| Live in London 1980 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Live album by | ||||
| Released | February 1982 | |||
| Recorded | 11 December 1980 | |||
| Venue | Acklam Hall, London | |||
| Genre | Post-punk | |||
| Length | 60:29 | |||
| Label | Chaos Tapes | |||
| Producer | none | |||
| The Fall chronology | ||||
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Live in London 1980 is a live album by the Fall, released in 1982 on cassette on the Chaos Tapes label. Initially a limited edition of 4,000 copies, [1] the album has since been reissued several times as The Legendary Chaos Tape.
The Fall had played two nights at the 600-capacity Acklam Hall venue (later known as Bay 63 and Subterania, before reopening as a nightclub) [2] in Notting Hill on 11 and 12 December 1980, performing material from the recently released Grotesque (After the Gramme) album as well as songs that would later appear on Slates and Hex Enduction Hour . The band had been booked by Mike Hinc, who claimed that the band had broken the terms of their contract by playing another gig in London, at the 100 Club, a week earlier, which Hinc claimed "split the audience and meant a bad night for everyone". [3] Featuring the performance from the 11th, recorded by Grant Showbiz, the original release misidentified a handful of tracks, with "An Older Lover etc" being listed simply as "?" - although the track was unreleased at the time of the performance, Slates had been issued nearly a year prior to this cassette. [4] Mark E. Smith also told the NME that he felt Chaos Tapes had released the wrong recording and that the 12th had seen a better performance (as quoted in the 2004 edition sleevenotes by Daryl Easlea).
The recording is of only adequate sound quality and the performance is notably shoddy in places, with some songs badly fluffed by the group and even Smith making lyrical errors. However, it dated from a time when live albums by The Fall were not the regular occurrence they later became and the 4000-copy edition on Chaos Tapes was snapped up quickly. Just a few weeks later, the group released one of their most highly regarded studio albums, Hex Enduction Hour .
Chaos Tapes was a short-lived imprint, specialising in live material by established punk artists and releasing exclusively on the cassette format; the inner sleeve of this release advertised previous releases by the likes of Anti-Pasti, Discharge, Vice Squad, Chelsea and G.B.H.
The album has been issued on CD four times. It was issued via Scout Releases/Rough Trade in 1996, in the US only through Feel Good All Over in 1997 and then in 1999 through the group's own Cog Sinister imprint. On each of these occasions it was issued under the title The Legendary Chaos Tape. Castle Music restored the original title upon a further reissue in 2004 and added three more tracks taken from London performances in November 1980; "Cary Grant's Wedding", "Totally Wired" and "The NWRA". The sleeve does not identify the exact venues where these tracks were recorded. This edition was also released on vinyl by Italian label Earmark in 2005.
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [5] |
| AllMusic | [6] |
| Sounds | [1] |
Edwin Pouncey, reviewing the album for Sounds , gave it four stars, commenting that "the recording quality is good, with Mark's voice predominantly up front, providing some excellent moments, notably 'New Face in Hell' where Mark's vocal is mutated into a shrieking echo spitting out the words to some crazy nightmare." [1]
Ned Raggett, reviewing the 1995 CD reissue for AllMusic, gave it three stars, stating that it "captures more of the anti-smooth genius that was and is the Fall", and that it includes "some of the Fall's all-time best". [5] A review of the 1997 CD release on the Feel Good All Over label was also given three stars by the site's Ted Mills, who stated that the "performance is vintage Fall", and called it "past glories covered with a patina of analog distortion". [6]
The original cassette release reached number 7 in the UK Independent Chart in 1982, spending ten weeks on the chart in total. [7]
The Fall were an English post-punk group, formed in 1976 in Prestwich, Greater Manchester. They underwent many line-up changes, with vocalist and founder Mark E. Smith as the only constant member. The Fall's long-term musicians included drummers Paul Hanley, Simon Wolstencroft and Karl Burns; guitarists Craig Scanlon, Marc Riley, and Brix Smith; and bassist Steve Hanley, whose melodic, circular bass lines are widely credited with shaping the band's sound from early 1980s albums such as Hex Enduction Hour to the late 1990s.
Slates is an EP by the Fall, released on 27 April 1981 by Rough Trade Records. It was one of singer Mark E. Smith's favourite Fall releases, and he claimed it was aimed at "people who didn't buy records".
Live at the Witch Trials is the debut studio album by the Fall. It was released on 16 March 1979 through record label Step-Forward. It is not, despite its title, a live album and was recorded in a studio in a single day and mixed by producer Bob Sargeant.
Totale's Turns (It's Now or Never) is a (mostly) live album by the Fall, released on 5 May 1980.
Room to Live, subtitled Undilutable Slang Truth!, is the fifth studio album by English post-punk band the Fall. It was released on 27 September 1982 through record label Kamera.
Hex Enduction Hour is the fourth studio album by the English post-punk group the Fall. Released on 8 March 1982, it was built on low-fidelity production values and caustic lyrical content of their earlier recordings, and features a two-drummer lineup. Frontman Mark E. Smith established an abrasive Northern aesthetic built as part of the 20th century literary traditions of kitchen sink realism and magic realism. Smith described the album as an often-satirical but deliberate reaction to the contemporary music scene, a stand against "bland bastards like Elvis Costello and Spandau Ballet ... [and] all that shit."
Grotesque (After the Gramme) is the third studio album by English band the Fall. Released on 17 November 1980, it was the band's first studio album on Rough Trade.
Dragnet is the second studio album by English post-punk band the Fall, released on 26 October 1979 through Step-Forward Records. Appearing less than eight months after its predecessor, Live at the Witch Trials,Dragnet established at an early stage two key patterns characteristic of the group's future: that of high productivity and that of a regular turnover of group members.
Perverted by Language is the sixth studio album by English post-punk group The Fall, released in December 1983 on Rough Trade Records.
The Wonderful and Frightening World Of... is the seventh studio album by English musical group the Fall, released in October 1984. It was the band's first album after signing to the Beggars Banquet label. Newcomer Brix Smith co-wrote three of the tracks, ushering in a relatively pop-oriented sound for the group. Paul Hanley left the band immediately after the accompanying UK tour, ending the group's distinctive "twin drummers" period.
Bend Sinister is the ninth studio album by English post-punk band the Fall. It was released in September 1986 by record label Beggars Banquet.
I Am Kurious Oranj is the eleventh studio album by English post-punk band the Fall. It was released on 24 October 1988 through record label Beggars Banquet.
Cerebral Caustic is the seventeenth full-length studio album by English post-punk group The Fall, released in 1995 on Permanent Records. It spent one week on the UK Albums Chart at number 67, 19 places lower than its predecessor Middle Class Revolt, marking the end of one of the group's relatively more successful periods.
Fall in a Hole is a live album by the Fall, recorded in Auckland in August 1982 and released in December 1983 on the Flying Nun label of New Zealand.
The Complete Peel Sessions 1978–2004 is a compilation box set by English post-punk band the Fall. It was released in 2005 by record label Castle Music.
The Twenty-Seven Points: Live 92–95 is a double album by the Fall, released in 1995. The album consists of live recordings made in various locations between 1991 and 1995, but also contains interludes and two previously unheard studio tracks. Credits on the album are sketchy but the front cover lists the cities in which the tracks were recorded; Prague, Tel Aviv, London, Glasgow, New York City and Manchester.
Grant Showbiz is a British record producer principally known for his work with The Fall, The Smiths, and Billy Bragg plus as an artist in his own right with Moodswings. He has worked on more albums by both The Fall (15) & Billy Bragg (14) than any other producer, and continues to work with Bragg. Showbiz has been awarded Gold Records for The Smiths' Rank, Billy Bragg's Don't Try This At Home and The Wilco/Bragg collaboration Mermaid Vol.1, and received Grammy nominations for both Mermaid Avenue Vols 1 & 2.
A Part of America Therein, 1981 is a live album by the Fall, recorded on their 1981 U.S. tour and originally released only in the U.S. in 1982.
Hip Priest and Kamerads is a 1985 compilation album by British rock band The Fall, containing tracks taken from their releases on the Kamera label together with a previously unreleased live track from the same era. It was subsequently reissued with a further four live tracks added.
