Mark E. Smith ran the Fall as an autocractic shaman-author purging spontaneity

Evidence

The temptation to use Smith’s persona as a key to the songs was especially pressing because all pretence of democracy in the group has long since disappeared. By the time of Grotesque, it was clear that Smith was as much of an autocrat as James Brown, the band the zombie slaves of his vision. He is the shaman-author, the group the producers of a delirium-inducing repetition from which all spontaneity must be ruthlessly purged. “Don’t start improvising for Christ’s sake,” goes a line on Slates, the 10” EP followup to Grotesque, echoing his chastisement of the band for “showing off” on the live LP Totale’s Turns. — Mark Fisher (edited by Darren Ambrose), K-Punk, 1150

Categorization

• SHARE: For a Fall/Mark E. Smith obsessive — details the autocratic band structure via specific quoted chastisements.
• XREF: connects to: The Fall’s Mark E. Smith abandoned Romantic subjectivity for a narrative author-function — Mark Fisher (edited by Darren Ambrose), K-Punk: The Collected and Unpublished…, 1109; The Fall’s Mark E. Smith treated England as a pathological poison and cure — Mark Fisher (edited by Darren Ambrose), K-Punk: The Collected and Unpublished…, 1142; The Fall’s Mark E. Smith parallels black music’s world-building despots — Mark Fisher (edited by Darren Ambrose), K-Punk: The Collected and Unpublished…, 1162 (+2 more)

Broader Connections

• The Fall’s Mark E. Smith parallels black music’s world-building despots #expands (0.85) — Mark Fisher (edited by Darren Ambrose), K-Punk, 1162
• The Fall’s aggression was formal disassembly of rock, not mere force #expands (0.72) — Mark Fisher (edited by Darren Ambrose), K-Punk, 1161
• The Fall and League of Gentlemen share a grotesque humour mixing comedy with menace #complicates (0.70) — Mark Fisher (edited by Darren Ambrose), K-Punk, 1174