''Play'' is the first live album by English

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-roc ...

/ new wave band

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 released in December 1980 by

Virgin Records Virgin Records is a record label owned by Universal Music Group. It originally founded as a British independent record label in 1972 by entrepreneurs Richard Branson, Simon Draper, Nik Powell, and musician Tom Newman (musician), Tom Newman. It ...

(International) and in April 1981 by I.R.S. Records (US). It peaked at No. 69 on the

UK Album 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 ...

. It was Magazine's sixth 1980 release.

Content

The live album consisted of a recording of the group's performance at

Melbourne Festival Hall Festival Hall is a heritage listed entertainment venue located at 300 Dudley Street, West Melbourne, Victoria. It is one of Melbourne's larger concert venues and has hosted a variety of local and international acts over many years. In October ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

on 6 September 1980. The performance was part of a world tour in support of the group's third studio album, ''

The Correct Use of Soap ''The Correct Use of Soap'' is the third studio album by English post-punk band Magazine, released by Virgin Records in 1980. It contains some of Magazine's best-known and most popular songs, including the singles "A Song from Under the Floorboa ...

'', released earlier that year. The majority of the album is composed of songs from the first and third studio albums. The original album is notable for including a performance of the

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record compan ...

"Twenty Years Ago", while omitting the group's best-known song, "

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 ...

", which was cut from the original album release along with gig opener "Feed the Enemy".

Personnel

The short-lived line-up of Magazine that performed ''Play'' had formed due to the departure of founding member and 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 ...

. In his place was ex-

Ultravox Ultravox (earlier styled as Ultravox!) were a British new wave band, formed in London in April 1974 as Tiger Lily. Between 1980 and 1986, they scored seven Top Ten albums and seventeen Top 40 singles in the UK, the most successful of which was ...

guitarist

Robin Simon Robin Simon (born 12 July 1956) is a British guitarist who was a member of Ultravox, Magazine and Visage. Biography Early career Robin Simon played guitar in a number of local Halifax based bands in the early to mid-1970s. The bands include ...

. Simon left the group on completion of the tour and was in turn replaced by Ben Mandelson for Magazine's fourth studio album. Simon's recording history with the group is limited to ''Play'' and tracks from another Australian gig on the 2009 compilation ''Live and Intermittent''. The rest of the group consisted of

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 ...

(vocals),

Barry Adamson Barry Adamson (born 11 June 1958)Biography
. Barryadamson.com. is an English pop and rock music ...

(bass and backing vocals),

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 19 ...

(keyboards) and John Doyle (drums).

Production

The album was produced by Magazine and John Brand. Design was credited to Malcolm Garrett with photography by Birrer.

Release

The album was originally released as an LP and

cassette Cassette may refer to: Technology * Cassette tape (or ''musicassette'', ''audio cassette'', ''cassette tape'', or ''tape''), a worldwide standard for analog audio recording and playback ** Cassette single (or "Cassingle"), a music single in th ...

in December 1980. The album was subsequently released as a budget album on LP, cassette and CD in the late 1980s. A Japanese edition of the album was released in 1995 with three bonus live tracks recorded at the Russell Club in

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

on 3 May 1980, which had been released as B-sides to "Sweetheart Contract". A remastered edition, titled ''Play+'', was released by Virgin/EMI in 2009, augmented by the two deleted songs from the Melbourne Festival Hall gig and a bonus disc featuring a 21 July 1978 performance at

Manchester Lesser Free Trade Hall The Free Trade Hall on Peter Street, Manchester, England, was constructed in 1853–56 on St Peter's Fields, the site of the Peterloo Massacre. It is now a Radisson hotel. The hall was built to commemorate the repeal of the Corn Laws in 1846. T ...

. The 1978 gig featured the ''Real Life'' lineup of the group with McGeoch and original drummer

Martin Jackson Martin Jackson (born 30 August 1955 in Manchester, England) is a British drummer who has played with several bands from Manchester, although his most successful roles were with Magazine in 1978 with the release of the influential ''Real Life'' ...

Reception

''Play'' received mixed reviews, mainly due to the absence of "Shot by Both Sides".

Track listing

''Play'' (Original release)

''Play+'' (2009 re-release)

Personnel

;Magazine *

– vocals *

Barry Adamson Barry Adamson (born 11 June 1958)Biography
. Barryadamson.com. is an English pop and rock music ...

– bass guitar *

– keyboards * John Doyle – drums *

– guitar *

– guitar (''Play+'' disc two) *

– drums (''Play+'' disc two) ;Production * Magazine - producer * John Brand - producer, engineer * Paul Frindle - assistant engineer * Pete Mew - mixing (''Play+'' disc two) * Malfunctions - Stage * Birrer - Photography *

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 ...

(at Assorted Images) - Sleeve

Chart positions

References

{{Authority control 1980 live albums Magazine (band) albums Virgin Records live albums Live post-punk albums