“The Correct Use of Soap” is the third studio album by Magazine, released by Virgin Records in 1980. . It contains some of Magazine’s best-known and most popular songs,
The Manchester, based UK post-punk band Magazine released their third album, ‘The Correct Use of Soap’, on Virgin Records; produced by Martin Hannett, it marked a return to the punkier riffs & faster rhythms of debut release ‘Real Life’ after the darker, more experimental ‘Secondhand Daylight’; it included the singles “A Song from Under the Floorboards” & “Sweetheart Contract”, as well as their cover of Sly & The Family Stone’s “Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)”; it would be their last album with original guitarist John McGeoch, who left the band after it’s recording to join Siouxsie & The Banshees; it features the rhythm section of John Doyle and Barry Adamson at their taut, flexible best McGeoch is at his most cunningly percussive. Save for the called-for razzle-dazzle on “Sweetheart Contract,” keyboardist Dave Formula takes more of a back seat, using piano more frequently and no longer driving the songs to the point of detracting from the greatness of his mates,
A different version of this album was released in Canada on Polygram Records, titled ‘An Alternative Use of Soap’…
Magazine’s new album “The Correct Use Of Soap” was released by Virgin Records. It contains their last two singles, “Thank You(Falletin Be Mice Elf Agin)” and “A Song From Under The Floorboards”. New songs are “You Never Knew Me”, “Philadelphia”, “Sweetheart Contract”, “I Want To Burn You Again”, “Stuck”, “Because You’re Frightened”, “Model Worker” and “I’m A Party”.
Two songs on the album make reference to elements of works by Fyodor Dostoyevsky, namely “Philadelphia” (referring to Raskolnikov, the main character in Crime and Punishment) and “A Song from Under the Floorboards” (based on Notes from Underground).
Magazine got together in “77 after Howard Devoto quit The Buzzcocks. He’s not only the vocalist but writes all the lyrics tor the band’s material. Magazine is Howard Devoto on vocals, plus Barry Adamson on bass, John Doyle on drums and John McGeoch on guitar and sax.”
The Fat Angel Sings 