On 13th September, lots of rare items relating to Mark E Smith are being auctioned by his family, and there is an attempt by Adam Spencer to raise enough money to save them from being bought by private collectors, and, instead, handed to the Bury Archive Service which will preserve them for the public…
“The items are being sold individually, which means the collection is likely to be split up” writes Adam, who is trying to raise £4,000 via a JustGiving page “Material will probably end up in the hands of private individuals, and might be ‘lost’ to the people of Bury – possibly forever.
“I am attempting to purchase as many of these items as possible (hopefully all)” he explains “Whatever I am successful in winning at the auction, I will then donate to Bury Archive Service (the Archivist has agreed to accept them). This will ensure their long term preservation and availability for the people of Bury. Please give what you can…”
So far, only £210 has been raised from 14 supporters, when there are tens of thousands of fans of The Fall who might contribute. Articles up for auction include a signed letter to the NME about ‘yuppies’, handwritten set lists and lyrics, white label singles, master tapes of tracks, and rare concert posters. There’s even Mark’s personal copy of Neitzsche’s Beyond Good and Evil.
See Adam Spencer’s Just Giving page – click here
See the Auction page – click here
Update 15th Sept 2022: The Fall Items Sell For Crazy Auction Prices – but four items saved for Bury Archives – click here
It’s great that you’re making an effort to preserve the belongings of such an iconic man. There was no-one else like him and there never will be, his contribution to music to me is so understated both in terms of the constant effort and output in terms of albums and Eps over such a long period of time but also in terms of the constant high quality of the music despite band members coming and going including the long term ones in the late 90s. He just kept going when everything was thrown at him like no other artist I’ve ever known and he was just a total one off. For these reasons anything in his collection is like gold to me and the man and his belongings should be respected.