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
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Fast Forward and Reversing: Transmission 118, 2014 April 22
The Truth Is Out There: Transmission 117, 2014 April 20
Angry Mom Records: Transmission 116, 2014 April 16
Dub Night: Transmission 115, 2014 April 14
Vocoders in the Spring: Transmission 114, 2014 April 13
Deconstruction Services: Transmission 113, 2014 April 9
My Show Is Not Weird Enough: Transmission 112, 2014 April 2
It's 3 a.m. Somewhere: Transmission 111, 2014 March 29
He'll Pop Your Dreams Like They Were Bubbles: Transmission 110, 2014 March 26
Senses Take Over As We Start To Float: Transmission 109, 2014 March 23
You Better Move Over, Here Comes A Supernova: Transmission 108, 2014 March 19
Straight To The Pantheon: Transmission 107, 2014 March 16
Modern Rubbish Is Still Life: Transmission 106, 2014 March 12
Pink Rooms and Junior Proms: Transmission 105, 2014 March 9
Redefine Success and Mistakes: Transmission 104, 2014 March 6
Basslines for Death: Transmission 103, 2014 March 5
The Darkness Is Too Bright: Transmission 102, 2014 February 26
Two Turntables and a Microphone: Transmission 101, 2014 February 23
Don't Try To Reach Me 'Cause I'd Tear Up Your Mind: Transmission 100, 2014 February 18
I Only See Straight When I'm Being Led: Transmission 99, 2014 February 13
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