August 1999, and the decision was taken to release a second single from The Marshall Suite. By this time, I’d lost interest in The Fall, and it was only reignited about a decade later when I started blogging and discovering that there were a few fans out there who had stuck by them. I’ll keep the series going, but it really will be minimal stuff in terms of offering up thoughts and observations, and there’s no guarantee that I’ll track down all the b-sides.
mp3: The Fall – F-‘oldin Money
In a press interview just a few months earlier, MES had said:-
“F-‘oldin’ Money” [also on the new record], that’s half a cover; it’s based on a piece of rockabilly from around 1955. I can’t even find the publisher or whether the bloke’s alive or anything. I don’t like to just lift things; I’ve always been against that.”
The song was written by Tommy Blake, whose compositions over the years had been covered by George Jones and Johnny Cash, among others. He also did land himself a recording contract with Sun Records but without ever achieving a hit single under his own steam. I’m not convinced MES was telling the truth in saying he knew nothing about Blake, and indeed given how he lived his life, I think MES was attracted to him, in that he suffered from alcoholism throughout the majority of his life and at the age of 54, was murdered by his third wife over marital disputes on Christmas Eve in 1985.
The single was issued on 2 x CDs, offering up four different versions/remixes of songs that could be found on The Marshall Suite:-
mp3: The Fall – This Perfect Day (new version)
mp3: The Fall – Birthday Song (new mix)
mp3: The Fall – The REAL Life of The Crying Marshall (new version)
mp3: The Fall – Tom Ragazzi (new mix)
Tom Ragazzi is a new mix of the track Anecdotes + Anecdotes In B.
This Perfect Day is another cover. The original vocal take on The Marshall Suite isn’t too bad, but this new version is an abomination. Here’s the original, a tremendous hit single back in 1977 by Australian punk band, The Saints:-
mp3: The Saints – This Perfect Day
F-‘oldin Money didn’t do much in the singles chart, stalling at #93
THE NEW VINYL VILLAIN 
I seem to have collected most of the b-sides in some form or other, so if you’re missing any, let me know and I’ll see if I can help you out.
MES had a way of turning other people’s songs into Fall songs. Rollin’ Dany and Victoria come to mind. But Foldin Money is just a straight up cover version–nothing Fallesque about it. Dispiriting.
Not a track I knew until a few years after it was released. No new territory explored and as JTFL said, it’s just a straight up cover – of a few Rockabilly songs if I’m honest.
I have to say Birthday Song is about as far left of center as I think The Fall may have ever gotten. Psychedelic Ambient Electronica…it’s kind of astonishing…
Just coming into a few lost Fall years for me too. It’ll be interesting to hear what they got up to and what I missed.