McGARRY HOMEPAGE

BADLANDS

POP CULTURE

BIOGRAPHY STRIPS

SPORTS STRIPS

WORLD CUP 1998

McGARRY'S PORTFOLIO

CONTACTS & LINKS

 

Adapted from THE VERY FIRST BADLANDS ANNUAL published by PEDIGREE BOOKS (1994)


 1. STEVE McGARRY was born in the North of England, on the sprawling Wythenshawe, Manchester council estate, on January 24, 1953. The eldest of three brothers (ADRIAN is a Production Manager and Macintosh whizz, MIKE is a professional photographer) STEVE's first school was Saints John Fisher and Thomas Moore in Benchill. He later attended St.Bede's R.C. College, in the same year as fellow MANCHESTER CITY fanatic and future JOY DIVISION/NEW ORDER manager and FACTORY RECORDS founder, the late ROB GRETTON.

2. At 14, STEVE lied about his age to land a weekend job selling raffle tickets at MANCHESTER CITY's home soccer games. Not only did he get paid, he got to sit on a touchline bench for all the club's games and could regularly be seen posing for the TV cameras whenever the action strayed towards his position. (Years later he had his own cartoon series in the MANCHESTER CITY match-day programme - mainly so he could blag free tickets!)

3. In 1977, a rush of blood to the head saw STEVE quit his job in the catalogue production department of GREAT UNIVERSAL STORES mail order company to try his luck as a full-time freelancer. His first published works were illustrations for love stories in the now-defunct girl's comic ROMEO.

4. In the late '70s, STEVE designed ("very badly," he cheerfully confesses) record sleeves for a host of Mancunian punk-rock luminaries, including JOY DIVISION, JILTED JOHN, SLAUGHTER & THE DOGS, JOHN COOPER CLARKE and the fabulously-monikered ED BANGER AND THE NOSEBLEEDS.
(Click here to see some of the sleeves.)


 5. STEVE was once a partner in a commercial production company and sang on TVand radio ads for for the likes of TIMPSON'S SHOES. His finest hour was undoubtedly a POPNUT CRUNCH POPCORN animated tv commercial, for which he multi-tracked the voices of a boy, a bear, a rabbit and a python singing
     "If you're crazy over popcorn here's a nuttier way to munch, 
It's peanut-coated popcorn and they call it Popnut Crunch!"

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