Review: 'The Light Pours Out of Me: The Authorised Biography of John McGeoch'

Siouxsie Sioux, Howard Devoto, and John Lydon were three of the most high-profile front-people of the post-punk era. They had something else in common. During their most creative periods, John McGeoch was invaluably assisting them on guitar. Side musicians in bands at the popularity level of the Banshees, Magazine, and PiL usually are not the subjects of their own biographies, but McGeoch was more than a side musician. His artful yet subtle colorings were essential to classics such as "Shot by Both Sides", "Happy House", and "Spellbound", and his influence on guitarists without a taste for Clapton's rote blues or Van Halen's showboating is immeasurable. Johnny Marr of The Smiths, John Frusciante of Red Hot Chili Peppers, Jonny Greenwood and Ed O'Brien of Radiohead, and Mark Arm of Mudhoney are among the musicians who praise McGeoch as one of the greatest in The Light Pours Out of Me: The Authorised Biography of John McGeoch. 

But while there is a lot of talk of McGeoch's musicianship and equipment in Rory Sullivan-Burke's new book, it takes more than a subject with unique skills to make a compelling biography. Oddly, McGeoch remains somewhat difficult to get a hold on for the first 80% of The Light Pours Out of Me. The guy was clearly loved, because his friends, family, co-workers, and fans seem only too happy to describe him as exceptionally talented, funny, completely unpretentious, and fiercely loyal. They also note that he was often quick to anger. However, there aren't a lot of anecdotes illustrating these personality traits. What were the funny things he said and did? What were some examples of his loyalty? His anger? Only in the final fifth of the book, when McGeoch's career has reached an end apparently because of changing tastes in music and his own self-destructive alcoholism, do those anecdotes start popping up. 

This does not mean that the majority of The Light Pours Out of Me is dull, because McGeoch was a member of some great bands, and we get a lot of details about the early days of Magazine and Siouxsie and the Banshees' 1980-1982 peak, and quite a bit about PiL, too. And we do eventually learn why McGeoch was both an extraordinary musician and an interesting individual--how else would you describe a guy who clears snow off a bird feeder with a bullwhip while buck naked in the dead of winter?--but it takes a while for it to become completely clear.