Editing The Fall (band) (section)

=== Late 1970s: early years ===
The Fall were formed in [[Prestwich]], England in 1976 by [[Mark E. Smith]], [[Martin Bramah]], [[Una Baines]], and [[Tony Friel]]. The four friends met to read their writings to each other and take drugs.{{sfn|Reynolds|2006|pp=175–76}} Their musical influences included [[Can (band)|Can]] (which the band would later pay tribute to on the track "[[I Am Damo Suzuki]]"), [[the Velvet Underground]], [[Captain Beefheart]] and garage rock bands like [[the Monks]] and [[the Stooges]].{{sfn|Reynolds|2006|p=176}} The members were devoted readers, with Smith citing [[H. P. Lovecraft]], [[Raymond Chandler]] and [[Malcolm Lowry]] among his favourite writers.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Kielland |first=Aksel |year=2008 |title=Mark E. Smith – repetitiv originalitet |journal=Vinduet |issue=3 |pages=30–36 |language=no}}</ref> After seeing the [[Sex Pistols]] play their second gig at Manchester's [[Lesser Free Trade Hall]] in July 1976, they decided to start a group. Smith wanted to name the group "the Outsiders", but Friel came up with the name "the Fall" after [[The Fall (Albert Camus novel)|a 1956 novel]] by [[Albert Camus]].{{sfn|Reynolds|2006|p=174}} Smith became the singer, Bramah the guitarist, Friel played bass guitar and Baines bashed biscuit tins instead of drums; unable to afford to buy a drum kit, she then switched to keyboards.<ref name="1977 gigography">{{cite web |url=http://thefall.org/gigography/gig77.html |title=The Fall Gigography <nowiki>|</nowiki> 1977 |work=thefall.org |access-date=25 May 2013}}</ref> Their music was intentionally raw and repetitive.{{sfn|Reynolds|2006|p=176}} The song "Repetition", declaring that "We dig repetition in the music And we're never going to lose it", served as a manifesto for the Fall's musical philosophy.<ref name="50,000 sleevenotes">{{cite book |last=Eslea |first=Daryl |year=2004 |title=50,000 Fall Fans Can't Be Wrong |type=CD sleevenotes|title-link=50,000 Fall Fans Can't Be Wrong }}</ref>{{sfn|Reynolds|2006|p=193}}

The group played their first concert on 23 May 1977, at the North West Arts basement.<ref name="1977 gigography"/> Their first drummer was remembered only as "Dave" or "Steve" for thirty-four years,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2006/jan/05/popandrock |title=Dave Simpson Tracks Down Everyone Who Has Ever Been a Member of Mark E Smith's Band <nowiki>| Music |</nowiki> The Guardian |last=Simpson |first=Dave |date=5 January 2006 |work=[[The Guardian|guardian.co.uk]] |access-date=25 May 2013}}</ref> until music writer Dave Simpson discovered that he had almost certainly been a man named Steve Ormrod.<ref name=davesimpson>{{cite web |url=http://thefallenblog.blogspot.com.au/2010/10/revealed-after-34-years-identity-and.html |title=The Fallen Blog: Revealed After 34 Years: The Identity and Full, Sad Story of "The Unknown Drummer" |last=Simpson |first=Dave |date=27 October 2010 |work=thefallenblog.blogspot.com.au |access-date=25 May 2013}}</ref> Ormrod lasted just one show, at least in part due to political differences with the other members of the group.<ref name=davesimpson /> He was replaced by [[Karl Burns]], whom Friel played with in a band called Nuclear Angel. The Fall soon caught the attention of [[Buzzcocks]] manager Richard Boon, who funded their first recording session, and in November 1977 they recorded material for their debut EP, ''[[Bingo-Master's Break-Out!]]''<ref name="50,000 sleevenotes"/> Boon planned to release the EP on his New Hormones label, but after discovering that he could not afford to do so{{sfn|Reynolds|2006|p=174}} he gave the tapes back to the group. Thus, the Fall's debut on vinyl came in June 1978 when "Stepping Out" and "Last Orders" were released by Virgin Records on ''[[Short Circuit: Live at the Electric Circus]]'', a compilation of live recordings made at the Manchester venue The Electric Circus in October 1977 just before it was closed.

The Fall's line-up had its first drastic changes in 1977–78. Kay Carroll, Una Baines's friend and colleague at the psychiatric hospital, became the group's manager and occasional backing vocalist, as well as Smith's girlfriend.{{sfn|Reynolds|2006|p=193}}<ref name="members">{{cite web |url=http://visi.com/fall/bio/biography.html |title=The Fall Online – Biography |work=visi.com/fall |access-date=25 May 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130926071152/http://www.visi.com/fall/bio/biography.html |archive-date=26 September 2013 |url-status=dead}}</ref> Friel, unhappy with Carroll's management, left in December 1977 (he went on to form [[The Passage (band)|the Passage]] with [[Richard Witts|Dick Witts]]). He was briefly replaced by Jonnie Brown, and later by Eric McGann (also known as Eric the Ferrett).<ref name="members"/> The Fall were filmed on 13 February 1978 for the [[Granada Television|Granada TV]] show ''What's On'', hosted by [[Tony Wilson]], performing "Psycho Mafia", "Industrial Estate" and "Dresden Dolls", featuring the brief line-up of Smith, Bramah, Burns, Baines and McGann. Baines left in March 1978 after a drug overdose and subsequent nervous breakdown, and was replaced by Yvonne Pawlett; McGann quit that May, in disgust at the group's van driver Steve Davies wearing a Hawaiian shirt as he ferried them to the recording of their first-ever [[Peel Sessions|session]] for influential radio DJ [[John Peel]]. (The Fall would record a total of 24 sessions for Peel, who became a devoted fan of the group.)<ref name="members"/> Martin Bramah blamed the dissolution of the original line-up on Smith's style of leadership, together with Carroll's favouring of her partner: "The break-up wasn't so much about the music, though; it was more how we were being treated as people on a daily basis."{{sfn|Reynolds|2006|p=193}} [[Marc Riley]], the group's roadie was 16; eventually he was recruited to be in the group and play bass guitar.<ref name="members"/>

[[File:Mark E. Smith.jpg|thumb|160px|left|Smith in Tokyo, 1990]]
''Bingo-Master's Break-Out!'' finally was released in August 1978 on Step Forward Records. The single "It's the New Thing" followed in November 1978, and in December the Fall recorded (in a single day) their debut album ''[[Live at the Witch Trials]]'',<ref name="Dragnet sleevenotes">{{cite book |last=Eslea |first=Daryl |year=2004 |title=Dragnet |type=CD sleevenotes|title-link=Dragnet (album) }}</ref> which was released in March 1979.<ref name="Witch Trials AllMusic">{{cite web |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/live-at-the-witch-trials-mw0000664356 |title=''Live at the Witch Trials'' – The Fall : Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards : AllMusic |last=Raggett |first=Ned |work=[[AllMusic]] |publisher=[[AllRovi]] |access-date=25 May 2013}}</ref> Burns quit the group shortly after the album was recorded, and was replaced by Mike Leigh from Rockin' Ricky, a [[cabaret]] band. In April 1979, Burns was followed by Martin Bramah, co-writer of most of the songs on ''Live at the Witch Trials''<ref name="Witch Trials AllMusic"/> and, according to writer Daryl Eslea, "possibly the last true equal to Smith in the group";<ref name="Dragnet sleevenotes"/> he went on to form [[Blue Orchids]] with Una Baines.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/the-blue-orchids-mn0000086293 |title=The Blue Orchids – Music Biography, Credits and Discography : AllMusic |last=Sutton |first=Michael |work=[[AllMusic]] |publisher=[[AllRovi]] |access-date=25 May 2013}}</ref> Marc Riley switched from bass guitar to guitar, and [[Craig Scanlon]] (guitar) and [[Steve Hanley (musician)|Steve Hanley]] (bass guitar), former bandmates of Riley and members of Fall support act Staff 9, joined the group.<ref name="Dragnet sleevenotes"/> Hanley's melodic basslines became a vital part of the Fall's music for almost two decades.<ref name="The Fallen">{{cite book |last=Simpson |first=Dave |year=2008 |title=The Fallen |publisher=[[Canongate Books]] |chapter=Chapter 4: After a While in The Fall You're No Longer Normal. |chapter-url=http://www.thefallenbook.co.uk/extract.html |access-date=25 May 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120526003442/http://www.thefallenbook.co.uk/extract.html |archive-date=26 May 2012}}</ref> Smith praised his playing in ''[[Melody Maker]]'': "The most original aspect of the Fall is Steve&nbsp;... I've never heard a bass player like him&nbsp;... I don't have to tell him what to play, he just knows. He is the Fall sound."<ref>{{cite journal |date=18 June 1983 |journal=[[Melody Maker]]|title=The Fall}}</ref> Yvonne Pawlett left in July 1979 to look after her dog. She later appeared in a band called Shy Tots.<ref name="members"/>

On 30 July 1979, "[[Rowche Rumble]]", the Fall's third single, was released featuring the line up of Smith, Scanlon, Riley, Hanley, Pawlett and Leigh. Pawlett left the group shortly afterwards. ''[[Dragnet (album)|Dragnet]]'', the Fall's second album, was recorded in August 1979 at Cargo Studios, Rochdale, and was released on 26 October 1979. ''Dragnet'' signalled a sparser, more jagged feel in the Fall's music compared to ''Live at the Witch Trials''. The studio allegedly complained about the sound quality and protested against putting its name on the album sleeve, fearing it would put other artists off using the facilities.