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The Big Midweek: Life Inside The Fall
The first insider’s account of life inside The Fall, Steve Hanley’s story unfolds like a novel; from 1979 when he joined his schoolmates Marc Riley and Craig Scanlon in The Fall, he puts us right in the heart of the action: on stage, on the tour bus, in the recording studio, and up close and personal with an eccentric cast of band mates. These vividly drawn scenes give unprecedented insight into the intense, highly-charged creative atmosphere within The Fall and their relentless work ethic which has won them a dedicated cult following, high-art respectability and a unique place in popular music history.
400 pages, Hardcover
First published September 15, 2014
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 81 reviews
November 23, 2022
Totally fascinating and a quick read for nearly 500 pages. Not even Mark E Smith comes out of this all that badly -- he's still a tyrant, prone to bizarre flashes of cruelty -- but we're in no doubt as to his genius, and he's often enough generous and thoughtful. Steve Hanley comes across as wearily resolute and in love with The Fall -- which you'd have to be, to stick out 20 years (only halfway do they get a decent touring vehicle). One of the better rock memoirs.
March 6, 2018
A competently written settling of accounts, although Steve Hanley seems like too nice a man to bear many grudges, and he's largely sympathetic in his renderings of other band members, some of whom he is now working with (perhaps that explains it!). There are very few spectacularly exciting anecdotes, lots of tours that tend to blur into each other, no major surprises, and only one laugh-out-loud moment when an audience member ties MES's laces together, the roadie crawls on stage with a pair of scissors to free him, and MES takes a kick at him (the roadie) to get him off the stage, tripping himself over in the process and hurling himself into the drum kit.
Nice to see Marc Riley come out of it well. My cover designer, Jon Langford, gets a couple of mentions, as does Altrincham, the setting of my new book, Fowl Play, which you really should buy after you've read Hanley's book. Like the Big Midweek, it also features proletarian provincial autodidact paranoi-ah.
Nice to see Marc Riley come out of it well. My cover designer, Jon Langford, gets a couple of mentions, as does Altrincham, the setting of my new book, Fowl Play, which you really should buy after you've read Hanley's book. Like the Big Midweek, it also features proletarian provincial autodidact paranoi-ah.
February 21, 2022
A superb insider's account of 20 years of being in The Fall which, you won't be surprised to learn, was no picnic.
Love of the music kept Steve Hanley in the group but Mark E. Smith's increasingly erratic, despotic, bullying and capricious behaviour eventually drove him out. Often more like a cult than a pop group this is a survivor's memoir.
Steve Hanley loved being in The Fall. Many members of the group only lasted weeks or months, so it really says something that Steve Hanley lasted 20 years. The end, when it comes, makes for truly grim reading.
If you are interested in The Fall, or British independent music c1980-2000, or just what life is like being in a band, then this is a wonderful read and a compelling page turner.
5/5
Love of the music kept Steve Hanley in the group but Mark E. Smith's increasingly erratic, despotic, bullying and capricious behaviour eventually drove him out. Often more like a cult than a pop group this is a survivor's memoir.
Steve Hanley loved being in The Fall. Many members of the group only lasted weeks or months, so it really says something that Steve Hanley lasted 20 years. The end, when it comes, makes for truly grim reading.
If you are interested in The Fall, or British independent music c1980-2000, or just what life is like being in a band, then this is a wonderful read and a compelling page turner.
5/5
January 4, 2015
As befits the unsmiling quiet balding guy in all those classic Fall photos and gig vids, Steve Hanley is quite the hilarious writer and raconteur. Even when he (frequently) returns to discuss the goings on with his brother Paul at home or his father's pie shop, where he also worked during his Fall days, things can take a droll turn: "Wait till I tell [Paul] he's going to have to spend the next four hours in our parents' garden shed learning 'Flat of Angles' before he can get on with his maths." etc.
A couple interesting revelations:
:: It seems the abusive drill-sergeant style for which Mark Smith is renowned was actually originated by manager Kay Carroll, not by him. Though Hanley doesn't connect the dots explicitly, it's clear that MES learned how to control and drive the band by observing his girlfriend Carroll's "systematic abuse" in action, then copycatting it himself after she'd left.
:: Hanley mocks guitarist Craig Scanlon much more thoroughly and often as a comical snob and elitist, with the implication that the snobbery was both unwarranted but also essential to the band's sound.
A couple interesting revelations:
:: It seems the abusive drill-sergeant style for which Mark Smith is renowned was actually originated by manager Kay Carroll, not by him. Though Hanley doesn't connect the dots explicitly, it's clear that MES learned how to control and drive the band by observing his girlfriend Carroll's "systematic abuse" in action, then copycatting it himself after she'd left.
:: Hanley mocks guitarist Craig Scanlon much more thoroughly and often as a comical snob and elitist, with the implication that the snobbery was both unwarranted but also essential to the band's sound.
September 15, 2014
This deserves to be at least as successful as the Morrissey autobiography. The author was born the same month, went through the same formative gig-going experiences in early 70s Manchester (Mott The Hoople, then moving on from glam in to punk and New Wave). But he was never the front man, rather he was the dependable bassist holding the group together until the mission became impossible. There is love and sadness here, and even a few good laughs, even when things are quite appalling. However it looks as if there will never be agreement about exactly how and why Kay Carroll quit in the 1983 US tour.
November 16, 2024
You won't find much insight into the ineffable mysteries of songwriting here--though perhaps presenting it as a working routine is an insight in itself. Nor will you find any analysis of Mark E Smith's lyrics--beyond paranoid speculation as to who the songs are about. What you will get is a very well told story of working relentlessly in a band for little reward, and under very trying circumstances. There are many well-drawn characters besides Smith--Karl Burns, Brix, Marc Riley, many others--and their dramatic and unpredictable interactions are what give the story its energy. It is also very, very funny.
While the experiences and the dry, sardonic voice are Hanley's, credit must also go to co-writer Olivia Piekarski for helping Hanley to find that voice, and for shaping what probably began as a collection of anecdotes into such a compelling narrative.
While the experiences and the dry, sardonic voice are Hanley's, credit must also go to co-writer Olivia Piekarski for helping Hanley to find that voice, and for shaping what probably began as a collection of anecdotes into such a compelling narrative.
December 22, 2014
Other than frontman Mark E. Smith, Steve Hanley spent more time in the legendary (and still going) post-punk band The Fall than anyone else. His narrative of his time in the band hits a lot of touchstones for any such tale. But, of course, The Fall navigated a different path at a specific time in music history that makes this story more interesting than usual. Moreover, everyone wants a behind-the-scenes story of what Smith is really like.
To Hanley's credit, this isn't some gossipy rant, but instead a square account of what went down with The Fall. As a result, Smith's personality and his decline are revealed as part of the story, not at the forefront. Which, to me, makes for an interesting book. Considering how much Hanley was living a rock 'n' roll lifestyle (at least when it comes to libations) he seems to have remembered a lot and he certainly was a steady presence in an unsteady band. He has lots of good stories and paints a picture that is easy to capture in the imagination -- cramped quarters, odd gigs, triumphs and disasters, with more of those coming towards the end of his tenure with the band.
It's good that his book came out before Smith's own tome, as now we can have a point-counterpoint. Any fan of The Fall would be well-advised to buy this.
To Hanley's credit, this isn't some gossipy rant, but instead a square account of what went down with The Fall. As a result, Smith's personality and his decline are revealed as part of the story, not at the forefront. Which, to me, makes for an interesting book. Considering how much Hanley was living a rock 'n' roll lifestyle (at least when it comes to libations) he seems to have remembered a lot and he certainly was a steady presence in an unsteady band. He has lots of good stories and paints a picture that is easy to capture in the imagination -- cramped quarters, odd gigs, triumphs and disasters, with more of those coming towards the end of his tenure with the band.
It's good that his book came out before Smith's own tome, as now we can have a point-counterpoint. Any fan of The Fall would be well-advised to buy this.
June 19, 2023
As a bassist, Steve Hanley created memorable riffs, similar to fellow Mancunian Peter Hook, which took the lead often, rather than backing the guitar. As a writer, he and Olivia Piekarski narrate a memorable tale. As I've followed The Fall nearly since their inception, this raced by, with details I craved, and reminding a certain cadre of academics, in my opinion, that there was always more to the band than Mark E Smith himself. Steve outlasted his band mates as the longest serving musician in the ever-changing lineup. He's fair to all concerned. His story unfolds steadily, if at times in an oddly sequenced fashion or inverted progression. True to the author's playing style? One quote near the sudden end of his testimony stands as its colophon and its coda. 'It might be entertaining to watch, but it's devastating to be a part of'. Recommended for fans
January 26, 2018
This is an amazing book that just builds and builds, like a Bildungsroman, to its shattering but inevitable conclusion, following some terrific adventures on the way. At first, young and idealistic, the band strike out their new territory. Then age brings success but with it the character flaws in the protagonists begin to develop, slowly and inexorably building to the tragic conclusion: main players brought low by their tragic weaknesses. And on the way? Mayhem.
Mark Smith is a villain of which not even the bard could conceive, his persona forever poised on the very precipice that separates genius and madness. Steve Hanley, the willing and loyal accomplice, forced by the endless turn of events to at last confront the maelstrom that is his lead singer.
This book had me in absolute tears of laughter as I read the carnage of their on tour world, before leaving me with a trace of guilt and sadness as I reflected that at times I was laughing at the players, not with them. The Fall always give you something other than what you expect: this superb book is just another example of this from the sufficiently, occasionally sober bassist who lived to tell the tale.
Mark Smith is a villain of which not even the bard could conceive, his persona forever poised on the very precipice that separates genius and madness. Steve Hanley, the willing and loyal accomplice, forced by the endless turn of events to at last confront the maelstrom that is his lead singer.
This book had me in absolute tears of laughter as I read the carnage of their on tour world, before leaving me with a trace of guilt and sadness as I reflected that at times I was laughing at the players, not with them. The Fall always give you something other than what you expect: this superb book is just another example of this from the sufficiently, occasionally sober bassist who lived to tell the tale.
March 25, 2016
Perhaps the lesson of this is to choose autobiographies penned by supporting cast members when choosing to read books about pop and rock. This is at least a hundred times better than Mark E. Smith's woeful, curmudgeonly Renegade and Hanley comes across as self-deprecating and droll while one suspects that his talent was far more of a driving force behind The Fall than he's ever been given credit for.
Probably avoidable if you aren't a Fall fan, it's essential for anyone is, as well as fans of indie music and Manchester music in general. The anecdotes are bewildering and Smith, while acknowledged as a genius comes across as every inch the misanthrope one suspects he truly is. Thoroughly entertaining.
Probably avoidable if you aren't a Fall fan, it's essential for anyone is, as well as fans of indie music and Manchester music in general. The anecdotes are bewildering and Smith, while acknowledged as a genius comes across as every inch the misanthrope one suspects he truly is. Thoroughly entertaining.
November 26, 2014
I love The Fall, but only from "Dragnet" through "This Nation's Saving Grace." The rest of their stuff I can do without. Mark E Smith is and sounds crazy old now and the band doesn't interest me much anymore, but that run of albums is, to me, about as good as it gets. During that period, Steve Hanley played bass.
This book is mostly from his own experiences and includes very little external information, which is the main reason why I dig this book so much. You get a good idea of what it was like to WORK in this band, not what the critics thought but how the music was conceived and what the relationships were like for one of the few constants in the band.
This book is mostly from his own experiences and includes very little external information, which is the main reason why I dig this book so much. You get a good idea of what it was like to WORK in this band, not what the critics thought but how the music was conceived and what the relationships were like for one of the few constants in the band.
May 14, 2015
I have to admit I've not read many musical biographies, but this is easily among the best I have read. The Fall was full of dysfunction since many of its initiators broke from its experimental heading, and many more were driven away by Mark's abusive nature. Even if you don't like The Fall, you'll consider this interesting, especially from a psychological standpoint.
November 28, 2014
Fantastic read. Steve Hanley's tale of life inside the The Fall manages to make Spinal Tap look like normal behaviour.Anyone who has ever liked a Fall record needs to read this.One of the best books on music I've read in a long time. How those fantastic records ever got made is beyond me.
November 23, 2023
In this ambitious story, recently rediscovered, Roald Dahl imagines a parallel universe where instead of joining the circus and training monkeys to stand on their heads, Mr Twit instead assumes the guise of shipping clerk Mark Edward Smith and forms a band in the wake of punk rock.
Told through the eyes of plucky narrator Steve Hanley who joins this demented and frequently brilliant cult cum circus and learns to mach shau while surviving his paymaster's tantrums, divorces and unsavoury habits.
Told through the eyes of plucky narrator Steve Hanley who joins this demented and frequently brilliant cult cum circus and learns to mach shau while surviving his paymaster's tantrums, divorces and unsavoury habits.
April 4, 2018
This is a good book. Perhaps, the best book about being in a rock band. For all the bands that had coke and sex in every gig they had, there are countless rock bands to who touring was nothing more than plodding through big spaces like traveling salesmen trying not to rip each other's throats. In case of the Fall, having Mark E. Smith in there didn't help. In fact, I think I might have a bit of PTSD after reading about how was hanging out with Mark E. Smith.
Mark E. Smith was a monster. He WAS the Fall, but as this book shows, he was more of a curator and a "shaper" than really a composer in any way, but he gladly took the cheques out of their bandmates writting credits. But he was erratic, and wanted the band to be in constant chaos, and submissive. It's really sad reading how Steve Hanley, one of the best bassists in the world, not knowing how fucking special he was until he read about him in the internet.
The problem with this book is that it represents all too well how it is to be in a rock band. It's repetitive, a series of disaster recording sessions, hastly prepared tours, some childish pranks and lots of drinking. Really well written, all of that, and it never wears on you, but that's all there is at the end. Steve Hanley and Olivia Piekarski make a great team, and the writting is funny as fuck, realistic and humble, sometimes to a fault. He is quite honest, but there are some misteries in there. His family kind of dissapears after he introduces it in the book, and you wonder how his two children reacted to his chaotic and depressing life. Some substance abuse is named, but swept under the rug as quickly as it is brought out. Some interesting dettails are kept fuzzy even if he should have more info about them. But, you know? Steve Hanley seems to be a reserved man. He didn't have to tell everything. This is the perfect book for Steve Hanley and the Fall. Not a perfect The Fall book or perfect book, it's perfect for what it is.
Also, the ending is way more depressing than any other ending to any other rock book I've read. Absolutely crushing.
Mark E. Smith was a monster. He WAS the Fall, but as this book shows, he was more of a curator and a "shaper" than really a composer in any way, but he gladly took the cheques out of their bandmates writting credits. But he was erratic, and wanted the band to be in constant chaos, and submissive. It's really sad reading how Steve Hanley, one of the best bassists in the world, not knowing how fucking special he was until he read about him in the internet.
The problem with this book is that it represents all too well how it is to be in a rock band. It's repetitive, a series of disaster recording sessions, hastly prepared tours, some childish pranks and lots of drinking. Really well written, all of that, and it never wears on you, but that's all there is at the end. Steve Hanley and Olivia Piekarski make a great team, and the writting is funny as fuck, realistic and humble, sometimes to a fault. He is quite honest, but there are some misteries in there. His family kind of dissapears after he introduces it in the book, and you wonder how his two children reacted to his chaotic and depressing life. Some substance abuse is named, but swept under the rug as quickly as it is brought out. Some interesting dettails are kept fuzzy even if he should have more info about them. But, you know? Steve Hanley seems to be a reserved man. He didn't have to tell everything. This is the perfect book for Steve Hanley and the Fall. Not a perfect The Fall book or perfect book, it's perfect for what it is.
Also, the ending is way more depressing than any other ending to any other rock book I've read. Absolutely crushing.
September 9, 2021
This was way better than I expected. Really funny, warm, and tragicomic in the best traditions of British working class humour.
Hanley has a quiet, self-effacing voice but notices all the best things about being at the centre of a cultural phenomenon. He writes with a dry wit that always manages to convey the surprise of meeting the various icons of rock and roll before they were famous, even though they're household names. This was one of my favourite aspects of the book
The other absolute best aspect is the representation of the constant war being a member of The Fall entailed. Battles with the usual factors of touring, hotels, vehicles (an unexpectedly massive feature of being in The Fall) venues and equipment pale beside the monumental struggle of being under Mark E Smith's dictatorial control. Extraordinary manipulation, undermining and straight up assault and vandalism feature heavily in the story, making you wonder why anyone would stick it out for so long. Hanley admits to a kind of Stockholm Syndrome which keeps him coming back after each fresh insult or ruined performance, which makes for some very interesting reading.
This is a fantastic book, introducing us to a bizarre cast of characters enmeshed in a weirdly self-destructive but symbiotic relationship as they ride triumph and tragedy all the way to a ruinous end.
Highly recommended to anyone who remembers Manchester's iconic contribution to music in the past forty years, and especially those who don't.
Hanley has a quiet, self-effacing voice but notices all the best things about being at the centre of a cultural phenomenon. He writes with a dry wit that always manages to convey the surprise of meeting the various icons of rock and roll before they were famous, even though they're household names. This was one of my favourite aspects of the book
The other absolute best aspect is the representation of the constant war being a member of The Fall entailed. Battles with the usual factors of touring, hotels, vehicles (an unexpectedly massive feature of being in The Fall) venues and equipment pale beside the monumental struggle of being under Mark E Smith's dictatorial control. Extraordinary manipulation, undermining and straight up assault and vandalism feature heavily in the story, making you wonder why anyone would stick it out for so long. Hanley admits to a kind of Stockholm Syndrome which keeps him coming back after each fresh insult or ruined performance, which makes for some very interesting reading.
This is a fantastic book, introducing us to a bizarre cast of characters enmeshed in a weirdly self-destructive but symbiotic relationship as they ride triumph and tragedy all the way to a ruinous end.
Highly recommended to anyone who remembers Manchester's iconic contribution to music in the past forty years, and especially those who don't.
January 19, 2015
When i used to work in a library i used to look at the biographies/autobiographies and wonder who wanted to read some of the life stories shelved. This book might for many people fit that question , he is the bass player for The Fall or rather was the bass player of the fall.
Why should you read this , well its funny , wise , heartbreaking and offers a light on Mark E Smith which always is useful. It reminds me why i love the fall and also why every album has a few tracks that you wonder why does this exist. It reminds me a little of the bruce thomas book but is more honest , the narrative moves like a novel the sense of everything collapsing is mirrored in the tone and speed of the narrative.
Its fantastic if you dont like the fall it might be difficult to accept why hanley did all this but stick with it you will enjoy.
Highly recommended
November 5, 2021
I will not rest until I have read a book about The Fall by every single member of the band, and fortunately this one is a cracker. It's full of top Fall facts (Steve Hanley worked in his dad's pie shop in between tours! Mark E. Smith used to send postcards from round the world to a small girl he once met in the street, pretending they were from her lost teddy bear!), and I learned a lot about their basslines and writer credits. There is a delightful air of bemusement throughout, and when I read it on some recent long train journeys, it made me hoot from the beginning to the end of the line. (On meeting the queen of Holland: "How peculiar. I've got Mark Smith on one side of me; he chats to her for ages, having had so much practise talking to old ladies at bus stops.") Most importantly, I am very glad that Steve Hanley is no longer in The Fall.
February 8, 2020
One of the greatest rock books ever written, and am I the only one who thinks this is the punk rock version of Hell's Kitchen? Mark E. Smith's perpetual browbeating of his bandmates would make Gordon Ramsey broccoli green with envy.
Of equal mirth are Smith's Captain Queeg-style rants about The Smiths ("They're taking the piss out of me by naming themselves after me!"). Hanley's assessment of Frank Zappa's music sounding like two different jazz bands playing at the same time is hysterical, and his dry, sarky worshiping of The Clash in their rockstar gear is brilliant.
Spoiler alert: Smith becomes a lot kinder and gentler with the advent of Brix, but then...well... You need this book!
Of equal mirth are Smith's Captain Queeg-style rants about The Smiths ("They're taking the piss out of me by naming themselves after me!"). Hanley's assessment of Frank Zappa's music sounding like two different jazz bands playing at the same time is hysterical, and his dry, sarky worshiping of The Clash in their rockstar gear is brilliant.
Spoiler alert: Smith becomes a lot kinder and gentler with the advent of Brix, but then...well... You need this book!
April 13, 2015
As a dedicated Fall fan and bassist there was very little chance I wasn't going to enjoy this. Captures wonderfully the madness of being in a band, especially a band as mad as The Fall. As well as the bust-ups and disastrous gigs I'm also endlessly fascinated by the everyday minutiae of how bands work, and this book also serves that obsession well. Eye-opening, hilarious and very thorough, this is surely essential for any Fall fan (and will make interesting reading for anyone with an interest in music)
March 13, 2015
If you like The Fall, you probably like Steve Hanley. And this book will help you understand why.
At turns hilarious, ironic, and sad - but always humane and engaging. Steve and Olivia bring the years of working in a band creating and performing to life, hopes and crises in rapid succession.
Also, if you come home of a day thinking your coworkers are a bit nuts.... you haven't seen anything.
At turns hilarious, ironic, and sad - but always humane and engaging. Steve and Olivia bring the years of working in a band creating and performing to life, hopes and crises in rapid succession.
Also, if you come home of a day thinking your coworkers are a bit nuts.... you haven't seen anything.
June 7, 2024
Fascinating, he's maybe a little unfair to some people (Brix especially), but overall quite sweet and you feel just awful for him at times. Puts that whole era of The Fall in a new light definitely, and it makes me want to listen to those old albums again.
February 4, 2020
Humorous and engaging. Pick it up if you are into rock and want an insight into what it's like to record and tour, especially if you want to see the worst case scenario.
August 3, 2018
A MUST read (caps so you know it's true) for fanboyz/gurlz of Mancunian legends THE FALL, the best (won't tolerate argument) gruppe to emerge from the "postpunk" (annoying term) scenes of the late 70s/early 80s. Steve Hanley was their bassist for 20 years before he got the boot from Mark E. Smith, lead singer/poet/mystic/capo/führer of the band, as dozens had been booted before and since. I am such a fanboy, so I had heard most of these tales related around the electronic campfire before, but there are many tidbits/impressions of which I hadn't been aware. MES was (RIP) certainly an unholy DICK. And genius (not an overused term in this case, trust....). Is it always such? He thought so. I mean, he cultivated a dickish life cuz he felt that's what it took to express his brilliance. But I don't think that's necessarily true...it's another macho pose, imho. [You can be sweet and a genius...at least that's what I tell my own, sweet self.] And an excuse. How a dick? The usuals: unstinting criticism of his bandmates, taking all the credit, etc. And the unusuals I didn't know: skint with band funds, forcing the band to clean all the stray gaffing tape off the stage, haranguing Steve about his having kids, womanizing (well, that, I kinda could figure out...), etc. He truly had few redeeming features, except...except...he was prolly the only rocker who could truly be considered a POET. That dread, dead word, due for a revival! The word-smithery (tee hee), the textures, the presentation, the flow, the weirdness ("Lovecraftian" is not misused here), the impenetrability and inscrutability, the "a-has!" Most of all, it's la poésie on the page, too, which is *impossible* for lyricists. Fuck Dylan. Fuck L. Reed. ESPECIALLY FUCK Leonard Cohen. I dare y'all to read their lyrics on a dead tree/in bleeps and bloops. THEY SUCK! MES is the real, real deal, here. Especially in the period 1979-1994 or so...before the DEMON RUM overcame him. SHanley's book lays bare the extent of the drunkenness. Dude was a major-league alcoholic. I always knew this at some level...but boy-howdy does this book ever explain the erratic behavior and decay of mind. The walk-offs, the pissed-pants appearance on stage, the shittiness of late lyric style. It is shocking he lived 'til 2018—had been in decline since the mid-90s. But, of course, this review is one of Steve's complaints: everything always comes back to MES. Every toilet bowl swirls down to Mr. Smiff. There's a lot more here: songwriting info, centrality of "the others" to the sound, etc. Maybe his isn't always the most artful prose, but, dudes, give a man a break. He's a boss bassist, and a charming fellow, and a dad, &c. He never claimed to be "A POET." Best book on the Fall and there's no close second. Long live the Hip Priest(s), in all of his/their filth! p.s. the ending is magnificent. No reflections, no wrap-up...shit just stops on a dime. As it should be p.p.s. the accounts of MES's attempt to "play" videogames, Athlete Cured's debt to Spinal Tap, and MOST OF ALL, MES's determination to open a tapas joint are BAWSS A.F.
May 31, 2020
The Fall is one of my favorite groups of all time, but to be honest I really didn't know much about the trials and tribs of their many line-ups. So this was a joy to read, both hilarious and sad as the 1998 gig that led to the end of the best known incarnation of The Fall. A lot of the rock bios I've read spend a lot of time on the formation of the band, then coast through the actual career. But The Fall is a different kind of band, always on the verge of making it, never quite getting there (mostly sabotaged by MES, bc success is always seen as "soft"). This is the most of a majority of musicians--rock star moments followed by trying to make ends meet, like driving a taxi or in the case of Hanley working in his dad's pie shop. Endless ribbing by people like the newsagent, that very particularly British way of making sure you don't get above your station. Out of all this chaos, The Fall made music that transcends all of it, like they are truly channeling some creative force. The book doesn't bring the music down to earth--it remains still very much "out there," lightning in a bottle.
MES comes across as a mad genius, and sometimes just mad. Hanley is very hands off on talking about substance abuse, though it's pretty obvious MES has a drinking and amphetamine problem. Brix comes out of it as a spoiled rich girl but one with that particular brand of American can-do positivity that took them to new heights. Craig Scanlon is sort of a miserable figure who hides in the background, Simon Wolstoncroft as a careerist, and Karl Burns as a living version of Animal from the Muppets. How this guy didn't wind up in jail I don't know. (Also a shout out to Colin, their Scottish roadie, whose proclamations Hanley writes phonetically, very funny.)
An excellent read. I have Brix's and Simon's books to also read in the future, so it will be interesting to see where things overlap.
MES comes across as a mad genius, and sometimes just mad. Hanley is very hands off on talking about substance abuse, though it's pretty obvious MES has a drinking and amphetamine problem. Brix comes out of it as a spoiled rich girl but one with that particular brand of American can-do positivity that took them to new heights. Craig Scanlon is sort of a miserable figure who hides in the background, Simon Wolstoncroft as a careerist, and Karl Burns as a living version of Animal from the Muppets. How this guy didn't wind up in jail I don't know. (Also a shout out to Colin, their Scottish roadie, whose proclamations Hanley writes phonetically, very funny.)
An excellent read. I have Brix's and Simon's books to also read in the future, so it will be interesting to see where things overlap.
April 6, 2016
if only all rock memoirs were this good! Hanley manages to capture the mundane aspects of being in a working band as well as he explains the transcendence of performing. Just like the band itself, this book careens through 20 years of THE FALL with stoic joy. I was surprised at the lawlessness of their drug use, the wildman Karl Burns, and the pop culture intrusions that seem inevitable in such a small music scene. I was surprised too at how distant Mark Smith was from the proceedings - while striking fear and dread into "the lads" he was absent from all but the work of the band. But then THE FALL seemed to work all the time, and made money, something fans in the US seemed never to fully grasp. Hanley paints a sad portrait of Smith in quick decline, ravaged by his drug and drink problems and the ever erratic conduct both on and off the stage. I feel this book encapsulates and further supports my theory that THE FALL are a slow motion implosion, constantly bulking inward at the first sign of success or profit. And the grouchy was less calculated and more drunken than we'd all care to admit.
December 17, 2018
As a fan of The Fall, knowing Hanley was the last long term member to leave, I knew his story would be interesting. I believe every word of it. When a band is controlled by one member it never ends well. MES supposedly said that quote about ‘your grandma and a bongo’ but after Hanley’s departure The Fall changed for the worse, IMO. Even though his tale of his time in the Fall skips and hops and seems clunky and times I found the point. His experience in the band seems bitter and joyless, but, like my experience in bands, when he speaks of his band mates, and the things they did together, I was reminded of why I spent so much time in a band: It was work with people trying to do something special together while looking at the world from the perspective of the band. It gives you a reason for being while providing a framework for measuring what’s going on outside. Sure the point is making music but that time is slight compared to the time living and surviving. I believe Hanley loved MES but didn’t like him. He should have fucking hated him.
June 12, 2019
Really good insight into one of the most influential groups of the last 40 years+: The Fall. Steve Hanley recounts life inside the group in a very readable and amusing way. Coming from Manchester and having lived in Prestwich a lot of the stories are were obviously relatable to me. However, music lovers from anywhere would get a lot from this book. Interesting to see just how unhinged and difficult to work with Mark E Smith became as the years progressed. Lots of crazy stories about the numerous group members, of life on the road and the chaos of dis-organised gigs. Highly recommended.
Morrissey take note ('Penguin classic' indeed!) you should read this to see how to make a music autobiography book interesting; eg no one in really that interested in spending 100 pages plus reading about how anguished you were about a court case! Heaven knows I was miserable by the end of that section.
Morrissey take note ('Penguin classic' indeed!) you should read this to see how to make a music autobiography book interesting; eg no one in really that interested in spending 100 pages plus reading about how anguished you were about a court case! Heaven knows I was miserable by the end of that section.
March 12, 2016
So good. A really well-written account of the Fall's very best years, with lots of sad stuff about Mark E. Smith's decline. Also, this:
"It opens to reveal one of Abbey Road's senior managers. 'Sorry to interrupt but I'm just showing Duran Duran around. You don't mind if we take a quick look round this studio, do you?' Before any of us can protest, in they float on a cloud of sweet fragrance and wealthy confidence. Brix slaps herself on the cheek in disbelief and runs out of the room. Simon Le Bon asks Craig, 'What's it like working here, then?' Craig replies, 'It'd be alright if you didn't keep getting bothered by members of Duran Duran.' Not quite the warm welcome they might be used to. For a moment, Le Bon looks exquisitely crestfallen, before catching himself and transforming it into a 'Fuck-you-then' stare, directed squarely at Craig."
"It opens to reveal one of Abbey Road's senior managers. 'Sorry to interrupt but I'm just showing Duran Duran around. You don't mind if we take a quick look round this studio, do you?' Before any of us can protest, in they float on a cloud of sweet fragrance and wealthy confidence. Brix slaps herself on the cheek in disbelief and runs out of the room. Simon Le Bon asks Craig, 'What's it like working here, then?' Craig replies, 'It'd be alright if you didn't keep getting bothered by members of Duran Duran.' Not quite the warm welcome they might be used to. For a moment, Le Bon looks exquisitely crestfallen, before catching himself and transforming it into a 'Fuck-you-then' stare, directed squarely at Craig."
September 1, 2017
Just fantastic. Wry, droll, understated yet frequently very funny account of real life in a rock and roll band. You don't have to necessarily like The Fall to appreciate this book but some knowledge of the band's music and career helps. Hanley's loyalty to the cause is as rock steady as his bass playing. How he dealt with Mark E Smith for so long without killing the miserable fuck is one question the book doesn't answer although he thanks Smith at the end "for the opportunity" so clearly he took the good with the very bad. I love The Fall and MES is clearly a genius imho however it takes a brilliant book by the unsung Steve Hanley to really drive home the contribution of the many other band members over, as MES would say himself, "the long, long days of our youth."
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