Howard Devoto (born Howard Andrew Trafford, 15 March 1952) is a retired English singer and songwriter, who began his career as the frontman for punk rock band

Buzzcocks Buzzcocks are an English punk rock band formed in Bolton, England in 1976 by singer-songwriter-guitarist Pete Shelley and singer-songwriter Howard Devoto. They are regarded as a seminal influence on the Manchester music scene, the indepen ...

, but then left to form

Magazine A magazine is a periodical publication, generally published on a regular schedule (often weekly or monthly), containing a variety of content. They are generally financed by advertising, purchase price, prepaid subscriptions, or by a combinatio ...

, one of the first

post-punk Post-punk (originally called new musick) is a broad genre of punk music that emerged in the late 1970s as musicians departed from punk's traditional elements and raw simplicity, instead adopting a variety of avant-garde sensibilities and non-r ...

bands. After Magazine, he went solo and later formed indie band Luxuria. His singing has been characterized as a "speak-sing voice that veered between amused croon and panicked yelp".

Biography

Born in

Scunthorpe Scunthorpe () is an industrial town and unparished area in the unitary authority of North Lincolnshire in Lincolnshire, England of which it is the main administrative centre. Scunthorpe had an estimated total population of 82,334 in 2016. A ...

, Devoto grew up in

Nuneaton Nuneaton ( ) is a market town in the borough of Nuneaton and Bedworth in northern Warwickshire, England, close to the county border with Leicestershire and West Midlands County.OS Explorer Map 232 : Nuneaton & Tamworth: (1:25 000) : Nuneaton ...

, Warwickshire, and Moortown,

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by popul ...

, where he attended Leeds Grammar School and met and befriended future

manager Richard Boon. In 1972, he went to Bolton Institute of Technology (now the University of Bolton) to study

psychology Psychology is the science, scientific study of mind and behavior. Psychology includes the study of consciousness, conscious and Unconscious mind, unconscious phenomena, including feelings and thoughts. It is an academic discipline of immens ...

, and, later,

humanities Humanities are academic disciplines that study aspects of human society and culture. In the Renaissance, the term contrasted with divinity and referred to what is now called classics, the main area of secular study in universities at t ...

. During these college years, he met his future bandmates Pete Shelley and

Ben Mandelson Ben Mandelson (born 6 October 1953, in Everton, Liverpool, England) is an English world musician, and also manager and producer. Punk and new wave years In the mid-1970s, Mandelson was a student at Bolton Institute of Technology (now Bolton Uni ...

Buzzcocks

Inspired by the Sex Pistols, Devoto co-formed Buzzcocks with singer/guitarist Pete Shelley in 1976. He left the band in February 1977 after only one record (the '' Spiral Scratch EP'') and a small number of performances to form the band Magazine.

Magazine

Devoto formed the

band

in 1977. They released several critically acclaimed albums, which met with moderate commercial success, as well as minor hits such as "

Shot by Both Sides "Shot by Both Sides" is a song written by Howard Devoto and Pete Shelley, and performed by the English post-punk band Magazine. It was released in January 1978 as the band's first single, reaching No. 41 on the UK Singles Chart and appearing, a fe ...

" and " A Song from Under the Floorboards". Magazine reformed in February 2009, initially performing on a tour of five dates, and subsequently continued playing live and began to record new material. A studio album, ''

No Thyself ''No Thyself'' is the fifth and final studio album by the band Magazine, and the first since their 2009 reformation. It was released on the Wire-Sound label on 24 October 2011, about 30 years after the release of their previous studio album, '' M ...

'', was released in October 2011.

Solo years

After Magazine split in 1981 Devoto spent two years putting together a solo album with former Magazine keyboard player

Dave Formula Dave Formula (born David Tomlinson 11 August 1946, Whalley Range, Manchester, England), is an English keyboardist and film-soundtrack composer from Manchester, who played with the post-punk bands Magazine and Visage during the end of the 1970s ...

. '' Jerky Versions of the Dream'' reached No. 57 in the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts ...

in August 1983, and was reissued in 2007 by Virgin/EMI, featuring several tracks of bonus material.

Collaborations

A collaboration on three songs with Bernard Szajner on the ''Brute Reason'' LP was released on

Island Records Island Records is a multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It was founded in 1959 by Chris Blackwell, Graeme Goodall, and Leslie Kong in Jamaica, and was eventually sold to PolyGram in 1989. Island and A&M Records, anothe ...

in 1983. This was followed by a rendering of Big Star's "Holocaust" for the loose collective This Mortal Coil. The album ''It'll End in Tears'' contained contributions from many of the 4AD label's best artists, Devoto's presence being somewhat atypical. In 1997, Devoto wrote the lyrics to the

Mansun Mansun were an English alternative rock band, formed in Chester in 1995. The band comprised vocalist/rhythm guitarist Paul Draper, bassist Stove King, lead guitarist/backing vocalist Dominic Chad, and drummer Andie Rathbone. It was announ ...

track "Everyone Must Win", which appeared on the '' Closed for Business'' EP. A year later he collaborated again with the band, writing lyrics for and singing on "Railings", a B-side for "

Being a Girl "Being a Girl" (or "Being a Girl (Part One)") is a song by the English alternative rock band Mansun. The song was written by band-leader Paul Draper. It was recorded and produced by Paul Draper and Mark 'Spike' Stent with additional production b ...

(Part One)".

Luxuria

One of his next projects was a 1988 collaboration with

Liverpool Liverpool is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the List of English districts by population, 10th largest English district by population and its E ...

multi-instrumentalist Noko. As Luxuria they released two albums and a music video for the single "Redneck".

Life after popular music

For most of the 1990s Devoto was little involved in music, earning his living by working for a photo agency. In 2001, he teamed up with Buzzcocks colleague Pete Shelley for the first time in twenty-five years, and released the much-anticipated ''

Buzzkunst ''Buzzkunst'' is the sole album by UK group ShelleyDevoto. The studio album reunited Pete Shelley and Howard Devoto, founding members of the punk group Buzzcocks and was their first collaboration since the 1970s. Track listing All music writte ...

'' under the name

ShelleyDevoto ShelleyDevoto was a musical collaboration between singer Howard Devoto and singer/guitarist Pete Shelley. Both were founding members of the Buzzcocks in the mid-1970s, and ShelleyDevoto was their first collaboration in over two decades. The alb ...

. Reviews were mixed. In 2002, Devoto had a small part in the movie '' 24 Hour Party People'', a film about Manchester's

Factory Records Factory Records was a Manchester-based British independent record label founded in 1978 by Tony Wilson and Alan Erasmus. The label featured several important acts on its roster, including Joy Division, New Order, A Certain Ratio, the Duru ...

. In his brief cameo appearance, Devoto appears as a janitor cleaning a men's toilet while actor Martin Hancock portrays Devoto having a tryst with the wife of promoter/journalist Tony Wilson. The real-life Devoto breaks the

fourth wall The fourth wall is a performance convention in which an invisible, imaginary wall separates actors from the audience. While the audience can see through this ''wall'', the convention assumes the actors act as if they cannot. From the 16th cen ...

by addressing the camera and stating, deadpan, "I ''definitely'' don't remember this happening". Magazine reformed in February 2009, with former Luxuria partner Noko replacing the deceased John McGeoch on guitar. On 9 July 2009, Devoto was awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of Bolton for his contribution to music.

Reunion with Buzzcocks

In November 2011, it was announced he would be returning to the stage with

for two special shows as part of the Buzzcocks "Back to Front" tour on 25 and 26 May 2012. These took place at the O2 Apollo in Manchester and the O2 Academy in Brixton

Tributes, references and cover songs

A number of bands continue to be influenced by his work. Momus recorded the tribute song "The Most Important Man Alive" for the Bungalow Records compilation ''Suite 98'' in 1998.

have covered "Shot by Both Sides" live, and recorded it on their fourth and final album ''

Kleptomania Kleptomania is the inability to resist the urge to steal items, usually for reasons other than personal use or financial gain. First described in 1816, kleptomania is classified in psychiatry as an impulse control disorder. Some of the main cha ...

''. Also

Radiohead Radiohead are an English rock band formed in Abingdon, Oxfordshire, in 1985. The band consists of Thom Yorke (vocals, guitar, piano, keyboards); brothers Jonny Greenwood (lead guitar, keyboards, other instruments) and Colin Greenwood (bass ...

and

Jarvis Cocker Jarvis Branson Cocker (born 19 September 1963) is an English musician and radio presenter. As the founder, frontman, lyricist and only consistent member of the band Pulp, he became a figurehead of the Britpop genre of the mid-1990s. Following ...

have both covered "Shot by Both Sides". Both Ministry and Peter Murphy have covered Magazine's "The Light Pours Out of Me", whilst

Simple Minds Simple Minds are a Scottish rock band formed in Glasgow in 1977. They have released a string of hit singles, becoming best known internationally for " Don't You (Forget About Me)" (1985), which topped the '' Billboard'' Hot 100 in the United ...

, My Friend The Chocolate Cake,

Morrissey Steven Patrick Morrissey (; born 22 May 1959), known professionally as Morrissey, is an English singer and songwriter. He came to prominence as the frontman and lyricist of rock band the Smiths, who were active from 1982 to 1987. Since th ...

and

Strange Boutique Strange Boutique was a band from Washington, D.C. They were active between the years of 1987 and 1994 and released 4 full-length albums and 2 live albums on the Bedazzled Records label. They are also featured on several compilation albums. Mon ...

have covered Magazine's "A Song from Under the Floorboards".

Discography

For Magazine and Luxuria, see '' Discography of Magazine'' and '' Discography of Luxuria''. This is from his solo career:

Solo discography

Albums *1983: '' Jerky Versions of the Dream'' - No. 57 UK Singles *1983: "Rainy Season" - No. 97 UK *1983: "Cold Imagination"

Chronological discography

* '' Spiral Scratch'' (January 1977) (with

) * ''

Real Life Real life is a phrase used originally in literature to distinguish between the real world and fictional, virtual or idealized worlds, and in acting to distinguish between actors and the characters they portray. It has become a popular term on the ...

'' (June 1978) #29 UK (with

) * '' Secondhand Daylight'' (March 1979) #38 UK (with Magazine) * '' The Correct Use of Soap'' (May 1980) #28 UK (with Magazine) * ''

Magic, Murder and the Weather ''Magic, Murder and the Weather'' is the fourth studio album by English post-punk band Magazine, and their final album until the band's reformation in 2009. It was released in June 1981 by record label Virgin. One single, "About the Weather", ...

'' (June 1981) #39 UK (with Magazine) * '' Jerky Versions of the Dream'' (July 1983) #57 UK (Solo) * ''Unanswerable Lust'' (1988) (with Luxuria) * ''Beast Box'' (1990) (with Luxuria) * ''

'' (2001) (with

) * ''

'' (November 2011: Wired18) #167 UK (with Magazine)

References

External links

Magazine official websiteBuzzcocks official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Devoto, Howard 1952 births Living people Alumni of the University of Bolton Buzzcocks members English male singers English songwriters English new wave musicians Male new wave singers British post-punk musicians Magazine (band) members People educated at Leeds Grammar School Musicians from Leeds People from Nuneaton People from Scunthorpe