Falco (musician)

. In 2002 Q magazine named The Fall as one of the "50 Bands To See Before You Die". The spoken intro jokingly refers to Falco as "a gang bangin' thug" and "money makin' playa". While the tribute may have been less than 100% sincere, there is no denying that Falco's combination of pop melody with rap-styled vocal delivery has proven highly influential in recent years. Like traditional reggae, which Smith reports having listened to frequently as a teenager, most Fall songs are composed of simple, repeating riffs that Smith rants/sings over in a rhythmic drawl. In 2002, the American comic rock group, The Bloodhound Gang dedicated their song, "Mope" to him. A reggae influence is also evident. In 2000, the musical Falco Meets Amadeus was produced and staged in Germany. The Fall's influences are worn lightly, though Can, Captain Beefheart, and the more experimental work of The Velvet Underground are all evident, and their infrequent cover songs are mostly obscure songs by obscure musicians.

. Perhaps his most distinctive trait is an explosive syllable added after some words, such as in his delivery of a lyric from "Free Range": "This is the spring-uh without end-uh". He died of severe head injuries received following his SUV's collision with a bus near the resort of Puerto Plata, in the Dominican Republic at age 40. Smith is far from a great singer, but his sense of rhythm and attack, however, is second to none. Because it was told from the point of view of a rapist, several DJs and radio stations refused to play it. 'Sing Harpy'). The song Jeanny became somewhat of a controversy when it was released in Germany and the Netherlands. see 'C.R.E.E.P' and 'Hard Life in Country'), and some brutal ad hominem diatribes (e.g.

An English cover version of Der Kommissar by After the Fire became a Top 5 hit in the United States. 'Marquis Cha Cha'), magic and mythology ('Elves', 'Wings'), devastating critiques of passing fads (e.g. Other well-known international hits include Der Kommissar (a partial rap song about drug consumption) from the 1982 album Einzelhaft and Vienna Calling from Falco 3. His lyrics are sometimes maddeningly obscure (especially to non-British listeners), and usually caustic in their satire, wildly imaginative in their scope, embracing politics (e.g. ("Ice Ice Baby" by Vanilla Ice from 1991 is usually cited as the first true rap record to top the Billboard Hot 100.). Smith's ranted lyrical poetry. He was best known internationally for the rap-styled Rock Me Amadeus (inspired in part by the Oscar-winning film Amadeus) from his album Falco 3, which became a worldwide hit in 1986 and reached Number 1 on the US charts, arguably the first rap song to achieve this feat. What unites them is the sound of Mark E.

As a solo artist, Falco had taken an interest in the sounds and rhythms of rap music, and was one of the first Europeans to incorporate rap stylings into pop and rock music. The Fall's sound has generally remained constant from the clanking, almost rockabilly guitars of their early work to the amphetamine-rush of the more recent digitized backing tracks. Before becoming an international popstar, he was bass-player in the Austrian hard-rock band Drahdiwaberl. The Real New Fall LP (reputedly renamed from Country on the Click after an earlier mix of the album appeared on Internet file sharing networks) followed in 2003, with a slightly different mix and some extra tracks for the US version. He was born in Vienna and studied at the Vienna Music Conservatory. Further rifts followed in 2001, the new lineup of Smith, Ben Pritchard (guitar), Jim Watts (bass) and Spencer Birtwistle (drums) releasing Are You Are Missing Winner to mixed reviews. Falco (February 19, 1957 - February 6, 1998) was the stage name of the classical music prodigy turned Austrian rock star, Johann Hölzel (also Hans Hölzel). From this nadir, the Fall achieved another comeback with Smith and Nagle being joined by Neville Wilding on guitar, Karen Leatham and later Adam Halal on bass, and Tom Head on drums for the acclaimed albums The Marshall Suite (1999) and The Unutterable (2000).

Verdammt wir leben noch (2000). tour ended in the departure (April 1998) of Steve Hanley (bassist for 19 years), Burns (back for a final spell on drums) and guitarist Tommy Crooks, following a violent on-stage row with a drunken Smith. Out Of The Dark (1998). The group was temporarily reduced to Smith and Nagle when a disastrous U.S. Nachtflug (1992). With Bush gone and Scanlon sacked after 16 years (a decision later regretted by Smith), 1996 saw Brix's brief return and the arrival on keyboards, guitars and computers of Julia Nagle for The Light User Syndrome. The Remix Hit Collection (1991). With Dave Bush joining on keyboards, 1992's Code: Selfish saw a welcome return to the group's unpredictable ways, followed by The Infotainment Scan (1993), Middle Class Revolt (1994) and Cerebral Caustic (1995).

Data de Groove (1990). With Brix's departure in 1989, Bramah returned briefly for 1990's successful Extricate, leaving with Schofield in advance of 1991's Shift-Work. Wiener Blut (1988). The autumn of 1983 heralded another dramatic change, this time to a relatively more pop music-oriented sound, with the arrival of Smith's American girlfriend and later wife, Californian Brix Smith, as guitarist alongside Scanlon, giving the group their nearest approach to hit-single stardom as well as the highly acclaimed albums Perverted By Language (1983), The Wonderful and Frightening World of the Fall (1984), This Nation's Saving Grace (1985), the underrated Bend Sinister (1986), the less memorable The Frenz Experiment (1988) and I Am Kurious, Oranj (the fruit of a ballet project between Smith and dancer Michael Clark), with Simon Rogers and later Marcia Schofield on keyboards, and Simon Wolstencroft replacing Burns on drums after This Nation's Saving Grace. Emotional(1986). Dragnet signalled a sparser, still more jagged feel, which was to fill out into a more grinding, industrial sound though Grotesque (1980), the 10-inch Slates (1981), Hex Enduction Hour (1982) and Room to Live (1982). Falco 3 (1985). With Craig Scanlon and recent bassist Marc Riley on guitar, Steve Hanley on bass and Mike Leigh on drums (subsequently to be replaced by Paul Hanley and then a two-drummer lineup with a returned Burns), late 1979's L.P.

Junge Römer (1984). Their EP Bingo-Master's Break-out (1978), already minus Friel, and debut album Live at the Witch Trials (1979, and not, incidentally, a live album), now without Baines too, served up a caustic mix of belligerently provincial urban paranoia and scorn for cultural norms, atop a deceptively unsophisticated musical arrangement. Einzelhaft (1982). From their first lineup of Smith, Martin Bramah (guitar), Tony Friel (bass), Una Baines (keyboards) and Karl Burns (drums) onward, the group produced a sound quite unlike anything else playing in the run-down dancehalls of northern England's new wave scene, drawing sometimes violent reactions from hardcore fans of uncomplicated punk guitar thrash. A May, 2004 interview with Smith reports "49 (band) members, 78 albums and 41 singles," and also records longtime supporter John Peel's opinion of The Fall: "They are always different, they are always the same." [1] (http://enjoyment.independent.co.uk/music/interviews/story.jsp?story=525563). Smith providing the one constant note through more than two prolific decades of bewildering personnel changes.

Formed in Manchester in 1977 at the height of punk rock's rise, but never quite fitting into that movement or its post-punk/new wave offshoots, The Fall have continued for a quarter of a century to produce unpredictable and challenging music, varying richly in both character and quality, the abrasive lyrics and half-droned, half-ranted vocals of frontman Mark E. The Fall are a British rock music group, named after Albert Camus' novel. For other uses, see Fall (disambiguation).. This article is about the English punk band.