John McGeoch: Difference between revisions
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McGeoch, who had been a great pioneer in the 1970s and 1980s, found himself stranded in a new era. He retrained as a [[nurse]] in 1995, although before his death he had been writing some music for television. He was reported to have died in his sleep. |
McGeoch, who had been a great pioneer in the 1970s and 1980s, found himself stranded in a new era. He retrained as a [[nurse]] in 1995, although before his death he had been writing some music for television. He was reported to have died in his sleep. |
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Spellbound;the story of John McGeoch. |
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BBC Radio 2 between 8-9pm 2nd Feb. |
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Pete Mitchell tells the story of one the country's most original and exciting guitarists. From his work with Magazine to Siouxsie and the Banshees and P.I.L. McGeoch has remained relatively unknown until now. Mitchell gets a unique insight into the man through Howard Devoto,Siouxsie Sioux,Dave Formula,Steven Severin,Johnny Marr,Roddy Frame and Malcolm Garrett. |
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==Influence on other bands== |
==Influence on other bands== |
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Revision as of 06:55, 24 January 2008
John Alexander McGeoch, (May 28 1955 – March 4 2004), was a Scottish guitarist who played with some of the biggest bands of the post-punk era, including: Magazine, Visage, The Armoury Show, Public Image Ltd., and Siouxsie & the Banshees. Siouxsie Sioux described him as her favourite guitarist of all time.
Playing style
The first guitar riff he learned to play was apparently "Sunshine of Your Love" by Cream. Key characteristics of his playing style included inventive arpeggio, flange effect pedal, string harmonics and an occasional disregard for conventional scales (see Ball of Confusion intro with Tina Turner).
Early years
McGeoch was brought up in Greenock and got his first guitar when he was twelve. In 1970 he played in a local band called The Slugband. In 1971 he moved to London with his family, and in 1975 he went to Manchester to study art.
McGeoch had a degree in Fine Art and an ongoing interest in photography, painting and drawing. He provided some of the cover art for The Armoury Show.
Magazine
In April 1977 McGeoch answered an advert placed by Howard Devoto, who had recently left the Buzzcocks, for a guitarist to form a band which would transcend the limitations of three-chord punk. Devoto found what he was looking for in McGeoch and the pair formed Magazine, along with Barry Adamson, Bob Dickinson, and Martin Jackson.
Magazine released their debut single, "Shot by Both Sides", in January 1978. The music was written by Pete Shelley with new Devoto lyrics (the Buzzcocks version is known as "Lipstick"), and the single reached number 41 on the UK singles chart.
McGeoch played on the band's first three albums, Real Life (1978), Secondhand Daylight (1979), and The Correct Use of Soap (1980). He left the band in 1980 frustrated about their lack of commercial success despite being very popular with the music critics.
Visage
Whilst still a member of Magazine, McGeoch had played with other bands such as Generation X and The Skids. Upon leaving the band, McGeoch joined Steve Strange's electronic project Visage along with erstwhile Magazine bandmates Barry Adamson and Dave Formula. McGeoch played guitar and saxophone in the ensemble's eponymous album.
Although he saw Visage as a joke, McGeoch did have the success he craved, however brief. The band's single "Fade to Grey" went to number one in 21 different countries.
Siouxsie & the Banshees
After joining the Banshees, McGeoch entered a period of both creative and commercial success. He played guitar on the Banshees albums Kaleidoscope (1980), Juju (1981), and A Kiss in the Dreamhouse (1982). The Banshees' hit singles of this era featured some of McGeoch's greatest work, particularly 1980's "Happy House", "Christine" and "Israel". However, McGeoch suffered a nervous breakdown due to the stresses of touring and drinking and collapsed on stage at a Madrid concert.
PiL
Following two unsuccessful years in The Armoury Show, along with Richard Jobson and Russel Webb (both ex-Skids) and John Doyle (ex-Magazine), McGeoch joined Public Image Ltd. in 1986. McGeoch had been a great admirer of the band, mainly due to John Lydon's lyrics, and had reputedly turned down the band in 1984 due to other commitments. Despite being hit in the face with a bottle during one of his first concerts with the band, McGeoch remained with PiL until they dissolved in 1992, making him the longest-serving member apart from Lydon. He worked on the albums Happy?, 9 and That What is Not.
Life after music
After Public Image Ltd. split up, McGeoch attempted to form projects with both Glenn Gregory of Heaven 17 and John Keeble of Spandau Ballet, however, neither came to fruition.
McGeoch, who had been a great pioneer in the 1970s and 1980s, found himself stranded in a new era. He retrained as a nurse in 1995, although before his death he had been writing some music for television. He was reported to have died in his sleep.
Influence on other bands
McGeoch has been cited by many artists as a major influence :
Radiohead was inspired by him to record "There There": they explained that they were in heaven when their producer Nigel Godrich made Jonny Greenwood sound like McGeoch of Siouxsie & the Banshees for that session. [1].
The Edge often stated McGeoch as one of his influences. In 2005, U2 selected the Siouxsie song "Christine" from the Kaleidoscope album for the magazine Mojo. [2].
Dave Navarro of Jane's Addiction also said that he learned guitar listening to the albums McGeoch recorded with the Banshees. [3]