Wire

Wire is a London-based UK rock band formed in 1976. It is associated with post-punk, new wave and punk, and is also described through its later work as alternative rock, art punk, electronic, experimental rock, indie rock and industrial rock.

Formation and original line-up

The band forms in Watford, England, and its original line-up includes Colin Newman on vocals and guitar, Graham Lewis on vocals and bass, Robert Gotobed on drums, and Bruce Gilbert on guitar. Wire splits for the first time in 1980, then reforms on several occasions. Gilbert later leaves the band in 2004. Margaret Fielder McGinnis of Laika joins as touring guitarist in 2008, and Matt Simms later replaces her. The current listed members are Robert Gotobed, Bruce Gilbert, Graham Lewis, Colin Newman and Matthew Simms.

Early albums and style

Wire’s debut album, Pink Flag, appears in 1977. It is known for its variety of moods and styles, but many of the songs use a stripped-back punk approach, unusual song structures, and very short running times; “Field Day For The Sundays” lasts 28 seconds. Chairs Missing follows in 1978 and moves away from the severe minimalism of the debut, adding longer, more atmospheric tracks and synthesizer parts arranged by producer Mike Thorne. The band’s experimental approach becomes more pronounced on 154 in 1979, where many songs feature Graham Lewis on lead vocals.

Breaks, side projects and re-formations

Creative differences in 1979 lead to the Document and Eyewitness LP, issued in 1981, which records a performance made up almost entirely of new material and is paired with an EP from another performance of more new songs. Some of this material later appears on Colin Newman’s solo albums 5/10 and We Meet Under Tables, while other songs are issued through Gilbert and Lewis’s project Dome, including And Then... and Ritual View. After the first split in 1980, Wire stops recording and performing for a period between 1981 and 1985, while members pursue solo and collaborative work such as Dome, Cupol and Duet Emmo, as well as several Colin Newman solo releases.

Electronic period and later releases

Wire reforms in 1985 as a “beat combo”, with a greater use of electronic instruments. In 1989 it releases It’s Beginning To And Back Again (IBTABA), a live album made mostly of reworked material from The Ideal Copy and A Bell Is a Cup...Until It Is Struck, with heavy rearrangement, editing and remixing. The new song “Eardrum Buzz” becomes the band’s biggest charting single. Robert Gotobed leaves after Manscape in 1990, and the band temporarily changes its name to Wir for The First Letter in 1991. Wire then splits again in 1992.

Later activity

During another break, Colin Newman founds the Swim ~ label and later forms Githead with his wife, former Minimal Compact bassist Malka Spigel. Wire returns as a full-time group in 1999, with Gotobed back in the line-up under his birth name, Robert Grey. The group first reworks much of its back catalogue for a performance at Royal Festival Hall, then continues after a short US tour and several UK shows. Two EPs and the album Send follow in 2003, alongside collaborations with stage designer Es Devlin and artists Jake and Dinos Chapman. The band splits again in 2004.

Reissues and later recordings

Wire’s 1970s albums are reissued in 2006 with their original vinyl track listings. A third Read & Burn EP appears in 2007, followed by the studio album Object 47 in 2008. Bruce Gilbert does not take part in that recording, though he features in a minimal capacity on the third Read and Burn EP according to Colin Newman. The band’s twelfth studio album, Red Barked Tree, is released in 2011.