Brix Smith

Brix Smith-Start (born Laura Elisse Salenger, November 12, 1962; as a musician, known as Brix Smith) is an American singer, guitarist and television presenter, best known for being a member of post-punk band The Fall, and later as a UK TV fashion pundit.

Biography

Smith was raised in Los Angeles by her mother Lucy Salenger, a TV executive at CBS. Mother and daughter moved to Chicago in 1972 when Salenger married political economist Marvin Zonis and became a powerful regional figure in the film business as head of the Illinois Film Office.

Studying theatre and literature at Bennington College in Vermont, Smith-Start formed a group, "Banda Dratsing", performing as bassist/vocalist and adopting the name "Brix" after The Clash's 1980 song "The Guns of Brixton".

The Fall

Smith met The Fall vocalist Mark E. Smith at a Chicago concert in 1982, and moved to England where they married in 1983. She joined the group on guitar and vocals for the album Perverted by Language. Acknowledged for introducing a more mainstream, pop-oriented element to the group's sound, she remained in the group until her divorce from Smith in 1989. Smith rejoined for the recording and live promotion of the albums Cerebral Caustic (1995) and The Light User Syndrome (1996).