John McGeoch

Infobox musical artist
Name = John McGeoch
Background =


Img_size = 150
Birth_name = John Alexander McGeoch
Alias =
Born = birth date|1955|05|28|df=y
Died = death date and age|2004|03|04|1955|05|28|df=y
Origin =
Instruments = Guitar, Piano
Genre = Punk rock
Post-punk
Gothic rock
New Wave
Synthpop
Alternative rock
Occupation = Guitarist
Years_active = 1976–1995
Label = Polydor, Geffen Records
Associated_acts = Magazine
Visage
Siouxsie & the Banshees
The Armoury Show
Public Image Ltd.
URL =
Notable_instruments = Yamaha SG 2000 guitar

John Alexander McGeoch, (28 May 1955 – 4 March 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, for some songs from the ""Kiss Me Deadly"" album, and The Skids, for a 1981 Peel Session and for a short period replacing Stuart Adamson, who was ill. 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.

iouxsie & 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.

By that time, he colaborated with Ken Lockie's "The Impossible" album (1981), along with ex-Magazine mate John Doyle

PiL

Following two unsuccessful years in The Armoury Show, along with Richard Jobson and Russel Webb (both ex-Skids) and John Doyle (his bandmate in 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. [ [http://www.musicemissions.com/artists/index.php?artist_id=3368 this article mentions that Jonny Greenwood was inspired by john McGeoch] ] .

*Johnny Marr from The Smiths stated on the BBC Radio 2 in February 2008 that he rated very high McGeoch for his work with Magazine and Siouxsie & the Banshees (especially "Spellbound"). [ [http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio2/musicclub/doc_johnmcgeoch.shtml?focuswin BBC2 the story of John McGeoch featuring Johnny Marr] ]

*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". [ [http://eil.com/products/u2-u2-jukebox.html U2 made this compilation for Mojo] ] .

*Dave Navarro of Jane's Addiction also said that he learned guitar listening to the albums McGeoch recorded with the Banshees. [ [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:3zaqoarabijd+ allmusic.com stated McGeoch with the banshees among the influences of Jane's addiction] ]

References

External links

* [http://www.fodderstompf.com/MEMBERS/mcgeoch.html Fodderstompf.Com: John McGeoch Biography]
* [http://www.myspace.com/j_mcgeoch John McGeoch MySpace Account (set up by his daughter)]
* [http://shotbybothsides.com/mag_john.htm Profile of John McGeoch from shotbybothsides.com]
* [http://shotbybothsides.com/zig_0284.htm Interview with John McGeoch from shotbybothsides.com]
* [http://america.net/~davdmock/armoury1.htm Interview with John McGeoch and Richard Jobson of Armoury Show]