John McGeoch

John 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.

McGeoch was born in Greenock, Inverclyde, but moved to Manchester when he was a teenager. It was whilst living in Manchester that McGeoch became interested in the growing punk scene and learned how to play guitar. The first guitar riff he learned to play was apparently "Sunshine of Your Love" by Cream. Key characteristics of his playing style included economy of noise, inventive arpeggio, flange effect pedal, string harmonics and an occasional disregard for conventional scales (see Ball of Confusion intro with Tina Turner).

McGeoch had a degree in Fine Art and an ongoing interest in photography, painting and drawing. He also 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. Although the music was written by Pete Shelley with new Devoto lyrics (the Buzzcocks version is known as "Lipstick"), it was a release that would usher in the post-punk era. 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), during which time he developed his unique guitar sound. 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 what are widely considered to be the Banshees best three 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 (ex The 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 the collapse of Public Image Ltd. 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 '80s, 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. .

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. .

Morrissey mentioned in an interview for GQ in 2005 Juju as his second favourite Siouxsie & the Banshees album. .

Dave Navarro of Jane's Addiction also said that he learnt playing guitars with listening to the albums McGeoch recorded with the Banshees.

Other acts include The Strokes, The Rapture, John Frusciante of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, and James Dean Bradfield of the Manic Street Preachers also talked about McGeoch in interviews.

External links

• Profile of John McGeoch from shotbybothsides.com
• Interview with John McGeoch from shotbybothsides.com
• Interview with John McGeoch and Richard Jobson of Armoury Show

www.myspace.com/j_mcgeoch