Mark E Smith – living on his own terms

“Belligerent, generally drunk, wilfully unprofessional and one of the most brilliant and inimitable figures in the history of music” is how Mark E Smith has been described as news of his death emerged. He formed the group The Fall in 1976, named after Albert Camus’s novel, replacing The Outsiders, an earlier choice. His music was “a brutal mix of clattering rockabilly and garage rock”; “primitive – with intelligent lyrics.” “Rock n’ roll isn’t even music really,” he once said. “It’s a mistreating of instruments to get feelings over.” He was known for his turbulent relationship with his bandmates, with 66 different members over the years. Over the years he produced 32 albums and latterly performed from a wheelchair in October.

Born 5 March 1957 into a working class family, he left school at 16, took a job in a meat factory and studied for an A in English literature in the evenings.

He had his Sun, Venus, Mercury in Pisces with his Sun square Saturn in philosophical Sagittarius. He had a stubbornly determined Mars in Taurus opposition a Scorpio North Node square Pluto in Leo – so would have tremendous staying power and be ultra-resistant to outside influences or anyone trying to control him. His Uranus was square in Neptune which can be oddball and fanatical, which might have been tied into his Moon.

Certainly a one-off and self-destructive in terms of his lifestyle, but he seems to have been intelligent and admired by afficionados of the pop scene.