I'm going to be petty for a moment and talk about an inconvenient aspect of death. It can really mess with the plans of the living. Here I was, planning on featuring a Leslie Winer record (NB that I did anyway) and in comes the news that Mark E Smith has died. What on earth am I supposed to do with this? I did what I could, and what I always do--I played a Fall song on the radio.
Should I have gone with two hours' worth? Maybe, though frequent listeners will already be overly familiar with my Fall habit. I certainly didn't become acquainted with the band through large doses. Funnily enough, my first relevant memory is of hearing a tune in the car, age 16 or 17, not knowing who it was, having it stick in my head firmly enough to drive me crazy with curiosity, and finding out years later that it was "Barmy." There was also Friend of Bombast Jeremy, who had a copy of Palace of Swords Reversed that he would try to get me to listen to but I couldn't seem to be bothered, most of the time. Still, things stuck with me--bits of "Leave the Capitol," "Fit and Working Again" and "Kicker Conspiracy," and all of "Marquis Cha-Cha." At some point I bought this compilation and was bowled over by the rendition of "Wings." (Ah, this one, here! So good!) I wouldn't call this succumbing instantaneous or gradual; it was very random and staccato. Things just lingered, waiting to be latched onto. Seems fitting.
It's been weird, the last 20 years, watching the man's personal decline--hearing about the belligerence, the drinking, the verbal and physical violence. I have to say that I haven't made sense of it--I'm unable to bracket off the "product" from the personal, but I also can't stop listening. I can't quit him though I know I probably should. It is probably like this for other people.
If this seems like an abrupt ending, that's how life works.
BOMBAST playlist, 2018 January 24, 2100-2300:
a train to Crewe
https://www.facebook.com/radiobombast?ref=hl
https://twitter.com/KidCatharsis
Gun For Hire, No Business Attire: Transmission 286, 2016 June 29
Feel Like A Soldier, Look Like A Thief: Transmission 285, 2016 June 22
Breakfast At Eric's: Transmission 284, 2016 June 18
Come Inside And Be All You've Dreamed Of: Transmission 283, 2016 June 15
You Ain't Seen Nothing Till You've Seen the Invisible: Transmission 282, 2016 June 9
While Your Charm Is Considered Disarming: Transmission 281, 2016 June 8
We Can Go for a Walk Where It's Quiet and Dry, and Talk About Precious Things: Transmission 280, 2016 June 1
Wandering Up And Down Those Avenues Of Sin: Transmission 279, 2016 May 18
A Presence Conjured From Thin Air: Transmission 278, 2016 May 14
Don't You Roll So Slow: Transmission 277, 2016 May 11
Gangster Whitewalls, TV Antenna In The Back: Transmission 276, 2016 May 04
It's Going To Be The Usual Wild Ride, Mrs. Toad: Transmission 275, 2016 April 27
Uniquely, Completely, Imperially Alone: Transmission 274, 2016 April 23
A Determination Will Be Made As To Why That Occurred: Transmission 273, 2016 April 20
You Can't Tell If It's Your Birthday Or You're Getting Fired: Transmission 272, 2016 April 17
You're Floating Along, It's Hardly Worth Trying: Transmission 271, 2016 April 13
U_D_M Detour 19, 2015 October 26
Be Careful Where You Walk, And Don't Stare at the Stars: Transmission 270, 2016 April 6
Cruising Altitude Departure 18, 2015 September 20
We Know This Is a Moment Lost in Normal Time: Transmission 269, 2016 March 30
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