10 stinkers – worst Fall songs?

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?

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



This post has been edited by snoweyuk on Oct 2 2007, 01:43 AM

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

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

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.

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?

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

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

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?

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

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

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.

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?

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

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

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

This post has been edited by snoweyuk on Oct 2 2007, 04:31 AM

"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!

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.