The Fall (Updated)

The first ever 'authorised' biography of this most inscrutable of bands - now updated. Together music writer Mick Middles and Fall leader Mark E. Smith have written an exhausting biography of the Fall. Spanning their years on the fringe of the Manchester punk scene, three dozen albums, numerous tours, two successfully stage plays and numerous 'spoken word' events, this book is as strangely compelling as the band itself. Laced with Smith's distinctive brand of working class intellectualism and trenchant broadsides, this is a meticulously researched story to thrill the famously disparate fans of the Fall who revel in the notion that The Fall are "The only band in the world." Mark E. Smith remains famously true to his roots. Uncomfortable in art circles in London or, say, New York, he continues to live a full life in his native Salford, perfectly at home amongst the artisans in the string of local pubs - just one more reason why Mark E. Smith is a truly unique phenomenon with assured longevity. Author Mick Middles has been a close friend of Smith for over 25 years, and the book, written with Smith's complete approval and assistance, delves deep into the heart of that enigma. This new edition incorporates a new epilogue in which Mick Middles considers recent upheavals in the Fall camp, the Heads Roll album, Mark E. Smith's appearance at its launch, and his ongoing tirades at anything and everything.