The Best of John McGeoch

From Magazine's first single in January 1978 until PiL's hiatus in the mid 1990's, John McGeoch was one of post punk's most innovative guitarists. As a member of Magazine, The Banshees, The Armoury Show and Public Image Ltd., and on sessions for artists ranging from Generation X to The Sugarcubes and Matthew Sweet, John's sound was unmistakable.

After McGeoch's death in 2004, guitarists ranging from Jonny Greenwood to John Frusciante acknowledged his influence. Writing for AllMusic, Eugene Chadbourne called McGeoch "one of the greatest musicians to ever come out of Scotland" and "one of the great instrumental voices in the new wave rock and punk scene, genres admittedly not especially known for featuring soloists."

As a founding member of Magazine, John McGeoch helped Howard Devoto throw off the shackles of punk and journey "to the outside of everything". With Siouxsie And The Banshees, McGeoch codified the sound of goth rock, ranging from brutally dissonant riffs to ornate and delicate finger picking.

Lydon poached McGeoch from The Armoury Show, Richard Jobson's effort to replicate the success of Big Country (led by Jobson's former Skids bandmate Stuart Adamson). From 1986 to 1992, McGeoch anchored Public Image Ltd.'s most stable lineup and paid tribute to one of his own inspirations, Keith Levene.

McGeoch was also a member of Visage at the beginning of the New Romantic movement. He was no more afraid of digital instruments than he was of punk's most imperious vocalists, and he played guitar on records by BEF, the Human League, and Propaganda. One of Propaganda's "p:Machinery" remixes features several minutes of McGeoch tearing up the fretboard. It is included today in an edit that skips the intro and goes straight to the fireworks.

He hasn't been forgotten, as evidenced by this recent article and this one. (Photo: McGeoch in shades with Allan Dias and Mr. Lydon, 1992.)