Скачать или смотреть Mark E Smith un-broadcast interview June 1996

I recently discovered un-broadcast recording of Mark E Smith for VH1. It’s been languishing in a drawer for years and thought the first anniversary of Mark's death would be a good time to share this 'lost' interview. The interview is dated on or around 18th June 1996, just before the recording of The Fall's Take It To The Bridge performance on VH1 and just after the release of the album The Light User Syndrome.

In 1996, I was freelancing as a promo producer and motion graphic designer at MTV/VH1 in London. Everyone I worked with knew I was a big Fall fan and told me that Smith had recently been interviewed for MTV, but the recording was deemed unsuitable for broadcast. Some kind soul working in the MTV library found the videotape hidden away in the vaults and made me a VHS copy.

It's clear, after watching the interview, that it was never intended for broadcast. Firstly, there is no microphone on the interviewer and this makes her voice too audibly low for broadcast (which I've tried to increase) and the one-camera, extreme close-up would make editing difficult, especially given Smith's erratic movements. Secondly, a callous VH1 producer appears to have assigned an unfortunate, naive (and anonymous) 26 year old female staffer the job of interviewing the notoriously abrasive and volatile leader of The Fall to earn her music journalism credentials. Strangely though, as one sees as the interview progresses, she does quite well and her lack of experience and knowledge becomes an asset. After questioning the interviewee's inexperience, Smith seems to warm to her and drops his usual acidic guard revealing more than if she'd been a seasoned music hack. The latter stages appear more like a chat over a cup of tea than an interview, making it one of the more candid and open media exchanges given by Smith at the time. There's lots of interesting topics in here; politics, recording albums, record companies, young fans, plagiarism, Sex Pistols and Buzzcocks reformation, Paul Weller, Paul McCartney, Pete Waterman and John Peel. I particularly like the way Smith praises his ex-wife Brix, who had re-joined The Fall during this period but she would shortly leave acrimoniously during the album's imminent promotional tour.