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
The Ugly American: Transmission 135, 2014 July 4
We Don't Pull A PBS: Transmission 134, 2014 July 1
Save Your Shoes, There's Another Band After Us: Transmission 133, 2014 June 24
Live In Studio B - I Fucking Love You: Transmission 132, 2014 June 19
The Comfort You've Demanded Is Now Mandatory: Transmission 131, 2014 June 17
Not As Erotic As You Might Think: Episode 130, 2014 June 10
Thirteen Popes Named "Innocent": Transmission 129, 2014 June 6
Full Interview: Ivo Watts-Russell of This Mortal Coil and The Hope Blister
The Hall of Legends - Ivo Watts-Russell: Transmission 128, 2014 June 4
The Horizon Leans Forward: Transmission 127, 2014 May 28
Losing Yourself Is Part Of The Game: Transmission 126, 2014 May 21
Full Interview: Andrew Gray of The Wolfgang Press
Full Interview: Mark Cox of The Wolfgang Press
The Hall Of Legends - The Wolfgang Press: Transmission 125, 2014 May 14
Mellow Out And Be A Nice Kind Of Chap: Transmission 124, 2014 May 7
Mashed Potatoes and a Boogaloo: Transmission 123, 2014 May 2
Germanic (K)night: Transmission 122, 2014 April 30
Like A Petrol Rainbow On The Water: Transmission 121, 2014 April 28
You Don't Know Me, But You Could: Transmission 120, 2014 April 27
I Am The Lord Of My Own Particular Jungle: Transmission 119, 2014 April 23
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