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Biography

London, England (1976 – 1980, 1985 – 1992, 1999 – present)

Wire is a band formed in London, England in 1976. The band initially consisted of Colin Newman (vocals, guitar), Graham Lewis (bass, vocals), Bruce Gilbert (guitar), and Robert Gotobed (drums). The band split in 1980, but reunited in 1985 and released six further albums before disbanding in 1992. The band reunited once more in 1999 and has remained active sporadically since. Bruce Gilbert left the band in 2004. In 2008, Margaret Field McGinnis of Laika joined the band as their touring guitarist. She was replaced in 2010 by Matt Simms.

They were originally associated with the punk rock scene and were later central to the development of . The band, which gained a reputation for experimenting with song arrangements throughout its career, exhibited a steady development from an early raucous punk style to a more complex, structured sound involving increased use of guitar effects and synthesizers. Critic Stewart Mason writes, “Over their brilliant first three albums, Wire expanded the sonic boundaries of not just punk, but rock music in general.”

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  • Dekkul

    I want to scrobble Field Day for the Sundays :(

    yesterday evening Reply
  • Musilov

    My favourite bands of all time are Cabaret Voltaire, Rip Rig + Panic and X-ray Spex. And Colin is a big X-ray Spex fan... it shows...

    12 Jun 5:45am Reply
  • Osteoperosis

    red barked trees. oh my god

    5 Jun 11:41am Reply
  • tamtation

    @owlies Glad, maybe. I'm not sure why a listener would be proud. However, I can imagine a member of a band being proud that they're still around, that people are still interested in their music, or that none of them have died of a drug overdose.. ^_^

    27 May 9:52pm Reply
  • owlies

    is anyone else PROUD of them for hanging on this long and putting out excellent work after all these years? Pride is a rare emotion to feel toward a band.

    25 May 3:17pm Reply
  • Moxant

    fucking awesome.

    23 May 5:05pm Reply
  • LittleGib

    I would agree insofar as every Sonic Youth album i've heard has been consistently monotonous.

    22 May 12:44pm Reply
  • Groves89

    In terms of consistency I would say Sonic Youth has the edge over anyone. Even though they didn't quite make it 35 years, their discography is pretty extensive

    19 May 3:02pm Reply
  • dogstarmusic

    Warning!!Warning!! Pale in belief, Wire are not without fault.(You saucy old salt)

    18 May 7:15pm Reply
  • Neon_Spadezzz

    I am gradually discovering their music. And I am having fun in my discoveries.

    16 May 7:49pm Reply
  • LittleGib

    I wouldn't say those are the particularly bad ones, though i liked Bell a good deal more than Ideal Copy, which i always found rather dull.

    16 May 9:00am Reply
  • owlies

    I really love Bell and Ideal Copy. Are these the "bad" ones you guys are talking about?

    16 May 1:58am Reply
  • LittleGib

    They are both very good, but there are better. Have fun in your discoveries!

    12 May 7:10pm Reply
  • Neon_Spadezzz

    "Change Becomes Us" and "Object 47" so far are the only ones I've listened to yet, but they are both good.

    11 May 5:32pm Reply
  • LittleGib

    Ha! I would argue that Manscape is truly horrible, but then i've never managed to hear the whole thing! As far as consistency goes, Nick Cave's had a pretty incredible run, if you include The Birthday Party through to the current Bad Seeds album.

    9 May 5:33pm Reply
  • mattmacneil

    Yeah they definitely weren't releasing incredible albums throughout their whole career but still I don't think The First Letter or The Drill or those late 80s/early 90s albums were really horrible. They weren't on par with their other stuff but they weren't as bad as say, the stuff PiL was releasing then.

    9 May 4:43pm Reply
  • LittleGib

    It's amazing Wire continue to put out great albums after so long, but to say they have been consistently good you would probably have to ignore much of their late 80's/early 90's material.

    9 May 9:08am Reply
  • sunheadbowed

    The Fall would qualify, even though it's been a far from smooth ride.

    9 May 6:23am Reply
  • mattmacneil

    the new album is fucking fantastic. i can't think of another band that has been consistently good for over 35 years.

    1 May 7:57pm Reply
  • LittleGib

    Best work since Send? Definitely! Better than Send? Quite probably. Best since 154? ....

    14 Apr 3:13pm Reply
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