Marc Riley with The Creepers

Marc Riley, better known as Lard has had a long history of being in the Rock `n Roll business. He formed his first band at the age of 15 and "Then I sort of wormed my way into The Fall when I was 16". Marc was soon kicked out of The Fall, something that is not unusual as The Fall`s line-up seems to change almost monthly. When he left he formed Marc Riley with The Creepers. The Creepers were:
Shadow Figure

Marc Riley - Guitar/Vocals
Eddie Fenn - Drums
Paul Fletcher - Guitar
Pete Keogh - Bass

Paul Fletcher and Pete Keogh were later replaced by Mark Tilton on Guitar and Phil Roberts on Bass.

The Records they made were full of hard hitting humour and remained as opinionated as those of Riley`s former Boss Mark `e Smith (who apparently wrote the sarcastic Middle Class about Riley). Examples of Creepers tunes include the anti-Paul Weller rallying cry Bard Of Woking and the infamous Shadow Figure a song that can still these days bring a grown man to tears begging for it to be turned off. John Peel had The Creepers in a total of 5 times to do sessions for him and you can see details of the sessions below. Albums that they released included 'Cull', 'Gross Out' and 'Warts n' All'.

Marc Riley formed In-Tape Records with Creepers Keyboardist Jim Khambatta who incidentally also managed The Creepers. Marc eventually split up The Creepers in 1987 after having got nearly no commercial success.

The John Peel Sessions

First Broadcast Date - 29/11/83
Programme            - John Peel
Songs                - Cure By Choice, Location Bangladesh, Baby Paints,
                       Blow Your Own Trumpet, Pickin` The Nose
Line-Up              - Marc Riley - Organ, Guitar, Vocals
                       Paul Fletcher - Organ, Guitar
                       Jim Khambatta - Keyboard, Backing Vocals
                       Eddie Fenn - Drums
                       Pete Keogh - Bass
Recording Date       - 21/11/83
Studio               - Maida Vale 4
Producer             - Tony Wilson
Engineer             - Martin Colley


First Broadcast Date - 23/7/84
Programme            - John Peel
Songs                - Snipe, Hole 4 A Soul, Shirt Scene, Shadow Figure
Line-Up              - Marc Riley - Organ, Guitar, Vocals
                       Paul Fletcher - Organ, Guitar
                       Clive Stewart - Saxophone
                       Eddie Fenn - Drums
                       Pete Keogh - Bass
Recording Date       - 26/6/84
Studio               - Maida Vale 5
Producer             - Mark Radcliffe
Engineer             - Ted de Bono


First Broadcast Date - 26/2/84
Programme            - The Evening Show With Janice Long
Songs                - Breakneck Sidewipe, Poop Scoop, Harry`s Chin,
                       Breakneck Sidewipe pt 2,
Line-Up              - Marc Riley - Organ, Guitar, Vocals
                       Paul Fletcher- Organ, Guitar
                       Eddie Fenn - Drums
                       Pete Keogh - Bass
Recording Date       - 6/2/85
Studio               - Maida Vale 5
Producer             - John Sparrow
Engineer             - Martyn Parker


First Broadcast Date - 4/9/85
Programme            - John Peel
Songs                - Black Dwarf, Bard O` Woking, Goin` Rate,
                       Cold Fish
Line-Up              - Marc Riley - Organ, Guitar, Vocals
                       Paul Fletcher- Guitar
                       Jim Khambatta - Organ
                       Eddie Fenn - Drums
                       Mike Gallagher - Saxophone
                       John Hunter - Trumpet
                       Pete Keogh - Bass
Recording Date       - 25/8/85
Studio               - Maida Vale 5
Producer             - Dale Griffin
Engineer             - Mike Engles


First Broadcast Date - 4/6/86
Programme            - John Peel
Songs                - Another Song About Motorbikes, The Adventure Of
                       Brian Glider, Bank Of Horrors, Stroke Of Genius
Line-Up              - Marc Riley - Organ, Guitar, Vocals
                       Eddie Fenn - Drums
                       Mike Gallagher - Saxophone
                       Phil Roberts - Bass, Harmonica
                       Mark Tilton - Guitar
Recording Date       - 27/5/86
Studio               - Maida Vale 4
Producer             - Dale Griffin
Engineer             - Mike Robinson and Mita Adhikari


First Broadcast Date - 25/2/87
Programme            - John Peel
Songs                - Lucky, Yea Heavy and A Bottle Of Bread,
                       Sparks, Tearjerker
Line-Up              - Marc Riley - Organ, Guitar, Vocals
                       Eddie Fenn - Drums
                       Mike Gallagher - Saxophone
                       Phil Roberts - Bass, Harmonica
                       Mark Tilton - Guitar
Recording Date       - 8/2/87
Studio               - unknown
Producer             - Dale Griffin
Engineer             - Mike Engles and Tim Durham

You may like to note that for The Creepers second session the producer was some bloke called Mark Radcliffe. Marc Riley was eventually to team up with this little known Radio DJ and start a career in Radio. But you probally knew that bit already.

A Classic interview with Lard about his time in The Fall

You can find more Marc Riley with the Creepers info at The Trouserpress

Thanks to Steve Roden for The Creepers Advert which is an old NME advert from 25th October, 1984.