Whatever happened to the former 'Most Important Man In Pop' - Howard Devoto by Mark Rolan

Howard Devoto - who's he?

Anyone who obsessed over every page of the weekly music press in the late Seventies will have been aware of Howard Devoto's first impact on pop. The small ads were stuffed with the advert: "Spiral Scratch - £10". It was the debut from Manchester's Buzzcocks - the band Devoto formed with Pete Shelley - Steve Diggle and John Maher in 1976 - and was selling for such a bloated price because the band had become - pop sensations and Spiral Scratch had been a limited edition DIY release of only 1,000 copies. They toured with The Sex Pistols - released the one EP - which gave the world the north's punk anthem - "Boredom" - and then in a spectacular and unexpected stroke - Devoto quit in March - 1977 - only a month or so after the record's release. He soon formed a new band - Magazine - with Barry Adamson - John McGeoch and Dave Formula - who went on to become a sharp sound of cool intellectualism in a time of frenetic guitars and gobbing.

Not one to hang around - Devoto disbanded Magazine in 1981 and embarked on a solo care before forming a new band - Luxuria - in 1988 with composer Noko.

What did they sound like?

The Buzzcocks with Howard Devoto were a fiery punk band with great melodies and a suitably cynic vocalist. Some would argue that they were the greatest band of the punk era - although that would be largely down to the post-Devoto line-up. Magazine were altogether different. - With John McGeoch inventive guitar work - the addition of keyboards an Martin Hannett producing - they set about slowing the tempo down and even introducing stripped fur elements into the sound - later covering Sly Stone "Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)" and making it sound sinister and chilling. In their own twitchy way they predated both the earnest futurism that was lurking around the corner and the underground white funk movement that turned up in the Eighties

Greatest achievement?

Magazine was - without doubt - Devoto's finest band Much of the material Sounds as good today as it did in its first flush of youth - nearly 20 years ago. Which is probably why the likes of Mansun - Radiohead Elastica - Westpier and Blur all count themselves as fans. If you want to isolate one record - then it must be the debut single - "Shot By Both Sides" - which Devoto himself described as "the best of that decade" - and he might not have been wrong. That first three albums are all marvellous - too.

Low point?

The final Magazine album - Magic - Murder And The Weather - was the least satisfying of the five the recorded - and the band actually split up a month before it came out. Luxuria - while considered to have produced many lost classics by some - were not universally loved when they appeared - and were casttigated in some quarters for outstanding pretentiousness. Noko - Devoto's partner in Luxuria - is now in the hideous Apollo 440.

What now?

Devoto has kept a low profile over recent years - he briefly emerged to plug the re-release of a Buzzcocks live album and the Spiral Scratch EP - and there was a book of his lyrics published in 1993. The latest news on the grapevine is that the managerless Devoto is due to work with Mansun's Paul Draper on a track in the near future. Draper approached Devoto with some music and the great man has writ-ten some lyrics although the pair have yet to meet.

What the critics said:

"Devoto will either end up as an Eno-figure - dabbling adventurously on the fringe - beloved more of writers than of real human beings - or - Bowie-like - towering over trends on the twin pillars of critical and popular response - " Melody Maker proving to be nearly right in the late Seventies. The NME - meanwhile - were moved to describe Devoto as "The Most Important Man In Pop".