Mark Edward Smith (5 March 1957 – 24 January 2018) was an English singer, who was the lead singer, lyricist and only constant member of the

post-punk Post-punk (originally called new musick) is a broad genre of punk music that emerged in the late 1970s as musicians departed from punk's traditional elements and raw simplicity, instead adopting a variety of avant-garde sensibilities and non-r ...

group the Fall. Smith formed the band after attending the June 1976

Sex Pistols The Sex Pistols were an English punk rock band formed in London in 1975. Although their initial career lasted just two and a half years, they were one of the most groundbreaking acts in the history of popular music. They were responsible for ...

gig at the

Lesser Free Trade Hall The Free Trade Hall on Peter Street, Manchester, England, was constructed in 1853–56 on St Peter's Fields, the site of the Peterloo Massacre. It is now a Radisson hotel. The hall was built to commemorate the repeal of the Corn Laws in 1846. ...

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The ...

and was its leader until his death. During their 42-year existence, the Fall's line-up included some 60 musicians with whom Smith released 31 studio albums and numerous singles and EPs. Smith had a difficult and complex personality and was a long-term alcoholic. He was known for his biting and targeted wit, evident in interviews, for which he was much in demand by music journalists throughout his career. He was suspicious of the trappings of fame and largely avoided socialising with people associated with the music scene, including other Fall members. The dark and sardonic aspect of his personality often appears in his lyrics; he especially derided music industry people. Smith's approach to music was unconventional and he did not have high regard for musicianship, stating that "rock & roll isn’t even music really. It's a mistreating of instruments to get feelings over". The Fall are regarded as one of the most important and influential post-punk bands of the 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s. Although Smith was difficult to work with, he was revered by fans and critics, and on his death was described as a "strange kind of antimatter national treasure".

Life and career

Early life

Smith was born to working-class parents Irene (''née'' Brownhill) and Jack Smith, in Broughton, Salford, the eldest of four siblings. He had three sisters: Suzanne (who later painted the front sleeve for the 1980 Fall album '' Grotesque (After the Gramme)''), Caroline, and Barbara. His grandfather, James Brownhill, had been involved at the

Dunkirk evacuation The Dunkirk evacuation, codenamed Operation Dynamo and also known as the Miracle of Dunkirk, or just Dunkirk, was the evacuation of more than 338,000 Allies of World War II, Allied soldiers during the World War II, Second World War from the bea ...

and fought in France during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

. Jack was too young to have fought in the war, but joined the army as soon as he was old enough. Smith's parents had moved to nearby Sedgley Park,

Prestwich Prestwich ( ) is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Bury, Greater Manchester, England, north of Manchester city centre, north of Salford and south of Bury. Historically part of Lancashire, Prestwich was the seat of the ancient pari ...

after their marriage in 1955. Smith's father died suddenly in 1989 of a heart attack. According to Simon Ford, Smith didn't become interested in music until he was about 14, when his father "allowed a record player into the house". The first single he bought was ''Paranoid'' by Black Sabbath, and his first gig was the Groundhogs at Manchester's Free Trade Hall. He attended Sedgley Park Primary School, and later Stand Grammar School for Boys before quitting aged 16. That year, he left home and moved in with his girlfriend and future Fall keyboardist,

Una Baines Una Baines (born April 1957, Manchester, Lancashire, England) is best known as the keyboard player in the first line-up of British post-punk/ new wave band the Fall. Her feminist viewpoint helped shape the band's early political stance and she ...

, later of the

Blue Orchids Blue Orchids are an English post-punk band formed in Manchester in 1979, when Martin Bramah left the Fall, after playing on the band's debut album '' Live at the Witch Trials''. Christened by Salford-based punk poet John Cooper Clarke the b ...

. He subsequently took an evening class in A-level Literature. His first job was in a meat factory before he became a shipping clerk on Salford docks.

The Fall

The Fall were named after

the novel ''The Novel'' (1991) is a novel written by American author James A. Michener. A departure from Michener's better known historical fiction, ''The Novel'' is told from the viewpoints of four different characters involved in the life and work of ...

Albert Camus Albert Camus ( , ; ; 7 November 1913 – 4 January 1960) was a French philosopher, author, dramatist, and journalist. He was awarded the 1957 Nobel Prize in Literature at the age of 44, the second-youngest recipient in history. His work ...

, and initially consisted of Smith and his friends

Martin Bramah Martin Beddington (born 18 September 1957 in Manchester),The Fall online – biography

, Una Baines and

Tony Friel Tony Friel (born in Birkenhead, Wirral, Cheshire, 4 May 1958)Aroesti, Rachel.
Mark E Smith, lead singer with the Fall, dies aged 60
. ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers '' The Observer'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the ...

'', 24 January 2018. Retrieved 24 January 2018 He gave up his job as a shipping clerk at Salford docks shortly afterward to focus on the band. Their early line-up was formed from early members of the punk rock movement. However, their music underwent numerous stylistic changes, often concurrently with changes in the group's line-up. The Fall's 40-year career can be broken into five broad periods, based on the band's membership. These include their early late 1970s line-up, the classic Fall period of Hanley and dual drummers, the Brix years of 1984-89, their early 1990s revival, and everything after the on-stage fight in New York, after which Hanley quit and Smith was arrested (see below).

He married American guitarist and Fall member

Brix Smith Brix Smith (born Laura Elisse Salenger) is an American singer and guitarist, best known as the lead guitarist and a major songwriter for the English post-punk band The Fall (band), The Fall during two stints in the band (1983-1989, and 1994-1996) ...

on 19 July 1983, after they met in April 1983 in Chicago during a Fall American tour. She joined the group on guitar and vocals for the album ''

Perverted by Language ''Perverted by Language'' is the sixth studio album by English post-punk group The Fall, released in December 1983 on Rough Trade Records. The record gave the band their first number one album on the UK Independent Chart since '' Grotesque (Aft ...

'' and co-wrote some of the best-regarded Fall tracks from the period, and is widely credited for introducing a more mainstream, pop-oriented element to the group's sound. She remained with the Fall until the couple divorced in 1989.Morgan Britton, Luke.
Read The Fall’s Brix Smith Start’s tribute to “first love” Mark E Smith
. '' NME'', 25 January 2018. Retrieved 28 December 2021 Smith remarried twice after this. His second marriage to Saffron Prior, who had worked for The Fall's fan club, ended in divorce in 1995. He married Eleni Poulou, also called Elenor or Elena, in 2001. Poulou joined the band in September 2002 and left in July 2016. Smith and Poulou divorced in 2016, and Smith's partner at the time of his death was his manager Pamela Vander. Referring to the Fall's 60-odd former members, Smith claimed that he had "only" fired around half the number of people he is said to have dismissed, and that some left of their own free will. He would fire musicians for seemingly trivial reasons; he once dismissed a

sound engineer An audio engineer (also known as a sound engineer or recording engineer) helps to produce a recording or a live performance, balancing and adjusting sound sources using equalization, dynamics processing and audio effects, mixing, reproductio ...

for eating a salad, later explaining that "the salad was the last straw".

Marc Riley Marc Riley (born 10 July 1961 in Manchester) is an English radio DJ, alternative rock critic, musician, and former music businessman. He currently presents on BBC Radio 6 Music. Formerly a member of the Fall, he co-owned a record label, In-Ta ...

was fired for dancing to a Clash song during their Australian tour, although the two had had many arguments beforehand. Smith said that he often changed musicians so that they would not become lazy or complacent. When the influential British DJ and Fall supporter

John Peel John Robert Parker Ravenscroft (30 August 1939 – 25 October 2004), known professionally as John Peel, was an English disc jockey (DJ) and radio presenter. He was the longest-serving of the original BBC Radio 1 DJs, broadcasting regularly fr ...

died in 2004, Smith made a notorious appearance on the BBC's ''

Newsnight ''Newsnight'' (or ''BBC Newsnight'') is BBC Two's news and current affairs programme, providing in-depth investigation and analysis of the stories behind the day's headlines. The programme is broadcast on weekdays at 22:30. and is also availa ...

'' show in which he seemed stunned and incoherent, and which he afterwards put down to a rare incidence of

stage fright Stage fright or performance anxiety is the anxiety, fear, or persistent phobia which may be aroused in an individual by the requirement to perform in front of an audience, real or imagined, whether actually or potentially (for example, when perf ...

. While the Fall never achieved widespread success beyond minor hit singles in the mid and late 1980s, they maintained a loyal

cult following A cult following refers to a group of fans who are highly dedicated to some person, idea, object, movement, or work, often an artist, in particular a performing artist, or an artwork in some medium. The lattermost is often called a cult classic. ...

throughout their career. Steve Hanley is regarded by some as one of the most talented bassists of his generation, equal to

Peter Hook Peter Hook (born Woodhead; 13 February 1956) is an English musician, best known as the bassist and co-founder of the rock bands Joy Division and New Order. Hook often used the bass as a lead instrument, playing melodies on the high strings w ...

Andy Rourke Andrew Michael Rourke (born 17 January 1964) is an English musician, best known as the bassist of the Smiths. He is known for his melodic approach to bass playing. Career Rourke's father was Irish while his mother was English. He received an a ...

Gary Mounfield Gary "Mani" Mounfield (born 16 November 1962Warshaw, AaronMani allmusic.com) is an English rock bassist, best known for being a member of The Stone Roses and Primal Scream. Career Mounfield attended Xaverian College in Rusholme, Mancheste ...

. Page promoting book

Solo work and collaboration

Alongside his work with The Fall, Smith released two spoken-word solo albums, ''The Post-Nearly Man'' (1998) and ''Pander! Panda! Panzer!'' (2002). Both feature readings of Fall lyrics set to electronic sound collages and samples of Fall songs, as well as contributions from members of The Fall.Huey, Steve
Mark E. Smith profile
All Music. Retrieved 24 January 2018. Smith appeared as a guest vocalist for

Edwyn Collins Edwyn Stephen Collins (born 23 August 1959) is a Scottish musician, producer and record label owner from Edinburgh, Scotland. Collins was the lead singer for the 1980s post-punk band Orange Juice, which he co-founded. After the group split in ...

Elastica Elastica were an English rock band formed in London in 1992 by ex- Suede members Justine Frischmann and Justin Welch. The band was stylistically influenced by punk rock, post-punk and new wave music. The band's members changed several times ...

Gorillaz Gorillaz are an English virtual band formed in 1998 by musician Damon Albarn and artist Jamie Hewlett, from London. The band primarily consists of four fictional members: 2-D (vocals, keyboards), Murdoc Niccals (bass guitar), Noodle (guit ...

,Huey, Steve.
Mark E. Smith Songs
AllMusic. Retrieved 25 January 2018

Long Fin Killie Long Fin Killie were a Scottish experimental rock/ post-rock band, which released three albums and several EPs on the British avant-rock label Too Pure in the 1990s. History Long Fin Killie's core lineup consisted of Luke Sutherland (vocals, ...

Mouse on Mars Mouse on Mars is a German electronic music duo formed in 1993 by Jan St. Werner and Andi Toma. Their music is a blend of electronic genres including IDM, dub, krautrock, breakbeat and ambient, featuring heavy use of organic analog synth an ...

Coldcut Coldcut are an English electronic music duo composed of Matt Black and Jonathan More. Credited as pioneers for pop sampling in the 1980s, Coldcut are also considered the first stars of UK electronic dance music due to their innovative style, ...

and Ghostigital. His contribution to

Inspiral Carpets Inspiral Carpets are an English rock band, part of the late-1980s/early-1990s Madchester movement. Formed in Oldham in 1980, the band's most successful lineup featured frontman Tom Hingley, drummer Craig Gill, guitarist Graham Lambert, bassi ...

' 1994 song "I Want You" won UK top 20 recognition, topped John Peel's influential

Festive Fifty The Festive Fifty was originally an annual list of the year's 50 (though the exact figure varied above and below this number) best songs compiled at the end of the year and voted for by listeners to John Peel's BBC Radio 1 show. It was usually do ...

and resulted in Smith's first appearance on the UK TV show ''

Top of the Pops ''Top of the Pops'' (''TOTP'') is a British Record chart, music chart television programme, made by the BBC and originally broadcast weekly between 1January 1964 and 30 July 2006. The programme was the world's longest-running weekly music show ...

''. He worked with Mouse on Mars on the project Von Südenfed, whose first album, '' Tromatic Reflexxions'', was released in May 2007. Smith provided guest vocals on the song "Glitter Freeze" from the 2010

album ''

Plastic Beach ''Plastic Beach'' is the third studio album by British virtual band Gorillaz. It was released on 3 March 2010 by Parlophone internationally and by Virgin Records in the United States. Conceived from an unfinished project called ''Carousel'', th ...

'', and joined the group Shuttleworth to record the World Cup song "England's Heartbeat".Pan, Arnold
Mark E. Smith and Shuttleworth – "England's Heartbeat" (Unofficial World Cup Anthem)
''

Popmatters ''PopMatters'' is an international online magazine of cultural criticism that covers aspects of popular culture. ''PopMatters'' publishes reviews, interviews, and essays on cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television ...

'', 7 June 2010. Retrieved 24 January 2018 In 1986, he wrote the play '' Hey, Luciani'', based on the short reign of

Pope John Paul I Pope John Paul I ( la, Ioannes Paulus I}; it, Giovanni Paolo I; born Albino Luciani ; 17 October 1912 – 28 September 1978) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City from 26 August 1978 to his death 33 days later. Hi ...

. Smith made a cameo appearance in the

Michael Winterbottom Michael Winterbottom (born 29 March 1961) is an English film director. He began his career working in British television before moving into features. Three of his films—''Welcome to Sarajevo'', ''Wonderland'' and ''24 Hour Party People''—h ...

film ''

24 Hour Party People ''24 Hour Party People'' is a 2002 British biographical comedy-drama film about Manchester's popular music community from 1976 to 1992, and specifically about Factory Records. It was written by Frank Cottrell Boyce and directed by Michael Wint ...

'' (2002), while his younger self was portrayed by

Sam Riley Samuel Peter W. Riley (born 8 January 1980) is an English actor and singer.James Mottram: The only people for me are the mad ones. ''Independent on Sunday: The New Review'', 30 January 2011, pp 10–13 He is best known for his performance in t ...

in a section that did not make the final cut of the film, but appears as a deleted scene on the DVD. Smith made an appearance in the

BBC Three BBC Three is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It was first launched on 9 February 2003 with programmes targeting 16 to 34-year-olds, covering all genres including animation, comedy, cur ...

sitcom ''

Ideal Ideal may refer to: Philosophy * Ideal (ethics), values that one actively pursues as goals * Platonic ideal, a philosophical idea of trueness of form, associated with Plato Mathematics * Ideal (ring theory), special subsets of a ring considered ...

'' in May 2007, playing a foulmouthed, chain-smoking Jesus. A fuzzy, muted version of Fall song "Hip Priest" (1982) appeared in the 1991 film '' The Silence of the Lambs''.

Lyrical and vocal style

Smith sang with a heavy Mancunian accent, and wrote in a cryptic style. His abstruse song titles, often derived from cutting out words and phrases from books and newspapers, reflect the same tendency, with a notable example being "To Nkroachment: Yarbles" (1985). His vocal style was similarly unusual, and his delivery is known for his tendency to end phrases with an "ah"-sound. He often speak-sang or sing-slurred his lyrics, especially from the mid-1990s. His singing voice, particularly when playing live, has been described as "rambling", and he often interjected improvised rants between verses. He tended to write lyrics as free form prose into one of his many notebooks, and only later set them to pieces of music composed by Fall musicians. He was a prolific writer who often wrote in dense continuous prose, which he would later edit down into lyrics. A number of his vocal tracks were recorded spontaneously at his home, when he sang into a

dictaphone Dictaphone was an American company founded by Alexander Graham Bell that produced dictation machines. It is now a division of Nuance Communications, based in Burlington, Massachusetts. Although the name "Dictaphone" is a trademark, it has ...

or cassette recorder, most notably sections of "Paintwork" from the Fall's 1985 album " This Nation's Saving Grace", which also includes the voice of Alan Cooper discussing

main sequence In astronomy, the main sequence is a continuous and distinctive band of stars that appears on plots of stellar color versus brightness. These color-magnitude plots are known as Hertzsprung–Russell diagrams after their co-developers, Ejnar He ...

stars, from a documentary Smith happened to be watching at the time. He later adapted the resulting sound effect in the studio; examples include for the intro to "Bad News Girl" (1988). His ability as a prose writer is evident in songs that abandon the verse/chorus format in favour of a long continuous narrative. Examples include "Spectre Vs Rector" (1979), "The North Will Rise Again" (1980), "Winter (Hostel-Maxi)" and "Winter 2" (1982), and "Wings" (1983). Fall songs written in this style are often not concerned with character or story development, more establishing a sense of place and atmosphere. By the late 1980s, Smith had largely given up this format.Parkes, Taylor.
The Fall and Mark E Smith As A Narrative Lyric Writer
. ''The Quietus'', July 2010. Retrieved 27 January 2018 Some early songs concern one of his assumed

alter-ego An alter ego (Latin for "other I", "doppelgänger") means an alternate self, which is believed to be distinct from a person's normal or true original personality. Finding one's alter ego will require finding one's other self, one with a different ...

s, though always from a third person point of view. Examples include Roman Totale XVII, "the bastard offspring of Charles I and the Great God Pan", who appears in "The N.W.R.A" (1980), the live album ''

Totale's Turns ''Totale's Turns (It's Now or Never)'' is a (mostly) live album by the Fall, released on 5 May 1980. Recording and release The first of the band's many live and part-live albums, it was mostly recorded at gigs in the north of England, but the tr ...

'', "2nd Dark Age" (one of the b-sides to the "Fiery Jack" single), and the sleeve credits for '' Dragnet'', as well as the characters in "

Fiery Jack "Fiery Jack" is a song by the Fall released in 1980 as their fourth single. Composition Singer Mark E. Smith said the song was written about "the ageism thing, where people are supposed to be screwed after they're 29", directed towards middle-age ...

" (1980), "Hip Priest" (1982), "The Man Whose Head Expanded" (1983), and "Riddler" (1986). Rare first person narratives include "Frenz", "Carry Bag Man", and "The Steak Place" from 1988's '' The Frenz Experiment'', as well as "Bill Is Dead" (1990) and "Edinburgh Man" (1991). He did not respond to requests to explain the meaning or sources behind his lyrics. When asked by a journalist as to how much of his self could be found in the song's characters, he replied "dunno, you're the one sitting there in your round glasses and leather jacket. You tell me what you think it's an extension of...for every bloke pulling a

pint The pint (, ; symbol pt, sometimes abbreviated as ''p'') is a unit of volume or capacity in both the imperial and United States customary measurement systems. In both of those systems it is traditionally one eighth of a gallon. The British impe ...

, there's about ten thousand journalists writing an article about it." Fragments of his lyrics often appeared as handwritten scribbles on early Fall album and single covers, coupled with

collage Collage (, from the french: coller, "to glue" or "to stick together";) is a technique of art creation, primarily used in the visual arts, but in music too, by which art results from an Assemblage (art), assemblage of different forms, thus creat ...

s he had put together. In a 1983 interview with ''Sounds'', Smith said that he liked artwork to reflect the album content and explained how his graphic choices reflected his attitude to music. He mentioned how he was drawn to cheap and misspelled posters, amateur layouts of local papers and printed cash and carry signs with "inverted commas where you don't need them". His technique was often imitated, for example on Pavement's early releases, which heavily resemble the artwork for '' Hex Enduction Hour'' (1982),Robertson, Sandy
Hex Enduction
. '' Sounds'', 8 May 1982. Retrieved 4 October 2015 and whom Smith described as "mere Fall copyists". His lyrics were described by critic

Simon Reynolds Simon Reynolds (born 19 June 1963) is an English music journalist and author who began his professional career on the staff of ''Melody Maker'' in the mid-1980s. He has since gone on to freelance and publish a number of full-length books on musi ...

as "a kind of Northern English magic realism that mixed industrial grime with the unearthly and uncanny, voiced through a unique, one-note delivery somewhere between amphetamine-spiked rant and alcohol-addled yarn." He described his approach as wanting to combine "primitive music with intelligent lyrics". Thematically, his frequently densely layered words often centre around descriptions of urban grotesques, gloomy landscapes, "crackpot history", and are infused with regional slang.O'Neil, Sean
Remembering The Fall's Mark E. Smith, rock’s most uncompromising voice
. AV Club, 24 January 2018. Retrieved 27 January 2018 In interviews, Smith cited

Colin Wilson Colin Henry Wilson (26 June 1931 – 5 December 2013) was an English writer, philosopher and novelist. He also wrote widely on true crime, mysticism and the paranormal, eventually writing more than a hundred books. Wilson called his phil ...

Arthur Machen Arthur Machen (; 3 March 1863 – 15 December 1947) was the pen-name of Arthur Llewellyn Jones, a Welsh author and mystic of the 1890s and early 20th century. He is best known for his influential supernatural, fantasy, and horror fiction. His ...

Wyndham Lewis Percy Wyndham Lewis (18 November 1882 – 7 March 1957) was a British writer, painter and critic. He was a co-founder of the Vorticist movement in art and edited ''BLAST,'' the literary magazine of the Vorticists. His novels include ''Tarr'' ( ...

Thomas Hardy Thomas Hardy (2 June 1840 – 11 January 1928) was an English novelist and poet. A Victorian realist in the tradition of George Eliot, he was influenced both in his novels and in his poetry by Romanticism, including the poetry of William Wor ...

M. R. James Montague Rhodes James (1 August 1862 – 12 June 1936) was an English author, medievalist scholar and provost of King's College, Cambridge (1905–1918), and of Eton College (1918–1936). He was Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cambrid ...

Algernon Blackwood Algernon Henry Blackwood, CBE (14 March 1869 – 10 December 1951) was an English broadcasting narrator, journalist, novelist and short story writer, and among the most prolific ghost story writers in the history of the genre. The literary crit ...

Clark Ashton Smith Clark Ashton Smith (January 13, 1893 – August 14, 1961) was an American writer and artist. He achieved early local recognition, largely through the enthusiasm of George Sterling, for traditional verse in the vein of Swinburne. As a poet, Smi ...

, and Philip K. Dick as influences, as well as

Edgar Allan Poe Edgar Allan Poe (; Edgar Poe; January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849) was an American writer, poet, editor, and literary critic. Poe is best known for his poetry and short stories, particularly his tales of mystery and the macabre. He is wid ...

Ezra Pound Ezra Weston Loomis Pound (30 October 1885 – 1 November 1972) was an expatriate American poet and critic, a major figure in the early modernist poetry movement, and a Fascism, fascist collaborator in Italy during World War II. His works ...

Raymond Chandler Raymond Thornton Chandler (July 23, 1888 – March 26, 1959) was an American-British novelist and screenwriter. In 1932, at the age of forty-four, Chandler became a detective fiction writer after losing his job as an oil company executive durin ...

, and H. P. Lovecraft.

Personality

Smith had a difficult and often

reactionary In political science, a reactionary or a reactionist is a person who holds political views that favor a return to the '' status quo ante'', the previous political state of society, which that person believes possessed positive characteristics abs ...

personality, and was defiantly Northern English in outlook. Brix said that he carried "a chip on both shoulders. I remember him talking about fucking southern bastards a lot and not wanting to come to London. He hated London intensely. He’s quite contrarian as a person and as a writer, which is what gives him his edge." O'Hagan, Sean.
Brix Smith Start: ‘Mark E Smith? He’s complicated’
. ''The Observer'', 1 May 2016. Retrieved 27 January 2018 Throughout his career, he clashed with musicians, record producers, sound engineers, record label heads and fellow Manchester scene alumni such as Tony Wilson,

Shaun Ryder Shaun William George Ryder (born 23 August 1962) is an English singer/songwriter and poet. As lead singer of Happy Mondays, he was a leading figure in the Madchester cultural scene during the late 1980s and early 1990s. In 1993, he formed B ...

and

Morrissey Steven Patrick Morrissey (; born 22 May 1959), known professionally as Morrissey, is an English singer and songwriter. He came to prominence as the frontman and lyricist of rock band the Smiths, who were active from 1982 to 1987. Since th ...

, whom he disparagingly referred to as "Steven". Smith had a

working class The working class (or labouring class) comprises those engaged in manual-labour occupations or industrial work, who are remunerated via waged or salaried contracts. Working-class occupations (see also " Designation of workers by collar colou ...

and anti-intellectual outlook, but a strong interest in literature. As the journalist Andrew Harrison observed, although he wished that a majority of his audience were miners and postmen, a great many were students or ''

Guardian Guardian usually refers to: * Legal guardian, a person with the authority and duty to care for the interests of another * ''The Guardian'', a British daily newspaper (The) Guardian(s) may also refer to: Places * Guardian, West Virginia, Unit ...

'' readers. According to biographer Simon Ford, Smith often treated musicians as would " bad tempered despot". He was highly charismatic and cultivated a wry and misanthropic personality during interviews and live performances. As an interviewee, his dry and caustic wit was very quotable, especially when he was critiquing other contemporary bands and "music personalities", a favoured pastime. He became a mainstay of the English music press throughout the 1980s and 1990s, and his sharp tongue often turned on the journalists themselves; many reported being nervous before meeting him, and published "war stories" afterwards. During his later career performances he would often walk off stage or interfere with the musicians' instruments. During a 1998 gig at Brownies in New York, at a low point in his life when he was drinking heavily and band morale was at its lowest, he became involved in an onstage fight with the other musicians, which led to three Fall members, including long-term bassist Steve Hanley and drummer Karl Burns, quitting the band, and ended with Smith's arrest for assaulting his girlfriend and Fall keyboardist Julia Nagle. Smith was ordered to undergo treatment for

alcohol abuse Alcohol abuse encompasses a spectrum of unhealthy alcohol drinking behaviors, ranging from binge drinking to alcohol dependence, in extreme cases resulting in health problems for individuals and large scale social problems such as alcohol-rela ...

and

anger management Anger management is a psycho-therapeutic program for anger prevention and control. It has been described as deploying anger successfully.Schwarts, Gil. July 2006. Anger Management', July 2006 The Office Politic. Men's Health magazine. Emmaus, PA: ...

. After a period of good behaviour, the charges were dropped. Smith said that his favourite things in life were "Scottish people, cats, ''

Coronation Street ''Coronation Street'' is an English soap opera created by Granada Television and shown on ITV since 9 December 1960. The programme centres around a cobbled, terraced street in Weatherfield, a fictional town based on inner-city Salford. Orig ...

'', and Can".Siquig, Alex.
Why He Mattered: The Fall's Mark E. Smith: 1957-2018
. ''The Outline'', 25 January 2018. Retrieved 27 January 2018 He was a passionate

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly ...

fan and lifelong

Manchester City Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

follower: even appearing on the BBC's ''

Final Score ''Final Score'' is a BBC Television football news and results programme produced by BBC Sport. The programme is broadcast on late Saturday afternoons in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, usually on BBC One. BBC Northern Ireland opts away dur ...

'' to read the classified football results. He admired mavericks such as

George Best George Best (22 May 1946 – 25 November 2005) was a Northern Irish professional footballer who played as a winger, spending most of his club career at Manchester United. A highly skilful dribbler, Best is regarded as one of the greatest pla ...

, whom he met and drank with, and observed how if Best could have drawn a crowd of 40,000 people a week he should have been able to "do what he liked". Originally a Labour supporter, Smith left the party during the

Falklands War The Falklands War ( es, link=no, Guerra de las Malvinas) was a ten-week undeclared war between Argentina and the United Kingdom in 1982 over two British dependent territories in the South Atlantic: the Falkland Islands and its territorial ...

(which he supported), then became further disillusioned with Labour during the

Tony Blair Sir Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born 6 May 1953) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007. He previously served as Leader of t ...

era. In the 1997 election, he voted for the

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

in opposition to Blair. Asked during a mid-1980s interview with ''

Smash Hits ''Smash Hits'' was a British music magazine aimed at young adults, originally published by EMAP. It ran from 1978 to 2006, and, after initially appearing monthly, was issued fortnightly during most of that time. The name survived as a brand ...

'' as to what policies he would adopt if he became Prime Minister, he said "I'd halve the price of cigarettes, double the tax on health food, then I'd declare war on France." In a 2012 interview, Smith jokingly stated he would put the Queen in charge of Britain when asked the same question. Smith also expressed support for

Brexit Brexit (; a portmanteau of "British exit") was the Withdrawal from the European Union, withdrawal of the United Kingdom (UK) from the European Union (EU) at 23:00 Greenwich Mean Time, GMT on 31 January 2020 (00:00 1 February 2020 Central Eur ...

and Britain's withdrawal from the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are located primarily in Europe, Europe. The union has a total area of ...

. Although a longstanding member of the Musicians Union, he criticised their political outlook, stating “all they say is vote Corbyn and stay in the European Union."

Death

Smith died on 24 January 2018 after a long illness with lung and kidney cancer, aged 60 years. His health had been particularly bad during 2017, which led to performances in a wheelchair. A heavy smoker, Smith had long suffered from throat and respiratory problems. His work ethic and output, however, never declined and throughout his illness he continued to release a new album close to once a year.Harrison, Andrew.
Mark E Smith: A sudden end to forty years of prole art threat
. ''

New Statesman The ''New Statesman'' is a British political and cultural magazine published in London. Founded as a weekly review of politics and literature on 12 April 1913, it was at first connected with Sidney and Beatrice Webb and other leading members ...

'', 25 January 2018. Retrieved 27 January 2018. Tributes to Smith included

, Tim Burgess,

Liam Gallagher William John Paul Gallagher (born 21 September 1972) is an English singer and songwriter. He achieved fame as the lead vocalist of the rock band Oasis from 1991 to 2009, and later fronted the rock band Beady Eye from 2009 to 2014, before starti ...

, Andy Bell, Mat Osman,

Billy Bragg Stephen William Bragg (born 20 December 1957) is an English singer-songwriter and left-wing activist. His music blends elements of folk music, punk rock and protest songs, with lyrics that mostly span political or romantic themes. His music i ...

Win Butler Edwin Farnham Butler III (born April 14, 1980) is an American-Canadian singer, songwriter, musician, and multi-instrumentalist. He co-founded the Montreal-based indie rock band Arcade Fire with his wife Régine Chassagne. Early life Butler was ...

Cat Power Charlyn Marie "Chan" Marshall ( ; born January 21, 1972), better known by her stage name Cat Power, is an American singer-songwriter, musician and model. Cat Power was originally the name of her first band, but has become her stage name as a ...

Edgar Wright Edgar Howard Wright (born 18 April 1974) is an English filmmaker. He is known for his fast-paced and kinetic, satirical genre films, which feature extensive utilisation of expressive popular music, Steadicam tracking shots, dolly zooms and a ...

Pixies A pixie (also pisky, pixy, pixi, pizkie, and piskie in Cornwall and Devon, and pigsie or puggsy in the New Forest) is a mythical creature of British folklore. Pixies are considered to be particularly concentrated in the high moorland areas aro ...

Garbage Garbage, trash, rubbish, or refuse is waste material that is discarded by humans, usually due to a perceived lack of utility. The term generally does not encompass bodily waste products, purely liquid or gaseous wastes, or toxic waste produ ...

, Stuart Murdoch,

Terry Christian Terence Christian (born 8 May 1960) is a British broadcaster, journalist and author. He has presented several national television series in the UK including Channel 4's late night entertainment show '' The Word'' (1990–1995) and six series o ...

Graham Coxon Graham Leslie Coxon (born 12 March 1969) is an English musician, singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and painter who came to prominence as a founding member of the rock band Blur. As the group's lead guitarist and secondary vocalist, Cox ...

Irvine Welsh Irvine Welsh (born 27 September 1958) is a Scottish novelist, playwright and short story writer. His 1993 novel '' Trainspotting'' was made into a film of the same name. He has also written plays and screenplays, and directed several short fil ...

and

Legacy

Smith was both resigned and ambivalent about his legacy, especially in the terms of the fad-orientated music industry of which he was often harshly critical in his lyrics. He noted, somewhat bitterly, how "every artist wants credibility. A couple of years ago, I read a poll on the hundred best artists of all time. The Fall was in there between

Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 17565 December 1791), baptised as Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition r ...

and Puccini. I was very proud of that. Of course, the next day I can pick up a paper and be the guy with no teeth who beats everybody up." Despite this, he was widely influential and critically acclaimed throughout his career, in part because he did not seek to capitalise on current trends which might have dated the band. He was particularly dismissive of the

Madchester Madchester was a musical and cultural scene that developed in the English city of Manchester in the late 1980s, closely associated with the indie dance scene. Indie-dance (sometimes referred to as indie-rave) saw artists merging indie music ...

scene, as well as the

post-punk revival Post-punk revival (also known as garage rock revival,J. Stuessy and S. D. Lipscomb, ''Rock and roll: its History and Stylistic Development'' (London: Pearson Prentice Hall, 5th edn., 2006), , p. 451. new wave revival,. and new rock revolution) is ...

bands of the 2000s who cited him and The Fall as an influence, whom he personally felt owed more to

Talking Heads Talking Heads were an American rock band formed in 1975 in New York City and active until 1991.Talki ...

. Similarly, he refused to look backwards; when recording he was adamant that the Fall not repeat themselves stylistically, and when playing live he refused to play old songs. The approach is further seen in his strategy of frequently replacing band members. Long-term fan John Peel said that "The Fall are the group against which all others must measure themselves", and when asked which Fall albums he would recommend to newcomers, he replied "all of them". In January 2005, Smith was the subject of ''The Fall: The Wonderful and Frightening World of Mark E. Smith'', a

BBC Four BBC Four is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It was launched on 2 March 2002

television documentary. A number of

alternative rock Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from mainstream or commercial ...

artists have mentioned Smith in their songs.

The Jazz Butcher The Jazz Butcher was the alias of British singer/songwriter Pat Fish (Patrick Huntrods). It also served as the name of the band, though adjuncts were frequently used to distinguish between Fish’s persona and band itself (The Jazz Butcher Cons ...

released "Southern Mark Smith" in 1983.

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

rock band Tocotronic mentioned him in their song ''"Ich habe geträumt, ich wäre Pizza essen mit Mark E. Smith"'' ("I dreamt I went to eat pizza with Mark E. Smith") on their 1996 album ''Wir kommen um uns zu beschweren'' (''We come to complain'').

released the track "How He Wrote Elastica Man" in 2000, a reference to the 1980 Fall song "How I Wrote 'Elastic Man'", while in 2014 the

Fat White Family Fat White Family are an English rock band, formed in 2011 in Peckham, South London. History The band, fronted by Southampton-born and Cookstown-raised Lias Kaci Saoudi, formed in 2011. Lead guitarist Saul Adamczewski was previously the frontman ...

released an EP titled "I Am Mark E Smith". Sonic Youth covered three Fall songs, as well as the Kinks' "Victoria", which they released in 1990 as the ''

4 Tunna Brix ''4 Tunna Brix'' is an EP by the alternative rock group Sonic Youth, released in 1990. It comprises four songs recorded by the BBC in 1988 for John Peel's radio program – three covers of the Fall ("My New House", "Rowche Rumble" and "Psycho ...

'' EP.Miller, Jeff.
The Pixies Re-Form, Return With a Vengeance
. ''Hollywood Reporter'', 11 September Retrieved 28 January 2018 Cedric Bixler-Zavala, singer for the American groups

At the Drive-In At the Drive-In was an American post-hardcore band from El Paso, Texas, formed in 1994. The band's most recent line-up consisted of Cedric Bixler-Zavala (vocals), Omar Rodríguez-López (guitar, vocals), Paul Hinojos (bass), Tony Hajjar (dru ...

and

The Mars Volta The Mars Volta is an American progressive rock band from El Paso, Texas, formed in 2001. The band's only constant members are Omar Rodríguez-López (guitar, producer, direction) and Cedric Bixler-Zavala (vocals, lyrics), whose partnership for ...

, described Smith as "one of the pillars of influence for me as lyricist and trouble maker."

Life and career

Early life

The Fall

Solo work and collaboration

Lyrical and vocal style

Personality

Death

Legacy

Discography

The Fall

Solo work and collaborations

References

Footnotes

Citations

Sources

External links