Hello Mr Curtis (With Apologies)/Holy Dotage (Wired 17) : Released 10 December 2011 on 10″
The death of John McGeoch, aged 48, in 2004 made me think that I’d forever lost the chance to see Magazine play live. I had always hoped, despite the fact that Howard Devoto had seemingly totally withdrawn from the music business, that somehow a promotor would persuade the band members that there was no shame in jumping on the nostalgia bandwagon, particularly given that their influence and legacy seemed to grow with each passing year (as long as we quietly ignored the fourth and final studio album).
In 2007, Dave Formula began work on a low-key solo album called Satellite Sweetheart. It featured over 30 guest musicians including those who had been in Magazine. He was also also able to use John McGeoch’s voice from a previously unreleased track from their time together in Visage to create a new song called The Anti-Hero, which meant that, across the solo album, for the first time since 1980, the contributions of Formula, Adamson, Doyle, McGeoch and Devoto could be found on the same recording (it was only ever issued on CD).
This gave a little bit of momentum to a Manchester-based promotor to talk to the remaining four members and progress was made to the extent that by late 2008 there was a firm proposal on the table for shows in Manchester, London and Glasgow for February 2009. The auditions for a guitarist to play the shows were left in the hands of Dave Formula, John Doyle and Barry Adamson, and they settled on Noko, a Manchester-based guitarist who had worked with Howard Devoto in the late 80s as Luxuria, releasing two albums.
The tour proved to be a triumph, with critics and fans, old and new alike, united in awe at the performances. More shows, including festival performances, followed in 2009.
In January 2010, Noko officially joined the band and it was announced that they were writing new material. Later in 2010, Barry Adamson decided to leave to concentrate on his film work and solo recordings. In his place came Jon “Stan” White, who made his live debut in June 2011, during which a number of new songs were aired.
On 24 October 2011, the fifth Magazine studio album, No Thyself, was released on Dave Formula’s label Wire-Sound. The reviews were universally positive. Dave Simpson, in the review for The Guardian wrote:-
No Thyself could be the fourth album they should have made instead of 1981’s Magic, Murder and the Weather, which badly missed departed John McGeoch. Here, guitarist Noko and bassist John “Stan” White (replacing Barry Adamson, who had film commitments) help recapture the sonic blueprint laid down on the first three classic albums”
On 10 December 2011, Wire-Sound issued a 10″ single for Record Store Day, consisting of two of the best-received tracks on No Thyself:-
mp3: Magazine – Hello Mr Curtis (With Apologies)
mp3: Magazine – Holy Dotage
By this time, Magazine had played nine shows to support the promotion of their new album, ending at the Shepherd’s Bush Empire in London on 10 November.
The only activity since has been a couple more Record Store Day releases along with limited edition 7″ single to coincide with the publication of a book….and I’ll cover those next week in the final part of this series.
