I know someone will post to say that these 10 are among their favourite Fall tracks, but I prefer to skip all of them.

Feel free to list your own 'bottom ten'.

I know what you mean, but I've argued many times that the bad track is a calculated part of their--erm--appeal.

Don't care for the 500 wine track but LOVE "Papal Visit," which some would put on your list.

ten of the worst Fall songs? :confused:

I wouldn't rank any of these among my all time favourite top 10 songs. However apart from Hands Up Billy and Secession Man which is at least partly tolerable none of them would make it to the bottom of my list either.

Theme From Sparta FC? C'mon, it certainly deserves an extended break onstage, but the song itself isn't bad at all. Neither can I understand the common hostility towards Over! Over! and Idiot Joy Showland.

What I can retrace is that putting some of the low-fi thingies in this poll would have been too obvious.

I never skip tracks, not even at the end of Code:Selfish when it would be easy.

I love Papal Visit, too. I'd class that as one of their charming lo-fi thingies, although I didn't poll it with these.

Re: these tracks, it's only my personal opinion and hard to explain – I just don't like 'em.

Now I know it ain't the question, but my favourite of these 10 is Idiot Joy Showland. Or Sparta, probably.

Extraordinairy list for worst Fall Songs.

The only one I have set as skip from shuffle is North West Fashion show, so voted for that.

These I would classify as better than average Fall songs:

Sparta FC (5*)
Pearl City (4*)
Breaking The Rules (4*)
Cruiser's Creek (4*)

Can think of 20 worst songs than NW Fashion Show too

Quite a bizarre list of top hates there ... why has Cruiser's Creek suddenly become this forum's choice of song to bash?!? I like NW Fashion Show too ...

Anyway, if anyone cares, here are my off-the-top-of-my-head worst Fall tunes up until 1996 ... after that I'd just put Levitate in for all ten!

I have deliberately avoided stuff like Papal Visit, which of course NOBODY likes, right?!? :) I've also tried to keep it to stuff that I am embarrassed to let anybody hear, rather than, say, the dull nothingness of stuff like You Haven't Found It Yet ...

BOURNEMOUTH RUNNER
BAD NEWS GIRL
EDINBURGH MAN
GUT OF THE QUANTIFIER
BILL IS DEAD
BLACK MONK THEME PART 1
JINGLES CABARET (Session Musician is a masterpiece ruined by this dreadful section)
THE LITTLEST REBEL
ROSE
THE STEAK PLACE
GET A HOTEL
OSWALD DEFENCE LAWYER

That's 12, but anyway ...

I can, like, totally relate to that list, except cruisers creek which i do give an occasional listen.

the $500 bottle of wine is a real low point :rolleyes:

Each to their own, and all that.

With the exception of Pearl City, and perhaps occasionally $500 Bottle Of Wine, I really like all those. Pearl City is a bit of a stinker I think, and so it gets my vote.

D---truly, you must be bonkers--- step back from your initial 80's life-changing disappointment about The Frenz Experiment, put it on again on high volume, and see if your toe ain't tappin' to these tunes, your tongue clickin' along with the words. It's OK to reassess, change your mind!

Everybody else-- sounds like we could all make our own crap poll!

To me, the "experiments" (Das Poop, excepted) and novelty numbers aren't the worst, it's the ones that are meant to be real songs and just . . . are embarrassingly cringe-worthy. Clunkers. Clams. That there are so few in The Fall catalogue speaks volumes about our heroes.

Over Over is the definitive dud in this poll and gets my vote.

Bagatelles, some of them - not vital, but not vile either; they mostly work well in context or as a breather between two classics (or something - and I know this doesn't apply for a lot of tracks here, like the singles).

Secessation Man though is a great "up" song - a nice rounding off to the LP. $500 Bottle of Wine just a piss-about - also a nice take on the tensions in the group, maybe?
And an argument could be made for most of the songs here - just, they're OK - not brilliant, but OK

I've always found Cruiser's Creek a bit dull - a big brash thing, but too long - the great long songs tend to have fewer notes and fewer breaks - more hypnotic.

That would apply to Living Too Late wouldn't it ? If that's the kind of track you mean I completely agree.

Get A Hotel is a great track!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'd say there are only 2 duds on the original list - Over! Over! and Hands Up Billy, but Over! Over! is hobbled by a lack-lustre performance/production rather than being a weak song per se, whereas the main thing wrong with Hands Up Billy is that it just doesn't sound like a Fall song - on account of it being a Neville Wilding composition with a couple of MES lines smeared over the top of it.

Steak Place is pretty bad but how come there are no nominations for In These Times? That really is shit!

My ten worst would be ten from the last album.

Apart from that, I do find Cruisers Creek annoying, and Draygo's Guilt. And Hit The North never did much for me.

I always saw 'Over! Over!' as a stand-out track on the album :o

Steak Place is great. You're missing out. I don't get why anyone would NOT love this. Got something against steak? Hitmen? Cheap carpet? The Fall havin' a laugh?

But In These Times is pretty mediocre and forgettable, which to me is THE cardinal sin of pop music. It's certainly the worst track on Frenz Experiment by several leagues.

Fun? We're not here for fun, goddammit!

The (musical) lameness of Dr Buck's Letter should not be under-estimated either.

:lol: I'm ONLY here for fun. Probably why I like Pumpkin Soup & Mashed Potatoes, I'm A Mummy, $500 Bottle of Wine, Ibis Afro Man, Crew Filth, Junk Man, The Steak Place, Oswald Defence Lawyer, Pinball Machine, Black Monk Theme, etc.

Ha ha, yeah seriously though, fun is all part of The Fall's repertoire and I happen to like most of those songs you cite (apart from Crew Filth, The Steak Place and $500 Bottle of Wine).

It's not the tone/approach of The Steak Place I object to - it's the melodic aridity which gets on my tits!

As an aside, of the 11 songs you mention, nearly 50% are covers. Wht are the chances of that in a random sample? Hmmm....

Well, I quite like In These Times, acshully.

In these times is okay, not bad enough to merit mention.
And hands up billy, if your in the mood "rocks" ok.
Dr Buck is a masterpiece, truly great sounds on that one.
I wouldnt mind hearing an alternate, worked on version of over over. over---...-
,
woup---Ch----Ch----Ch-----Ch-the SteaK PLace. CHuCK,,DuM,DuM---DaDum.
Simplicity, perfectly executed.

When I saw the Poll title I expected it to be filled with these to choose from:

Midwatch 1953
Fiend With A Violin
Mollusc In Tyrol
Papal Visit
Das Boat
Symbol Of Mordgan
Mad. Men-Eng. Dog
Early Life Of Crying Marshal
Live at the Witch Trials
pilsner trail
Recipe for Fascism
Powderkex
Tragic Days
Light/Fireworks
W.M.C. -Blob 59
Crew Filth

Not to forget the pointless Outro off RPTLC

"woup---Ch----Ch----Ch-----Ch-the SteaK PLace. CHuCK,,DuM,DuM---DaDum.
Simplicity, perfectly executed."

Precisely!

As for "melodic aridity," Capps, I thought that was MES' modus operandi! :D

I think Outro got a few votes in the Fall Cup 2007. One of them was by me. To put such a pointless thing on a record is classick dada up there with John Cage's silent music, if you ask me.

Hmmm . . . I really like all these, except Das Poop and Symbol of Mordgan.

On Pilsner Trail, somebody recently said it was a rant, well okay, but what I listen to is the Drunken Keyboard in the background, that redeems it for me.
At least on the live version I have.

I like all of those tracks a lot.

Mollusc In Tyrol would be in my top 20 favourite Fall songs. It has a warped, unearthly beauty. Listen loud – on headphones – to be 'blown away'.

In terms of the least faves, I slightly regret including Cruiser’s Creek. It's nowhere near as bad as some of the others. I wish I'd put in I Can Hear The Grass Grow instead.

My dislike of Over! Over! is partly down to the fact that it's such a travesty compared to Coming Down by the United States Of America. Listen to them back-to-back – and weep!

How can anyone not be charmed by the hilarious Peel/Craig tape meddling of Symbol Of Mordgan?

It's charming once or twice. :P

Voted for the ghastly Secession Man, which was pressed hard by $500 Bottle of Wine. Two proper stinkers indeed...

Cruiser's Creek is decent, I used to like Sparta a lot (it annoys me now, but that can happen from overplaying without the song necessarily being bad) and I still bop along from time to time to Breaking the Rules (the proper, 'honest' cover version Walk Like a Man on the box set is better though).

Hands Up Billy, Idiot Joy Showland, Over! Over!, NW Fashion Show and Pearl City don't really offend me, but are sub standard and highly skippable.

Oh Well

we all have our own tastes.

The above tracks to me are time robbing and devoid of anything I would consider musically worthwhile, mere fumblings gone wrong.

Each to his own I guess.

PS if i want to listen to the situation at Man City in the mid 1990's I'd listen to a sports prog. Similarly, if i want to listen to experimental electronic music I will select something from Cabaret Voltaire's large catalogue rather than the weak and ineffectual Das fucking Boot

I'll get my coat!

:P

PS If I have been a really bad person I always subject my self to three Mad Men-Eng Dog plays as penance

PPS

Stephen

Are you saying that by liking them a lot you are rating them as say 4 or 5 out of 5?

:confused:

I don't have a ratings system and wouldn't know how to quantify/evaluate my feelings about any music in that way.

Re: the lo-fi tracks being 'mere fumblings gone wrong', I think that misses something fundamental about the experimental and playful nature of The Fall. Sometimes they have made great art when seemingly just 'mucking around', and made less inspiring material when trying to create 'proper' songs. This is why Das Boat is a thousand times more interesting than Over! Over! and why Symbol Of Mordgan works so well but The $500 Bottle Of Wine doesn't.

Its your own call Stephen to listen to them and draw your own conclusions. If you like them and they are a regular part of your music playing good for you.

I like experimental music when I think it works. These just don't IMO, not even close. You describe them as lo-fi, I describe them as devoid of any musical worth.

But thats not to say that if the next Fall LP has another failed fumbling, I will complain if they deliver more great stuff to go with it. Goes with the territory as they say.

:)

PS If you dont have a mental rating system, I dont understand how you could conclude that you like these tracks a lot . That implies you rate them better than other things. This means you do have a ratings system. How do these songs compare to say 'Container Drivers', or 'The Classical'. Do you like them a lot, or more than a lot, or less?

I agree when you say that much of the Fall's appeal and also their ability to avoid being predictable, is down to an experimental nature (or maybe rather a 'we don't give a fuck' attitude)

But then again - taking for instance the Fall Cup as some sort of acid test, none of these tracks exactly set even a significant minority of even hard core fans on here alight with exitement (not belittling any opinion by the way... 10 'Outro' fans can't be wrong, eh? ;) )

It's a great thing that people view the Fall in different ways but, at least for me, they're not an art installation or an avant garde act - they're a stonking rock'n'roll group with refreshing, unconventional ideas and a stubborn disposition...
I must admit I hardly even notice a piece like Shed Segment (basically 20 seconds of someone blowing air into the mic). I guess that's where the pretty well hidden anti-intellectual in me kicks in and the 'I could do that...' sentiments start to creep in...

But as I said, they're strange, sometimes intriguing and integral parts of good, rounded album experiences. For me they symbolize an acceptable overspill of ideas - maybe even a necessary outlet in some ways. Part of the deal, if you like. A little side dish, complimentary of the chef.
But in any way essential to the enjoyment of The Fall? Not for me.

Well articulated Kap. I think I am agitated by Villa giving away a 4-1 lead and only getting a draw.

Desert Island Disc question:

Mad. Men-Eng. Dog vs Sparta FC?

:lol:

At the moment, I would actually choose Mad.Men-Eng.Dog :o
Sparta really rubs me the wrong way these days, and I've heard everything I need from that. At least Mad.Men-Eng.Dog would give me a day or two of investigation - or even develop into some kind of hypnotic mantra that could prove entertaining in the long run...

...and of course it would be a much more appropriate soundtrack to the insanity that would inevitably set in :P

I agree Snowey - a good selection of the worst here. But you should expect these things from Stephen. He don't even like The Clash. :devil: :D

From Stephens list, Breaking The Rules and Bottle of Wine are the worst. But Idiot Joy Showland and Cruiser's Creek are fine tracks IMO. Hands Up Billy and Sparta OK as well.

Steak Place - one of the best tracks on Frenz IMO.

But what about Pumpkin Soup and Mashed Potatoes - that's a real stinker. That should be on there. Or Birthday and City Never Sleeps.

sparta

rubbish

some of the others are great though!

favourite (not the question i know) idiot joy showland (and like the spoken word version too)

I realize that I am "the guy with all the Canned Heat records" so make of this what you will, smirkers, but SpartaFC [I think] is one of the all time great songs. I look forward to when it's time for "Hands Up Billy".....the only song on this list I really don't care for is "$500Wine" ... and to compound my shame, I really like "I Can Hear the Grass Grow".... Steak Place & Hotel are wonderful....And[digging the hole even deeper - ignoring the rule of holes: When you're in too deep, first, stop digging] probably my favorite Fall song is "Bremen Nacht" in all its permutations.
[I expect you'll not be hearing from Duckpin236 again because of a case of "moderator bigfoot"][think I'll go play my Eric Dolphy records with the lights out][then Charlie Poole]

Idiot Joy Showland – makes me cringe every time I hear it….awful.

Can’t really understand why anyone would dislike Cruisers Creek and although hearing yet another live, bar-room boogie version of Sparta FC isn’t exactly my idea of Fall heaven, if you go back to the RNFLP studio version, which has an appealingly less rushed feel and is funnier than any live version, you’ll find that it is actually a thing of real beauty…

No, man, you're totally all right with that Fall-taste. B) I love all this stuff, too. Even like $500 Bottle of Wine.

Not sure why you have all those Canned Heat albums, though. May I suggest the band Canned Hamm?