From 1977's 'Pink Flag' to the band's most recent albums, Wire, Silver/Lead, and 2020's Mind Hive, legendary art-combo Wire have created a unique body of work. Subverting genres, Colin Newman, Graham Lewis, Robert Grey and Matthew Simms continue to work on new material, regularly confounding expectations.
The first three Peel sessions were released on a 'Strange Fruit' CD in 1989 and a re-issue in 1996.
Wire recorded a fourth session in 1988 and then following their long lay off in the 90's they returned in 2002 with a series of EP's and their fifth and final session for John Peel. These two unreleased sessions sound so different from each other you would think they were two different bands, the 2002 session is more reminiscent of their punk roots.
Wire - John Peel session #4 - FM master
BBC Maida Vale Studios, London, UK
Recording: 24 April 1988
Broadcast: 10 May 1988
01 - Boiling Boy (see the 5th studio album A Bell Is A Cup - May 1988)
02 - German Shepherds (see the Silk Skin Paws EP 1988)
03 - Drill (see the Kidney Bongos EP 1988)
Length = 19:44
Lineage: BBC Radio 1 FM > Roof Aerial > Marantz ST151L Tuner etc.
Wire - John Peel session #5 - FM master
BBC Maida Vale Studio 4, London, UK
Recording: 21 July, 2002
Broadcast: 17 September, 2002
01 - Spent (see 'Send' - May 2003)
02 - I Don't Understand (see 'Read & Burn 01' EP - June 2002
03 - 1st Fast (see 'Read & Burn 01 EP' - June 2002)
04 - 99.9 (see 'Send' - May 2003, 1st album since 1991)
Length = 16:54
Lineage: BBC Radio 1 FM > roof aerial > Marantz ST151L FM tuner -> Creative SB Extigy soundcard etc.
If you've been inspired by these two cracking sessions, for further information and news of the special editions of the groups first three albums, go to the official Wire site here: http://pinkflag.com/
Wire's three Harvest
released albums in the 70's are often referred to as a kind of
"accelerated development triptych". The differences between the
reductive minimalism of 1977's Pink Flag and the layered baroque (albeit
still minimalistic) of 1979's 154 show a staggering turn over of ideas,
yet each album remains iconic.
Wire's debut Pink Flag, was originally released in December 1977 on EMI's progressive label 'Harvest' with it's 21 stripped down tracks and iconic stark sleeve. Dave Fudger reviewed it in the UK weekly music paper, 'Sounds' in December 1977. He wrote:
"The album has a scale and feel of it's own - totally unique. I can't recommend it enough. It's not like anything you've heard and it'll leave it's mark for a long time"
Chairs Missing (1978) represented perhaps the biggest conceptual leap made during this period of Wire and was widely misunderstood at the time yet it remains to the band and production crew, Wire's favourite 70's album. The clarity of vision of the band at the time has been rewarded with a large appreciation in it's standing in hindsight the album also having been awarded (alonside Pink Flag) the distinction of a 10 rating by Pitchfork Media amongst many other plaudits.
154 (1979) was the first Wire album to be released to a universal set of five star reviews from the British rock weeklies. It represented the point when the British 'pop culture establishment' publicly recognised Wire's primacy.
Nick Kent in the NME, Chris Westwood in the Record Mirror and Jon Savage in Melody Maker respectively wrote:
"154 makes 95 percent of the competition look feeble"
"Wire are achieving a lot of things other - and more recognised - names have been striving for"
"The album is a musical Tour de Force"
