John Maher (Buzzcocks drummer)

Last updated

John Maher
Born (1960-04-21) 21 April 1960 (age 64)
Origin Manchester, England
Genres Punk rock, new wave, post-punk
Occupation(s)Musician, photographer, engineer, car racer
Instrument(s)Drums
Years active
  • 1976–1992
  • 2012–present

John Maher (born 21 April 1960) [1] [2] is a British musician who was part of the punk and new wave scenes in Manchester, England, most notably as the drummer with Buzzcocks. [3]

Contents

Music career

Maher's father and mother were from Castledermot, Athy, Kildare, Ireland. [4] In 1976, still a 16-year-old schoolboy from St Bede's College, Whalley Range, Manchester, he joined punk band Buzzcocks, then led by Howard Devoto, who was the lead vocalist. After the first Buzzcocks dissolving in 1981, he collaborated with Pauline Murray of The Invisible Girls, [3] and formed along with Steve Diggle (also of Buzzcocks) a band called Flag of Convenience, in 1982, but he quit shortly afterwards. In 1981, he was drumming with Pete Wylie in Wah! [5]

Buzzcocks reunited in late 1989 for a month long tour of the US and seven shows in the UK. While the other members of the band decided to continue, Maher left to continue with his VW business (see below). He returned once more in early 1992, when his replacement (Mike Joyce, formerly of The Smiths), quit Buzzcocks on the eve of a European and Japanese tour.

In May 2012, Maher stepped out of musical retirement to rejoin Buzzcocks for two one-off shows: his first public appearance behind a drum kit in 20 years. The concerts took place at Manchester Apollo and London's Brixton Academy. Howard Devoto, the band's original vocalist also joined the band on stage for five songs – all four tracks from their debut EP, Spiral Scratch, plus a cover version of The Troggs' "Can't Control Myself". Maher spoke about his brief return to the stage in an interview with online fanzine Mudkiss. Another interview with Maher appears in the first issue of The Drummers Journal.

In 2014, Maher reunited with another Manchester band he had previously been involved with during his Buzzcocks years: The Things. [6] The band recorded several songs, both old and new, during the summer of 2014. An EP (entitled EP1) containing four tracks was released in mid 2015.

In 2015, Maher was back in the recording studio with old friends Pauline Murray and Robert Blamire, working on a new Penetration album – the first since the band's 1979 release, Coming Up For Air. Maher and Blamire first worked together in 1978, on Patrik Fitzgerald's debut album Grubby Stories. In 1980 they also worked together on the Martin Hannett produced Pauline Murray and the Invisible Girls album. The new album Resolution took the runner-up spot in Vive Le Rock's Top 50 albums of 2015.

In August 2015, the website Louder Than War published an in-depth interview with Maher.

Drag racing

When Maher first quit the music industry in the 1980s, he developed an interest in car drag racing, racing VW Beetles as part of the VWDRC. This led him to develop a successful business, John Maher Racing, building performance engines. After reuniting with Buzzcocks in 1989, he retired from music in 1992 after a tour, and returned to his Volkswagen business in Chorlton-cum-Hardy, in the south of Manchester. In 1999, Maher's workshop was featured in the Channel 5 programme Stars & Cars. This featured footage of his former incarnation as a drummer, a tour of his workshop, and interviews.

Maher relocated his business from Manchester to the Isle of Harris in Scotland in 2002. In 2010 he appeared on the BBC Alba motoring programme Air an Rathad. The interview features footage inside his workshop on the Isle of Harris, a brief interview and a drive in one of his customers' VW Beetle.

Photography

Since 2009, Maher has gained recognition for his photography; in particular his long-exposure night photographs and interior images of abandoned Hebridean homes. [7] [8]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Buzzcocks</span> British punk rock band

Buzzcocks are an English punk rock band that singer-songwriter-guitarist Pete Shelley and singer-songwriter Howard Devoto formed in Bolton in 1976. During their career, the band combined elements of punk rock, power pop, and pop punk. They achieved commercial success with singles that fuse pop craftsmanship with rapid-fire punk energy; these singles were later collected on Singles Going Steady, an acclaimed compilation album music journalist and critic Ned Raggett described as a "punk masterpiece".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Martin Hannett</span> Musical artist & record producer

James Martin Hannett was a British record producer, musician and an original partner/director at Tony Wilson's Factory Records. Hannett produced music by artists including Joy Division, the Durutti Column, A Certain Ratio, Magazine, John Cooper Clarke, New Order, Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark and Happy Mondays. His distinctive production style embraced atmospheric sounds and electronics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Magazine (band)</span> British (English and Scottish) post-punk rock band

Magazine were a British rock band formed in 1977 in Manchester in England by singer Howard Devoto and guitarist John McGeoch. After leaving the punk group Buzzcocks in early 1977, Devoto decided to create a more progressive and less "traditional" rock band. The original lineup of Magazine was composed of Devoto, McGeoch, Barry Adamson on bass, Bob Dickinson on keyboards and Martin Jackson on drums.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Howard Devoto</span> Musical artist

Howard Devoto is an English singer and songwriter, who began his career as the frontman for punk rock band Buzzcocks, but then left to form Magazine, an early post-punk band. After Magazine, he went solo and later formed indie band Luxuria.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pete Shelley</span> English singer-songwriter (1955–2018)

Pete Shelley was an English singer, songwriter and guitarist. He formed early punk band Buzzcocks with Howard Devoto in 1976, and became the lead singer and guitarist in 1977 when Devoto left. The group released their biggest hit "Ever Fallen in Love " in 1978. The band broke up in 1981 and reformed at the end of the decade. Shelley also had a solo career; his song "Homosapien" charted in Australasia and Canada in 1981 and 1982.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Barry Adamson</span> Musical artist

Barry Adamson is an English pop and rock musician, composer, writer, photographer and filmmaker. He came to prominence in the late 1970s as a member of the post-punk band Magazine and went on to work with Visage, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, and the electro musicians Pan Sonic. In addition to prolific solo work, Adamson has also remixed Grinderman, The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, Recoil and Depeche Mode. He also worked on the soundtrack for David Lynch's surrealistic crime film Lost Highway.

Martin Jackson 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 album, and Swing Out Sister in 1986, with the hit song "Breakout".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Noko</span> Musical artist

Noko is an English musician, multi-instrumentalist, composer and producer who has formed and/or played with a number of bands primarily as a guitarist or bassist. In chronological order they were: Alvin the Aardvark and the Fuzzy Ants, the Umbrella, the Pete Shelley Group, the Cure, Luxuria, Apollo 440, Stealth Sonic Soul, Fast, Maximum Roach, James Maker and Noko 440, Magazine, Raw Chimp, Levyathan, SCISM, Am I Dead Yet? and Buzzcocks.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Penetration (band)</span> Punk rock band from County Durham, England

Penetration is a punk rock band from County Durham, England formed in 1976. They re-formed in 2001 with several new members. Their debut single, "Don't Dictate", is now acknowledged as a classic punk rock single and their debut album, Moving Targets (1978), is still widely admired.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Invisible Girls</span> British rock band

The Invisible Girls were a British rock band, formed in Salford, Greater Manchester in 1978, to provide a musical backdrop to the recorded output of Salford punk poet John Cooper Clarke. The band's nucleus was Joy Division and New Order producer Martin Hannett and keyboardist Steve Hopkins, with contributions from, amongst others, Pete Shelley of Buzzcocks and Bill Nelson of Be-Bop Deluxe. The band also played on the first solo album by Pauline Murray, the eponymous Pauline Murray and the Invisible Girls and some singles, and later with Nico for the single "Procession".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paul Burgess (musician)</span> English musical artist (born 1950)

Paul Burgess is an English rock drummer, notable for his association with a wide range of British rock and folk-rock bands. In addition to extensive session work, he has been a member of 10cc, Jethro Tull, Camel, Magna Carta, and The Icicle Works.

<i>All Set</i> 1996 studio album by Buzzcocks

All Set is the fifth studio album by English pop punk band Buzzcocks. After standardising their line-up of vocalists and guitarists Pete Shelley and Steve Diggle, bassist Tony Barber, and drummer Phil Barker for the band's previous album Trade Test Transmissions (1993), the band's first record since their reunion in 1989, the band toured relentlessly which inspired the band–especially Shelley–to create a new album. Hiring longtime punk rock producer Neill King to produce and engineer All Set, the band recorded in Fantasy Studios, Berkeley, California, a studio where then-huge pop punk bands like Green Day, to whom Buzzcocks had been a big influence, had recently recorded music engineered by King.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Steve Diggle</span> English rock guitarist

Stephen E Diggle is an English musician best known as a guitarist and later lead vocalist in the punk band Buzzcocks.

<i>Operators Manual: Buzzcocks Best</i> 1991 compilation album by Buzzcocks

Operators Manual: Buzzcocks Best is a compilation album by English punk rock band Buzzcocks. It was released in 1991 by I.R.S. Records.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pauline Murray</span> Musical artist

Pauline Murray is best known as the lead vocalist of the punk rock band Penetration, originally formed in 1976.

<i>Spiral Scratch</i> 1977 EP by Buzzcocks

Spiral Scratch is an EP and the first release by the English punk rock band Buzzcocks. It was released on 29 January 1977. It is one of the earliest releases by a British punk band. Spiral Scratch and the album Time's Up are the only Buzzcocks studio releases with original singer Howard Devoto, who left shortly after the EP's release to form one of the first post-punk bands, Magazine.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Doyle (drummer)</span> Musical artist

John Doyle is an English drummer, who was a member of new wave bands like Magazine and The Armoury Show. He reunited with Magazine for a tour in February 2009.

Garth Smith and sometimes credited as Garth, is an English musician, known as the original bassist of the Bolton-formed punk rock band, Buzzcocks.

Motivation was a short-lived band formed in Manchester, England by bassist and probably leader Steve Garvey, guitarist Dave Rowbotham, drummer Snuff and vocalist Dave Price. Garvey was a former Buzzcocks, Teardrops and Bok Bok member, while Rowbotham was previously in The Durutti Column and then in The Mothmen.

<i>Pauline Murray and The Invisible Girls</i> (album) 1980 studio album by Pauline Murray and the Invisible Girls

Pauline Murray and the Invisible Girls is the only album made by Penetration singer Pauline Murray and the Invisible Girls, John Cooper Clarke's backing band. It was released in September 1980 on the RSO label.

References

  1. Rizzi, Cesare (1996). "JOHN MAHER (21 aprile 1960): batteria". Enciclopedia della musica rock : 1970–1979 (in Italian). Giunti. ISBN   978-88-09-21523-8.
  2. Frame, Pete (1999). "John Maher, 21 April 1960 (Buzzcocks)". Pete Frame's Rockin' Around Britain: Rock'n'roll Landmarks of the UK and Ireland . Omnibus. ISBN   978-0-7119-6973-5.
  3. 1 2 Tobler, John (1992). NME Rock 'N' Roll Years (1st ed.). London: Reed International Books Ltd. p. 352. CN 5585.
  4. Toland, Justin (2008). "Indie Originals: The New Hormones Story". Newhormonesinfo.com. Retrieved 13 March 2016.
  5. "Buzzcocks". NKVD Records. Archived from the original on 21 December 2008. Retrieved 18 January 2009.
  6. "The Things". Thethingsband.com. Retrieved 13 March 2016.
  7. "It is time to wield the stick on empty homes". The Herald . Glasgow. 1 June 2015. Retrieved 13 March 2016.
  8. "The lonely island: abandoned houses of the Hebrides – in pictures". The Guardian. 17 August 2016.