VIDEO OF THE WEEK: 'THE FALL: BIG NEW PRINZ'



Another one of my musical heroes shuffled off this mortal coil earlier this week when the utterly unique Mark E Smith passed away at 60 after many years of ill health. As the uncompromising ringleader of Manchester's discordant art-rock legends The Fall, Smith - and his revolving door of musicians - produced a body of work that spanned over 40 albums. Barely troubling the charts, Smith's musical journey birthed itself out of punk and outlived post-punk, new wave, new romanticism, acid house, hip-hop, grunge and britpop. He was still releasing records right up to his death and was a massive influence on countless other bands. Ploughing his own furrow and truly not giving a fuck, Smith was one of British music's total mavericks. Ta-ra Smithy - here's hoping that wherever you've ended up, they sell Boddington's and Embassy No. 1's......