The Electric Pitchfork

Going. Going . . . Bald! Why men are obsessed with their hair Prince William has finally been sheared — a shining example to other men clinging on to wispy hair From left: Jason Statham, Stanley Tucci and Prince William Prince William has taken the plunge. On Thursday he revealed his new buzz-cut, a shorter, closer cropped look believed to have been sheared by one of the team who look after the Duchess of Cambridge’s hair. The odds are (bookmakers are taking bets) that he will keep the new skinny Wills for Harry’s wedding. And why wouldn’t he? Now that it’s gone gone, as opposed to sort of wispily hanging in there around the back and sides, you wonder why he didn’t shave the whole lot off years ago. Of course it’s not that simple. Second only to accidents downstairs, men fear the retreat of their hair more than anything. Last year Ronnie Wood of the Rolling Stones refused chemotherapy on the grounds that were  he to lose his shock of hair life would not be...

OBITUARY Mark E Smith Irascible, mischievous and contrarian front man of the Fall dubbed ‘the grumpiest man in pop’ Mark E Smith with former wife and lead guitarist of the Fall Brix Smith Among the ranks of recalcitrant, irascible pop stars, Mark E Smith was in a contrarian class of his own. Never a man to look on the bright side, he was dubbed “the grumpiest man in pop” and the songs he wrote for the Fall, the band he sustained for more than 40 years, were abrasive and bleak, leavened only by a cynical and sometimes vicious sense of humour as he railed bitterly at the hypocrisies of life and the injustice of the world. He didn’t so much sing his vitriolic lyrics as rant, bark and snarl them, and off stage he was as caustic and as confrontational as his music. Famously uncooperative, he was every interviewer’s worst nightmare, turning the simplest question into a gladiatorial  battle. Inspired to form a band after seeing the Sex Pistols play in Manchester i...