Lucifer Over Lancashire

Lyrics

["What I'm saying to you really, is that the training that you must have in discussion at your own level regarding the existence of God is far greater than everybody that's ringing you tonight."
"I have to disagree, I don't have any training at all of that sort..."
"So..."]  (1)

Saw six men
Under a tall tower
Break it to him
Like I'm breakin' it to you gently
The night people (2)
Will remind you of yeah
Kicking, white, cheerleader
Wan, untanned cheerleader(3)

Lucifer over Lancashire
Lucifer over Lancashire
Lucifer over Lancashire

Lucifer over Lancashire (4)

The blackbirds
Shake the hedges
On this, 
The hottest day for ages
Resemblance to
Doctor, doctor hit the needle
Can be discounted
No longer

Lucifer over Lancashire
Lucifer over Lancashire
Lucifer over Lancashire

Lucifer over Lancashire

I tell you no lies
Completely blind
Are the sentinel's eyes
At the back of his mind (5)
This demon's hip (6)
The demon's grip
He took over everywhere
And his blitz
Now over here
And the sky moves on
His cock-eyed moon (7)
A useless priest
Cram out your power

Lucifer over Lancashire
Lucifer over Lancashire
Lucifer over Lancashire
Lucifer over Lancashire

Monstrous kiss
Wet dagger
...

 

Lucifer over Lancashire
Lucifer over Lancashire
Lucifer over Lancashire
Lucifer over Lancashire

Now I'm just flyin'
I'm flyin'
I'm typin'
I'm shinin'
I'm winnin'
I got this on
I'm a runnin shark
I'm winnin'
I'm shinin'...  (8)

 

 

Notes

1. This is from a radio call-in show, and the first voice is said to be that of Craig Scanlon (but see note 6 below). This segment appears on the single version of the song, which is the B-side of "Mr. Pharmacist," but is not included on the slightly different rendition on the 7" Vinyl Conflict 2.  

From the notes reproduced in the blue lyrics book:

Companion track 'LUCIFER OVER LANCASHIRE' would not fit onto [Handwritten: "Domesday Payoff"] but it is too good to store. The subject of much debate 'LUCIFER OVER LANCASHIRE' could refer to:

A. Recent Commie cloud and complaints of aching bones in the health-conscious Fall camp.  [Dan suggests this may be a reference to the April 1986 nuclear disaster at Chernobyl, which puts me in mind of the obvious pun on Domesday/Doomsday--BZFGT]

B. The Erasure of manners and good groups in that Holy county or:

C. A trailer for forthcoming Pashion Religious Whodunnit due December.

'I tell you no lies.
?Completely blind/are the Sentinels
Eyes/At the back of his mind/?
This demon's hip'.

Dan submits:

From On The Wire radio interview by Steve Barker, transcribed and reprinted in The Pseud Mag, issue 12, Oct/Nov 2006. pp.12-16: Steve Barker: That Lucifer Over Lancashire? - was that a kind of newspaper article thing that originated that? MES: No that newspaper article was a local story about a doctor.. but erm... I was stuck for a cover fro the back and this free newspaper came through the door and it was just perfect. SB: Free papers are wonderful things. MES: Yeah they're an exercise in trash writing... It's like find the news, innit? SB: You needn't actually read anything! 

(The cover of the single is a photo of the front page of a newspaper that reads "Former Mayor In 'Zombie' Casi[...]")

Also from Dan:

The origins of this song seem to go back well before 1986. In a letter to Tony Friel dated 2 August 1977, MES refers to various new songs, including one entitled "Lucifer Over Manchester". So it's possible some of the lyrics date back that far too.

[See the comments below for more.]

The BBC aired a program about witchcraft in Northern England in 1987 called Lucifer Over Lancashire. This title seems to have been inspired by the song. Thanks to Mark for this, and according to Dan: "It was broadcast on BBC on 30 March 1987 7:40PM, as part of the 'Open Space' series. It focused on Rev. Kevin Logan of Accrington, and his fears about witchcraft in his area (close to Pendle)."

David Anderson mentions the road A666 which runs through Lancashire and is sometimes called "The Devil's Highway," both because of the name and because it has a high accident rate...the road sign is shown in the video for the song.

And finally, from Dan, "there is a short story by Lewis Spence entitled "Lucifer Over London" (1950), which can be found in The Magicians; Occult Stories, edited by Peter Haining (Peter Owen, 1972 / Pan Books, 1975)."

^

2. Dan:


The October 1985 edition of Twilight Zone magazine contains a story called "Post Awful" by William Jon Watkins. A cutting from this appears on the inside sleeve of This Nation's Saving Grace.

Just to note that the story that follows "Post Awful" in the October 1985 issue of the magazine is titled "The Night People," by J. Michael Reaves.

^

3. The cheerleader here is probably meant as a sort of stock horror movie victim. It is a typical MES stratagem to pen fragmentary lyrics like this, where we are forced to use our imagination to fill in the details. As usual when MES turns his attention to diabolical matters, the lyrics are somewhat humorous and draw on stereotypes.   

^

4. Lancashire is a county in northwest England. Pendle Hill in Lancashire was the site of the famous 17th century Pendle witch trials, which resulted in 11 people being hanged for witchcraft, some of whom had freely confessed to selling their souls to the devil. In this period, Lancashire had a large number of witch trials relative to the rest of England. Today, Pendle's tourist industry is largely based around a witch motif. In the 1980s a local vicar attempted to have a large cross erected on Pendle Hill to stave off what he saw as an epidemic of devil worshipers there; he was denied a permit, but the episode was the basis of a 1987 BBC documentary called Lucifer Over Lancashire, names after the Fall song. The vicar, one Reverend Kevin Logan, claimed that there were around 30 covens of witches in the vicinity of Pendle Hill, and to this day many local Christians see the area as a hotbed of devil worship, perhaps influenced in part by an image that is embraced by local business as a source of tourist revenue.  

^

5. Dan and Carl have both suggested that this is probably an allusion to The Sentinel, a 1977 film directed by Michael Winner. The titular character is a blind priest who keeps look-out from the top floor of a block of flats. The (quite plausible) plot is worth considering, as this could happen to anyone:


Alison learns that the building is owned by a secret society of excommunicated Catholic priests and is a gateway to Hell. The blind priest is the guardian who ensures that the demons do not escape. The priest is nearing the end of his life, and a new guardian is needed. The society has chosen Alison because her two suicide attempts qualify her as the perfect candidate. She is told that she must pay for her sins by becoming the next Sentinel, and only by doing so she will be allowed into Heaven.

^

6. As befits a tourist attraction, Lucifer has an attractive veneer of modernity, which is perhaps calculated to influence his victims to let their guard down...  

^

7. Under the Cock-Eyed Moon is a movie from 1930, although I don't know anything else about it. Dan points out that the deviation of the moon's orbit from the line of the equator has caused it to sometimes be called "the cock-eyed moon." And he finds a use of the term in fiction, but the reference he gives is from 2008, and I haven't found evidence that it's a common phrase.

^

8. Captain's Log, Supplemental:

A pesky gentleman named supposedly named "Andy Yates" (clearly a pseudonym!) has helpfully pointed out that we don't really know that the interviewed voice is that of Scanlon (see note 1 above), and made some interesting speculative remarks in the process:

Some doubt has been cast on The Mighty Fall Facebook page as to whether the first voice is indeed that of Craig Scanlon. In the same thread, poster Andy Yates has this to say:

"So... why does no one know what the 'excerpt' is taken from? I am presuming it's not Mark, either? I was digging for a slant on the 'meanings' in the song itself. The lyrics are interesting, but unusually cryptic, in not necessarily relating to any specific 'theme.' Was it to do with...Lancashire council using the 'witches' theme as a marketing campaign in every possible scenario? - rail, bus routes, road names and glossy tourist shpeel[sic]? Was it to do with the bloke who failed in getting planning permission to erect a dobber great cross on the top of Pendle Hill? Was it to do with the programme made for BBC of same name ? - which explored the supposed 'highest volume of satanists in Europe' in East Lancashire ?'"

Others have pointed out the similarity of the voice, however, to that in "Symbol of Mordgan" which is known to be Scanlon.

^

More Information

Lucifer Over Lancashire: Fall Tracks A-Z

 

 

VEJ compares the single version with a section of the 2002 MES solo album Pander! Panda! Panzer! (which consists of one long track of the same name as the album) that repeats many of the lyrics, with variations. Note that in places VEJ's transcript of the single is discrepant with ours. Listeners will have to judge for themselves which transcript is more accurate (I don't have great ears, but I generally don't change something when I feel sure I hear something else). However, I have revised some of the lyrics above to bring them into line with what VEJ has here, in places where his transcription seemed clearly more accurate than ours.

 

PPP: Saw six men under a tall tower/Break it to him and I’ll break it you gently/The night people will remind you of shaking white cheers, shaking white cheerleader/Wan, untanned cheerleader
Single: Saw six men under a tall tower/Break it to him like I’m breaking it to you, gently/The night people will remind you of, yeah, shaking white cheerleader/Wan, untanned cheerleader

PPP: The blackbirds shake the hedges on this the hottest day for ages/resemblance to doctor on the needle, discounted no longer
Single: The blackbirds shake the hedges/On this the hottest day for ages/Resemblance to doctor in the needle, can be discounted no longer

PPP: I tell you no lies/I’m completely blind are the sentinel's eyes at back of his mind/ The demon's grip, this demon is hip/It took over everywhere/His blitz now over here/in sky of Bootle/In a cock-eyed moon/In Liverpool, useless priest/Cram out your power
Single: I tell you no lies/completely blind are the sentinel's eyes at the back of his mind/This demon’s hip/The demon's grip/He took over everywhere/And his blitz now over here/in sky of Bootle/His cock-eyed moon/A useless priest/Cram out your power

PPP: I’m shut in and there’s dust on the venetians/Monstrous, kiss, bait bringer, angled, bejesus, bait bringer
Single: Monstrous, kiss, bait bringer, angled, bejesus, bait bringer/I’m flying, I’m tapping, I’m shut in, I'm winning and there’s dust on the venetians

Comments (78)

Martin
  • 1. Martin | 28/01/2014
I think "black birds" should be one word, "blackbirds", as in the species of that animal. Evidently they often nest in hedges: one example given here: http://www.rspb.org.uk/advice/expert/previous/hedges.aspx
bzfgt
  • 2. bzfgt | 15/02/2014
Surely you are correct.
bzfgt
  • 3. bzfgt | 15/02/2014
Any idea what he says after "Useless priest?" "Under your power" is not correct.

Also "When the tired cheerleader" seems to be wrong.

I found a whole section I didn't have before right before the last "Lucifer over Lancashire" refrain. I hear the first two lines of this section as "Monstrous kiss/Wet dagger..." Do you have any idea what the rest is?
Mark
  • 4. Mark | 02/07/2014
Using this (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jdiu3qzlH00) as a reference:

1)Think the "cheerleader" bit is "Shaking white cheerleader / Wan untanned cheerleader"
2) "Saw six men" or "Sussex man"?
dannyno
  • 5. dannyno | 16/07/2014
I've been researching who the evangelist on the radio might be. Clearly an American, so if they were visiting the country that would have been still unusual at that time. I might be wrong, could be an American living in Britain. But it could have been Jim Wallis, who arrived in Britain in June for a month's tour. However, I don't know that he visited Manchester or Lancashire more broadly.
dannyno
  • 6. dannyno | 13/09/2014
The "cock-eyed moon" is a thing: http://whassupinthemilkyway.blogspot.co.uk/2008/11/cockeyed-moon-listing-earth-part-one.html

And I'm hearing "Sussex men" at the moment.
TamFrmGlsgw
  • 7. TamFrmGlsgw | 04/12/2014
I've just purchased an original copy of the Beggars Banquet 12" single of Mr. Pharmacist which is actually paired with Lucifer Over Lancashire as a double A-side, the B-side in fact being Auto Tech Pilot. Also, this version does indeed include the opening radio show extract.
Perhaps there have been other releases, but I'm based in the U.K.and I'm pretty sure this is the first appearance of this song as a single. The catalogue number for this single is BEG 168 (T).
Gus
  • 8. Gus (link) | 08/04/2015
I would understand blackbirds as papist priests, and the shaking of the hedges as papist priests stirring up armed men for some witch trials.

But I am not from the UK myself, Blackbirds could also be Anglican Priests. And I don't know whether you acknowledge Anglican priests as papists, although the King James translation is a sometimes very papist translation compared to Dutch Bible translations.

Lucifer leads romanism, or said otherwise, the churches that do not follow the scripture, but commit to papist Sunday worship.
But I am not sure that MES would mean that, because he doesn't know these things, I suppose.

The lyrics make perfect sense to me, Lucifer over Lancashire tells me about, what I just said, papist Blackbirds stirring op hedges of armed men for witch trails. The hypocrisy of the churches is Luciferian.

Only question I have, how does MES know this?
Is is from poetry and playing with the words?
It will be like that.
dannyno
  • 9. dannyno | 19/02/2016
From On The Wire radio interview by Steve Barker, transcribed and reprinted in The Pseud Mag, issue 12, Oct/Nov 2006. pp.12-16:


Steve Barker: That Lucifer Over Lancashire? - was that a kind of newspaper article thing that originated that?

MES: No that newspaper article was a local story about a doctor.. but erm... I was stuck for a cover fro the back and this free newspaper came through the door and it was just perfect.

SB: Free papers are wonderful things.

ES: Yeah they're an exercise in trash writing... It's like find the news, innit?

SB: You needn't actually read anything!
Joseph Holt
  • 10. Joseph Holt | 08/03/2016
'Saw six men' surely? Some kind of covern/ gathering.
bzfgt
  • 11. bzfgt | 19/03/2016
Could be, but maybe not. Hard to adjudicate this one.
dannyno
  • 12. dannyno | 25/03/2016
"Under the cock-eyed moon", 1930 film:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0830690/

The Tree of Life: A Novel about Life in the Lodz Ghetto
Chawa Rosenfarb.
1985

Above hung the clownish face of the cock-eyed moon, with a slice of cloud over it...
dannyno
  • 13. dannyno | 13/05/2016
From note 1:

"Recent Commie cloud"

presumably refers to Chernobyl disaster of April 1986: i.e. cloud of radioactivity.
dannyno
  • 14. dannyno | 17/08/2016
The origins of this song seem to go back well before 1986.

In a letter to Tony Friel dated 2 August 1977 [several letters were briefly available on Friel's website], MES refers to various new songs, including one entitled "Lucifer Over Manchester". So it's possible some of the lyrics date back that far too.
dannyno
  • 15. dannyno | 17/08/2016
Sorry, forgot to link to a copy of the letter:
http://dangerousminds.net/comments/becoming_a_hermit_solves_nothing_the_falls_mark_e._smith_writes_tony_friel
dannyno
  • 16. dannyno | 17/08/2016
In a previous letter, dated 28 October 1976, MES mentions having read "The Omen", which he says made him read The Bible, specifically Revelation. The film was released in the summer of 1976, and the first novel, by David Seltzer, was published shortly beforehand - i.e. it was a movie tie-in rather than the film being an adaptation of the novel.

Given this, perhaps "Lucifer Over Manchester/Lancashire" is based on, or inspired by, The Omen (or i suppose The Bible/Revelation).

If so, then perhaps the lines

"Sussex man
Under a tall tower"

.. although questioned in the comments, could actually be "Sussex man", because bits of The Omen were filmed at Guildford Cathedral, in Surrey...
dannyno
  • 17. dannyno | 17/08/2016
Here's the scene at Guildford Cathedral
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LO3KlIShoHo
dannyno
  • 18. dannyno | 17/08/2016
I mean, obviously Surrey is not Sussex. I'm not saying that. Although MES could have got the county wrong. The point is it's a tower.

Alright, so it's a bit thin.
dannyno
  • 19. dannyno | 17/08/2016
Or even, while I'm on my search for increasingly desperate connections "Sussex man", if that's what it is, could also refer to the occultist Alex Sanders. He lived in Manchester in the 1960s before moving to London in 1968 and to Hastings, Sussex in the mid 1970s. He died I think in 1988.

http://www.controverscial.com/Alex%20Sanders.htm
dannyno
  • 20. dannyno | 17/08/2016
"Completely blind
Are the sentinel's eyes"

Could be a reference to the Michael Winner film "The Sentinel", released in early 1977.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Sentinel_(1977_film)


Alison learns that the building is owned by a secret society of excommunicated Catholic priests and is a gateway to Hell. The blind priest is the guardian who ensures that the demons do not escape. The priest is nearing the end of his life, and a new guardian is needed. The society has chosen Alison because her two suicide attempts qualify her as the perfect candidate. She is told that she must pay for her sins by becoming the next Sentinel, and only by doing so she will be allowed into Heaven.
dannyno
  • 21. dannyno | 20/02/2017
Comment #9. I realise that people may not necessarily understand the newspaper article reference. What Steve Barker is talking about the cover art for the Mr Pharmacist/Lucifer Over Lancashire single:

Image
Martin
  • 22. Martin | 27/02/2017
Some doubt has been cast on The Mighty Fall Facebook page as to whether the first voice is indeed that of Craig Scanlon.

In the same thread, poster Andy Yates has this to say:

"So... why does no one know what the 'excerpt' is taken from?
I am presuming it's not Mark either ?
I was digging for a slant on the 'meanings' in the song itself.
The lyrics are interesting, but unusually cryptic, in not necessarily relating to any specific 'theme' .
Was it to do with ...
. Lancashire council using the 'witches' theme as a marketing campaign in every possible scenario? - rail, bus routes, road names and glossy tourist shpeel?
. Was it to do with the bloke who failed in getting planning permission to erect a dobber great cross on the top of Pendle Hill ?
. Was it to do with the programme made for BBC of same name ? - which explored the supposed
' highest volume of satanists in Europe' in East Lancashire ?"
bzfgt
  • 23. bzfgt (link) | 03/03/2017
Has this Andy Yates said something else useful recently, it seems familiar. Anyway the bastard's right, isn't he? We don't know for sure. And why isn't he one of us, if he's taken this kind of interest in Fall lyrics? You'd almost have to be in an alternate reality to ask these kind of questions and not find our little universe.
bzfgt
  • 24. bzfgt (link) | 03/03/2017
Regulars will note that I shamelessly edit their comments when quoting them, but since Andy Yates is not here I felt I had to reproduce it almost verbatim. Although I edited the worst of the punctuation, some of what I left in is giving me fits, and I even had to "sic" him once.

Nevertheless he should be found and recruited.
dannyno
  • 25. dannyno | 03/03/2017
My note 5: I found out today that Jim Wallis does seem to have visited Manchester during his 1986 tour of the UK. His visit was certainly newsworthy, with articles in several newspapers and appearances on national TV and radio.

I have attempted to contact Wallis to see if he can confirm whether or not it is his voice. Wish me luck.
dannyno
  • 26. dannyno | 03/03/2017
Comment #5, not note #5. Doh.
dannyno
  • 27. dannyno | 03/03/2017
I got a response from the guy who looks after Jim Wallis's email.

He says:


I'm sorry, I can tell by listening to the clip that this is not Rev. Wallis' voice. Good luck on your search to find who it might be!


Well, the search continues!
bzfgt
  • 28. bzfgt (link) | 03/03/2017
Wow, bummer. Even worse if maybe the guy's only been there for 10 years and doesn't realize Wallis sounded like that in the 90s...I think that would be a worst-case type of scenario.
dannyno
  • 29. dannyno | 04/03/2017
That did occur to me. But nothing to be done.

He was the best candidate so far discovered; was in the country at the right time, got lots of coverage, seems to have visited Manchester. So at least we've got him in the comments just in case.
Alan
  • 30. Alan | 17/03/2017
I think the single version DOES have the radio clip and the Vinyl Conflict 2 version doesn't. The latter was also on Backdrop.
bzfgt
  • 31. bzfgt (link) | 19/03/2017
Thank you, Alan. The only version I have is not marked, it's on a compilation someone made for me. So I switched it, I trust you or someone else will let me know if this turns out to be wrong.
bzfgt
  • 32. bzfgt (link) | 19/03/2017
It's on the 234003i9i4w9u B-Sides version, which logic suggests would be the single.
dannyno
  • 33. dannyno | 27/04/2017
Re: versions. The Vinyl Conflict version - which I don't have - is included on the Backdrop compilation - which I do have: it doesn't have the radio snippet. And yes, 458489 B's would be the single version, which does have the radio snippet.
jensotto
  • 34. jensotto | 19/11/2017
BBC used the title LOL one year later, about sinister activity in Accrington http://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/schedules/bbctwo/england/1987-03-30
Norway, esp Bergen, saw a similar pattern in the early 90s.
bzfgt
  • 35. bzfgt (link) | 02/12/2017
I wish it had been a year before...
Max Williams
  • 36. Max Williams | 13/02/2018
Re the "Is that Craig Scanlon at the start" discussion - it definitely is. One of the albums (can't remember which, but from the mid-late 90s) has an interview with Craig Scanlon on the John Peel show, in which they mostly discuss Manchester City FC. After this, a brief excerpt from the Lucifer Over Lancashire intro is included, as if to say "Look, it was Craig". The two voices clearly belong to the same person.
Max Williams
  • 37. Max Williams | 13/02/2018
Re the Craig Scanlon interview - it's in Symbol of Mordgan, on Middle Class Revolt. Doesn't seem to be on Youtube, sadly, but have a listen.
bzfgt
  • 38. bzfgt (link) | 13/02/2018
Is this the same interview from Mordgan?
dannyno
  • 39. dannyno | 14/02/2018
Comment #38: I think you've misunderstood what Max Williams is saying, which is not that the words at the beginning of Lucifer come from the same interview as Symbol of Mordgan, but that the voices sound the same. I don't think it's definitely clear that they do, but they probably do.

The fact (as is already noted in note 2 of the Symbol of Mordgan annotatedfall entry) that the recording at the beginning of Lucifer is tacked onto the end of the Symbol track on the album has to be taken as strong evidence that it was Craig at the beginning of Lucifer too.

It's just we don't definitively know for sure that it is.
bzfgt
  • 40. bzfgt (link) | 17/02/2018
OK I think I have what has to be there for now there, for now.
Carl
  • 41. Carl | 11/04/2018
The Sentinel is a 1977 film directed by Michael Winner. The titular character is a blind monk who keeps look-out from the top floor of a block of flats. I haven't seen it, but seems likely that it is being referenced here.

Carl
  • 42. Carl | 11/04/2018
PS when I say "monk", I mean "priest".
Carl
  • 43. Carl | 11/04/2018
PPS. I see someone mentioned this above already. Anyway, seconded.
VEJ
  • 44. VEJ | 14/04/2018
Transcript of verses as on the Pander!Panda!Panzer! spoken word version vs Single version;

PPP: Saw six men under a tall tower/Break it to him and I’ll break it you gently/The night people will remind you of shaking white cheers, shaking white cheerleader/Wan, untanned cheerleader
Single: Saw six men under a tall tower/Break it to him like I’m breaking it to you, gently/The night people will remind you of, yeah, shaking white cheerleader/Wan, untanned cheerleader

PPP: The blackbirds shake the hedges on this the hottest day for ages/resemblance to doctor on the needle, discounted no longer
Single: The blackbirds shake the hedges/On this the hottest day for ages/Resemblance to doctor in the needle, can be discounted no longer

PPP: I tell you no lies/I’m completely blind are the sentinel's eyes at back of his mind/ The demon's grip, this demon is hip/It took over everywhere/His blitz now over here/in sky of Bootle/In a cock-eyed moon/In Liverpool, useless priest/Cram out your power
Single: I tell you no lies/completely blind are the sentinel's eyes at the back of his mind/This demon’s hip/The demon's grip/He took over everywhere/And his blitz now over here/in sky of Bootle/His cock-eyed moon/A useless priest/Cram out your power

PPP: I’m shut in and there’s dust on the venetians/Monstrous, kiss, bait bringer, angled, bejesus, bait bringer
Single: Monstrous, kiss, bait bringer, angled, bejesus, bait bringer/I’m flying, I’m tapping, I’m shut in, I'm winning and there’s dust on the venetians
bzfgt
  • 45. bzfgt (link) | 22/04/2018
OK it does sound more like "Saw six men" rather than "Sussex man" even though the latter agrees in number with "breaking it to him." And "wan, untanned" is definitely right. I need to revise what I have above, @dannyno take note...
bzfgt
  • 46. bzfgt (link) | 22/04/2018
But I still hear "kicking white cheerleader"
bzfgt
  • 47. bzfgt (link) | 22/04/2018
I still think "the nice people" but not sure, it seems more likely but I will rewind a few times
bzfgt
  • 48. bzfgt (link) | 22/04/2018
No I think it is "night people"
bzfgt
  • 49. bzfgt (link) | 22/04/2018
I don't hear "sky of Bootle" on the single, but "sky grew dark"...I'm revising some of it according to what I hear, then I'll put your comment in its entirety, unaltered and noting there are discrepancies, under "More Information"
bzfgt
  • 50. bzfgt (link) | 22/04/2018
I'm not sure about "Cram out your power" but it sounds closer than what I had, "under your power"
Mark
  • 51. Mark | 18/02/2019
There might have been a BBC TV program in the early '80s about witchcraft in Northern England called "Lucifer Over Lancashire": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KagjJyn6CpA
Mark
  • 52. Mark | 18/02/2019
(Although there seems to be some uncertainty as to whether the programme was actually called that...)
dannyno
  • 53. dannyno | 21/02/2019
Mark, comments 51 and 52.

Oh, there was definitely such a programme with that title. Directed by Pawel (then known as Paul) Pawlikowski. But not early 1980s.

It was broadcast on BBC on 30 March 1987 7:40PM, as part of the "Open Space" series. It focused on Rev. Kevin Logan of Accrington, and his fears about witchcraft in his area (close to Pendle).

BBC Genome entry: https://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/schedules/bbctwo/england/1987-03-30#at-19.40

Clearly this is after the release of the song and the title is a reference to The Fall rather than the other way round.

The youtube video you link to has been edited and given a different title.
bzfgt
  • 54. bzfgt (link) | 13/04/2019
OK worth noting, although I kind of dislike "inspired by" notes this one is sufficiently noteworthy I think.
dannyno
  • 55. dannyno | 25/06/2020
I'm feeling some deja vu with some of this, I feel like it's been posted before, but not by me. But it isn't here, so.

There's a Current 93 12" called Lucifer Over London (1994).

https://brainwashed.com/common/htdocs/discog/durtro019.php

https://www.discogs.com/Current-93-Lucifer-Over-London/release/230509

The sleevenotes include this:


LUCIFER OVER LONDON Parts I and II were inspired primarily by the short story "The Tower Of Moab" by Leslie Allin lewis (1899-1961), found in his superlative collection Tales Of The Grotesque, (Philip Alan, 1934; Ghost Story Press, 1994), although the ideas and images in the song are primarily my own.


Meanwhile, there is also a short story by Lewis Spence entitled "Lucifer Over London" (1950), which can be found in "The Magicians; Occult Stories", edited by Peter Haining (Peter Owen, 1972 / Pan Books, 1975).

It can be borrowed from the internet Archive here; https://archive.org/details/magiciansoccult00hain

It's of no textual help, but you can imagine MES having read the book.
dannyno
  • 56. dannyno | 25/06/2020
"Lucifer over London" was originally published in The London Mystery Magazine, vol. 1 (1), 1949. Earliest collection I've found is "Mystery: an anthology of the mysterious in fact and fiction", edited by Negley Farson (1952).
dannyno
  • 57. dannyno | 07/07/2020
The Night People

The October 1985 edition of Twilight Zone magazine contains a story called Post Awful by William Jon Watkins. A cutting from this appears on the inside sleeve of This Nation's Saving Grace.

Just to note that the story that follows Post Awful in the October 1985 issue of the magazine is titled The Night People, by J. Michael Reaves.

http://www.philsp.com/homeville/SFI/t1113.htm#A23389
Carole Ballard
  • 58. Carole Ballard | 28/11/2020
I was on the programme Lucifer Over Lancashire.
It was the worse ever programme made on witchcraft, and the music was awful.
Joseph Holt
  • 59. Joseph Holt | 29/11/2020
Re the radio interview. The consensus at the time was that it was Scanlon and it was from the James H Reeves late night talk show on Piccadilly Radio.
dannyno
  • 60. dannyno | 30/11/2020
Comment #59. Worth looking into.

There's a few Reeves shows on youtube, from mid 1986.

Thing is, though, the clip is obviously of a phone-in to a studio guest. Would Reeves have had studio guests on a really late night programme of that kind? It does seem unlikely to me, but maybe a regular listener to Reeves knows better.
dannyno
  • 61. dannyno | 30/11/2020
On the other hand, the lyrical reference to "night people" and the link to the magazine article with that title by a "J Reaves" is at least suggestive...
dannyno
  • 62. dannyno | 30/11/2020
Reeve is on twitter, we could ask him, see if he remembers:

@JamesHReeve
dannyno
  • 63. dannyno | 30/11/2020
Sorry, "Reeves" should be "Reeve" in post #60
David Anderson
  • 64. David Anderson | 29/01/2021
I can't see any reference in the notes to The A666 a major road in Lancashire, sometimes referred to as the Devil's Highway or the Devil's Road. One MES must have been aware of?
bzfgt
  • 65. bzfgt (link) | 22/02/2021
58 Carole, that's great!

David 64--kind of a tenuous connection, it seems like, but since it runs through Lancashire I guess I'll mention it...
bzfgt
  • 66. bzfgt (link) | 22/02/2021
In More Information. I suppose it can't hurt, but I don't see much relevance...
dannyno
  • 67. dannyno | 22/02/2021
MES would be likely to know of the A666, I would have thought, but the song doesn't appear to refer to it at all.
Xyralothep's cat
  • 68. Xyralothep's cat | 27/02/2021
The road sign for the A666 to Clitheroe appears in the video for this on VHS8489 if my memory serves me well
dannyno
  • 69. dannyno | 28/02/2021
Comment #68

I checked and you're right, it does.
bzfgt
  • 70. bzfgt (link) | 07/03/2021
That does make it more relevant
dannyno
  • 71. dannyno | 30/07/2022
It isn't Craig Scanlon's voice at the beginning.

Steve Hanley said so on Twitter this morning (30th July 2022)

https://twitter.com/falloutpodcast1/status/1553276475628986373

https://twitter.com/Stephenhanley6/status/1553291420714389504


f.a.l.l.o.u.t.p.o.d.c.a.s.t.
@falloutpodcast1
@Stephenhanley6
Who is Craig phoning at the start of Lucifer over Lancashire? (or is it a secret!)
8:09 AM · Jul 30, 2022



Stephen Hanley
@Stephenhanley6
Replying to
@falloutpodcast1
That's not Craig.
9:08 AM · Jul 30, 2022
dannyno
  • 72. dannyno | 31/10/2022
Lyric sheet included in 29 November 2022 Omega Auctions lot 405:

https://goauctionomega.blob.core.windows.net/stock/26592-4.jpg

Text there is as follows (clearly this may not exactly be what is sung on record, but it definitely helps us with some questions):


Saw six men under a tall tower
Break it 2 him, I'll break it to you gently
The night people, will remind you of yeah:
Shaking white cheerleader
Wan untann cheerleader
- Lucifer over Lancashire
Lucifer over Lancashire
Lucifer over Lancashire
Lucifer over Lancashire

The black birds shake the hedges
On this, hottest day for ages
[The] Resemblence To a doctor on the needle
Discounted no longer

Lucifer over Lancashire x4

I tell you no lies Completely blind
Are the sentinels eyes, at back of his mind
the demons grip the demons hip
He took over everywhere his blitz
now over here in sky of Bootle
is a cock-eyed moon Useless priest
Cram out yoyr power?

- Lucifer over Lancashire x 4

And I'm runnin 'n I'm runnin but I'm shutin
+ there's dust on the Venetians
Monstrous kiss BAITBRINGER
Angled bejesus Baitbringer
- it's
Lucifer over Lancashire x4
Xyralothep's Cat
  • 73. Xyralothep's Cat | 04/11/2022
pretty much matches the PPP transcript in note 44
For the record
  • 74. For the record | 05/12/2022
Bootle and the Blitz;
https://mysefton.co.uk/2021/11/23/the-blitz-in-bootle-80-years-on-exhibition-launching-friday-26th-november/
https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/liverpool-news/gallery/devastating-photos-show-aftermath-bootles-20680684
dannyno
  • 75. dannyno | 19/04/2023
This is likely impossible to track down with any certainty at this distance, but just to record another possibility for the American voice at the beginning of the single version.

Alan Bel was originally from San Antonio, Texas, but lived in Salford for 30 years. He died under what were considered by the newspapers as mysterious circumstances. Apparently before moving to Salford and setting up a security company he had worked for the CIA. I found an article in the Manchester Evening News in 1986 which reported that at weekends he organised an American Football team.

Here's an article from 2010, also from the MEN, about his death:

https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/ex-cia-man-death-riddle-971215

To judge from that article, assuming the 2010 date on it to be right, he died in November 2009. But I found a few other sources which were from a little earlier. So I double checked and he died in November 2007 at the age of 60. So if he was born c1947, he would have been about 40 years old in 1986.

https://i2-prod.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/incoming/article519609.ece/ALTERNATES/s810/C_71_article_1074777_image_list_image_list_item_0_image.jpg

I haven't, however, been able to find any recordings on the web of Bel speaking, nor have I been able to establish if he ever appeared on the radio. So it's all a bit thin and there isn't actually any reason to think the speaker is Bel at all. However, he is an evangelical type, from America, living in Salford at the right time, and while we don't know it's him nor have we found any competing candidates. So let's add this guy to the list (or we could if we had a list).
dannyno
  • 76. dannyno | 19/04/2023
The short 1986 MEN pieces about him says he had been in Salford for 13 years at that point.

https://img.newspapers.com/img/img?institutionId=0&user=6860488&id=936060494&clippingId=123167603&width=557&height=691&crop=1795_405_1872_2366&rotation=0

https://www.newspapers.com/clip/123167603/alan-bel/
Mark Oliver
  • 77. Mark Oliver | 28/08/2023
Somewhere I heard this about the etymology of the name 'Pendle Hill' (I've just Googled it to make sure my facts are right). It was originally 'Pen', the Cumbric word for 'hill' ( Cumbric was a now-extinct language in the area from North Lancashire to Southern Scotland). Then the Old English 'Hyll' (guess what that means) was added to it and it evolved to 'Pennul' or 'Penhul'. This eventually became 'Pendle' and later, 'Hill' was added to this. So, 'Pendle Hill' means 'Hill Hill Hill'. You're welcome.
Matt C
  • 78. Matt C (link) | 24/09/2023
There's a live performance of Lucifer Over Lancashire dated 1986 on Bandcamp (from "The Fall - Sheffield Poly 26​-​11​-​1986"): https://sheffieldtapearchive.bandcamp.com/track/lucifer-over-lancashire

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