COULDN'T THINK OF A GOOD PUN WITH "BRAMAH" IN IT

In a recent interview, The Fall's mighty Mark E. Smith said: "When punk started, I was hoping it was going to be something like the 60's garage bands". Of course, it turned out different, but if any band came close to the original garage sound and attitude (without copying it), it was the early Martin Bramah/ Una Baines Fall line-up. Una Baines's toy organ (or that's what it sounds like!) was a big part of that sound, and when she and Martin Bramah left to start the Blue Orchids, they picked up where they left off with the Fall. On their first two singles, the organ is almost the main instrument; the fact that it's slightly off-key lending just the right ramshackle charm to the music. A lot of guitarists-turned-vocalist turned out to be failures, but Bramah pulls it off alright; his singing is more melodic than Mark E's, and - just like the organ - a little off-key in places, so it fits right in. Of all the 2.794 ex-members of the Fall, he's the only one that was ever asked back (for a brief spell in the late '80's) as far as I know. But then again, when you look at early pictures of the Fall you can clearly see that he and Mark E Smith were equals in the band. There's one iconic photograph from around 1977, with Mark E singing, his face distorted in a sneer, and next to him Martin Bramah, all tall hollow-eyed punk rock cool. I think if Mark E'd dared to twiddle with the knobs of Martin's guitar amp, like he does with his current guitarists (whoever they are this week), he'd have decked him.

Disney Boys
The Flood (1980)
Work
The House That Faded Out (1981)