Magazine
Magazine performing at the Hop Farm Festival, 2011
Background information
Origin	Manchester, England
Genres	Post-punk new wave art rock
Years active	1977–1981, 2009–2011
Labels	EMI Virgin IRS
Past members	Howard Devoto John McGeoch Barry Adamson Martin Jackson Bob Dickinson Dave Formula Paul Spencer John Doyle Robin Simon Ben Mandelson Noko Jonathan "Stan" White

Magazine were a Britishrock band formed in 1977 in Manchester in England by singerHoward Devoto and guitaristJohn McGeoch. After leaving thepunk groupBuzzcocks in early 1977, Devoto decided to create a more progressive and less "traditional" rock band. The original lineup of Magazine was composed of Devoto, McGeoch,Barry Adamson on bass, Bob Dickinson on keyboards andMartin Jackson on drums.

Their debut album,Real Life (1978), was critically acclaimed and was one of the firstpost-punk albums. After releasing two other albums,Secondhand Daylight andThe Correct Use of Soap, McGeoch left the band in 1980 to joinSiouxsie and the Banshees. Magazine released another studio album and disbanded in 1981. All four of their albums reached the top 40 on theUK Albums Chart.

They reunited in 2009 for a UK tour withNoko on guitar. Magazine released an album of new material,No Thyself, in October 2011, followed by a short UK tour.

Magazine have been cited as an influence by bands and musicians such asSimple Minds,the Smiths,Radiohead,Pulp andJohn Frusciante.

Devoto formed Magazine inManchester, shortly after he leftBuzzcocks in early 1977. In April 1977, he met guitarist McGeoch, then an art student, and they began writing songs, some of which would appear on the first Magazine album.^[1] They then recruitedBarry Adamson on bass, Bob Dickinson on keyboards andMartin Jackson (previously ofthe Freshies) on drums, forming the first lineup of the band. After signing toVirgin Records, Magazine played their debut live gig at Rafters in Manchester on 28 October 1977.^{[citation needed]}

"Motorcade" co-writer Dickinson, whose background was inclassical andavant-garde music,^{[citation needed]} left shortly after several gigs in late 1977. In early 1978, the band released their first single, "Shot by Both Sides", a song Magazine recorded as a quartet. It featured a guitar-bass-drums sound similar topunk rock.^{[citation needed]} Shortly after the single's release,Dave Formula, who had played with a briefly successful 1960s rock band from Manchester calledSt. Louis Union,^{[citation needed]} joined as keyboardist. "Shot by Both Sides" used a chord progression suggested byPete Shelley, which was also used in theBuzzcocks track "Lipstick".^[2] The Magazine single just missed the UK top 40.^[3] The band, with Formula on keyboards, made its first major TV appearance onTop of the Pops in February 1978, performing the single.^{[citation needed]} The band recorded their firstJohn Peel session for BBC radio 1 on 14th Febtuary 1978: the four tracks were broadcast on 20th February.^[4]

Following a British tour to promote their debut album,Real Life (which made the UK top 30),^[3] Jackson left Magazine in late July. He was replaced briefly by Paul Spencer, who performed with the band for gigs across Europe and some television appearances, includingThe Old Grey Whistle Test, where they played "Definitive Gaze". Spencer quit partway through the tour, joiningthe Speedometors shortly afterwards. He was replaced in October byJohn Doyle, who completed theReal Life promotional tour and remained in the band.^[5]

Magazine's second album,Secondhand Daylight, was released in 1979, reaching the UK top 40.^[3] The album featured a greater use of synthesisers. That same year, McGeoch, Adamson and Formula joined electronic projectVisage, recording and releasing the single "Tar".^{[citation needed]}

After the release ofSecondhand Daylight, Devoto decided to change producers.^{[citation needed]} He choseMartin Hannett, who produced their next album,The Correct Use of Soap, released the following year and again making the top 30, while the single "Sweetheart Contract" was a minor success on the singles chart.^[3] Following its release, McGeoch left the band, tired of Magazine's low sales and their less guitar-oriented songs.^{[citation needed]} He soon joinedSiouxsie and the Banshees. To replace him, the band hiredRobin Simon, who had been inUltravox andNeo. That lineup toured Europe and Australia, recording their next release, the live albumPlay. Simon made some initial recordings and rehearsals for what would be the next Magazine album, including co-writing the song "So Lucky", but he left the band before the album was released so that he could record theJohn Foxx solo albumThe Garden.^{[citation needed]}

Again without a guitarist, Devoto called in his former college friend atBolton,Ben Mandelson (a formerAmazorblades member). This lineup completed the 1981 recording of the band's fourth studio album,Magic, Murder and the Weather, but Devoto quit that May, months before its release, and the remaining members disbanded. A year later,After the Fact, the first Magazine compilation, was released.

Adamson continued collaborating with Visage, and also began to work with Shelley,the Birthday Party andNick Cave and the Bad Seeds. Jackson later played withthe Chameleons,Swing Out Sister andthe Durutti Column. Formula continued as a member of Visage and joinedLudus, and Mandelson joinedthe Mekons.^[6] Doyle joinedthe Armoury Show in Scotland in 1983, which also featured McGeoch; the latter later played guitar forPublic Image Ltd. After a brief solo outing and two albums withLuxuria, Devoto quit music to become a photo archivist, until a new collaboration with Shelley produced theBuzzkunst album in 2002. McGeoch died in 2004, aged 48.^[7]

In February 2009, Devoto and Magazine re-formed for five performances. The lineup included Devoto, Formula, Adamson and Doyle. TheRadiohead guitaristJonny Greenwood, a Magazine fan, declined an offer to fill in for McGeoch. According to the Radiohead collaboratorAdam Buxton, Greenwood was "overwhelmed" and too shy to accept the role.^[8]Noko, Devoto's bandmate in Luxuria, was the guitarist on the tour.^{[citation needed]}

The shows were sold out and received acclaim.^[9][10][11] The group went on to play at festivals in the UK and abroad that summer, before performing "The Soap Show" in Manchester, Edinburgh and London. The band played two sets: a performance ofThe Correct Use of Soap in full, followed by a set composed of other songs from their catalogue.

In January 2010, Noko officially joined the band, becoming a full member of Magazine. The band started work on new material. In November 2010, Adamson left to concentrate on his film work and solo recordings. Jon "Stan" White joined as bass player on the new recordings and debuted live on 30 June 2011 atWolverhampton Slade Rooms, where Magazine were playing a warm-up show for theirHop Farm Festival appearance two days later.

A new studio album,No Thyself, was released worldwide by Wire Sound on 24 October 2011, and the band embarked on a UK tour in November. On 16 April 2016, as part ofRecord Store Day, the band releasedOnce at the Academy, a live 5-track 12" EP recorded at their reunion shows atManchester Academy in February 2009.

Magazine was an influence on the fledglingSimple Minds, who supported them on a 1979 tour and much later covered "A Song from Under the Floorboards".^[12][13] TheRadiohead guitaristJonny Greenwood named McGeoch his biggest guitar influence, and said that Magazine's songwriting "informs so much of what we do".^[14] Radiohead performed a cover of "Shot By Both Sides" in 2000.^[15]

Johnny Marr ofthe Smiths cited Magazine as an influence, particularly McGeoch's guitar work.^[16][17] The Smiths singer,Morrissey, covered "A Song from Under the Floorboards" as aB-side to his 2006 single "The Youngest Was the Most Loved". "Floorboards" was also covered byMy Friend the Chocolate Cake on their 1994 albumBrood.MGMT played a version of "Burst" on tour in 2011.^[18]

Jarvis Cocker ofPulp praisedReal Life saying: "this was such an important record for the time because it showed that you could still do something that had attack to it combined with a real intelligence, without going into ponce territory".^[19] The band and their singer/lyricist Howard Devoto have also been cited as an influence on several 1980s bands, such asChina Crisis^[20] andFiction Factory.^[21]

Lolita Pop recorded a cover of "A Song from under the Floorboards" on 1989'sLove Poison.Half Man Half Biscuit have performed live covers of a number of Magazine songs. "The Light Pours Out of Me" was covered by several acts includingPeter Murphy,Ministry,the Mission,Sleep Chamber andZero Boys. The bandNo Fun at All did a cover of "Shot by Both Sides" on their recordAnd Now for Something Completely Different.Mansun covered "Shot by Both Sides" forJohn Peel sessions.Duff McKagan citedReal Life as an influence, particularly on tracks where achorus effect is used.^[22]

Classic line-up

• Howard Devoto – lead vocals(1977–1981, 2009–2011)
• John McGeoch – guitar, saxophone, backing vocals, keyboards(1977–1980)
• Barry Adamson – bass guitar, backing vocals(1977–1981, 2009–2010)
• Dave Formula – keyboards(1977–1981, 2009–2011)
• John Doyle – drums(1978–1981, 2009–2011)

Other members

• Martin Jackson – drums(1977–1978)
• Bob Dickinson – keyboards(1977)
• John Scott – guitar(1977)
• Paul Spencer – drums(1978)
• Robin Simon – guitar(1980)
• Ben Mandelson – guitar, violin(1981)
• Noko – guitar, backing vocals(2009–2011)
• Jonathan "Stan" White – bass guitar, backing vocals(2010–2011)

The Magazine discography consists of five studio albums, four live albums, seven compilation albums, two video albums, one extended play and 10 singles.

All titles were released by Virgin Records, except where indicated.

• List of new wave artists
• List of Peel sessions
• List of post-punk bands
• Music of the United Kingdom (1970s)

• Chase, Helen (2009).Magazine: The Biography. Northumbria Press.ISBN 978-1-904794-36-3.
• Sullivan-Burke, Rory (April 2022).The Light Pours Out of Me: The Authorised Biography of John McGeoch.Omnibus Press.ISBN 978-1913172664.

• Magazine discography atDiscogs

• English new wave musical groups
• Rock music groups from Manchester
• English post-punk music groups
• Musical groups established in 1977
• Musical groups disestablished in 1981
• Musical groups reestablished in 2009
• Musical groups disestablished in 2011

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