Any Wire fans in the house tonight?

[RandomKoolzip]

Listening to "Chairs Missing" right now; one of the all time great rock albums. I'd have to say that my favorite "original" punk bands are Wire, The Jam, and the Pistols (in that order.)

FuckinA...thay are so oddly fascinating...Colin Newman is definitely a man touched by genius; how he could come up with something as sublimely melodic as "Outdoor Miner," and still make it seem disturbing and utterly fresh in the middle of the Punk booom is nothing short of miraculous.

Okay..."From the Nursery." "...An Xmas dolly!.....to your heart...." That's fucking sick tune.

Wire: one of the all time greats. I heard somewhere that John Lennon was even a fan.

Not too fond of their synth years (or ANYONE's synth years, for that matter....I STILL hate synths!) except for "Eardrum Buzz," the "rock" version of which is as good as anything on their first three albums (and the video is insane too). And the stuff I've geard they've been doing recently hasn't really lit a fire under me....but those first two albums: sheer goddamn genius.

Anyone else here a fan of Wire?

[Kathy in Cambridge]

1. I Just Listened to Pink Flag This Weekend

I really liked Wire way back when. I was a huge Jam fan also-to the point that I had a lot of Union Jack wear a la the Mod Movement.

[RandomKoolzip]

6. The Jam just put out an incredible DVD....

Every video and every TV appearance ever, plus hours of live footage, and all for 35 bucks at Tower. A-bloody-mazing, I tell you. Paul Weller should run for Prime Minister, I think.

Really, it's the Jam and Wire who hold up the best today out of the old school. They were the most melodic, which is important. A lot of the more abrasive-for-the-sake-of-abrasiveness brit-punk bands haven't dated that well. For example, early Siouxie and the Banshees is sheer fucking torture. But The Jam nad Wire still sound fresh to me...and The Saints are number 4 on my list, BTW.

[Ellen Forradalom]

2. "Pink Flag" is the greatest rock album ever recorded

In my own quirky opinion, of course. It's perfection.

Colin Newman had a side project called Dome. I had their album and used to play it a lot in my dorm room at Illinois State University in 1981 (where the big acts were J. Giels, Foreigner, REO). Boy, that made me a lot of friends.

There used to be a Wire tribute band in Chicago called the Ex-Lion Tamers. Their whole act was to play Pink Flag from beginning to end. They opened for Wire once.

[RandomKoolzip]

3. I heard about them!

Weird, isn't it? I mean, is there a big demand for Wire tribute bands?

I actually had a band in high school who covered "Ex-Lion Tamer," except we knew it as a Henry Rollins tune. Then I got a copy of "Pink Flag," and heard he original, and passed the tape on to all my friends, after which we also worked up a version of "Mannequin." (God, I still fuckin' love that song...any song with the line, "You're so bloody thin" is okay in my book...)

I have a few Colin Newman solo tapes. "A-Z" was pretty good, especially "And Jury." But on the whole, his solo stuff is not as good as the original Wire, IMHO.

[wingnut]

4. 12XU!

I like what I've heard of them.

[RandomKoolzip]

9. "Pink Flag" and "Chairs Missing"

are essential albums for any comprehensive collection of rock music.

[RandomKoolzip]

11. OH, and "154" is okay, too....

if a little slow.

[Ellen Forradalom]

12. Different but still great

My favorite record in 1984. I listened to it all the time while touring WWI sites.

[mitchum]

5. Those jerks ripped off Elastica!

Just kidding. You're right about "Outdoor Miner" Sublime.

[RandomKoolzip]

7. The day I bought "Chairs Missing..."

I decided I'd take a bath while listening to it. I literally jumped up naked TWICE and ran to the stereo to replay "Outdoor Miner" because I could barely BELIEVE what I was hearing...

I swear, time stops when this song is playing.


Elastica? Ick. Give me The Fall and Wire any day over those leather-clad clowns.

[Ellen Forradalom]

8. I thought I was gonna leap into my TV and rip their throats out

when I heard Elastica rip off Wire's 'Another the Number' they way they did.

[RandomKoolzip]

10. And don't forget their "use" of "3 Girl Rhumba, " either...

I swear, the Brits have gotta start being a little less transparent about stealing their music. Us Americans don't find it as "charming" as they seem to....

[CanuckAmok]

13. Pick up Newman's solo LP. "Commercial Suicide"...if you can find it.

A great album. I love all their work, up to and including the things they recorded as "wir".

But then, I am the fly in the ointment.

[Screaming Lord Byron]

14. Yeah. 'Outdoor Miner' is extraordiary

I'd say first three LP's excellent, 'Chairs Missing' being the best. '
Pink Flag' is great too.
"Saw you in a mag, kissing a man...saw you in a picture", loved the sound of his voice. If you want to hear Elastica's entire works, it's all in Three Girl Rhumba.

[Whitacre D_WI]

15. I wanna be a field day for the Sundays,

So they can fuck up my life.
Embarrass my wife, and leave a bad taste.


Hm, I bet you wouldn't have guessed I'd be a Wire fan....

I just picked up a (new?) live Wire album, Chairs Missing-era (not "Document and Eyewitness," which is pretty good in its own right). It's outstanding.

[Whitacre D_WI]

16. Kick for Gotobed.

:kick:

[jpgray]

17. Wire's great! Never really dug the Lewis drones, though. :-) (nt)

[CanuckAmok]

18. All this Wire talk made me think about...

Swell Maps and XTC, who I also dig, and think share Wire's quirkypop sensibilities.