Southern Mark Smith and Jazz Butcher Meets Count Dracula were recorded in the summer of 1983 in a place called Wellingborough, a small town in the middle of England where even the children are scarey! "Hey, mister, can you SEE in them glasses?" I get to sing and play things like guitar, sax and piano. Max does the electric guitar. On bass is Rolo McGinty, and Princess Alice Thompson plays the organ. They're both in the The Woodentops now, a group internationally recognised as being the shortest collection of pop musicians in the world. Playing the drums is Kevin Haskins, a charming neighbour of mine, and veteran of the Bauhaus conspiracy. Miaowula! Source: The Gift Of Music liner notes

Soft white underbelly = Saturday Scene. Source: A Scandal In Bohemia liner notes

Well, the JBC really did get a big return off this one. It opened a lot of doors for us in Europe and America, and listening back now I think I can see why. No, I mean that Hammond... Source: Unconditional liner notes

All right, here's the thing. The phrase came up some time in conversation and was duly seized upon. I think that it may well have been some kind of reference to Gerard Langley. We'd been to see the Aeroplanes quite early on in their career on account of a review in the NME written by our pal Campbell Stevenson, which went under the headline: "Exploding! Plastic! In Bristol???" But, you know, Mark E. Smith is so steroptypically northern that the very phrase "southern Mark Smith" comes across to me like "lush Sahara"or "wise and noble Bush". So there's that too.

The tune got "written" into a tape recorder during the BBC evening news broadcast on Easter Sunday 1983. References to Lady Di had already been excised by the time we recorded the single version, which was at the beginning of September 1983. Ah well."

Good. There's that one wrapped up in a tidy little package. Now if someone cares to explain "I Need Meat"...

A little later...

I saw a bit of correspondence on the site about this "Southern Mark Smith" business. Our dear friend Mister Berman appears to have had a fair stab at explaining what may or may not have been on my mind at the time (it is, frankly, not much use asking me at this advanced stage of the game...), but then another fellow (Hank, is it?) steps in with some rather more speculative stuff about one "McGinty".

Our pal is referring to "Pat, Trip Dispenser", which was the b-side to the Fall's single "C.R.E.E.P." Towards the end of the tune, things go quiet and Mister Smith is heard intoning (and I write from memory) "McGinty thought he could fool the Fall with his imitation speed!" (My memory is about 100% on this one, though.)

Now, "C.R.E.E.P." came out not long after we had recorded "Southern Mark Smith". Somebody at JBC Central (Mitch?) brought home a copy. We heard the b-side and were struck down with fear, for we ourselves were not sure whether somebody was having a pop at our gang (with Lolo Mcginty) or not. The man on the website clearly felt the same way, for he writes authoratitively for anyone who is paying attention that the McGinty hereinabove referred to was indeed the talented wee monkey boy who played bass for us.

You can see what is going on here - there is a "Pat" in the title, a "McGinty" in the lyric and it came out about the same time as our "Smith" record. You can see the way that Hank's mind is working here, can't you, Mister Holmes?

Trouble is...it's not right. "Pat, Trip Dispenser" was already in the can before the Fall even heard our record. It is therefore definitely NOT an "answer record" to "Southern Mark Smith". And, as ever, the clue is in the title. Those who know the history of the Fall well will tell you that the song is in fact a blast at infamous Manchester dealer, Pat McGinty. (Oh yeah - Pat, Trip Dispenser!) There had been a bit of customer dissatisfaction on the band's part, and this was their way of getting back at the naughty pharmacist (no, don't start...)

So there you have it. Not the JBC, but some dodgy Mancunian c***. Hope that clears things up. Source: Pat Fish email 2003-02-24 08:45:31 (Monday, 24^th of February 2003 - 21 years 82 days ago)