Howard Devoto was born Howard Trotter in Manchester, in 1955. He was one of the revolutionaries to bring the Sex Pistols to Manchester in 1976 to play the lesser free trade hall. The other one was Pete Shelley and together they formed the Buzzcocks, with Howard on lead vocals. But after just a few live performances and the legendary Spiral Scratch EP, Devoto left the legendary group to do his own thing.

He met John McGeoch, in April 1977 a guitarist and they began writing songs together. Soon they formed a band and called it " Magazine " with Devoto on vocals and McGeoch on guitar and Barry Adamson on bass.Bob Dickinson was on keyboards and Martin Jackson on drums and they were soon signed to Virgin Records. Dickinson soon left and they produced their first record, " Shot By Both Sides " as a quartet. The single got good reviews and they also made the UK chart. Before the balance of an album's worth of tunes could be recorded, Dave Formula, formerly of Ultravox spin-off, filled Visage Dickinson’s void. Soon after, their first LP Real Life was released.

Magazine 's unique sound wasn’t punk by any means but more new wave. For one thing their music had harsh rhythms, cold screaming synth notes, gloomy sonic soundscapes and largely subdued vocals by Devoto. On the other hand the lyric content (almost exclusively written by Devoto) was usually anything but punk -- neo-spiritual, existentialist, philosophical and often nihilistic. One critic even described Magazine as the band "Albert Camus would have been in if Camus had a band."

After the first tour, Jackson left, replaced briefly by Paul Spencer and then John Doyle. In 1979 the second album, Secondhand Daylight followed. McGeoch was in both Magazine and Siouxsie & the Banshees and, along with Formula, Visage. Finding it next to impossible to stay in three bands simultaneously, McGeoch left Magazine in 1979. He was replaced by Robin Simon (Ultravox) and the band then toured the US and Australia. In Australia the live album Play was recorded. 1980 brought the band's third release, The Correct Use Of Soap, and the departure of Simon. At this time I.R.S. licensed both Play and the follow-up from Virgin for US release. Magazine 's three pre I.R.S. LPs. (L to R: 1978's Real Life, 1979's Secondhand Daylight and 1980's The Correct Use Of Soap).

Simon's replacement, Ben Mandelson, was on hand for Magazine 's final original album, Magic, Murder and the Weather in 1981. Shortly after its release, Devoto left the band and so split his band up completely. Devoto soon mounted a solo career, releasing Jerky Versions of the Dream in 1983. Despite being a "solo" effort, many Magazine veterans contributed their playing and songwriting assistance. Despite moderate airplay and an outstanding video of the tune " Rainy Season " the album did not sell well and Devoto took a hiatus. In 1988 Devoto and guitarist Noko teamed under the name Luxuria and released two albums, Unanswerable Lust (1988) and Beast Box (1990). When the group and their recordings failed to make any impact on the music indusrty, the founder and former Buzzcock, Devoto ended the partnership and left music for the publishing world.

In 2002, Devoto and Pete Shelley collaborated for the first time in 25 years with a new project Buzzkunst. But now the Buzzcocks continue, with the remaining members Shelley and Steve Diggle, joined by Buzz-cockneys Tony Barber, (bass) and Phillip Barker, (drums) in 1992