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
Through A Lovely Analog Console, Which Apparently Doesn't Matter: Transmission 236, 2015 September 16
Before God, What Kind of Thing Is It? Transmission 235, 2015 September 15
Bring Some Good Vibes and Your Nice Sunglasses: Transmission 234, 2015 September 3
Now I Try and Do Things Right: Transmission 233, 2015 September 2
It Seems Like the End of the World When You Smile: Transmission 232, 2015 August 26
The Darkest Night Was the Day: Transmission 231, 2015 August 25
The Freaks and the Misfits Are All That Remain: Transmission 230, 2015 August 19
Witness What My Knuckles Find: Transmission 229, 2015 August 16
A Dream So Pure I Cannot Find a Heart That Will Endure It: Transmission 228, 2015 August 12
He Asked No Questions, He Had Few Conversations: Transmission 227, 2015 August 11
Trying Every Now and Then: Transmission 226, 2015 August 8
How Much Further Do I Need To Go: Transmission 225, 2015 August 5
Dan-U, Dan-U, Goddamn You: Transmission 224, 2015 July 29
Relying Only on Perplexing Intangibilities: Transmission 223, 2015 July 24
Drawing a Crowd and Threatening Everything: Transmission 222, 2015 July 22
Lose Some Sleep and Say You Tried: Transmission 221, 2015 July 15
Fiscal Evidence: Transmission 220, 2015 July 8
I Used To Think in Complicated Ways: Transmission 219, 2015 July 6
Misdemeanors Against Music: Transmission 218, 2015 July 5
At the End of My Tether, I Destroy Years of Hippie Craft: Transmission 217, 2015 July 1
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