The Rise, The Fall, and The Rise
The unmissable memoir from the Fall guitarist and fashion expert.

'A rock 'n' roll must-read' NME

The Rise, The Fall, and The Rise is the extraordinary story, in her own words, of Brix Smith Start. Best known for her work in The Fall at the time when they were perhaps the most powerful and influential anti-authoritarian postpunk band in the world — This Nation's Saving Grace, The Wonderful and Frightening World Of ... — Brix spent ten years in the band before a violent disintegration led to her exit and the end of her marriage with Mark E Smith.

But Brix's story is much more than rock 'n' roll highs and lows in one of the most radically dysfunctional bands around. Growing up in the Hollywood Hills in the '60s in a dilapidated pink mansion her life has taken her from luxury to destitution, from the cover of the NME to waitressing in California, via the industrial wasteland of Manchester in the 1980s. What emerges is a story of constant reinvention, jubilant highs and depressive ebbs; a singular journey of a teenage American girl on a collision course with English radicalism on her way to mid-life success on TV and in fashion.

Too bizarre, extreme and unlikely to exist in the pages of fiction, The Rise, The Fall, and The Rise could only exist in the pages of a memoir.

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The Rise, The Fall, and The Rise
The unmissable memoir from the Fall guitarist and fashion expert.

'A rock 'n' roll must-read' NME

The Rise, The Fall, and The Rise is the extraordinary story, in her own words, of Brix Smith Start. Best known for her work in The Fall at the time when they were perhaps the most powerful and influential anti-authoritarian postpunk band in the world — This Nation's Saving Grace, The Wonderful and Frightening World Of ... — Brix spent ten years in the band before a violent disintegration led to her exit and the end of her marriage with Mark E Smith.

But Brix's story is much more than rock 'n' roll highs and lows in one of the most radically dysfunctional bands around. Growing up in the Hollywood Hills in the '60s in a dilapidated pink mansion her life has taken her from luxury to destitution, from the cover of the NME to waitressing in California, via the industrial wasteland of Manchester in the 1980s. What emerges is a story of constant reinvention, jubilant highs and depressive ebbs; a singular journey of a teenage American girl on a collision course with English radicalism on her way to mid-life success on TV and in fashion.

Too bizarre, extreme and unlikely to exist in the pages of fiction, The Rise, The Fall, and The Rise could only exist in the pages of a memoir.

14.95 In Stock
The Rise, The Fall, and The Rise

The Rise, The Fall, and The Rise

by Brix Smith Start
The Rise, The Fall, and The Rise

The Rise, The Fall, and The Rise

by Brix Smith Start

Paperback

$14.95 
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Overview

The unmissable memoir from the Fall guitarist and fashion expert.

'A rock 'n' roll must-read' NME

The Rise, The Fall, and The Rise is the extraordinary story, in her own words, of Brix Smith Start. Best known for her work in The Fall at the time when they were perhaps the most powerful and influential anti-authoritarian postpunk band in the world — This Nation's Saving Grace, The Wonderful and Frightening World Of ... — Brix spent ten years in the band before a violent disintegration led to her exit and the end of her marriage with Mark E Smith.

But Brix's story is much more than rock 'n' roll highs and lows in one of the most radically dysfunctional bands around. Growing up in the Hollywood Hills in the '60s in a dilapidated pink mansion her life has taken her from luxury to destitution, from the cover of the NME to waitressing in California, via the industrial wasteland of Manchester in the 1980s. What emerges is a story of constant reinvention, jubilant highs and depressive ebbs; a singular journey of a teenage American girl on a collision course with English radicalism on her way to mid-life success on TV and in fashion.

Too bizarre, extreme and unlikely to exist in the pages of fiction, The Rise, The Fall, and The Rise could only exist in the pages of a memoir.


Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780571325061
Publisher: Faber and Faber
Publication date: 05/08/2018
Pages: 400
Product dimensions: 5.10(w) x 7.70(h) x 1.30(d)

About the Author

Brix Smith Start is a songwriter and guitarist best known for her work with The Fall and The Adult Net. In recent years she has worked as a TV presenter and in fashion as the owner of a string of boutiques with her husband, Philip Start.

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations xi

Part 1 The Rise

Disney's Dream Debased 3

Words of Wisdom 11

Peanut 16

Scooter Pie 24

Child of a Child Psychiatrist 29

Interview With a Vompire 35

Sunset Blvd 38

Beverly Hills Grandparents 42

The Pink Mansion 50

Cher Was My Babysitter 55

Big Rock Ranch 58

Bomb 62

Chicago (Not) My Kinda Town 65

Tapestry, Boys and Drugs 69

Shrink 73

The Grass is Always Greener 76

Twilight Zone and Halter Tops 80

Barbie Cleaned Up My Barf 82

Backwards and Forwards 87

The King is Dead 90

Karate Kid 93

The Dad Rash 98

The Sword of Damocles 104

Disowned 107

Becoming Brixton 109

My First Proper Job 111

London Calling 114

Mind Control 118

Bennington 122

Banda Dratsing 129

Leave or Die 132

A Date With Fate 141

Meet the Parents 153

Part 2 The Fall

Peter Pan's Flight 161

Manchester or Bust 167

1983 174

1984 190

1985-1986 206

1987-1988 231

The Truth 244

The Truth (Part 2) 253

Struggling to Break the Spell 262

Hall 'The Classical' 269

Chaos and Discipline 272

Scraper 276

Kitchen Cricket 279

Head for the Hills 287

Italia '90 295

Donovan and the Beginning of the End 303

Identity Crisis 309

Mouse-Hole 313

Part 3 The Rise

Waking Up in the Sun 327

Full Circle 330

Voyage Street 335

Living in a Garage 342

My Magic Bullet, the Thought Process that Changed My Life 350

Earthquake 352

Making Music and Making Peace 357

One Day in Hole 361

1995 366

1996 386

Scabs 393

Notting Hill 400

The Wedding of the Century 403

Pioneers 409

The Seed was Planted 411

Starting Again 415

Kitchen Bitch 422

Adventures on the Small Screen 428

Fashion Fix 433

There's a Mouse in My House 444

Epilogue Mark E. Smith 449

Music 450

Start 453

My Biological Father 454

The Word 455

Acknowledgements 459

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