HEART OF A PUNK - SOUL OF A RASTA

Howard Devoto - The Shadowy Fifth - Part 1.

Between Magazine running out of steam during the recording of their final Magic, Murder and the Weather LP in 1981 and their live reunion in 2009, Howard Devoto has wandered in and out of my record collection in many disparate forms and guises. And now I have gathered all the shellac around me in an attempt to make some kind of sense of it all, if sense can be made. I'm going to listen to it piece by piece to see if a reason can be found within the words & music to explain Devoto's shadowy nature. I know this is not going to be a wholly pleasurable experience but then this is Howard Devoto.

A quick warning before we start my favourite album by Magazine was and still is they're troublesome no.2: "Second Hand Daylight". I didn't care what the music rags or my friends said at the time that it is "more prog rock than punk rock" it remains my most played Magazine album (not by much though). So that's my personal Magazine bedrock, what about the Shadowy years.

Howard returned to us in 1983 with a trilby and a new batch of songs, "Rainy Season" being the pre album single. I well and truly pissed off the folks at Sundown Records Wolverhampton for weeks prior to the single actually arriving. "Have you got Rainy Season by Howard Devoto yet", each & every day for weeks, near the end they'd just look into my sad flabby little face and say "No!" and I'd shuffle away without saying a word. But finally it arrived, a copy was placed in a plastic sleeve & pinned to the wall another was taken from the pigeon hole behind the counter, it was mine. Now Dickens wrote in Great Expectations "there is no deceiver like a self deceiver" and in those days I used to fool myself into believing I could predict whether a forthcoming album would be any good based on the quality of the B side of the single that preceded it. Perhaps this was not a great ploy, but then there was no preview on myspace, only very limited radio play and music paper reviews - but does anyone who actually enjoys music really take any notice of album reviews in music papers? Anyway the long awaited Rainy Season arrived and quenched the drought, but what about the all important B side? It was just an instrumental version of the A side! Surely this couldn't bode well for the strength of the album, I was looking for a totally bostin B side (that means a classic track) not on the album then I could be in no doubt that the forthcoming album would be sound.

Anyway the Reading Festival beckoned; I can't remember who I went to see there, all I remember are the under cover plain clothed vice squad police people in their ever so obvious standard issue green wellies. And I remember John Peel coming on stage and doing a bit. He kicked off proceedings with Howard's new release. Rainy Season was blasted out large, and you know what, in spite of the wellie gogged boys in blue and Howard's prediction, it wasn't rainy at all, it was sunny! (For those who don't know, rain at festivals is a modern invention, I will leave it to Bigot to explain to you why this has come to pass but we will need a whole issue for his thesis (rant) and it won't be for the faint hearted).

The Reading/Peel experience warmed my heart my doubts about Howard's debut "Jerky Versions of the Dream" were cast aside. I was soon back at Sundown Records using extreme pester power (I think in the end to stop me from coming into the shop they promised to ring me when it arrived) anyway it came it was purchased.

So what is it like twenty five years "after the fact"? Well side one with "Cold Imagination", "Rainy Season" and the thunder of "I Admire You" it seems solid enough, like Magic Murder and the Weather part 2, a natural and not too unsettling progression. Side Two however is not so at ease with itself it jumps hither and thither looking for a direction. There is the solid Formula led "Some will Pay" opening up proceedings, the very strange Madness like jaunty pop knock about of "Waiting for the Train" The welcome return of Barry Adamson on "Out of Shape with Me" but for why? It must be the least fulfilling bass line groove in Barry's career; there is the very light weight "Taking Over Heaven" on which Howard's vocals and simple melodies almost enter David Byrne territory, before the cat Adamson returns on the final track "Seeing is Believing" to lend a good dollop of style before the Magazine three are gone. Overall the songs on Jerky Versions are lyrically strong and Dave Formula is exemplary throughout gluing and layering perfectly, but for my taste some of the songs are musically light weight, then it was 1983.

Would the tracks be harder edged live? Off we shuffled to the Tin Can Club Birmingham for the Jerky Versions tour. Ahh the Tin Can Club Birmingham (I Googled it there's nothing, so you only have my word for it) A strip club, sex emporium cum (sorry I had to) cum sometime venue in the eighties. Now somehow The Bigot and I turned up very early evening to the strip club, which was lucky because we were able to wake up the geezer in charge (there was a lot of people suddenly taken by the lethargy at this club). We were also able to see the empty club in all its seedy crimson red velour draped pornographic glitter ball finery. Filthy and horrible we were on the set of Mean Streets, the geezer offered us a drink, to refuse was not an option.

Being the only people there, feeling naked and exposed where so many had been naked and exposed before us we found a cocktail table at the back of the room, checked the seats were dry and made ourselves invisible. The equipment was soon being placed on the miniscule circular fronted stripper stage in a hopeful compact fashion under the watchful eye and assistance of the band - forget health and safety this was 1983 if the stuff fell off the stage it fell off the stage, Dave Formula would have to hold and play. The sound check began: "Cold Imagination" "Rainy Season" and finally "Permafrost" when done Howard put down his acoustic guitar stepped down from the stage and walked over to the only people in the audience who were clapping vociferously (still believing themselves invisible) and asked "Does it sound alright lads?" We both squeaked in unison "Yea great" for after all we are English what else could we say and this was f***kin Howard Devoto asking - he'd just been singing about drugging and f***king people we weren't about to piss him off. But even though the sound was good I did want to say one thing "for f***s sake Howard do all you can, move Manchester, Mohamed and the mountain but get Barry back" (I apologise to Martin Heath I think it was he) but he had just completely killed "Permafrost" not a single pluck, bend, slide or emphasised note - the intrinsic musical hook of Permafrost was not present ahhhhhhhhh!

The crowd came in and packed the place out good and tight, the band played good and tight a half Magazine half Devoto set (the bass player murdered Permafrost again) but that was the only musical downer in the club that night. It all went splendidly well, alcohol a plenty was consumed, people got very lethargic indeed and needed to lie down on the toilet floor, crimson liquid was splashed liberally over white ceramic basins, which made a change from what was usually squirted around in the strip club. Bigot and I wandered back to the station at a unknown time, we spent another relaxing early morning sleeping on the benches at New Street waiting for steel workers night shift train to arrive at five, I still haven't got rid of the marks those New Street benches made on my back, or are they the marks from the Victoria coach station benches its difficult to say.

In 1984 Howard was to be found collaborating on 4AD's offering It'll End in Tears by This Mortal Coil with the track "Holocaust" which was written by the immortal Alex Chilton (of late sixties Box Top fame but mainly of long time solo acclaim). Now armed with material of this immense haunting beauty and surreal lyrical intensity you may think it would be difficult to miss (mmm see "Kangaroo" again Chilton penned side one track one, I'd rather sleep through Jeff Buckley's slow mo interpretation than have to listen to that again). Anyway I transgress, on Holocaust Howard seems freed from the constraints of having to sell his own composition and gives a master class in phrasing, unique, unnerving, almost wailing through to the nonchalant casting away of lyrical hook "You're a Holocaust" at the end. Steven Young on piano also does a remarkably perfect job organising what was basically a guitar piece. Along with "Song to the Siren" "Holocaust" stands head & shoulders and then some above everything else on the album and for me it is one of Howard's truly venerable moments.

Now I said at the start that this trawl through the disparate works of HD wasn't going to be in actual chronological order. Significant parts of history are constantly changing (sorry being changed) I thought I'd have a go myself and see if it sticks.

Brute Reason by the Laser Harp touting Bernard Szajner. Howard lends three lots of words and vocals to the LP. Numan, Ultravox and Foxx plus a million others were all still happily banging away with the electronic thing in '83, with several LPs under his belt Szajner was lumped in with the synth mongers, but Brute Reason is not wall to wall keyboards & samples there are instruments a plenty here. Mr Szajner's main claim to fame at this time was his invention of the Laser Harp which he ably demonstrated on Tomorrows World (did he demonstrated it to Cheggars Mrs? I can't remember) I think I've got it on video somewhere (yes that's how sad I am). It's probably on Youtube but if not - into the loft I shall go, for the Szjaner video). Anyway he was on Tomorrows World which was very close to Top of the Pops so if you tuned in early you would have caught him doing his thing.

Unlike the "This Mortal Coil" album Brute Reason is strong all through and extremely well produced and played. Howard does his three cornered turn confidently opening the album with "Without Leaving" "For too long I've been absent without leaving" what a line, I'd like to think it came to him out of the ether. The linear nature of the track assists but Howard's inventiveness seems to have no bounds here. He opens side two also on the brooding "Deal of the Century" on which he vocalises to the max, talking, singing falsetto, his vocal pictures seem to sit inside the correct harder musical frame here when compared to his solo debut, but that's my opinion what do I know? Finally we have "The Convention" which plods strangely along with Howard's wry observations, it evokes images of a drab convention in Telford "All those broken hours I'm going to mend all the broken hours I can recall".

Other than Mr Devoto's work Snowprints is my favourite track on the album, beautifully simple, words spoken rather than sung over Szajner's keyboards, it makes me freeze every time I listen to it. Though predating them, it sounds like it could have come off "A Secret Wish" by the friends of Paul Morley the German outfit Propaganda, strange Howard's friend also, I feel history shifting again.

The Lyric Theatre Hammersmith on the 15th May 1983, for the only performance of Howard Devoto & Bernard Szajner? I think. The Hammersmith Lyric Theatre is still there (unlike the Palais) and is still a jewel sized red and gold gleaming piece of Victoriana hidden inside a brick.(I'm going to omit the "unlike the Palais" bit on the copy I show to Bigot otherwise he'll fill several pages on the demise of the Palais, again!). Anyway Howie & Berni for one night only - The Laser Harp was in full working order, the track "Brute Reason" was given one hell of a fine live outing cranked up as it was, much more prog rock than plinky synth. The trilby wearing Howard entered stage right (slightly embarrassed by the depth and warmth of the reception) did his pieces and neatly punctuating proceedings. The evening was capped and concluded by Howard doing a version of Snowprints, as he spoke from above synthetic snowflakes fell showering him amid the lights of a slow turning glitter ball, a perfect close.

Part 1 complete, what do we have: two very interesting and high quality collaborations, a debut album that charted a debut and second single that didn't. Howard & Dave put themselves out there live, sold tickets, went down well kept themselves vital. Ok there were mixed reviews in the music rags for the debut album, and I was heard to moan slightly about the lightweight feel of Jerky Versions, but as I have said this was 1983 ex Magazine man John McGeoch was popping it up with The Banshees, ex Buzzcock Peter Shelly was doing pretty much the same as thing as Howard with the LP XL1 and with the services of Ex Magazine man Barry Adamson.

And so did 1983 mark the beginning of the long, illustrious and productive solo career for Howard Devoto? Part 2 soon come.
And will I hear any of the above tracks live again?
Howard Devoto - The Venerable tour 2010?
I'm slowly compiling the set list just in case.

In the meantime:
[Jerky Versions of the Dream/Howard Devoto is now remastered so can be bought or downloaded from everywhere and is worthy of your attention]

[It'll End in Tears/This Mortal Coil not remastered but is out there - only a few good tracks on this - me thinks]

[Brute Reason/Benard Szajner not on CD I don't think - so Ebay maybe, otherwise it's Musicstack and silly money]

[Szajner.net he could be back soon]

Three clips from Bernard & Howard below - my first impulse was to buy.