) and transmission of this John Peel session. It was actually recorded before the release of the Behind The Counter single, last year's choice. I haven't found out why that should be the case. Perhaps Black Country Rock's Fall Peel Sessions Project or the You Must Get Them All blog will have the answer when they reach this session.
M5 is quicker than the recorded version and the keyboard has more of an echoey sci-fi effect but it's none the worse for both of those things. Reckoning seems a return to the more considered Shift-Work style of song (another reference to Brix perhaps) while Hey! Student is a proper throwback. Fast, punky, shouty - not surprising when the general idea of the song had been knocking around since 1977 (as Hey! Fascist).
15 Ways was this year's only single. A poppy effort it doesn't really catch fire but is worth a listen for "fly direct, post office box" whatever that may mean. It can probably be argued that the best tracks had already seen the light of day before the Middle Class Revolt album came out. Different versions of the January Peel session were all on the record as were War and M5 that had been b-sides of Behind the Counter. The $500 Bottle of Wine was a b-side to 15 Ways.
The friend who introduced me to The Fall gave up on them after Middle Class Revolt. While he's missed more incredible records than he could have imagined you can see why he might have been struggling. The excellent Infotainment Scan, on reflection, looks to be an oasis of good tunes in the surrounding desert of Shift-Work, Code:Selfish and this. I know we don't listen to The Fall for the production values and I'm certainly no expert but there's a 'muddiness' to the record, everything sounds clumped together.
If you're familiar with (upcoming) The 27 Points live album you'll know how good the title track could have been. The other new songs Surmount All Obstacles, You're Not Up to Much, Symbol of Mordgan (Craig Scanlon talking to John Peel about a Manchester City game), and City Dweller are all much of a muchness. And as for the covers of Junk Man (originally by The Groundhogs) and another Monks track in Shut Up!, the joke soon wears off.
A shock came later in the year when Brix returned to the band. Living in LA she had an answering machine message from MES asking her to come back to the group and "kick ass." She accepted.
The new line-up had time to record a John Peel Session before the year was out. Transmitted the week before Christmas it featured a ramshackle Jingle Bell Rock and a surprisingly straight treatment of Hark the Herald Angels Sing. It's the other two tracks that grab our interest though.
I do love a Fall song with a female backing vocal. It seems to add some structure to the music while MES does his own, brilliant thing. Numb at the Lodge (later Feeling Numb), co-written by Brix is a great example of this type of Fall Sound.
An even better example is my choice for this year, Glam Racket - Star. A good song in its own right it's elevated by Brix's backing vocals and her 'Star' section. An addition to the original composition from last year, it's her riposte to MES for Bad News Girl which she believed to be aimed at her.
Her vocals work when they're in time with MES and when they are doing different things, all while the group smash out this absolute stomper of a tune. It's magnificent.
The Peel session was actually recorded on the 20th, not the 2nd, so the gap isn't that unusual.
ReplyDeleteMuddy is a good word for MCR!