The Correct Use of Soap
album by Magazine
The Correct Use of Soap is the third studio album by English post-punk band Magazine, released by Virgin Records in 1980. It contains some of Magazine's best-known and most popular songs, including the singles "A Song from Under the Floorboards" and "Sweetheart Contract" and their cover of Sly and the Family Stone's "Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)". A different version of the album, entitled An Alternative Use of Soap, was released in Canada in 1980 by then-distributor Polygram Records.
It was Magazine's last album with original guitarist John McGeoch, who left the band after the release of the album and joined Siouxsie and the Banshees.
Content
Some of the songs marked a return of sorts to the punkier riffs and faster rhythms of Real Life, after their second album, Secondhand Daylight.
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).
The record sleeve design for this album, as for most other Magazine albums and singles, was by Malcolm Garrett.
Release
The Correct Use of Soap peaked at number 28 on the UK Albums Chart. The tracks "A Song from Under the Floorboards", "Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)" and "Sweetheart Contract" were released as singles. "Thank You" peaked at number 42 on the Billboard Dance Music/Club Play Singles chart in the United States, while "Sweetheart Contract" peaked at number 54 on the UK Singles Chart.
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