THE SINGULAR ADVENTURES OF MAGAZINE (9)

 

Before we get down to business, this happens to be the 5,000th post on The (New) Vinyl Villain, going back to 24 July 2013.

 

About The Weather (VS 412) : Released May 1981 on 7″ and 12″ 

Robin Simon left Magazine after the North American and New Zealand/Australia tours of August/September 1980. It appears that while he was an adequate replacement for John McGeoch in the live setting, he wasn’t coming up with anything meaningful in rehearsing/recording demos that were intended to form the basis of a fourth studio album.

The search for suitable replacement wasn’t fruitful, and so Howard Devoto called on his friend, Ben Mendelson, to help out.  With hindsight, it would probably have been better if the band had called it a day on the return from Australia and the release of the Play live album, but contractual obligations etc must have played a part.

It transpired that Devoto was in the depths of despair and a lot of the main tasks were falling on the shoulders of Mendelson, including working closely with Martin Hannett on the mixing of the album – Hannett hadn’t been the producer, but the efforts of John Brand had been thought of as being substandard when the songs were played back for the first time.

From the Helen Chase book referenced last week:-

Howard’s lack of inspiration even stretched to the naming of the album, and he says, “I was having problems with the sequencing and coming up with a title. I remember we were in my flat trying to come up with something, and we went round and round and round. Eventually, Barry said to me. ‘Well, what’s the album about, Howard?’ I said, ‘Magic, murder and the weather’ and he looked back at me quizzically, kind of with a raised eyebrow, as if to say, ‘Well, that’s the title then…’

On 1 May 1981, the new Magazine single was released on 7″

mp3: Magazine – About The Weather

The kindest thing I can say about it is that it’s rather ordinary.

The b-side?

mp3: Magazine – In The Dark

This wasn’t a track that Hannett was asked to work on, so I guess it was one which the band had given up on quite early, realising it was very much the musical equivalent of landfill.

On 8 May 1981, the 12″ version of the single was released,

mp3: Magazine – About The Weather (12″ version)

It also contained this extra track:-

mp3: Magazine – The Operative

Another that wasn’t given to Hannett.

Magic, Murder and the Weather followed about a month later. By then, Devoto had told the others that he wasn’t prepared to go back out on tour and to all intent and purposes was leaving the band.  As was written in the sleeve notes when the album was reissued in 1981, Magazine decided to dissolve because they could not imagine a “post-Devoto” lineup.

It was, all in all, a lousy ending. Just as well there would be a reunion many decades later.

 

 

JC