Mark E Smith, who has died after a long illness aged 60, was the incorrigibly truculent lead singer with the Fall. Smith's group was formed in north Manchester in 1976. Over the following four decades, during which period their contemporaries became gradually subdued, diversified their style or simply retired, the Fall remained tenaciously committed to the abrasive spirit of the punk movement. Among the things for which Smith expressed a particular loathing were: London, doctors, Jane Austen, Beaujolais, psychologists, Manchester United, The Guardian, David Bowie, the NYPD, "soft lads who blab", John Lennon, nouvelle cuisine, Australia, Princess Diana, the smoking ban in pubs, Bob Geldof ("a dickhead"), the football pundits Alan Hansen and Alan Shearer ("they look like retired policemen: I bet they go shopping together"), Brighton ("s – t pubs, s – t music, s – t beaches"), the works of JRR Tolkien, David Cameron, "beer-minded proles", Kojak ("a t – t"), and the town of Stockport. The Fall released its first EP, Bingo-Master's Break-Out!, in 1978, and its debut album, Live at the Witch Trials, in 1979.