"Rowche Rumble" is a 1979 song by British

post-punk Post-punk (originally called new musick) is a broad genre of punk music that emerged in the late 1970s as musicians departed from punk's traditional elements and raw simplicity, instead adopting a variety of avant-garde sensibilities and non-r ...

band the Fall, written by

Mark E. Smith Mark Edward Smith (5 March 1957 – 24 January 2018) was an English singer, who was the lead singer, lyricist and only constant member of the post-punk group the Fall. Smith formed the band after attending the June 1976 Sex Pistols gig at the ...

Craig Scanlon Craig Antony Scanlon (born 7 December 1960 in Manchester) is an English guitarist, best known as a member of the Fall between 1979 and 1995. Despite his surname being spelled 'Scanlon' he was wrongly credited as 'Craig Scanlan' on every record h ...

and

Marc Riley Marc Riley (born 10 July 1961 in Manchester) is an English radio DJ, alternative rock critic, musician, and former music businessman. He currently presents on BBC Radio 6 Music. Formerly a member of the Fall, he co-owned a record label, In-Tap ...

. Released as the band's third single, it was the first record by the Fall to reach a recognised national chart when it reached number 31 on the

indie chart The UK Independent Singles Chart and UK Independent Albums Chart are charts of the best-selling independent singles and albums, respectively, in the United Kingdom. Originally published in January 1980, and widely known as the indie chart, the rel ...

in January 1980, the first month of that chart's existence. The song was recorded at Cargo Studios in

Rochdale Rochdale ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, at the foothills of the South Pennines in the dale on the River Roch, northwest of Oldham and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough ...

in June 1979 by the band, at that time comprising Smith (vocals), Scanlon (guitar), Riley (guitar), Steve Hanley (bass), Yvonne Pawlett (keyboards), and Mike Leigh (drums). It was produced by Oz McCormick and the band. Its lyrics reputedly reference an incident when Smith worked as a shipping clerk dealing with the

Roche F. Hoffmann-La Roche AG, commonly known as Roche, is a Swiss multinational healthcare company that operates worldwide under two divisions: Pharmaceuticals and Diagnostics. Its holding company, Roche Holding AG, has shares listed on the SIX S ...

pharmaceutical company, and as a result of a clerical error acquired a supply of

barbiturates Barbiturates are a class of depressant drugs that are chemically derived from barbituric acid. They are effective when used medically as anxiolytics, hypnotics, and anticonvulsants, but have physical and psychological addiction potential as ...

which he attempted to hide around

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

. "Rowche Rumble", ''The Fall Tracks A-Z and The Fall Live''
Retrieved 2 March 2018 According to Riley, the music is loosely based on "Tight Pants", a 1977 b-side from American band

Iggy & The Stooges The Stooges, originally billed as the Psychedelic Stooges, also known as Iggy and the Stooges, was an American rock band formed in Ann Arbor, Michigan, in 1967 by singer Iggy Pop, guitarist Ron Asheton, drummer Scott Asheton, and bassist D ...

. The record received positive reviews, with Ned Raggett at

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the dat ...

describing it as "both a highlight of the young band's career and a clear signpost toward much it would do in the future". It was placed at number 21 among the year's top tracks by the ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...

'', and number 40 in

John Peel John Robert Parker Ravenscroft (30 August 1939 – 25 October 2004), known professionally as John Peel, was an English disc jockey (DJ) and radio presenter. He was the longest-serving of the original BBC Radio 1 DJs, broadcasting regularly fr ...

's "

Festive Fifty The Festive Fifty was originally an annual list of the year's 50 (though the exact figure varied above and below this number) best songs compiled at the end of the year and voted for by listeners to John Peel's BBC Radio 1 show. It was usually do ...

" in 1979.

References

{{The Fall The Fall (band) songs 1979 singles Songs written by Mark E. Smith 1979 songs Songs written by Craig Scanlon Songs written by Marc Riley