That’s tended to be the assumption, although I don’t know that MES was ever forthcoming on the issue.

?

The “You Must Get Them All” blog carries a quote provided by Ben Pritchard:

?

“There was an article at the time about the national lottery, someone had won and didn’t come forward to claim the prize. It’s as simple as that. Mark took his inspiration for lyrics and titles from anywhere he could find. Are you ‘our’ missing winner, he just spelt it wrong.”

?

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It’s on my list of things to find: if it’s out there I will track it down eventually.

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It was always known, of course, that MES inserted “found” material into his lyrics.? What perhaps wasn’t anticipated is quite how important a part of his writing process the use of such sources would actually turn out to be. ?

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Those of us who contribute to have uncovered a huge number of examples over recent years (as well as more speculative things).??

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There’s also a list of borrowings here, which I think I probably need to update with some recent discoveries:

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In fact, that goes as far as record artwork – Tina Prior’s cover for Dragnet, for example, borrows from the opening titles sequence of the Roger Corman-directed “The Haunted Palace”, which was on TV at about the right time (() – and of course another Corman film, “Premature Burial” (also shown on TV at about the right time, and starring Ray Milland) was the source of the “those flowers, take them away” lines in “Spectre vs Rector”.

?

Florence out of Dry Cleaning is a good current example of someone who uses a not completely dissimilar approach to writing lyrics, but it doesn’t seem that there are many who have. ??It’s not easy to do well, it seems.

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Dan

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Sent from for Windows 10

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From: tom wootton
Sent: 21 July 2021 18:43
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: [FallNet] The Fall: Are You Are Missing Winner – album reissue review

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wasn’t this something he saw in a newsagent’s? (if my v dim memory recalls correctly).?

one great thing about his lyrics is the way he uses deteriorating mundane things (chip newspaper wrapping, signage eg swine tax, or this) as lyrical content or access to the spirit world. feel deterioration, trash and clutter - that which is left after you have extracted the “value” is a big thing in the fall.?

tom “clean shaven but chip greasy” wootton?

On 21 Jul 2021, at 17:58, David Bivins <dabivins@...> wrote:

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I would assume that the printed item title is correct - it reads like a spam email. "Are you our missing winner?" is a common headline, and being misspelled is the spammy part. Maybe it started as Mr. Winner and then someone said "oh, wouldn't it be clever if we did it like a spammy headline?"

?

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On Wed, Jul 21, 2021 at 3:08 AM dannyno <dannyno@...> wrote:

I like the idea of researching mooted album titles.?? I’ll add it to The List.???

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Although off the top of my head there maybe aren’t that many occasions where announced titles changed.? In fact titles probably won’t even have been announced in advance in many cases.

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Dan

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Sent from for Windows 10

?

From: Adam Marshall
Sent: 19 July 2021 18:56
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: [FallNet] The Fall: Are You Are Missing Winner – album reissue review

?

I was listening to the interview wot he did with Steve Barker off of Radio Lancashire erroneously billed as the GMR Interview on YouToob and he (MES) refers to the LP being called “Are You Mr Winner” so I guess that was the original intention?

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I always refer to it as “Are You an Arsehole Mr Winner” so my joke is actually quite close to the original title. And is actually the best title out of the 3.

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I was also interested to hear him say (in another interview from a different era) that “the next LP will be called Grotesque Peasants”.

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I’m probably way behind the game here but is there a page where all the mooted but rejected album titles are listed? I’m looking at you Dannyno.

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adam

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From: <[email protected]> on behalf of Jeff Curtis <jacurtis@...>
Reply to: "[email protected]" <[email protected]>
Date: Monday, 19 July 2021 at 18:42
To: "[email protected]" <[email protected]>
Subject: [FallNet] The Fall: Are You Are Missing Winner – album reissue review

?

The Fall

Are You Are Missing Winner

CD – 4 disc digipack

After the glory of The Unutterable, Mark E Smith and his fractured but not broken Fall returned with a brand new band after his trademark clearout to produce an album that has always divided opinion. Wayne AF Carey goes back into the vaults…

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JC

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On 1 Sep 2021, at 18:49, David Bivins <dabivins@...> wrote:

The vocals are the clincher on this album. She's outstanding. An urgent but playful style without much yelling. The music reminds me a lot of some 90s indie rock, like the post-Slint, more gentle sounds of The For Carnation and the like, or predating that, some Go-Betweens. A couple of songs would've sounded spot-on late Weddoes if David Gedge had started singing. Very consistent instrumentation throughout, not a lot of fucking around with different sounds or styles. The songs are fairly pop-structured but can have stretches of that repetition we so love. There's not a lot of grit in here - not a complaint given the overall tone. It works. I don't know that I'll have it in heavy rotation, but I'll definitely be listening to it more. I have to admit I tainted my palate in a good way this morning by listening to both sides of Entertainment! by GO4 and this one brought my blood pressure down.

Again, the singer makes it - thanks, Scott for mentioning her spoken word work. I'll check it out.

Speaking of Glaswegians, I still listen to Prolapse all the time. I think their apex was the version of "Visa for Violet and Van" that was on one of the Volume compilations, but the earlier, darker stuff is always a good, lurking evil and I still like the brighter, poppier later stuff. Another band that did its thing then dispersed to get on with life.

Rich Kidd, are you here? I think I ask you every 10 years if I remembered to send you that Prolapse/Ears go FFF split 7" so let me know - my head's in a better place now and I have the ability to remember to put it in the mail to you.

Is anyone in the group familiar with this mural of MES by the artist Akse (photo byJeff Higgott)?
I presume it is somewhere in the friendly confines of Prestwich...
Wonderful and frightening, yes?
Perry

On 1 Sep 2021, at 18:49, David Bivins <dabivins@...> wrote:

The vocals are the clincher on this album. She's outstanding. An urgent but playful style without much yelling. The music reminds me a lot of some 90s indie rock, like the post-Slint, more gentle sounds of The For Carnation and the like, or predating that, some Go-Betweens. A couple of songs would've sounded spot-on late Weddoes if David Gedge had started singing. Very consistent instrumentation throughout, not a lot of fucking around with different sounds or styles. The songs are fairly pop-structured but can have stretches of that repetition we so love. There's not a lot of grit in here - not a complaint given the overall tone. It works. I don't know that I'll have it in heavy rotation, but I'll definitely be listening to it more. I have to admit I tainted my palate in a good way this morning by listening to both sides of Entertainment! by GO4 and this one brought my blood pressure down.

Again, the singer makes it - thanks, Scott for mentioning her spoken word work. I'll check it out.

Speaking of Glaswegians, I still listen to Prolapse all the time. I think their apex was the version of "Visa for Violet and Van" that was on one of the Volume compilations, but the earlier, darker stuff is always a good, lurking evil and I still like the brighter, poppier later stuff. Another band that did its thing then dispersed to get on with life.

Rich Kidd, are you here? I think I ask you every 10 years if I remembered to send you that Prolapse/Ears go FFF split 7" so let me know - my head's in a better place now and I have the ability to remember to put it in the mail to you.