[kj] [MA] Magic, Madness and the Weather

[Change]

Are you planning to play any songs from "Magic, Murder and the Weather?"

Howard Devoto: Yes and that's going to be one of the things that's going to be quite interesting to look at because they've never been played live. The last time we played was towards the end of 1980 and the next thing that happened for us was writing and recording that album and then not existing anymore, so we never toured with it.

I'm guessing you won't play any songs from "Jerky Versions of the Dream." Is that out of bounds?

HD: That's something else. This is Magazine!

You played on that as well didn't you?

Dave Formula: And Barry did a bit.

I have to ask something that has bugged me for a long time. Have you ever heard "New Year's Day" by U2? Because it sounds to me like they ripped off "A Song from Under the Floorboards."

(much chuckling)

DF: They're all at it!

HD: Which album was it on?

I'm not sure. Maybe "War."

HD: I only started listening to them with "Achtung Baby," an album I love, so I couldn't say.

DF: That song came on in the car I was travelling in. 

HD: It would have been a tribute, I'm sure.

DF: Of course it would. I heard this song with some musicians I was working with and asked them who it was because it sounded like Magazine and it was Radiohead. That was "The Benz."

They love Magazine.

HD: Sorry about this, I don't usually eat during interviews.

I thought you were going to say you don't usuially eat!

HD: Its been a bit of a stretch today. The last interview as you probably know went on a bit longer than expected.

Do you plan to write any new songs?

HD: Can't say!

DF: Maybe unlikely...

So you don't have any ideas that might be useful in that direction?

HD: No more use for ideas. Besides people don't want to hear that new rubbish stuff! They want the old ones don't they?

I like to hear new songs, but having never seen Magazine because I was fifteen when I first heard "Shot By Both Sides" on the Radio One Request Show and that was four years after the split. Ideally I'd like to hear every song off every album, but you won't have time to do all of them!

HD: That's unlikely.

DF: There will be some of the very favourite stuff in there, there's got to be and I think as Howard said we will take stuff from "Magic, Murder and the Weather" so it should be an interesting collection of songs.

I've never known anyone else to say this but one band who sometimes remind me of Magazine, maybe more in the keyboards than anything else, is Madness. It's strange because both bands' names start with the letters 'MA.' "Model Worker" could be a Madness song musically if not lyrically, as could "Parade."

DF: Interesting. I think a lot of people missed it but there is a lot of humour in Magazine. 

"Philadelphia" is very funny.

DF: So there's a connection with the cheeky chappies. Mike Barson's a great player, I really liked his playing. Mr Nieve was good as well.


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