It was sometimes in the late 80s/early 90s when I realized that, holy mackerel, I liked every project that John McGeoch had played guitar on and, more to the point, I had all of them in my Record Cell! With that came the realization that he was definitely a Post-Punk MVP; possibly my first realization of those in that august role. When I started blogging a dozen years ago, I wasted no time in noting that in one of my first posts. Almost a month ago, I received an email from Wire-Sound, the Magazine webstore, alerting me to the imminent publication of “The Light Pour Out Of Me,” the authorised biography of John McGeoch by Rory Sullivan-Burke.
While I have limited space for books in my Record Cell, I’ll gladly make space for this one! Rory-Sullivan Burke is a first-time author who entered into the challenge of writing this tome upon wanting to read a McGeoch biography and realizing that he had to write it himself. We’ve probably all felt like that at one time or another. I make the CDs I can’t buy, but kudos to Mr. Burke for acting on that impulse and researching and writing this volume. Therefore, we can all benefit.
Mr. Burke has interviewed all of Magazine, Siouxsie Sioux and Steve Severin, Richard Jobson, and most of Pil for this book, so the mainstays of that amazing career are taken care of. But of course, there’s no shortage of McGeoch’s admirers aplenty to add their two cents to the endeavor. Steve Jones, Billy Idol, Johnny Marr, and John Frusciante are but a few of the A-listers outside of McGeoch’s immediate orbit to also weigh in on his talent.
The book was also available in a signed, numbered, slipcase hardcover edition of 500 which included signings by the author, Johnny Marr, Paul Morley, daughter Emily McGeoch, Dave Formula, and Malcolm Garrett. It also came with the following perks:
- a PS sleeve 7″ with a previously unreleased live recording of “The Light Pours Out Of Me” by Magazine @ Manchester/The Factory 1980, b/w “The Anti-Hero” from Dave Formula’s solo album featuring John’s voice and guitar playing.
- 1/500 copies will have a “golden ticket” for a John McGeoch signature SG1000 guitar valued at over n over £800, courtesy of Eastwood Guitars. I’m almost shocked that it didn’t come with a flange pedal!
But careful eyes saw the word “was” in the paragraph above. The 500 copies are all sold out from the Omnibus Press website, with the the £45 edition long gone even weeks prior to publication. Fortunately, the rest of us can still get the normal, hardcover edition for our £20.00 [$30 American] with the book issued on April 28, 2022. If this is a book you also need to own, hit those buttons.
UK | Omnibus Press
USA | Barnes + Nobel
-30-
![Steven Wilson Earns That Money With Stunning "Lament" 12" Remixes From Ultravox [part 1]](https://i0.wp.com/postpunkmonk.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/ultravox-lamentwilsonremixesus12a.webp?resize=200%2C200&ssl=1)
Post-Punk Monk 
78 -82, my Post Punk MVP guitarists are John McGeoch, Will Sargent, Charlie Burchill and Andy Gill and Stephen Fellows.
LikeLike
Echorich – Did you forget Robin Simon?!
LikeLike
Such a pity he never was asked to return to the Banshees, besides Robert Smith he was the only one ever fitting perfectly to them.
LikeLike
Slur – It ain’t very pretty what a band without pity can do!
LikeLike
In the authorized Banshees Bio by Mark Paytress (Sanctuary) Siouxsie is quoted;
“My abiding memories of McGeoch are good ones. He was always fair and would discuss things with me. And he was easily, without a shadow of doubt, the most creative guitarist we ever had. We probably didn’t appreciate him as much as we should have done, but then again we didn’t appreciate anybody, not even ourselves.”
And Severin:
“In hindsight, what was happening to him was very sad, and we were very brutal in sacking him. There was a tour coming up, as usual, so we had to sort it out immediately. We didn’t want to cancel and let the fans down so we fired him. We should let him have some time off to get himself together again, but there just didn’t seem to be any time”.
And to round it up with quoting here’s what John McGeoch said:
“I was definitely out of control. I was having a hard time coping with the demands of it all. It was intense. Severin once said the stresses and strains always affected me more than anyone else, and that was true at the time. It was a bit of a burnout, that’s the easiest way to sum it up.”
So, just as a small addition to the when’s and why’s in reflection.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Prefer to have the hard copy myself, but it is also available for kindle for those who prefer. Might just get both. The recent Barry Adamson biog. “Up Above the City, Down Beneath the Stars” (another magnificent player and key part of the Magazine sound) is well worth a read.
LikeLiked by 1 person
cplowe – Barry Adamson has an autobio? Thanks for the tip! His solo career has been a wonderful thing to see happen.
LikeLike
https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/57137096
LikeLike
Pingback: Want List: Barry Adamson’s “Up Above The City, Down Beneath The Stars” Autobio Published Last Year And No One Told Me? | Post-Punk Monk
Article on the book here. Some interesting comments BTL
https://www.theguardian.com/music/2022/may/04/post-punk-guitarist-john-mcgeoch-magazine-siouxsie-sioux
LikeLike
Christopher Paul Lowe – I saw that while eating breakfast yesterday morning. I guess that means that the book is out now. Now I only need to get a copy.
LikeLike
Pingback: John McGeoch Film Beginning Kickstarter Campaign Today! | Post-Punk Monk