''Jerky Versions of the Dream'' is the only solo album recorded by

Howard Devoto 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, but then left to form Magazine, one of the first post-punk bands. After M ...

, the original singer of

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 independen ...

and

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 ...

. It was his only studio album, which was released at the time with two singles, "Cold Imagination" and "Rainy Season", being a short-lived solo career for Devoto, who in 1986, went to form a band alongside guitarist

Noko Noko (born Norman Fisher-Jones, 1 February 1962, in Bootle, Lancashire, England) is an English musician, multi-instrumentalist, composer and producer, has formed and/or played with a number of bands primarily as a guitarist or bassist. In chron ...

, which later was named Luxuria.

Recording

The process of Devoto's solo album began, shortly after the demise of

. Already frustrated by an unsatisfactory string of replacements for guitarist

John McGeoch John Alexander McGeoch (25 August 1955 – 4 March 2004) was a Scottish musician and songwriter. He is best known as the guitarist of the rock bands Magazine (1977-1980) and Siouxsie and the Banshees (1980-1982). He has been described as one o ...

, Devoto left the group after the pre-album single to '' Magic, Murder and the Weather'' had failed to chart. Devoto started to write songs during 1982, later making a demo with guitarist Alan St Clair and a drum machine. He also started working with his former Magazine bandmate

Barry Adamson Barry Adamson (born 11 June 1958) Discography Studio Albums Compilation Albums EPs Singles Soundtracks References External links * Adamson's art-house
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Adamson, Barry 1958 births Living people People from ...

. Eventually, Devoto decided to combine the two projects and record a solo album, instead.

Release and reception

The album was released in United States on the I.R.S. label, on 26 July 1983. The first single to be released from the album was "Rainy Season". The song's video was heavily rotated on MTV. On the release of the album it peaked at #57, on the UK album chart. It was eagerly anticipated and widely received by amazing reviews. A subsequent tour in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

, the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, and

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

was full of sold out crowds. However, the album's second single, "Cold Imagination", failed to chart as well, and Devoto's solo career was put on hold. In contemporary reviewing,

Barney Hoskyns Barney Hoskyns (born 5 May 1959) is a British music critic and editorial director of the online music journalism archive Rock's Backpages. Biography Hoskyns graduated from Oxford with a first class degree in English. He began writing about mus ...

gave it a mixed response in ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...

'': "It burns at both ends and gets bitty and boring in the centre." Retrospective reviews were more positive. ''

Trouser Press ''Trouser Press'' was a rock and roll magazine started in New York in 1974 as a mimeographed fanzine by editor/publisher Ira Robbins, fellow fan of the Who Dave Schulps and Karen Rose under the name "Trans-Oceanic Trouser Press" (a reference to ...

'' said: "Full appreciation of the album requires a bit of forbearance and effort, but few artists make music this careful and intelligent."

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

said: "Melding frenetic industrial funk with sardonic lounge piano, the music appropriately matches Devoto's eccentric lyrical musings—offering obtuse but highly original philosophical and social commentary." In a guide to

avant-pop Avant-pop is popular music that is experimental music, experimental, new, and distinct from previous styles while retaining an immediate accessibility for the listener. The term implies a combination of avant-garde sensibilities with existing ele ...

music for ''

The Brooklyn Rail ''The Brooklyn Rail'' is a publication and platform for the arts, culture, humanities, and politics. The ''Rail'' is based out of Brooklyn, New York. It features in-depth critical essays, fiction, poetry, as well as interviews with artists, criti ...

'', Paul Grimstad described ''Jerky Versions of the Dream'' as a "brittle, delicate record" and recommended "Cold Imagination".

Track listing

All songs written by

except where noted.

Personnel

*Howard Devoto -

lead vocals The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of t ...

, keyboards, piano, guitar, producer, arrangement *

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 ...

keyboards Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Musi ...

, piano, arrangement * Alan St Clair -

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

*Leroy James - additional guitar on "I Admire You" *Martin Heath -

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

*Dave Martin - bass guitar on "Topless" *

- bass guitar on "Out of Shape With Me" and "Seeing is Believing" *Pat Ahern -

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

, percussion *

Gary Barnacle Gary Barnacle (born 1959 in Dover, England) is an English saxophonist, flautist, brass instrument arranger, composer, and producer. Barnacle is primarily noted for his session work and live work, including various Prince's Trust concerts at Wem ...

saxophone The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed on a mouthpiece vibrates to pr ...

on "Some Will Pay (For What Others Pay to Avoid)" and "Waiting For a Train" *

Andy Diagram Andy Diagram (born 1959 in London) is a British musician and trumpet player. He has worked with the instrument in a variety of bands and contexts ranging from pop and rock to experimental jazz, art rock and dance music. He is best known for hi ...

- French horn and

trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitched one octave below the standard ...

on "Out of Shape With Me" *

Penelope Houston Penelope Houston (born December 17, 1958) is an American singer-songwriter best known as the singer for the San Francisco-based punk rock band the Avengers. She was raised in Seattle. In the mid-1970s she attended Fairhaven College in Bellin ...

- second vocals on "Taking Over Heaven" *Pamela Kifer - backing vocals *Laura Teresa - backing vocals ;Technical *

Malcolm Garrett Malcolm Leslie Garrett (born 1956) is a British graphic designer, and Creative Director of Images&Co, a communications design consultancy based in London, UK. He is Ambassador for Manchester School of Art and co-founder of the annual Design M ...

, Peter Saville Associates - sleeve design * Trevor Key - photography

Chart positions

;Album ;Singles

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jerky Versions Of The Dream 1983 debut albums Howard Devoto albums Virgin Records albums I.R.S. Records albums Avant-pop albums