Magazine
Biography
When Magazine finally dissolved in 1981, they left behind a legacy that would prove far more influential than their brief four-year existence might have suggested. The band's demise came not with a bang but with the quiet recognition that they had pushed their particular brand of angular post-punk as far as it could go, leaving Howard Devoto to pursue his fascination with electronic music and the remaining members to scatter across the Manchester music scene like seeds that would eventually bloom in unexpected places.
The final chapter had been written with "Magic, Murder and the Weather," their third and most adventurous album, released in 1981. By this point, Magazine had evolved from their early punk-adjacent sound into something altogether more sophisticated and unsettling. The album showcased Devoto's increasingly abstract lyrical preoccupations and the band's willingness to incorporate everything from funk rhythms to avant-garde textures, but it also revealed the creative tensions that would ultimately tear them apart.
Their commercial and critical peak had come two years earlier with "Secondhand Daylight" in 1979, an album that perfectly captured the band's ability to balance accessibility with experimentation. Songs like "Rhythm of Cruelty" and "Cut-Out Shapes" demonstrated how Magazine could craft genuinely catchy melodies while maintaining their intellectual edge and emotional distance. The album's success established them as one of the most important bands to emerge from the post-punk explosion, though they always remained slightly apart from their contemporaries, too cerebral for the punks and too abrasive for mainstream acceptance.
Magazine's journey had begun in the aftermath of Howard Devoto's dramatic departure from Buzzcocks in 1977, a move that shocked the punk world given that band's rising profile. Devoto, born Howard Trafford, had co-founded Buzzcocks with Pete Shelley but found himself increasingly uncomfortable with the limitations of three-chord punk rock. His vision for Magazine was more ambitious and intellectually rigorous, drawing inspiration from art rock pioneers like Roxy Music and Television while maintaining punk's confrontational spirit.
The band's lineup crystallized around Devoto's distinctive vocals and lyrical vision, with guitarist John McGeoch providing the perfect foil through his innovative and often unsettling guitar work. McGeoch, who would later join Siouxsie and the Banshees and Public Image Ltd, brought a unique approach to the instrument, favoring unusual tunings, effects, and techniques that created Magazine's signature sound – angular, atmospheric, and slightly menacing. The rhythm section of Barry Adamson on bass and Martin Jackson on drums provided a solid foundation that could accommodate both driving punk energy and more experimental passages.
Their 1978 debut "Real Life" announced Magazine as a force to be reckoned with, featuring the hypnotic single "Shot by Both Sides," which reworked a Buzzcocks song into something entirely more complex and compelling. The album established the template for Magazine's approach: Devoto's detached, intellectual vocals delivered cryptic observations about modern life over music that was simultaneously accessible and challenging, familiar yet strange.
Magazine's influence extended far beyond their modest commercial success. Their approach to post-punk helped define the genre's possibilities, proving that punk's energy could be channeled into more sophisticated musical forms without losing its essential power. Bands like Joy Division, The Cure, and countless others drew inspiration from Magazine's example, while their willingness to experiment with different sounds and textures prefigured the alternative rock explosion of the following decade.
The band's visual aesthetic, developed in collaboration with designer Malcolm Garrett, was equally influential, featuring stark, modernist imagery that perfectly complemented their music's intellectual cool. Their live performances were legendary for their intensity and unpredictability, with Devoto's commanding stage presence and the band's tight musicianship creating an atmosphere that was both cerebral and visceral.
Today, Magazine is remembered as one of the most important and innovative bands of the post-punk era, their four albums standing as testament to what could be achieved when punk's revolutionary energy was combined with genuine artistic ambition. While they never achieved the commercial success of some of their contemporaries, their influence on alternative music has proven both profound and enduring, inspiring generations of musicians to push beyond conventional boundaries in pursuit of something genuinely new and meaningful.
