Wire, Wir, and the Influence of PINK FLAG (1977)
Sonic Youth, The Cure, My Bloody Valentine, Franz Ferdinand, REM, Minutemen, Elastica, Black Flag, Johnny Marr, the Feelies, Guided by Voices, Ladytron, Minor Threat, Fischerspooner, Bloc Party, Low, Ministry, and almost everyone on the planet with a set of ears who was ever in a band, has been influenced by them. Yet, they remain unknown to the world at large, even now. How can this be? How, I ask?
Wire released their first LP, Pink Flag, in 1977. Pink Flag was a collection of 21 stripped down, econo, punk/pop/art-punk/”not sure but I really like it”/often-catchy-as-hell tunes that ran as short as 28 seconds. The longest (the title track) clocked in at only 3:47.
Robert Christgau of the Village Voice called Pink Flag a “punk suite,” praised its “simultaneous rawness and detachment” and detected a rock and roll irony similar to “but much grimmer and more frightening” than the Ramones.
It has since made the list of Rolling Stone Magazine’s Top 500 Albums of All Time and did the same on the NME’s Top 500 list, as well. Pitchfork listed them at #22 for top albums of the 70’s. In short, geeky, pasty, rarely-get-out-of-the-basement, music critics still praise them to high-heaven, and for good reason. They deserve every bit of it. But they are still largely unknown to many a music fan. And that’s just wrong.
It’s not remotely unusual for highly influential artists in any media- music, movies, painting, writing, whatever- to be eclipsed by those who they influenced. I would argue that most of time, the general public is just not ready to accept anything too different or too new. It’s just too “not the way it’s done.”
People tend to like what’s already familiar to them with just a slight twist. Just think of Hollywood and how they basically remake the same basic stories over and over again just changing a couple of elements. Music is no different.
To be fair, a lot of influential bands that never achieve more general public acceptance are just plain weird. Too much so for most people. But Wire? Wire was not that. Yes, it was different and new. But it wasn’t one note played for 47 minutes or anything like that. Pink Flag contains some seriously catchy stuff- just listen to “Ex-Lion Tamer” and tell me I’m wrong.
So, who are these guys? Wire consists of four members: Colin Newman, Graham Lewis, Robert Grey and Bruce Gilbert. Newman is the main songwriter and vocalist, yet all the members seem to have a major role in the band. So much so that when the drummer, Robert Gotobed, left in 1990, Wire decided to become ‘Wir’ to reflect the loss of one of their founding members. Seriously.
Gotobed never would return. However, almost a decade later, he rejoined them using his legal name, Robert Grey. ‘Wir’ was no more. It was Wire, once again.
Wire celebrated this reunion with a brief tour in the UK and an even shorter one in the United States. That’s when I saw them. Honestly, I was reluctant to go. I had sworn off reunion tours after having my heart broken just one too many times. I still have nightmares of some of the bands I adored waddling out on stage and clearly going through the motions to cash-in while they still could. It was not something I wanted to do again.
But I took the chance, and Wire was sensational. Keep in mind, that’s still twenty years ago- so, no promises if you see them now. I will not be held responsible for your heartbreak should they fail you. But it’s Wire, so I doubt they will.
While we’re talking about Wire, I should probably mention that there have been some notable lawsuits regarding plagiarism. Most famously, it turns out fun and fantastic Britpop band, Elastica, got influenced by them a little too much and, more or less, stole the Wire song “Three Girl Rhumba” for their hit “Connection“. There was also another Elastica song that was way, way, way too similar to Wire’s “Strange“. In the end, some money changed hands, it got settled and everyone was friends again.
Wire kept rolling on. There would be some further personnel changes in the band’s later years. In 2010 Gilbert would leave and a Matthew Simms would take over for him. But Wire are still together, over forty years since the release of Pink Flag. In fact, they have released their 17th album Mind Hive on January 24, 2020 .
But don’t buy that one. At least not until after you’ve bought Pink Flag. That album changed people’s lives. Maybe, just maybe, it could change yours.
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Kevin,
Pink Flag is my favorite British “punk” record of 1977 (my favorite American punk record of 1977 is Television’s Marquee Moon.) Both records showed, in completely different ways (Television stretched the songs out, while Wire stripped the songs down) that “punk” could be so much more complex than the overly simplistic Sex Pistols and Ramones. (I could never get into those two bands or most of the punk and later “hardcore” scenes.)
The tracks on the album that always fascinated me were the bleaker tracks–the opener “Reuters”, the title track, and, most of all, the creepy, eerie “Strange”. These tracks already showed that Wire was pushing beyond punk–they would explore further in Chairs Missing and 154. Those two records share similar dark, desolate soundscapes as Joy Division’s innovative post-punk landmarks Unknown Pleasures and Closer.
Kevin,
Wire’s Pink Flag is the best British “punk” record of 1977 (my pick for best American “punk” record of 1977 is Television’s Marquee Moon.) Both records showed (just as The Clash’s London Calling showed in 1979) that “punk” could be so much more complex than the overly rough, simplistic Ramones and Sex Pistols (I’ve never been a fan of either of those bands or the later “hardcore” scene.)
The tracks that always fascinated me on Pink Flag are the bleaker tracks such as the opener “Reuters”, the title track, and, most of all, the creepy, eerie “Strange”–these tracks showed Wire were already pushing past punk into more bizarre and experimental terrain, which was explored further in Chairs Missing and 154. Those two records share similar dark, desolate soundscapes with Joy Division’s innovative post-punk landmarks Unknown Pleasures and Closer (recorded around that same time.)
This is my favourite “punk” album. It hasn’t dated one bit after all these years. The best riffing and off the wall lyrics make this record timeless.
Their second and third albums were just as good for different reasons.
Colin Newman’s solo albums A-Z(1980) and Not to(1982) are also excellent.
Elastica also ripped off the Stranglers. They actually had to pay up in both cases.
Yeah, I know. But I still like Elastica’s first album in spite of all that.
Nice article!. Loved the description “punk suite”. That’s exactly what this album is.
The punk movement was centered on criticizing others (people, government, institutions). But then, the glorious post-punk movement came in, and that’s when things got even more interesting. These bands used sophisticated instrumentation (the synths began), and the lyrics improved a lot. Inside the universe of post-punk, the criticism wasn’t only centered on people, it was a self-introspective and even deppressing journey. That’s when Wire’s “Chairs Missing” came in (my favorite) , as well as Joy Division’s “Unknown Pleasures”, PIL’s “Metal Box”, and Magazine’s “Real Life”.
I would describe Wire’s “Pink Flag” as a perfect middle point between punk and post-punk.
Still remember the first time I heard Three Girl Rhumba on a friend’s cassette tape on the way to school. God only knows how he came to be in possession of such thing. Normally this particular guy was inclined towards Iron Maiden. Nevertheless, we were addicted great from the start. It’s interesting about the short songs. They never seem to be short, if you know what I mean. Short and to the point. Never over staying. Just a quick punch in the face. Great article.
I was actually introduced to them by a guy who was a jazz drummer. I guess there’s something about Wire that attracts people who are not necessarily punk or post-punk fans.
I can always listen to this timeless album – pure fascination. I can’t say the same about other punk albums.
I think I’m going to start signing my emails off with “We Are The Flies” as featured in the header of today’s Vinyl Writers. That’s awesome.
Great to see Wire and Pink Flag on here! It was the first “Intelligent punk” rock album, very different from the debut albums of THE CLASH, SEX PISTOLS or THE DAMNED, which more or less were snotting out straight rock. With WIRE, the sound was a bit more complex!
12XU was the first song I knew from Wire, I had recorded it from some radio show back in 1977. Later, a buddy had Pink Flag and the song became the blueprint for ‘punk rock’ for us. Of course we also listened to the Sex Pistols, Clash and Ramones, but for me Wire remained most special.