Radiohead have cited McGeoch's work with Magazine and Siouxsie and the Banshees as an influence. The lead guitarist, Jonny Greenwood, said McGeoch was the guitarist that had most influenced him. The Radiohead guitarist Ed O'Brien also cited him as a "big influence", and one of the "great guitarists [who] weren't lead guitarists". He said that McGeoch was "responsible for some of the greatest riffs ever ... 'Spellbound', 'Christine', 'Happy House'... His riffs are so elegant and once you learn how to play them there is almost a zen like quality to the sound and movement of your hands. it reminds me of the beauty in Johnny Marr's playing." For their 2003 single "There There", Radiohead's producer Nigel Godrich encouraged Greenwood to play like McGeoch in Siouxsie and the Banshees. Excerpt. Colin Greenwood remembers: "The running joke when we were making this record was that if we recorded a track that stretched over 3mn 50 sec., we'd say "Oh fuck, we've buggered it then. It's gone on too long." Of course, the irony is that the first single we're releasing is actually the longest song on the record. ("There There"). It was all recorded live in Oxford. We all got excited at the end because Nigel was trying to get Jonny to play like John McGeoch in Siouxsie and the Banshees. All the old farts in the band were in seventh heaven."
