Martin Beddington (born 18 September 1957 in

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 t ...

),The Fall online – biography
better known by his stage name Martin Bramah, is an English singer-songwriter and guitarist, best known as a founding member of the Fall,

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 band ...

, Thirst, and Factory Star.Beaudoin, Jedd.
Motorways, Bank Robbers, and Other Delights: A Conversation with Martin Bramah of Blue Orchids
.

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, fi ...

, 14 July 2016. Retrieved 3 February 2018Dass, Kiran.
An Interview with Martin Bramah, Occasional Fall Guy
. ''The Spinoff'', 16 October 2015. Retrieved 13 March 2018

Early career

Bramah met

Mark E. Smith 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 group the Fall. Smith formed the band after attending the June 1976 Sex Pistols gig at the ...

and original Fall keyboard player

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 ...

towards the end of 1975; Bramah and founding bassist

Tony Friel Tony Friel (born in Birkenhead, Wirral, Cheshire, 4 May 1958)Live at the Witch Trials ''Live at the Witch Trials'' is the debut studio album by the Fall. It was released on 16 March 1979 through record label Step-Forward. It is not, despite its title, a live album and was recorded in a studio in a single day and mixed by produce ...

''. He quit mid-tour due to tension between him and Smith. Simon Ford states in "Hip Priest" that Bramah's relationship with Baines was one cause of this. Bramah later claimed that the band "was getting a bit dictatorial and we were just 19–20 year-old kids. I wanted to be wild and free and do my own thing." He formed the influential

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-roc ...

band Blue Orchids with Baines. The group had early success but went on hiatus when the couple married and had a child; they later separated. Bramah and Baines reformed the Blue Orchids in 1985 and released the single "Sleepytown"; two more singles in 1991 and 1992 featured a different line-up, with Bramah the only constant. Bramah formed Thirst in 1987 with former Fall drummer

Karl Burns Karl Burns (born Carl Birtles,1958 in Manchester, England) is a British musician best known as the drummer for the Fall, featuring in many incarnations of the band between 1977 and 1998. Although several musicians have rejoined the Fall havi ...

, bassist Lee Pickering and guitarist Carrie Lawson. The band were more oriented towards

garage rock Garage rock (sometimes called garage punk or 60s punk) is a raw and energetic style of rock and roll that flourished in the mid-1960s, most notably in the United States and Canada, and has experienced a series of subsequent revivals. The sty ...

than the influences of his earlier post-punk bands. Thirst only released one EP, ''Riding the Times''. In 1989, Bramah rejoined The Fall to replace

Brix Degrees Brix (symbol °Bx) is a measure of the dissolved solids in a liquid, and is commonly used to measure dissolved sugar content of an aqueous solution. One degree Brix is 1 gram of sucrose in 100 grams of solution and represents the strength ...

and contributed guitar to ''

Extricate ''Extricate'' is the 12th album by post-punk band the Fall. It was made immediately after bandleader Mark E. Smith divorced guitarist Brix Smith. Brix's departure helped define the sound of this album: her background vocals and relatively pop ...

''. Bramah's second tenure in The Fall lasted just over a year, as he (together with keyboardist Marcia Schofield) was sacked at the end of the Australasian tour in July 1990. While Mark E. Smith later cited his desire to strip down the band's sound, the actual cause behind the sackings was Smith being unhappy about Bramah and Schofield having an affair.

Recent years

In 2008, he formed Factory Star, initially featuring Tim Lyons and Brian Benson (of The Sandells), subsequently featuring fellow ex-Fall members Steve Hanley on bass, Paul Hanley on drums and John Paul Moran of Rapid Pig, Gnod and

the Monochrome Set The Monochrome Set are an English post-punk/ new wave band, originally formed in London in January 1978. The most recent line-up consists of Bid, Andy Warren, Athen Ayren and Stephen Gilchrist. History Original band: 1978–1985 The Monoc ...

on keyboards. The Hanley brothers departed during 2010 to be replaced by Chris Dutton (formerly of Sicknurse and Kill Pretty) and Tom Lewis. Their debut album ''Enter Castle Perilous'' was released on Occultation Records in 2011. The Blue Orchids, revived by Bramah again in 2003 and featuring him as the only original member, have released seven albums of new material since 2003.https://www.discogs.com/artist/198410-Blue-Orchids In November 2022 Bramah announced a new collaboration with Steve Hanley - 'House Of All' which also features ex-Fall members

Simon Wolstencroft Simon John Wolstencroft (born 19 January 1963 in Altrincham, Cheshire) is an English rock drummer, best known for playing with The Fall from 1986 to 1997. He also played with early incarnations of The Smiths and The Stone Roses. His highly pra ...

, Pete Greenway and Steve's brother

Paul Paul may refer to: *Paul (given name), a given name (includes a list of people with that name) *Paul (surname), a list of people People Christianity *Paul the Apostle (AD c.5–c.64/65), also known as Saul of Tarsus or Saint Paul, early Chris ...

. Their self-titled debut album will be released in April 2023 on the Tiny Global Productions label
. Facebook. Retrieved 11 January 2023

References

Sources

* *Hanley, Steve. " The Big Midweek: Life Inside The Fall". London: Route, 2014. {{DEFAULTSORT:Bramah, Martin 1957 births Living people Musicians from Manchester English male singer-songwriters English punk rock guitarists The Fall (band) members English male guitarists