THE FALL on the tube channel 4 - 1983

[blackmasonIi]

1983. And no one knows quite how to dance to this one.

[FrancoAC]

Fucking energy! The Fall at one of their many peaks.

[nath909]

The great Mark E Smith and his merry men

[freudastaire]

274 > 11 Fuck U!!!!

[issy5977]

you look very sexy therealsned but I hate the song lol!

[jaytown2]

Can man can

[GARIJPUNQ]

ABSOLUTE FUCKIN' MAGIC.

TWO DRUMMERS,A DONKEY JACKET,A SLOTHENLY BIG COLLARED SHRIEKING MADMAN/GENIUS,A BONESHAKING,BRAIN MELTING BEAT,THE BEST LINE UP,THE BEST VERSION OF SMILE,WATCHING IT ON VIDEO EVERYTIME WE SKIVED SCHOOL IN 83,LOSING VIDEO COUPLE YR'S LATER,FINDING IT HERE 2/3 YR AGO...ABSOLUTE FUCKIN' MAGIC.

[MegaKevorkian]

smile, all of thee comment makers, you will all need it for your cheap, peasant, awareness of the fall situation!,all of ye fall down , 2 by 4 on the nut

[TheRooneyTune]

Sir Mark E Smith

[MegaKevorkian]

@TheRooneyTune loony tune!.hi you deluded mother,Sir, he his no headmaster, no bequethed, benighted, member of the once great british, victorian peasant route, cheapest empire. only a meremortal, like you, and many others of thy ilke.must stop the reverence!yeah, the fall are mighty, thats a rap.

[TheRooneyTune]

Sir mark E Smith

[cruiserscreek]

there's a better quality version if you type in the title of this one into search and look at the others, includes the peel intro too.

[gotonga]

Sonic Youth once did 4 Fall songs on a Peel session!! Mark E. Smith hated it of course

[togderi]

NICE CARDIE..

[Jerdna3]

shame about the quality

[hektorpike]

The Fall are the coolest uncool band in the world. Long live The Fall! Best British band of the last 30 years!

[lepaul2002]

this mans knighthood is long overdue...

[greenscorpio1967]

interesting comment smegger maybe its the cynical 40`s ,nah listened to the doc of m e smith BBC 4 ,he prob an ok guy really .

[intherein]

Fiithy Hiitler.



[intherein]

Fithly Hitletr. 

[markvalentine63]

Good Lord, this is awesome. 2x4 :)

[markvalentine63]

Good Lord, this is awesome

[greenscorpio1967]

do you honesty think john peel really listened to this shite in his car,it was his living had to say he liked some crap

[smegger68]

@greenscorpio1967: Do you honestly think.... like, at all?

[MagickTemple]

@greenscorpio1967 No John always listened to demos in his car, it was the best free time he had to really hear new bands. He listened to the Fall for pleasure

[StarscapeOnline]

That was an amazing performance even for the Mighty Fall.

[keeef67]

it doesnt get a lot better, saw them last week in brighton , fuckin genius :-)

[SuperBilly78]

i,m nearly 50 and it dont get much better than this really

[neverbeen2]

over the audiences heads,you have to laugh :) your lucky you witnessed greatness and never knew it !

[cubistblues]

this is too fucking good. look at the stunned audience, praying for culture club or heaven 17 to come out next... this era of the band is untouchable. then and now.

[lanoviadepetedoherty]

mark e smith! so young...

[uninije1]

saw MES two months ago in Belgrade, drunk but beautiful. Good loooking wife.

[xxxKINGFROGxxx]

they're like the good version of Idlewild!

[MutinyInJonestown]

He is not appreciated.

[ApolloColumbo]

trooly troo my frend

[ApolloColumbo]

Carl the drummers eternal workin class donkey jacket rooles 4ever okay .

[unseenwires]

he fuckin is mate, just not by those who cant cope

[TheLuddgang]

well fed in a welfare way...SmIlE !

[southgower]

lousy celebrity, makes record: SMILES

[eurobaby460]

This is one group that never made it across the pond-thank god!

[OldManRiverz]

They did actually. They were a major influence on both Nivana and Sonic Youth!!

[CeeTeezVeeTeez]

@OldManRiverz . I don't really see the linkage with Nirvana but Sonic Youth definately influenced by the fall big time !

[kingreich22]

@eurobaby460 Fool!

[aadolphy]

ive always wondered about links between MES and Batman. theres Two-Face, and Riddler; and then this one which ive always regarded as sort of the 'Joker' song. Smile-uh! (also theres Joker Hysterical Face) i can almost imagine MES as a batman villian

[MrWitchtrials]

The Hip-Priest IS rocknroll.Saw them many times early 80s.Coolness personified and an almost supernatural,brooding menace to his presence.All you imitators should 'take the chicken-run to the toilet', UP UP UP SMILE!

[rachelmiu]

aw bless ya that's so cool! :)

[liquidrunning]

This is excellent. I'd love to know what the audience made of that.

[tgwtrh]

A Fall medley! Cheers for posting this, Smile, one of my fav. Fall songs - I used to have on vinyl but sold it for beer money.

[Ulmeyda08]

I saw The Fall back in April at Camden, My lord were they loud.

[turus3325]

mark.e. in bestform !!!

[iamaskingforit]

true, but he should have cut his hair, he looks like a Bee Gee

[SPERANZA65]

@iamaskingforit brilliant comment!!!!

[johnnybsteelriff]

Smith is the consummate piss-taker art rokk genius....

[discoverydavid]

Does anybody have anything from the LP: "The Wonderful And Frightening World Of The Fall"...All the Fall albums had good tracks but I reckon this one was their best for overall quality.

[sirdoug3]

discoverydavid - Yeah, I have that record/LP: "The Wonderful And Frightening World Of The Fall"...on vinyl & CD - should be easy to find on CD though! - yes, was one of their best! - But, I mean, they likely have at least 10-15 LP's that are that good! - & what's funny, is if you count the live/compilation records! Christ!! - they have more CD's out than any band in history!!!! -

[harfarhs]

He means - 'does anyone have anything ON VIDEO from 'The Wonderful and Frightening..'

[martinbizarro]

Well there's "2X4" on this video here!

[gnosticfellow]

I rediscovered what music could be when I first heard The Fall. They're my Big Bang. Amazing stuff ...

[p90RSK]

i will never forget the pink collars

[whyupushmyhouse]

working class is a compliment!ive been into the fall for 25years since hearing "aaaam totally wire-duh' on an ad for the john peel show ,and they reshaped my musical taste!but the thing about the fall esp m e smith is that they are here to be enjoyed,not to be taken too seriously

[leftygoldblatt55]

saw them in '83 i thought their best line up , scanlon, bramah etc

life without the fall...........is rubbish

[whyupushmyhouse]

middle-class rant like no other

[muzpunk]

Mark E Smith is working class you twat.

[HarryUpHarry]

How many degrees of cunt are you?

[Cotdail]

Middle-class, working-class...

Working-class He may be,

But it is Rant Without Peer.

So y'r on the mark there whyupushmyhouse.

[NeilThompson30]

Brilliant - I think they were at their best in the mid 80s.

It went a bit above the Mags' heads though -

mind you - most things do.

[dixy10]

"lousy celebrity, makes record, SMILES!"

[drswiftus]

If you don't love The Fall then you're dead to me.

[superstrut75]

@drswiftus i dont love them although i quite like them. am i dead to you or kinda half alive/half dead ?

[jonnywotsit]

God bless the Fall. Still challenging. Still brilliant.

[toddgreer]

the intesity of the opening song is awesome love it!!

[gnowave]

i like their trippy moments! YEH

[Probiscuit]

One of the few videos where you just don't care about the picture quality. So excellent. Well, if they're good enough for Peel, they're good enough for me. . .

[Gegs1873]

The " Mighty "  fall.

[kev66slamnet]

Compellingly Awesome!...and a lot more.

[ady24]

sometimes i listen to the fall and can't work why i love this sound so much...simply cause there's no one else on this planet that sound and ever will like the fall.....just gets into you and thats it.....fantastic!

[bornard180]

The Fall are the opposite of the X-factor

They are anti-enthusiasm, do not cheer

They know life is shit, but you have to go on with it

[drumgold23]

Yep it's true usedcassettetape. People who don't like The Fall just CANNOT hear what we hear. It can take years and years of conditioning to bring someone round. We lucky ones are born with it. Drink the long draught, Dan, for the Hip Priest.

[Ova40]

TRUE MUSICAL ANARCHY! RESPECT!!

[flobinenz]

A band that made me listen. And I understood.

[SlurpieBurd]

I grew ap listenin to the fall. Dis band has been held dear to me heart for as long as I can remembah n yeah usedcassette tape dey are da best secrect out dere love

[UsedCassetteTape]

one of the reasons i love the fall is the fact that not a lot of people understand them...it's kinda a secret that only a select few know about..if you know what i mean

[CharleyWessex]

The double drummer era, absolutely fantastic.

[makky123]

what is the song after smile please?

[disrobedbride]

2x4

[vx6xuxk]

this is my favorite thing on the internet

[teddave]

odd, sounds like genius to me. guess its a question of familarity. the studio original is vituperative victory over unsettled web watchers of teh future. saw them knocking this number out maybe four times in 1984, those twin drummers knocked seven shades of superlative out of any questioning follishness. then again what else would i say, loaded on OTC and memory

[jimmyDisgustipated]

Familiarity has nothing to do with it, imo. I've never heard The Fall until now, but it sounds brilliant to me!

[Supersportsgal101]

I was a huge tube fan , thank god i missed this one (smile), my ears are bleeding. Up there with the worst song i ever heard. Sounds like my kids banging on shoe boxes and plastic lids

[vx6xuxk]

boo

[CharleyWessex]

Stick to raising kids, love.

[SPERANZA65]

I was 18 and watching this in 1983, yes my ears were bleeding....and ive been under their spell ever since....you either get it or you dont.... i love your description too.....SUPERB!!!

[liarlielielie]

this really fucking SUCKS

[Kagemusha22]

Why is it that all the vids of The Fall, from TV are of a relatively poor quality in sound and visual. Whilst bands like Joy Division have TV appearances from the late 70's and the picture and sound is crisp.

[joheyv]

my favorite band of all time

[flakturm99]

Smile fuckers, SMILE!

[Aracatamus]

Ha ha

[elneuttrillo]

up up up! up! up! UP! UP! UP!

[RadioheadSpanish]

First time I listen to The Fall, I was expecting something that I would like for sure. Not dissapointed at all =)

[fjallman90]

check out The Classical, the track that won me over

[bunnee777]

i would give ANYTHING to buy a collection of his published lyrics. ANYTHING!

music god he is. he & karen carpenter.

[SPERANZA65]

BUNNEE777 i have "The Fall Lyrics" by Berlinpress, it was available at gigs during their 1985 tour and by mail order at the time.Pride of place on my bookshelf for 23 years. If i had another copy i would gladly send it to you!

[bunnee777]

i cannot begin to tell you how grateful i'd be! yes please!!!

[bunnee777]

oops, just re-read your msg... you DON'T have an extra copy... thx tho.

[steveissimo]

They are always different, they are always the same.

[JohnnyTrotz]

SMILE!!!! i like the way he screams so much-- hes such a great artist!!!----

[doublethink921]

what are the names of these songs.

[somepleb]

"Smile" and "2x4"

[dannycooke91]

haha the Audience doesnt no what to do looks like they shit them self when the fall cam on

O_O just clap at the end of the songs

[catbirdtree]

Shame you can't hear what John said. Doesn't matter even though we miss him - the Fall group is the cool group

[cruiserscreek]

I've seen the intro bit before, john says something along the lines of:

"i only agreed to do this show if i could have this band on, they haven't been on national t.v before which is think is quite frankly shocking, and i also wanted to be the first person to do so, The Fall".

[hooked146]

I remember "frankly Shocking", understatement!!!!! and meeting John a couple of times, he knew music. I also remember this being the best music show at the time. I need to search for stump on the web

[cruiserscreek]

Just found full intro, search for 'john peel record box the fall' or some of those words at least, got him/his wife talking about them 2

[hahagerm]

I remember this from 1983. The Fall have been a part of my rather precarious life ever since.SMILE......

[SneZhulak]

great

[swineburn]

"lick spittle southerner waiting for next holiday by gas miser"

[boerbeat]

Onder aan mijn raam zitten de Poolse arbeiders op hun grasmaaimachines.

Leve The Fall!

[ivanskiskavar]

Best.Band.Ever-ah.

[hahagerm]

I agree. The only band in the world.

[sickoftheheadswerve]

Smile!

[Takac1979]

The Fall.

ps

Audience reminds me of a certain PIL adventure on national TV...

[swineburn]

"lick spittle southerner waiting for next holiday by gas miser"

[mikkifly]

yeah he didn`t really introduce them did he

just sorta turned around

[vojkansq]

TAU Sucks.

[sppots]

you had to be there in the day

[ExMachine]

Fucking rawwkkous glory

Rip Peel

[hejafish]

Shove that up yer new romantic arse!

[nallanewo]

where are u chris maclachlan

[nallanewo]

marillion shaves from the top of his ears

[somme1915]

mark e smith has been consistently brilliant for 30 years . smile is an absolutely amazing track!

[meesterbond]

Smile is one of my absolute favourite Fall tracks of all time - so bloody intense and relentless! Come on ginger you can do it! SMIIILE!!! Ha ha!

[dave2261]

The Fall. You either love 'em or fucking hate 'em. There's no middle ground.

[theknee4]

john peel genius rip but god mate you were so wrong about these idiots! mark e smith genius yeah right! saw them twice and they were just embarrassing!

[milkowaif]

what do you mean "were"?

[hysteresiscure]

Could somebody please, please tell me the title of these two tracks? Excuse my ignorance, I bloody love The Fall but I haven't worked my way around their entire back catalogue yet (it's quite a big job). I was only four when this was recorded....

I did see them in Camden eight years ago, MES had sacked the entire band just weeks previously...and they were still f***ing brilliant!

[jjj7477]

the internet is beyond you....Smiles and 2 X 4,

Wonderful and Frightening era Fall, I knew

that when I was sixteen....

[SPERANZA65]

Hi mate, just seen this comment, nothing wrong with it ...just being honest...amazes me you have 3 minus comments!!...keep up the good work!, and yeah... it was great back then wasnt it?

[ozrics62]

mark top fucking lad

[kingmonkey1001]

Ya could take a thousand bands out of the timeline/history of music and it wouldn't change a thing...Take out Mark E...fuggetabouddit! We'd be fooked.

[Triplesod]

Unfortunately, The Fall were nowhere near as important as many of you like to think. In a perfect World, they would have been.

[paul8469]

Loving it!! Hit em on the head with a 2 by 4!!Funny to be sitting here 25 years later and 1500 miles away to watch my old mate Burnsy speeding out of his head with his leather jacket and studded belt!Used to lose a couple of kilos at every gig!!

[ExMachine]

Apparently in the 80s your tax rate was lower if you had a stupid haircut

[TDSOB]

Mark E.Smith= the epitome of music genius.

Love the way they (he) have evolved,never selling out.RESPECT !!!!

[Triplesod]

I won't agree with you about him being a genius, that's your view and I respect it (though I don't necessarily agree, I certainly see where you are coming from... but a "musical" genius? No way, not by a long shot.

[cosmosios]

brilliant!!!!!

[sufiboy]

is there a video for 'slates' anywhere?

[kieranduffy1984]

I really wish the studio version had this much power.

[wheredoescouragecome]

Completely agree - whoever produced this show understood that this song needs the bass to be cranked way the fuck up.

[egomystikal]

juggarnaut, awesome

[egomystikal]

the stooges were better but not by much!

[egomystikal]

up up up up up up up!!!!!!

[SPERANZA65]

Christ i was 18 and remember the night this was on, watching it with a wierd girlfriend at the time i recall... pissed my pants you just have to look at the audience and they don't know what's hit em!!...the Fall are pure science fiction, from The Cyprus Tavern in 1981 to now....always copied, never equalled. God bless you therealsned,.ps. Burns, Scanlon, Smith & Hanley....class!

[paul8469]

Blimey Cyprus Tavern!!Youve just sent so many memories (that you cant put an arm around) flooding back! Not sure my few lefting neurones can take it.Was you at the gig at Ouzits as well?200 nutters packed into a hole in the wall were there was the place for about 50!

[SPERANZA65]

sorry Paul8469, only took me 7 months to reply, shocking.. no i wasn;t at that gig,at that time i was 16 but told i looked 18 ( this "compliment" pleased me so much it got me into Univ gigs where you had to be 18 and signed in by students..remember?..haha!!), if only i looked 18 now..that would be grand!. Yknow...i've got a feeling it might have even been 1980...its all blurry now...where are my tablets Margaret?......

[Ramblebar]

One of the Greatest Bands Ever,if there is a god Mark E.Smith just might be him!!!

[Avantyawn]

best band post-punk 100 % Mark E Smith is my heeeeero!!!

[tompal1790]

The greatest band in existence. And they always will be.

[HotelBloedel]

Where can I find this in better quality?

[atomzz907]

The fall was and is the band all others must be judged by. The real thing.

[totalstranga]

love this band. saw them live at the Blind Pig in Ann Arbor in 94. I threw up on one of the monitors annd got kicked out tho.. :(

[NickOLarse999]

Uncompromising.

[razvaz]

i love this sort of music

[mjbgcdza]

then buy albums they have many c them live

[pulchralutetia]

This band reaches the parts that other bands cannot reach.

[pulchralutetia]

Jolly spiffing show.

[Triplesod]

How have you managed to post a message from 1873?

[juanskinner]

We listen to it because it's like nothing else. It could be dismissed as a chaotic shambles. Probably most Fall fans thought this on first hearing.

But then you notice that the rhythm section has a drive that you rarely hear anywhere else. Tight as a nunn's chuffer.

And as for Mr E Smith, he's extraordinary. He's only ever sung in melody on two tracks that I know of, but his incisive wit and timing are never in question.

[Bassmaster86]

It's too bad that there is no video or gig of the song "Container Drivers"...a superb song indeed

[rawkus1167]

Amazing. I don't know much about this band, but from what I've seen/read...Mark E. Smith is undoubtedly a genius.

[kookooo1]

A total psycopaff:)

love everything hes ever wrote!

[kniphofia]

Mighty, mighty Fall.

[leehazlewoodism]

All bands should have two drummers.

[madras1234]

just like the glitterband, and adam and the ants, and genesis - oh dear!

[raindog951]

But also Swans and Killing Joke. I think that wins out for the two drummer shtick!

[leehazlewoodism]

Not forgetting the Go! Team.

[juanskinner]

The fall has had many more than one drummer lol

[raindog951]

Haha! Not to mention everyone else too. You've got to admire Marks ability to alienate people.

[buckmulligan2005]

Well Mr Schaefer, Mark E Smith has certainly been known to listen to country.

[rsafaye]

great

[Bassmaster86]

than mr shaefer...you have no taste. end of story....go listen to country.