Contributed by
Matthew De La Hunty
Musician (Tall Tales and True)

The wonderful and frightening world of The Fall plus a few bits from Perverted by Language

Creator: Luke Stegemann
Date: Late 1987 - Early 1988

Going through various tapes that went back and forth between my friends, I found this one which, whilst not terribly diverse - its 100% the Fall - has the most love in it.

I met Luke Stegemann in Sydney after moving there in 1982. What a fabulous guy. We shared a big old house in Stanmore with our then-partners for a couple of years. Luke was (is) articulate, charming, funny, good-looking. Chad's Tree used him for the film clip of their song "Sweet Jesus Blue Eyes" (Yep he had devastating blue eyes). We all found it hard to let go when he moved to Spain to start teaching English. It was like losing a brother. Luke met a fiery girl "Encarna" and settled in Madrid, eventually with child.

One day a package arrived for me - this tape of the Fall. Between the two of us we shared a lot of ideas about music but the thing we were both united on was The Fall. We had a lot of their vinyl between us but the band was very prolific and there always seemed to be more that we didn't have. (I lost my 10" called "Slates" - that really hurt!) Here was new Fall stuff I didn't have - awesome. The fact that a mid 20's man would sit in a flat in Madrid, putting little stickers on a cassette box with the track titles to send to another man on the other side of the globe speaks volumes to me. You can feel the love. I have always treasured this cassette because it is a time capsule. Although I got it in about 1988, it represents a happy period prior to that - pissed and stoned, singalong nights with Mark E Smith and The Fall.

Luke later came back to Australia for a time with his new family. The relationship didn't last and he eventually moved to Japan, where he lives to this day. In recent times we are talking again via email. He seems to be the same witty incisive thinker he always was, only with a lot less hair apparently.

When my band (Tall Tales and True) toured the UK in 1990 I stayed with Luke in Madrid for a week. At least I knew one Spanish word when we arrived. "Cara" which means side - as in Cara A and Cara B on the tape. You can hear Luke's voice on the tape where he drops in "hmm lets see, did you steal the money Tom?"