S8E405 - The Fall 'The Frenz Experiment' with Richard Farnell
For some who had been following The Fall since 'Live At The Witch Trials' and 'Dragnet', 1988's 'The Frenz Experiment' with its more polished and slightly commercial sound might have seemed to be a bit of a sellout. Not so for this week's guest, Manchester record shop co-owner and bass player (The Suncharms) Richard Farnell. Catching them live at a record shop in-store appearance while playing hooky during a school trip into London may have sealed the deal for him, but he contends there's more to this era of The Fall than the unlikely chart success of their covers of 'Victoria' and 'There's A Ghost In My House' might attest.
Songs discussed in this episode: There's A Ghost In My House - The Fall; Time Will Tell - The Suncharms; Mr Pharmacist, Totally Wired, Rebellious Jukebox, Fol De Rol, Frenz, Carry Bag Man, Get A Hotel - The Fall; Victoria - The Kinks; All Day and All of the Night - The Stranglers; Victoria - The Fall; Tonight I'm Gonna Rock You Tonight - Spinal Tap; Athlete Cured, In These Times, The Steak Place, Bremen Nacht, Guest Informant, Oswald Defence Lawyer - The Fall; Distant Lights - The Suncharms
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Richard Farnell
Record shop owner and bass player
Richard Farnell is the co-owner of Vinyl Exchange Records in Manchester UK. He’s the bass player for The Suncharms, who were formed in his hometown of Sheffield in 1990. Following a move to Manchester in 1995 Richard joined the melodic lofi pop band Screen Prints in 1997 and played bass with them for a few years.
In 2016 The Suncharms re-formed to promote a retrospective compilation CD on Cloudberry Records and since then they have released several singles including their comeback 7” on Slumberland Records and two studio albums “Distant Lights” (2021) and “Things Lost” (2023) both on Sunday Records from Chicago.
Richard became music obsessed from a young age and stumbled upon CARDIACS in 1987 via their stunning appearance on The Tube - the popular UK music TV show.