Month: October 2026

The Light Pours Out Of Me/The Anti Hero (OMNI-RSB1) : Released May 2022 on 7″

Anti-Wire would go on to issue two more bits of vinyl for Record Store Day 2016 and Record Store Day 2017.

The first of these, a 12″ release, made available on 16 April 2016, was called Once@The Academy, and consisted of five songs – The Light Pours Out Of Me, Permafrost, Twenty Years Ago, Definitive Gaze and Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin) – as recorded at the two shows Magazine played at the Manchester Academy on 14 and 17 February 2009.

The second was also a 12″ release, made available on 22 April 2017. It was called Old World Charm (BBC Electric Proms), and consisted of six songs – Shot By Both Sides, Rhythm of Cruelty, A Song From Under The Floorboards, Sweetheart Contract and I Love You You Big Dummy – as recorded on 22 October 2009 when Magazine played the BBC Electric Proms at the Roundhouse in London.

And then, in May 2022, there came a bit of an unusual release.

The Light Pours Out Of Me – The Authorised Biography of John McGeoch, written by Rory Sullivan-Burke, was published in May 2022 by Omnibus Books.  It’s a superb read, and it’s been a bit of an oversight on my part not to have reviewed it on TVV.

A 7″ single was pressed to be part of a limited and signed slipcase edition of the book, consisting of these two tracks:-

mp3: Magazine – The Light Pours Out Of Me (live at The Russell Club, Manchester, 1980)
mp3: Dave Formula – The Anti-Hero (featuring John McGeoch)

I didn’t buy the slipcase edition of the book, but to my astonishment and delight, while pulling this series together back in July, I found a copy for sale on Discogs direct from Anti-Wire, seemingly one that was part of a very small stock overrun back in 2022.  And the asking price was very reasonable.

The Magazine track is from the same show that supplied the live tracks that came with the extra 7″ single with Sweetheart Contract back in 1980 (see Part 8 of the series), and The Anti-Hero is one I referred to last week, being the track Dave Formula put together for his 2007 solo album, Satellite Sweetheart, on which he used John McGeoch’s voice from a previously unreleased track from their time together in Visage to create a new song.

And that brings to an end what was a short(ish) series of 11 parts plus an interlude, but which featured singles releases between 1978 and 2022. I hope you’ve enjoyed reading it as much as I’ve enjoyed writing it.

JC

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.

JC