OFF: Magazine, Wayne Kramer

[Nick Medford]

On Fri, 22 Jun 2001 17:17:16 +0100, Jon Browne <jon at COMICS.DEMON.CO.UK>
wrote:

>
>only that "the Light.." is from Real Life, their first, which is the
>best IMO. I really would get that first. Magic LP.

Well, the best tracks on the comp all seem to be from that, so that one may
well be the next port of call..


>Prog punk. An act not many pulled off.

Hard to think of many others. Depends how loosely one applies the term I
suppose. Penetration? Joy Div? Bauhaus (see below)?? None of them really
fit the bill (though JD- still one of the greats IMO)

>Listening to it again the other day, it's funny but they remind me more
>of Alex Harvey than anyone else these days,

Must admit that's not a comparison that would ever have occurred to me,
though I can sort of see what you mean. I'm still struggling to decide how
I would explain the sound to anyone else... the Tubes comparison someone
made earlier isn't a million miles away, but there's so much more bite and
edge to Magazine's sound, and then there's..

 >Brilliant lyrics, eh?

.. the lyrics. For someone- i.e. me- who sets great store by lyrics, this
band is a major discovery. Even on the limited exposure of hearing one
comp, it's clear that Devoto has to go in somewhere near the very top of my
wordsmith's list.

Favourite line so far:

"I know the meaning of life, and it doesn't help me a bit"

plus of course the chorus to Permafrost which I won't quote here, as some
may be of sensitive disposition.

Has your comp got Great
>Beautician In The Sky on it?

Nope, but with a title like that I have to hear it!

>
>BTW Bauhaus covered "Light". Managed to make it sound histrionic and
>OTT.

Really? Who'd have thought it ;-) They had their moments though.

>
>I saw Magazine live once, they were unreal. They were supported by an
>unsigned band from Glasgow called Simple Minds, who were actually pretty
>good at the time, although they owed a little bit to X-Ray Spex early
>on.

???!! Must've changed a bit en route to stadium status then!

cheers for the response Jon

NM