It was Siouxsie Sioux and the Banshees in their absolute, ascendentl prime. Sold out show. Gothic projections behind them, another hit single in the charts and Ms Siouxie decadent and shiny in latex and fishnet, whipping the microphone lead, centre-stage in front of a tightly packed group of girls and boys watching in awe. But me? I was stage left, to her left, standing in wonder in front of John McGeoch, studying him, watching him fiddle with the little gizmo strapped to the microphone stand in front of him (what was that?) and trying to figure out: how did he get the guitar to sound like that?Johnny Marr recently, in a Guardian ‘answers’ piece talked about journeymen guitarists, the kind, like Steve Cropper or Ron Wood, who were, first and foremost guitarists, craftsmen and women, before they were band members. John McGeoch was the quintessential guitar side man in the 1980s, somehow transforming very, already, original rock groups into, something else, something new and modern, simply with his guitar playing and sound.
If this book manages to track down the magic, where and how he manufactured the definitive six string sparkles, as well as his life story, then it will be a fascinating read.
