Wire "Pink Flag" (Greatest Punk Rock Album Ever?) Thread

Discussion
1

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wire_(band)

A lot of people site Wire’s legendary album “Pink Flag” as being the greatest “punk” album around…1977’s summit. Even though Wire for much more than your average punk rock band.

Personally I’d have to agree with the above statement and as a result it’s time for the criminally overlooked Wire to have a thread dedicated to their debut album Pink Flag.

Wire were always numerous steps ahead of the competition and frowned upon for being signed to Harvest Records rather than Stiff Records or the like. Harvest had acts such as Deep Purple & Pink Floyd so as you can imagine your average “punk” would be rather vocal about their disaproval of this. Regardless of that Harvest Records have the pleasure of housing punk rocks crowning glory in the eyes of many. In fact Harvest are lucky enough to house Wire’s first three albums which each progressed musically by massive amounts.

But forget the brilliant Missing Chairs & 154…this is the PINK FLAG thread!!!

REUTERS
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CL10iPcdaLw

12XU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YAn_T4D2kww&feature=related

PINK FLAG
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eDEDP9BHJEU

EX LION TAMER
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6nE8DFaxd94

STRANGE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fY44NUf8-Vw

LOWDOWN
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v6Ytde6tmkQ

MR SUIT
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fwJCUn0ndwA

If you dlon’t own this little gem…GET IT!!! It’s a fav record of yours that you have not yet heard.

"Pink Flag is the first album by the band Wire, released in 1977. Upon its release, Robert Christgau called it a “punk suite” and praised its “simultaneous rawness and detachment” and detected a rock-and-roll irony similar to but “much grimmer and more frightening” than the Ramones. Trouser Press called it “a brilliant 21-song suite” in which the band “manipulated classic rock song structure by condensing them into brief, intense explosions of attitude and energy, coming up with a collection of unforgettable tunes”. Although the album was released to critical acclaim, it was not a big seller. Today the album is widely acclaimed as one of the greatest albums of all time. Music journalist, Stuart Maconie, described it as “by the standards of the time it was extraordinary. But I now realise that by the standards of any time, it’s extraordinary”.

The sleeve concept is credited to B.C. Gilbert and Graham Lewis. The cover is a photo by Annette Green of a flagless flagpole with the pink flag painted on.

Influence - The album’s wide-ranging influence is exemplified in the number of bands that have covered songs from it. R.E.M. reworked “Strange” on their 1987 album Document. Henry Rollins (as Henrietta Collins & The Wife-Beating Child Haters) covered “Ex-Lion Tamer” on the 1987 album Drive By Shooting. Other notable covers include Minor Threat’s version of “12XU” on the 1982 Dischord compilation Flex Your Head, Die Kreuzen’s cover of the title track on a 7" single in 1990, and fIREHOSE’s version of “Mannequin,” which appeared on its Live Totem Pole EP in 1992. Elastica also used a riff similar to that of “Three Girl Rhumba” for their song “Connection”. The New Bomb Turks covered “Mr. Suit” on their 1993 album Destroy Oh Boy! and noticeably slowed it down. The Amherst, Massachusetts, hardcore band Ampere also cover “Mr. Suit”. It can be heard on their split LP with Das Oath. “Reuters” was covered by Therapy? as a b-side to their Troublegum album. The Minutemen took influence from this album, especially their idea of short songs. The Lemonheads covered “Fragile” on their 2009 album Varshons. Moneybrother covered “Mannequin” on his 2006 album Pengabrorsan (the lyrics and title were translated into Swedish).

All songs written by Bruce Gilbert, Graham Lewis, Colin Newman and Robert Gotobed, except as indicated."

Side one
1.“Reuters” – 3:03
2.“Field Day for the Sundays” – 0:28
3.“Three Girl Rhumba” – 1:23
4.“Ex Lion Tamer” – 2:19
5.“Lowdown” – 2:26
6.“Start to Move” – 1:13
7.“Brazil” – 0:41
8.“It’s So Obvious” – 0:53
9.“Surgeon’s Girl” – 1:17
10.“Pink Flag” – 3:47

Side two
11.“The Commercial” – 0:49
12.“Straight Line” – 0:44
13.“106 Beats That” – 1:12
14.“Mr. Suit” – 1:25
15.“Strange” – 3:58
16.“Fragile” – 1:18
17.“Mannequin” – 2:37
18.“Different to Me” (Annette Green) – 0:43
19.“Champs” – 1:46
20.“Feeling Called Love” – 1:22
21.“1 2 X U” – 1:55

Personnel
Wire
Bruce Gilbert – guitar
Robert Gotobed – drums
Graham Lewis – bass guitar
Colin Newman – vocals, second guitar on “Lowdown” and “Strange”

Additional personnel
Kate Lukas – flute on “Strange”
Dave Oberlé — back-up vocals on “Mannequin”
Mike Thorne – production

2

Nice idea for a thread. Wire’s first few albums are amongst the best ever made. I’m more of a Chairs Missing and 154 fan, but I’m still very fond of Pink Flag. The fact that Wire are so important to music in general yet they still perform in smallish venues and are unknown to lots of people now (who love bands like Radiohead and other rock bands of their ilk) is remarkable. Though I think it’s kind of cool at the same rate. They remain humble and don’t get lost up their own arses like other “unmentionables”.

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1 2 X U !

4

1 2 X U !

The other night we had a house party and when I dropped that tune (at a rather loud volume) a few folk rushed up to the turntables to enquire who this new awesome band was. hahaha

Missing Chairs & 154 rule too!!!

Wire’s first three albums were like Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back and Return Of The Jedi…except Return Of The Jedi was as awesome as The Empire Strikes Back.

The other great thing about Wire is they still make great albums (2011’s Red Barked Tree also rules) and they STILL put on great live shows…below is a few videos I got of them a few weeks back…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZSWUH-7aefk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CAE32EjQjHo&feature=related

5

First four records, can’t go wrong.

I like how Send and Objekt 47 are a return to that energy, as well.

6

First four records, can’t go wrong.
I like how Send and Objekt 47 are a return to that energy, as well.

Good call…have you heard their recent album Red Barked Tree which came out at the beginning of the year??? It’s great too and well worth the investigation…the song below is an example from the album…

MOREOVER
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=shf8jw3iZ78

RED BARKED TREE

"At a time when back catalogue outsells fresh creativity and newcomers achieve fame by adding a lick of paint to their parents’ record collections, it’s unusual to find a band who, despite plying their trade for decades, are willing and able to make new work that’s as vital and relevant as their own illustrious past recordings. Wire are such a band, and with “Red Barked Tree” they have succeeded in making a statement that will sound as strong in 30 years as their celebrated historical oeuvre does today. “Red Barked Tree” rekindles a lyricism sometimes absent from Wire’s previous work and reconnects with the live energy of performance, harnessed and channelled from extensive touring over the past few years. “Red Barked Tree” was conceived, written and recorded mostly during 2010 by the pared-down lineup of Colin Newman, Graham Lewis and Robert Grey - with no guests.

Ranging from the hymnal “Adapt” to the barking sledgehammer art-punk of “Two Minutes”, the album encompasses the full range of style and nuance that has always endeared Wire to pastel-tinged pop aficionados and bleeding-edge avant-rockers alike. Whatever Wire make is Wire music: this is the band’s enigmatic guiding axiom. While Wire remain agnostic about the nature and identity of their aesthetic essence, it’s always been instantly recognisable, manifesting itself throughout their heterogeneous work. This enigma waits be revealed among the “Red Barked Trees” …

TRACK LISTING

  1. Please Take
  2. Now Was
  3. Adapt
  4. Two Minutes
  5. Clay
  6. Bad Worn Thing
  7. Moreover
  8. A Flat Tent
  9. Smash
  10. Down To This
  11. Red Barked Trees

http://www.amazon.com/Red-Barked-Tree-Wire/dp/B004C9PA32/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1323712938&sr=1-1

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Red-Barked-Tree-Wire/dp/B004C9PA32/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1323712971&sr=1-1

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Red Barked Tree is one of my favorite albums this year. My band covered “Please Take” at our last two shows in March and April. Pink Flag is a great album, and I like almost all Wire (though I’m in the minority, as I favor their 80s material), but PF is definitely underrated. I remember my jaw dropping when Elastica came out with that craptastic song “Connection” in the late '90s, in which the guitar hook is a direct lift from “Three Girl Rhumba”. I don’t know if that band actually credited Wire, or just stole the riff, to be honest.

1002

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I remember my jaw dropping when Elastica came out with that craptastic song “Connection” in the late '90s, in which the guitar hook is a direct lift from “Three Girl Rhumba”. I don’t know if that band actually credited Wire, or just stole the riff, to be honest.

1002

They ripped off at least two Wire songs but the ‘Connection’ one was so blatant it was bizarre. Wire sued and got some sort of settlement.

9

The Ideal Copy is where it’s at. Not their punk stuff, but that album’s an all time favorite of mine.

10

COOL!!! I never listened to Wire. I always thought they were one of those bunches of boring old self-pretentious fart-knockers that get thrown in as “original punk” by boring old self-pretentious fart-knockers trying to sound cool and hip. Patty Smith meets this criteria too . . . . MAN, do I hate that ugly ass troll!

Anyway, I never realized that this Firehose song I’d been listening to for years was a “Wire” cover.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t85LgK7cgMY

11

Chairs Missing is infinitely more captivating.

Ooops. I’ve gone and done it again.

…

Anyway, better go see if that girl needs food or water.

12

I love the first 3 records by Wire. The mid period was lost on me when I first heard it, but I’ve since come around and enjoy a good bit of it. Agreed on the recent work being very solid as well.

13

Okay, I finally remembered it. I was trying to recall what the Wire song was that made me think they were lame. It was this . . . .

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j3fLn4FYWH0

14

Eardrum Buzz rules! Don’t mind the video so much.

Also their 2003 album Send is their “heaviest”, for people who may not like their more melodic 80s output. http://youtu.be/mElt8h6jjYI
http://youtu.be/K7EoF1-nTfM

15

Eardrum Buzz rules!

Really? I don’t know what it is about that song. It’s like nails on a chalkboard to me. And this is totally separate from the crappy video. Just . . . uggh, that song is to me what “FRiday” (Rebecca Black) is to most others.

I’ll try to check out some of the other Wire stuff, though, and let you know if anything sticks.

16

Our Wire cover from March (slight arrangement). I am on guitar only on this one:

http://soundcloud.com/thecorrugation/the-corrugation-please-take

1002

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Send, or any of the first 3-4 albums, are no loss at all. Anyone wanting to get into them, those are all great…