NOTES BY J.

One time I met Mark E. Smith. It was during the Fall’s U.S. tour for the Middle Class Revolt album. This would’ve been maybe Summer of 1995. My pal and roommate Dave Trumfio was hired to record Cynthia Plastercaster, the infamous penis sculpting lady, who was performing an opening spoken word set for the Fall for possible release, and Dave asked if I wanted to tag along as his “assistant.”

We arrived at the Metro on Clark St. in Chicago (where Mark E. Smith and future wife/bandmate Brix Smith first met in 1981), with recording gear in tow, and we received our all-access passes. Dave set up the recorder and mics in the mixing booth while I walked onstage to do the usual “check, one, two”. Cynthia did her set, which we watched from the mixing booth. I remember it being pretty funny. Then my brief “job” was done, and I was free to enjoy/stalk the Fall.

I looked around in the dressing room and backstage. I finally caught up to Mark in a stairwell just off stage left. He was alone smoking a cigarette. I said, lamely, “Mark?” He looked up at me, and I guess he must’ve thought I was a Metro assistant who’d come to tell him it was time to start their set. I can’t remember what I said next – something along the lines of being a big fan – but when he realized I was just some wanker fan, he took another drag from his cigarette and said, “Why don’t you just fuck off to the bar?” So I did (fuck off). Walking back through the backstage doors, sulking a bit like the kid in the Mean Joe Greene 70’s Coke commercial, I encountered drummer Karl Burns, bassist Stephen Hanley, and guitarist Craig Scanlon, all longtime Fall vets, hanging out drinking beers in the backstage corridor. They happened to notice how Mark had dispatched me, and they all proceeded to slap me on the back, telling me not to take it personally in their thick Northern English.

I kept a low profile until the Fall went on, and then I posted myself stage left and watched most of the show from this amazing angle, directly to the side of Simon Wolstencroft’s drum kit (they were touring with two drummers on this tour). I dipped into the Fall’s dressing room at one point to grab another beer, and when I returned, Brix was sitting on the floor in the doorway between the backstage area and the stage left area, where I was before. This time when I tried to pass, though, she put her legs up against the door frame to prevent me from entering. I just kind of turned around and waited in the wings until she rejoined the band onstage, and then I just returned to the side stage to continue watching the rest of the show. After the show I shook hands and chatted with the band in the dressing room – including Mark, who didn’t seem to remember our earlier encounter. They were all really nice and friendly.

In any case, to this day I’m proud to be able to say that Mark E. Smith once told me to hit the bricks…

J. Niimi
Chicago, 12/27/20

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NOTES BY GREG

I think J. Niimi is the expert on Mark E. Smith, but I just wanted to say that I always loved Mark for his honesty. He wrote about anything he wanted, never was the audience just the point, although he built up a loyal and focused audience, who like him wanted to be just as individualist. He did everything he wanted to do. There’s a funny quote about how he had so many musicians come and go in his band; some left of their own accord, some he fired.

Anyway, the joke about the Fall was that if it is Mark E. Smith
and your granny on bongos, it’s still the Fall. It says a lot about him. Love him or hate him, you couldn't really ignore his contribution
to music. My lyrics were more about how serious this crackpot took himself, how his heart of snakes was really just sort of his persona, or not.

The Fall were like a football team he started, and maybe in a sense we should keep the franchise open, still root for it. Hit the Bricks! has a sports chant vibe to it. Because in a certain way he musically stuck to his formula, and it won him some championships.
In another way, what kinds of wreckage of relationships did he leave?

He is an idol of ours for sure, and after he died, three years ago this week, we wrote our first song about him, maybe we will write more? Man's Body has the same kind of blood in it, because for better or worse, J. and I for sure are lifers.

Greg Franco
Los Angeles, 1/07/21