Commentary

A chirpy little instrumental with a surf/garage type beat. The slower bit is infectious and almost nursery rhyme like.

Tommy Mackay (2018, p.84)

“Countdown” was the title bestowed on this “hectic, bubbly instrumental” ¹ when a live recording from Irving Plaza, New York City (1 March 1986) was included on disc 5 (“Live Rarities”) of The Fall Box Set 1976-2007 (Castle Music, 2007), AKA “The Red Box”. No studio recordings have emerged, and this remains the piece’s only official release.

The Red Box credits the song to Craig Scanlon and Steve Hanley. The group at the time consisted of Karl Burns, Steve Hanley, Simon Rogers, Craig Scanlon, Brix Smith and Mark E. Smith.

The Track Record documents only nine performances, all of them as the first song of the gig, and all of them during the Canada/United States tour of February/March 1986:

• 28 February 1986: Living Room; Providence, Rhode Island
• 1 March 1986: Irving Plaza; New York City
• 4 March 1986: 9:30 Club; Washington D.C.
• 8 March 1986: New Century Hall; Milwaukee, Wisconsin
• 10 March 1986: Guthrie Theater; Minneapolis, Minnesota
• 12 March 1986: Hollywood Palace; Los Angeles, California
• 14 March 1986: The Stone; San Francisco, California
• 21 March 1986: Lone Star Cafe; New York City (early show)
• 22 March 1986: Larry’s Hideaway; Toronto, Canada

The Toronto gig was the final one of the tour. Why was the song dropped from setlist after the group’s return to the UK? Although “Countdown” is credited to Scanlon and Hanley, it could be significant that Karl Burns was replaced by Simon Wolstencroft after the North American tour ². Wolstencroft played the first British gig following The Fall’s return, which was at Leas Cliff Hall, Folkestone, on 5 June 1986. Given MES’ tendency to drop songs associated with members of the group after they left, perhaps this indicates that Burns had a hand in its composition too, despite the credits.

It is notable, if not necessarily proof of anything, that “Countdown” was resurrected, with new lyrics and titled “The Countdown”, by the post-Fall band Ark, which originally featured Karl Burns on drums.

The reasons behind the title of the song are not public knowledge. The long-running British gameshow “Countdown” (Channel 4, 1982 – ) has a clock which counts down the seconds in each round, accompanied by music composed by Alan Hawkshaw. It doesn’t sound anything like this song though.

Footnotes

1. Pringle, 2022, p.175. ↩︎
2. Because, according to Simon Ford, Mark E. Smith “objected to [Burns’] new girlfriend, Carrie” (Ford, 2003, p.155). Brix, however, comments that “Throughout the tour, Karl’s relationship with the entire band began to sour… We needed to find a drummer we could rely on.” (Smith Start, 2016, p.222). ↩︎

Sources / Links

• The Fall Box Set 1976-2007. Castle Music, 2007. 5xCD compilation. Catalogue number: CMXBX1558. [Discogs]
• Ford, Simon (2003). Hip Priest: the story of Mark E Smith and The Fall. London: Quartet Books.
• Mackay, Tommy (2018). 40 Odd Years of The Fall. Place of publication unknown: Greg Moodie.
• Pringle, Steve (2022). You Must Get Them All: The Fall on Record. [paperback edition]. Pontefract: Route Publishing Ltd. [Online store]
• Smith Start, Brix (2016). The Rise, The Fall, and The Rise. London: Faber & Faber. [Text available online in archive.org]
• The Track Record: “Countdown”
• Wikipedia: Countdown (game show)