Magazine are a long-standing favourite of mine and it’s been welcome to have seen them been back in the public eye once again over the past year with the re-releases of their studio back catalogue. A nicely curated re-issue series, refreshed and re-visited, notably absent however are any of the live albums. The subject of today’s post is something of a curio. While 1980’s ‘Play’ (and its later, expanded 2009 re-visit as ‘Play+’) live album has tended to be the go-to de facto live document, this release is worth seeking out as a short but interesting example of a slightly earlier vintage.
The UK BBC Radio 1 music station’s ‘In Concert’ series was a simple yet valuable format, one matched around the world in many differing names – ultimately, a chance to hear a well recorded excerpt of a live show, broadcast a week or two after the recording date. Established or new and upcoming bands, they were of equal interest and importance to the producers. This show was recorded on 22nd November 1978 at the BBC’s then ‘Paris Theatre’ venue, on Lower Regent Street, London, which has long since closed its doors as a venue for such live recordings. This is a short release, clocking in at the 37 minute mark, so, far from a full live show. This is partly because the broadcast was shared with another act, the short-lived Snips.
Tracklist:
- Definitive Gaze (4:21)
- The Great Beautician In The Sky (5:16)
- Give Me Everything (4:47)
- My Tulpa (5:06)
- Back To Nature (6:04)
- Shot By Both Sides (5:12)
Recording date: 22nd November 1978. Broadcast date: 28th November 1978. Recorded at The Paris Theatre.
Of note, that broadcast date – I was intrigued enough about the short play time of the CD to do a bit of digging, as I knew from having listened to many of these shows back in the day that they were often a double-bill featuring two separate acts and this show appears to have have featured Snips as well as Magazine. Because, looking back on the BBC Genome project, which lists past broadcasting schedules culled from the archives, such as Radio Times magazine, it lists the show as having been broadcast on Saturday 16th December 1978 (starting at 18:31). View the Radio Times BBC Radio 1 listing.
The show dates from the mid-period between the band’s debuts LP, ‘Real Life’ and the follow-up that would be released some five months on from this show, ‘Secondhand Daylight’ – and, of note, the show was about a week or so after the release of the band’s third single, ‘Give Me Everything’. The short set list features a mere six songs, four from the debut album, an airing of the new single, and a lone preview of a track from the second album by way of ‘Back To Nature’.
It’s well recorded, but the mix is rather unfavourable to the guitar of John McGeogh, being somewhat shoved off to one side in the stereo image and rather thin and harsh when you can hear it, as it often appears to be somewhat overlaid with Dave Formula’s string synth being mixed to the same stereo location as well. So, as it happens, this is a release that gives something of a keyboard-heavy showcase to the selected songs.
It’s also worth noting that the show is from the period after John Doyle had joined the band to replace Martin Jackson on drums. The CD edition is long out of print and has never been re-released as a physical format, but it can be found digitally, e.g. on the Qobuz website.
My ever increasing stack of reading material has been added to recently with the updated version of Helen Chase’s biography on the band, which has been brought right up to date with a 2025 edition. Purchase a copy here if required. And 2026 will hold in store some Magazine adjacent live activity with live shows by Dave Formula and Noko revisiting the band’s material with UK tour by the name of ‘Play Songs From Under The Floorboards’.