<P> The Fall are an English post-punk band, formed in 1976 in Prestwich, Greater Manchester . They have undergone many line up changes, with vocalist Mark E. Smith as the founder and only constant member . The Fall's long term musicians have included drummers Paul Hanley and Karl Burns; guitarists Marc Riley, Craig Scanlon and Brix Smith; and bassist Steve Hanley, whose melodic playing is widely credited with shaping the band's sound from the early 1980s to the mid-1990s . </P> <P> First associated with the late 1970s punk movement, the Fall's music has undergone numerous stylistic changes, often concurrently with changes in the group's lineup . Nonetheless, their music has generally been characterised by an abrasive guitar - driven sound, tense bass and drum rhythms, and Smith's cryptic lyrics, described by critic Simon Reynolds as "a kind of Northern English magic realism that mixed industrial grime with the unearthly and uncanny, voiced through a unique, one - note delivery somewhere between amphetamine - spiked rant and alcohol - addled yarn ." While the Fall have never achieved widespread success beyond minor hit singles in the late 1980s, they have maintained a strong cult following . </P> <P> The Fall have been called "the most prolific band of the British post-punk movement ." They have released thirty - two studio albums as of 2017, and more than three times that number when live albums and compilations (often released against Smith's wishes) are taken into account . They were long associated with BBC disc jockey John Peel, who championed them from early on in their career and described them as his favourite band, famously explaining, "they are always different; they are always the same ." </P> <P> The Fall were formed in Prestwich, Greater Manchester in 1976 by Mark E. Smith, Martin Bramah, Una Baines and Tony Friel . The four friends would meet to read their writings to each other and take drugs . Their musical influences included Can (which the band would later pay tribute to on the track "I Am Damo Suzuki"), the Velvet Underground, Captain Beefheart and garage rock bands like the Monks and the Stooges . The members were devoted readers, with Smith citing H.P. Lovecraft, Raymond Chandler and Malcolm Lowry among his favourite writers . After seeing the Sex Pistols play Manchester's Lesser Free Trade Hall in June 1976, they decided to start a group . Smith wanted to name the group "the Outsiders", but Friel came up with the name "the Fall" after a 1956 novel by Albert Camus. Smith became the singer, Bramah the guitarist, Friel played bass guitar and Baines bashed biscuit tins instead of drums; unable to afford buying a drum kit, she then switched to keyboards . The Fall's music was intentionally raw and repetitive . The song "Repetition", declaring that "we've repetition in the music, and we're never going to lose it", served as a manifesto for the Fall's musical philosophy . </P>

Who was credited as the first british post punk band they were from manchester england