Totally Wired

Wire made astonishing leaps of invention from their first album (Pink Flag) to the third (154), and the band had become sick of playing its old material.  Wire once hired a cover band called the Ex Lion Tamers to open for them and play the crowd-pleasers.  

On the live "12XU" from Document And Eyewitness, a member of the band addresses the audience's request with angry disdain, and the recording itself is sabotaged by the band when someone (accidentally?) pressed the record button and intoned, "I don't need to go to the Arctic tonight; it's cold."  

Wire split up in 1980, and reformed five years later. Pink Flag was a touchstone for hardcore punk and bands like Mission of Burma and the Minutemen, who were inspired by the new possibilities suggested by Wire's short, fast, lean songs with no guitar solos and very few choruses. 
(12XU toon copyright Jon Kelly Green, jonkellygreen.blogspot.com).

The most frequently covered Wire songs are 12XU, Ex Lion Tamer ("Stay glued to your TV set") and 154's lovely Outdoor Miner (which is about an insect, the serpentine leafminer, which burrows under the "roof" of a leaf). 


"Face worker, a serpentine miner/ The roof falls, an underliner/ Of leaf structure, the whale's vagina..."

All good things must come to an end -- and so must some things that seemed like a good idea but, in retrospect, were perhaps a bit too much.  Like collecting almost 90 covers of one band's music.  But here it is.  Again.  And it's called... 12XUXULT!

Close to the Wire

Jonder's third volume of Wire covers returns to the Japanese tribute album Post Flag (tracks 11-16).   I also got some songs from Soundcloud, southernshelter.com (#22), and sugarmegs (#25). 

I love the way "Fragile Mystery" interpolates the Wipers' song "Mystery"!   The band Meat Wave recently covered "Mystery" too.
Los Sedantes have a lovely album that is free on Bandcamp, with covers of Joy Division's "Heart And Soul", Neil Young's "Harvest Moon" and "Bela Lugosi's Dead":  lossedantes.bandcamp.com

I edited out the "Bobby Moore Is Innocent" half of the Serious Drinking track.  Once again, you can find "Real Cool Time: Feelies Covers, 1977-2011" at doomandgloomfromthetomb.tumblr.com.

01 CALLERS - Heartbeat/ 02 TREMBLING BLUE STARS - Kidney Bingos/ 03 THE GRAYS - Outdoor Miner/ 04 CASPER BRONZE - Fragile Mystery/ 05 pHOAMING EDISON - The 15th/ 06 DR. KLOOT - Strange/ 07 PHRANQ - I Am The Fly/ 08 ROY MONTGOMERY - Used To/ 09 GRASS WIDOW - Mannequin/ 10 BOSS HOG - 12XU/ 11 AND ABOUT HERS - Mr. Suit/ 12 HARUKAZEDOU - 106 Beats That/ 13 FLUID - Straight Line/ 14 TOTSUZEN DANBALL - Ex Lion Tamer/ 15 ACCIDENTS IN TOO LARGE FIELD - Feeling Called Love/ 16 YOLZ IN THE SKY - Pink Flag/ 17 KUSTOMIZED - A Question Of Degree/ 18 FILL SPECTRE - Field Day For The Sundays/ 19 SERIOUS DRINKING - 12XU/ 20 DUSTMITES - Strange/ 21 LOS SEDANTES - The 15th/ 22 CASPER AND THE COOKIES - Dot Dash (live)/ 23 ELEVENTH DREAM DAY - Lowdown (live)/ 24 THE FEELIES - Mannequin (live)/ 25 SALEM 66 - Fragile (live)/ 26 TED LEO - Outdoor Miner (live)/ 27 PHAEDRIDER - Heartbeat

Pay attention... we're Wire!

Jonder again, with an update to a collection of Wire covers that I posted a few months back.  I promised another set, and I actually have FOUR in all.  Here's the second volume, and I'm reposting the first one.  A blog reader named Lewdd sent me a cover of "Mannequin" by the band Track The Curse -- thanks!!!  Another reader recommended the Wire covers by the Feelies, so I've got their take on "Outdoor Miner" today, and their performance of "Mannequin" coming up in Volume 3.  Wire continues as a band to play and record, and this year they released a mini-album called Nocturnal Koreans. 

WIRE COVERS I (repost)

01 BIG BLACK - Heartbeat/ 02 CEREMONY - Pink Flag/ 03 NEW BOMB TURKS - Mr. Suit/ 04 THOUSAND YARD STARE - Strange/ 05 DAG NASTY - 12XU/ 06 HENRIETTA COLLINS - Ex Lion Tamer/ 07 MONUMENT - Dot Dash/ 08 fIREHOSE - Mannequin/ 09 KUSTOMIZED - Surgeon's Girl/ 10 WAX IDOLS - Sand In My Joints/ 11 BAND OF SUSANS - Too Late/ 12 SCRAWL - Reuters/ 13 HEAVY FRIENDS - Mercy/ 14 CHARLES DE GOAL - A Question Of Degree/ 15 VALKYRIANS - I Am The Fly/ 16 KLONHERTZ - Impossible/ 17 HER - Champs/ 18 DYKEHOUSE - Map Ref. 41ºN 93ºW/ 19 MONKS OF DOOM - The 15th/ 20 BLUE AEROPLANES - Outdoor Miner/ 21 LEMONHEADS - Fragile/ 22 NOUVELLE VAGUE - Marooned/ 23 SCHOOL OF SEVEN BELLS - Used To/ 24 GAZELLE TWIN - Heartbeat

WIRE COVERS II (new post)

01 DIVE - Heartbeat/ 02 FISCHERSPOONER - The 15th/ 03 LIGHTNING SEEDS - Outdoor Miner/ 04 MOOSE - Kidney Bingos/ 05 MY BLOODY VALENTINE - Map Ref. 41°N 93°W/ 06 TRACK THE CURSE - Mannequin/ 07 BAND OF SUSANS - Ahead/ 08 TRASH CAN SCHOOL - I Am The Fly/ 09 GODFLESH - 40 Versions/ 10 THERAPY? - Reuters/ 11 DIE KREUZEN - Pink Flag/ 12 MINOR THREAT - 12XU/ 13 aMINIATURE - A Serious Of Snakes/ 14 YO LA TENGO - Too Late/ 15 THE ANGRY ANGLES - The 15th/ 16 REM - Strange/ 17 LEE RANALDO - Fragile/ 18 THE FEELIES - Outdoor Miner/ 19 THE VACCINES - Mannequin/ 20 LOW - Heartbeat

Another Great Covers Post from Jonder

(Scott)-Hell, I always LOVED Wire......see the post I did on them long ago, unsure the links are active....but
Jonder here creates a good look at other bands covering some of those classic Wire tunes, NOT, imo, an easy band to cover, but yet here are some great takes, and he promises more to come? Sounds fantastic to me....thanks Jonder, and keep em coming for as long as you desire!
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Wire is one of the most influential and respected bands of the first wave of British punk.  Each of Wire's first three albums was more innovative than the one that preceded it.  Original members Robert Gotobed, Graham Lewis, and Colin Newman continue to record and perform new Wire music to this day.

There is an album called A Houseguest's Wish that collects 19 versions of the Wire song "Outdoor Miner" -- and I found a dozen more.  There are at least a dozen versions of "12XU".  "Mannequin" and "The 15th" are also popular to cover.  There's a Wire tribute album called Whore, and another called Post Flag, featuring Japanese bands covering the songs from Pink Flag in LP order.  #17 is from Post Flag.  None of the other songs here have been previously compiled.  Thanks to Nathan Nothin for #6 and to Spavid for #9.

01 BIG BLACK - Heartbeat

02 CEREMONY - Pink Flag

03 NEW BOMB TURKS - Mr. Suit

04 THOUSAND YARD STARE - Strange

05 DAG NASTY - 12XU

06 HENRIETTA COLLINS - Ex Lion Tamer

07 MONUMENT - Dot Dash

08 fIREHOSE - Mannequin

09 KUSTOMIZED - Surgeon's Girl

10 WAX IDOLS - Sand In My Joints

11 BAND OF SUSANS - Too Late

12 SCRAWL - Reuters
13 HEAVY FRIENDS - Mercy

14 CHARLES DE GOAL - A Question Of Degree

15 VALKYRIANS - I Am The Fly

16 KLONHERTZ - Impossible

17 HER - Champs

18 DYKEHOUSE - Map Ref. 41ºN 93ºW

19 MONKS OF DOOM - The 15th

20 BLUE AEROPLANES - Outdoor Miner

21 LEMONHEADS - Fragile

22 NOUVELLE VAGUE - Marooned

23 SCHOOL OF SEVEN BELLS - Used To

24 GAZELLE TWIN - Heartbeat

http://tinyurl.com/jqhkv75

I have another collection of Wire covers on the way.  I would love to hear any of the following Wire covers, if anyone has them to share:  Carter The Unstoppable Sex Machine - Mannequin; Couch of Eureka - Three Girl Rhumba; Deja Voodoo - Strange; Selves - Feeling Called Love.

The best Wire post ever

Wire is one of those bands, like Elvis Costello or the Pretenders, whom I just LOVED for a while, but then went off in some direction that just didn't get it done for me.... I think they still record even today, and I'm sure their long-time true fans still love them, but after those classic late 1970's albums, they were done for me (much like, I explained, the Pretenders were over "for me" after "Learning to Crawl")..... so "best ever"? Maybe not, for a band with such a huge discography, but those first three albums, I did/do love them, and for me THOSE albums are the "real" Wire.... sorry, sometimes for me, a band simply stays too "long at the fair".

1977's debut, "Pink Flag" was one of the most original and unique albums to come from that era, it is brilliant and sounds every bit as amazing in 2013 as it did in 1977, I am not kidding. It is VERY minimalst punk/new wave, but the song structures are bizarre for the era, "Field Day For the Sundays" checks in at less than a minute).... There are 23 "songs" on the album, I'd prefer to call them segments or movements, this is an album that REQUIRES listening to as a whole. It is also one of the greatest albums of the 1970's, perhaps THE Greatest of 1977, which was a great year for music..... do not miss this if you are unfamiliar.

The next album "Chairs Missing", is an experimental masterpiece as well, the tracks are longer and more atmospheric, again, it is a coherent work that needs to be listened to as a WHOLE.....this is NOT a collection of singles, it is a single, coherent work.

The next year they released "154", another five star masterpiece that is also amazingly experimental, although NOT a carbon copy of "Pink Flag".... this is weird stuff, "I Should Have Known Better" and "Map ref. 4 In. 93 W." are among the standout memories for me, again, like "Pink Flag", you really need to listen to this album as a whole. I know I keep saying this, but listen and you will see EXACTLY what I mean... I PROMISE!

IF you are not as into this as I am (and in high school I was VERY into this band), I have included a comp, "Behind the Curtain", with some of their better moments melded together as though attempting a statement, had it been the first album I had heard from them, I might just buy into it a a fine album as well..... I really, though, recommend the first three albums in totality.

Since then, Wire has released a whole bunch of albums, they don't really do much for me.... chances are if you are a huge fan of the band, you are familiar with them, I am shooting for the casual listener with this one, because latter day Wire just doesn't get it done for me. Sorry, Wire, but thanks TONS for those first three brilliant, amazing, thought provoking albums... they were/ARE great and still remain in fairly heavy rotation around BigScott62's household!

PINK FLAG-01 Reuters/02 Field Day For the Sundays/03 Three Girl Rhumba/04 Ex Lion Tamer/05 Low Down/06 Start To Move/07 Brazil/08 It's So Obvious/09 Surgeon's Girl/10 Pink Flag/11 Commercial/12 Straight Line/13 106 Beats That/14 Mr. Suit/15 Strange/16 Fragile/17 Mannequin/18 Different Zone/19 Champs/20 Feeling Called Love/21 12 X U/22 Dot Dash/23 Options R

CHARIS MISSING-01 Practice makes Perfect/02 French Film/03 Anstler the Letter/04 Men 2nd/05 Marooned/06 Sand In My Joints/07 Being Sucked In Again/08 Heartbeat/09 Mercy/10 Outdoor Miner/11 I Am the Fly/12 I feel Mysterious TOday/13 From the Nursery/14 Used To/15 Too late/16 Outdoor Miner/17 A Question of Degree/18 Former Airline

154-01 I Should Have Known Better/02 Two People In a Room/03 The 15th/04 The Other Window/05 Single KO/06 A Touching Display/07 On Returning/08 A Mutual Friend/09 Blessed State/10 Once Is Enough/11 Map Ref. 4 In. 93 W./12 Indirect Enquiries/13 40 Versions/14 Song 1/15 Get Down (Parts 1 & 2)/16 Lets Panic Later/17 Small Electric Piece/18 Go Ahead

BEHIND THE CURTAIN-01 Mary Is a Dyke/02 Too True/03 Just Don't Care/04 TV/05 New York City/06 After Midnight/07 Pink Flag/08 Love Ain't Polite/09 Oh No Not So/10 It's the Motive/11 Practice Makes Perfect/12 Sand In My Joints/13 Stablemate/14 I feel Myserious Today/15 Underwater Experience/16 Dot Dash/17 Options R/18 From the Nursery/19 Finistaire/20 No Romans/21 Another The Letter/22 40 Versions/23 Blessed State/24 A Touching Display/25 Once Is Enough/26 Stepping Off Too Quick/27 Indirect Inquiries/28 Map Ref 41 N 93 W/29 A Question of Degree/30 Two people In a Room/31 Former Airline