Grotesque was (after Patrik Fitzgerald's Gifts & Telegrams) the greatest of Michael's Southgate Public Library discoveries. Easy to see why he couldn't resist the cover. Rapidly dubbed to cassette tape, Grotesque was the soundtrack for many late night adventures in Michael's Dad's Toyota Corolla. I can honestly say that, at the time, it was the strangest thing I'd ever heard, not least of which because of the snarling, lazy, almost spoken, vocals of Mark E. Smith (seen here in 1985). He hasn't aged especially well, competing with The Pogues Shane McGowan for the ravaged face of rock award. The Fall were huge favourites of the hugely influential British DJ John Peel. Of course, we had absolutely no idea at the time, we just liked the cover and the nasty music. When Peel died in 2004, the BBC called in Mark E. Smith for an opinion. He wasn't especially helpful...
I had to wait until September of 1994 to see The Fall, in Vancouver at The Starfish Room. One surviving account from that night suggests he wasn't very helpful on that occasion either.
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