The Fall is one of the world's most iconic groups, led for the last 30 years by the inimitable and enigmatic Mark E. Smith. They have released nearly 30 studio albums, with in excess of 50 musicians passing through their ranks. They are the Fallen; this is their story. Dave Simpson has spent two years of his life tracking down everyone who has ever played in the Fall. The resultant book is full of hilarious and shocking anecdotes about life in one of the most intense and insane bands. It is also a biography in reflection of Mark E. Smith, a man who runs his group like a sports team, for whom no one member is greater than the Fall. Featuring a host of new interviews, this is a fascinating insight for all of the Fall's devoted fanbase, which famously included John Peel, and anyone who has ever been curious about the group, and interested in the postpunk cultural landscape of Britain.
Dave Simpson writes on music and the arts for the Guardian.
"The best book yet on a band that have evolved into a cross between a large Victorian family and a rehab unit." Times
"Riveting stuff." Q magazine
"A great booka fucking amazingly great book . . . Absolutely brilliant. It has made me race back to all 554 Fall songs and put them on repeat." Everett True, author, Nirvana: The Biography
"Brilliant and bloody awkward. Just like its subjects." The Word
"An amusing study of what is without exaggeration Britain’s most uncompromising band." Sunday Herald