Mark E. Smith

Mark E. Smith
Mark E. Smith performing in Edinburgh, 2011
Background information
Birth name	Mark Edward Smith
Born	(1957-03-05) 5 March 1957 Broughton, Salford, England
Genres	Post-punk, alternative rock, spoken word
Occupation(s)	Musician, lyricist, songwriter
Instruments	Vocals, guitar, keyboards, violin
Years active	1976-present
Associated acts	The Fall Von Südenfed

Mark Edward Smith (born 5 March 1957) is an English singer, songwriter and musician. He is the lead singer, lyricist, frontman and only constant member of the English post-punk group The Fall.

Biography

Early life

Smith with the Fall in Japan

Born into a working-class family in Broughton, Salford, Lancashire, England, Smith moved to nearby Prestwich early in life. In his autobiography, he claims that Alfred Henry Hook – a soldier who fought at Rorke's Drift – was an ancestor of his father, leading to the Smith family being invited as guests of honour to the Whitefield showing of the film Zulu in which Hook was played by James Booth. Originally a Labour supporter, he then joined the Socialist Workers Party.

The Fall

Main article: The Fall (band)

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 as a shipping clerk at Salford docks shortly after to devote his full energies to The Fall and has continued to do so ever since. Smith married Chicagoan guitarist (and Fall band member, 1983–89, 1994–96) Brix Smith on 19 July 1983, although they divorced in 1989. He has since remarried twice; his second wife was Saffron Prior who used to work for The Fall's fan club. He married his present wife, Eleni (sometimes called Elenor or Elena) Poulou, in 2001, and she joined The Fall in September 2002.

When British DJ and Fall champion John Peel died in 2004, Smith made a notorious appearance on the BBC's Newsnight show. Many regarded Smith's appearance as an eccentric performance, and he has made his appreciation for 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 perform in a wheelchair. Ultimately, the pain and medication caused a number of dates to be cancelled.

In January 2005, Mark E. Smith was 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's autobiography, Renegade: The Gospel According to Mark E. Smith, recorded with Manchester-based writer Austin Collings, was published by Viking Books in April 2008.

Lyrical style

In interviews, he has cited Colin Wilson, Arthur Machen, Wyndham Lewis, Thomas Hardy, Philip K. Dick as influences, as well as Edgar Allan Poe, Raymond Chandler, and H. P. Lovecraft, whose short story "The Colour Out of Space" he read in Christmas 2007 for the BBC Collective website.

Work outside the Fall

Music, writing and acting

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 Edwyn Collins, Elastica, Gorillaz, Long Fin Killie, Mouse on Mars, Coldcut, and Ghostigital. His contribution to Inspiral Carpets' 1994 song I Want You won UK top 20 recognition, topped the Festive Fifty and resulted in Smith's first appearance on the classic UK TV show Top of the Pops. Most recently, Smith has worked with Mouse on Mars on the collaboration project Von Südenfed, whose first album, Tromatic Reflexxions, was released on 21 May 2007. Smith more recently provided guest vocals on the new Gorillaz album Plastic Beach, on the song "Glitter Freeze", and joined the group Shuttleworth to record the World Cup song England's Heartbeat.

In 1986, 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 cameo in the Michael Winterbottom film 24 Hour Party People (2002), while his younger self was portrayed by UK actor Sam Riley in a section that was deleted from the final cut of the film, but is featured as a deleted scene on the DVD. In May 2007 Smith made an appearance on the BBC Three sitcom Ideal, playing a foulmouthed, chain-smoking Jesus.

He has also appeared in several films made by the artist Mark Aeriel Waller, including "Glow Boys" and "Midwatch".

A fuzzy, muted version of the song "Hip Priest" appeared in the movie The Silence of the Lambs.

Smith also wrote the music for a Michael Clarke Dance Company ballet in 1988 called I Am Curious, Orange, which debuted in Amsterdam and is about Prince William of Orange. Two audio versions of live performances are available.

Discography

With The Fall

Main article: The Fall discography

Solo

• The Post Nearly Man (1998), Artful
• Pander Panda Panzer (2002), Action Records

D.O.S.E. featuring Mark E. Smith

• "Plug Myself In" (1996), Coliseum – 2 CDs, 12" vinyl

INCH featuring Mark E. Smith

• INCH EP (1999), Regal

Von Südenfed

Albums

• Tromatic Reflexxions (2007), Domino

Singles

• "Fledermaus Can't Get It" (2007), Domino
• "The Rhinohead/Slow Down Ronnie" (2007), Domino

Mark E. Smith & Ed Blaney

Albums

• Smith and Blaney (2008), Voiceprint
• The Train Part Three (2009), Voiceprint

Singles

• "Real Good Time Together" (2008), Voiceprint
• "Transfusion" (2009), Voiceprint

Other collaborations and guest appearances

The Adult Net

• "White Night" single (1986) – "Naughty But Nice"

The Clint Boon Experience

• "You Can't Keep a Good Man Down" single (1999), Artful – "Now I Wanna Be Your Dog (live)"

Coldcut

• What's That Noise album (1989) – "I'm in Deep"

Edwyn Collins

• I'm Not Following You (1996), Setanta – "Seventies Night"

Elastica

• Elastica EP (1999), Deceptive – "How He Wrote Elastica Man", "KB"

DNA MUSIC

• The Dark Project Album (2003), Dna feat.Mark E.Smith "Misery" written by Dna (Michael Nivolianitis and Alexander Christaras)

www.dnamusic.gr

Ghostigital

• Iceland Airwaves '05 V/A album (2005), Iceland Airwaves – "Not Clean" (also released as a single)

Gorillaz

• Plastic Beach album (2010) – "Glitter Freeze"

Inspiral Carpets

• "I Want You" single (1994) – "I Want You"
• Keep the Circle (B sides and Udder Stuff) album (2007) – "Saturn 5"

Jon the Postman

• Puerile album – Intro to "Louie Louie"

Long Fin Killie

• "Heads of Dead Surfers" single (1995) – "Heads of Dead Surfers"

Mild Man Jan

• "Fistful of Credits" single (2000) – "Fistful of Credits"

Mouse on Mars

• Wipe That Sound EP (2004), Sonig – "Cut the Gain", "Sound City"

Shuttleworth

• "England's Heartbeat" (2010) – Shuttleworth feat. Mark E. Smith

Tackhead

• "Dangerous Sex" single (1989) – "Repetition"

Timekode

• "Cheap Space Chant" 1996

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.
• Smith, Mark E.; Collings, Austin (2008). Renegade: The Lives and Tales of Mark E. Smith. New York: Viking Press. ISBN 978-0-670-91674-0
• Smith, Mark E. (2008). vII. The Lough Press.

External links

• The Fall online formerly: The Official Fall Website & The Unofficial Fall Website
• Various interviews
• Guardian interview (2005)
• BBC Collective interview (2005)
• musicOMH.com interview (2008)
• Wire interview (1999)
• Wire interview (1996)
• Interview (1989)
• Video – Touch Sensitive on YouTube directed by Graham Brown-Martin
• 'Call yourself a football fan?' – interview with Smith in which he talks about a plumbing goalkeeper and the existential pain of being in the director's box at Maine Road.
• Quotation blog on Mark E. Smith