Music Reissues Weekly: Magazine - Real Life, Secondhand Daylight, The Correct Use of Soap

“Let's walk down memory lane the Magazine way. Let's regurgitate fifth-rate Low [the David Bowie album] period pieces. Let's plonk plonk plonk with ponderous sub-Pink Floydery. Let's do the wallpaper waltz. This is not pushing back the barriers. It's frighteningly bland conservatism.”

So said Garry Bushell in his March 1979 Sounds review of Magazine’s second album Secondhand Daylight. He went on. “'Silly Thing' [the single by the rump Sex Pistols] is one hundred times more exciting. 'Unconventional People' [the then-recent Royal Rasses single] is one hundred times more relaxing. [Sham 69’s] 'Questions & Answers' is one hundred times more articulate. [The Jam’s] 'Strange Town' is one hundred times more real.”

Having a go at Howard Devoto’s post-Buzzcocks band wasn’t new. In NME, Tony Parsons considered their February 1979 single “Rhythm of Cruelty” thus: “Howard the Schmuck writes pretty little melodies, moderately strong hook lines and inane lyrics.” Over in Sounds, of the same single, Giovanni Dadomo asked “is this just a dull record? I think it’s a dull record.”

Winding back a bit further, NME’s Phil McNeil pondered his dislike of Devoto while reviewing Magazine’s first album Real Life (pictured above right) in June 1978. McNeil recalled what he’d seen live: an “obnoxious display of self-important co-o-ol. I also saw him just last week – making a complete prat of himself on the Old Grey Whistle Test – where his personal performance was probably the most pretentious that show has ever played host to. Devoto's posturing was made to look even more foolish by his juxtaposition on OGWT with The Jam.”

After getting this out of the way, McNeil turned on his heel by concluding that “Devoto has put together that most ideal of all musical units – all too rare these days – a hard rock band with intellectual and musical muscle. On them [Magazine] hangs the artistic integrity of rock’s immediate future. It's ironic – but Howard Devoto could actually turn out to be as important as he thinks he is.”

Well, yes. Despite the lack of universal love, Magazine were – and did turn out to be – important. Along with the John Foxx-era Ultravox, they married the urgency and directness of punk to a more considered, textured and, at least partially, Bowie-influenced music. Magazine acknowledged this by engaging Colin Thurston, who worked in the studio on Bowie’s Heroes, to produce the Bushell-riling Secondhand Daylight. Add to this lyrics nodding to Beckett, Dostoevsky and Kafka.

Real Life (originally released June 1978), Secondhand Daylight (March 1979) and The Correct Use of Soap (May 1980), Magazine’s first three albums, are reissued on vinyl. All three are wonderful, and all three are essential to the development of British music after punk’s arrival. Ownership of them all is mandatory, despite 1978 and 1979’s charges of “ponderous sub-Pink Floydery,” “inane lyrics” or “self-importance.”

Each of the reissues sells for around £28 to £30. In comparison, a first pressing of Real Life in OK shape can be found for around £40. Secondhand Daylight is less sought after and copies are priced between £25 and £35. The Correct Use of Soap goes for less still: £20 to £30. All three albums have been reissued multiple times, so aren’t hard to find in any form. Now, there’s coloured vinyl and inner sleeves with a brief text on the album and related illustrations. The new Secondhand Daylight comes in a single sleeve rather than the gatefold of the original. This revision to the package is very odd. Also, the sleeve of the new Real Life has lost the band name and album title on its front.

The masters used are, according to the promotional material, what was employed for “the 2000 remastered versions.” This must be an error as none of the albums were reissued then: assumedly, the audio source is probably as per the 2007 CD reissues. The audio of the new Real Life is opened-out, lacking the EQed compression which gave the original album some of its power. The sound is a little flatter the 2007 CD. Secondhand Daylight is pretty much what the original album was, though a tad brighter. The Correct Use of Soap is more brittle and more immediate than either the 2007 CD or the original pressing.

These three albums are the opening shots in a reissue campaign. Magic, Murder and the Weather, 1981’s generally indifferent final album from the (mostly) original iteration of Magazine, 2011’s efficient if bloodless reunion album No Thyself and a reconfigured version of the 1987 Rays & Hail compilation – it now, curiously, includes material by the No Thyself band – are out in December. All six releases will be collected in a 500-edition box set with exclusive printed ephemera which retails for £200.

The 1980 live set Play is not mentioned in the promotional material so seems to be MIA, but “a further five albums of live recordings and rarities” are announced as forthcoming "in early 2025." Hopefully, these will dig further than the 2000 three-CD set Maybe It's Right To Be Nervous Now where the only interesting material was an early, previously unheard version of “Shot by Both Sides” and the band’s Peel sessions. Otherwise, it incuriously collected released material from Play and non-LP single sides. There is live material out there which could be drawn on: the full 3 May 1980 Russell Club show from which a few tracks were issued on the “Sweetheart Contract” single, the 4 August 1979 Boston show which was on a superb Back To Nature double-album bootleg (there are further really good mixing desk and radio broadcast shows from Magazine’s US tours). Studio-wise, the 1977 demos which appeared on the Demos ’77 CD are worth issuing legitimately. There is also a BBC Radio 1 In Concert from November 1978 (which has previously been released) and close-to-full concert-length continental European TV live appearances. Setting Play aside, there is more than enough material to fill five albums.

It doesn’t matter which versions of Real Life, Secondhand Daylight and The Correct Use of Soap enter the home. All that matters is that each album is welcomed in. These new, widely available reissues are as good a means as any to fill a gap should there be one.

• Next week: Stefan Gnyś’ Horizoning. Acetate-only Canadian folk-leaning album from 1969 gets its first proper release.
  
• More reissue reviews on theartsdesk
• Kieron Tyler’s website

@MrKieronTyler

@kierontyler.bsky.social