Wow. Every time I listen to this, I struggle with wrapping my head around the fact that less than 3 years after this, the same band would record “154”. The rate at which they evolved was a bit frightening.
Awesome, never knew this existed. I am nearly 60 and still loving this punk sound. Man those were the days... Nowadays youth could learn something from those times..
@@ficticious2025 LOLOL What are you talking about? Punk rock has sold BILLIONS of records around the world! There have been HUNDREDS of documentaries made about punk rock. You can buy Exploited T-shirts at Hot Topic. The Ramones are a household name. Bad Religion was on The David Letterman Show. NOFX music has been performed by orchestras. What F-ing world do you imagine you are living in?????
Dem yoof do know some stuff about punk init. Yeah it was an epic movement and has had a massive impact on music ever since, but it reflected it's time. It will never die in the hearts and minds of those who lived through it. Great days.
@@-Deena. Yep, the years '77 - '78 - '79 were a flood of great releases. All across the music scene from Elvis Costello, Graham Parker to the Dead Kennedy's and so on. Still love to play those tunes (I'm a musician myself) though at 65 I have to work harder to keep up the fast ritmes. All the best from Holland Deena.
@@RolandWieffering1 I am a musician as well. Bass guitar. Once supported The Ramones...well we were on at 5pm..then 5 more bands then The Ramones...but technically...no I did! I look younger than I am...i was there. Great days indeedy! Hi from the UK - the spiritual home of punk. My vinyl collection is my life!
A very special birthday Robert Gotobed aka Robert Grey, english drummer (70, r&b band "the Snakes", "Wire", * 1976, until 1990, after his departure named into "Wir", rejoined Wire in 2000 etc.)
one of a few original punks, they can't be THE original punks since the Ramines formed in 73 and had their ep out in February 76. They sound great, raw as it should be.
Jack Walton Give Em Enough Rope was my first punk LP alongside The Ramones first pressing , honourable mention NY Dolls and Bostons MA.s' Modern Lovers and I never looked back (I don't care he don't care and I Wanna Sniff Some Glue) (Safe European Home) come to mind
Jack Walton G.G. Alinns' The Lunachicks Wipers Fugazi and The Birtdayparty broke my hymen with a hot butter knife , Ouch , I can't sit for any length of time
In my mind this was the album that inspired punk, it's not quite punk but punk was built on some kind of foundation...Fun House is the second studio album by American rock band The Stooges. It was released on July 7, 1970 by Elektra Records.
I am. A big Wire fan from the debut of a heir first LP to 154. I saw them at CBGB’s in 1977 and they kick some ass. I’ve never heard this but I dig the shit out of it. Thanks for the turn on. LAMF my man.
Amazing what the removal of one member - in this case guitarist George Gill (at extreme left in the photo) - can do for a band’s sound. Once the other four members got rid of him, they improved exponentially.
kind of amazed that one of these songs (feeling called love) ended up on pink flag. wouldn’t have guessed they’d want to keep anything from the Gill years.
Anyone know what ever became of George "Pub Rock Solos" Gill? This is fine, basic, noisy 76 punk rock for sure...but, it definitely is NOT the unique, brilliantly arranged, and, sonically epic music that the 4-piece band would evolve into and, continue to reimagine from Pink Flag to Chairs Missing to 154... This is definitely cool...just not the almost revolutionary sound that WIRE gave us
Agreed. As a sonic snapshot of a band at their genesis, this is definitely interesting and worth at least one listen, but it doesn’t scratch the same itch that the first 3 official albums do. This is just raw, primal punk rock, but it’s a lot more one-dimensional than the ideas that started coming together on Pink Flag and came to full fruition on Chairs Missing and 154.
True OGS, many followed especially in America ie Pavement but that is what music is a regurgitation of content, ideas and styles. Just best give respect where it is due
You do realize that the punk movement wouldn'tve existed if it wasn't for American bands like The Sonics, The Velvet Underground, Television, or the Stooges.
I’m surprised that you’re surprised. All hardcore was, was a reaction from a younger generation of punks to strip punk down to it’s basics and rev up the tempos and the aggression… essentially returning punk to it’s original initial essence. You can hear the same level of intensity on most of the earliest punk recordings, whether it’s Wire, the Damned, Ramones, the Saints, or even the Pistols.
@@anfrankogezamartincic1161 incredible! I’m so glad I went. It was probably one of the last shows I’ll ever see… I even sat with them on the balcony before the show but I was too shy to talk to them. A whole lot of my really old friends from way back when showed up. It was like a punk reunion… and the band sounded great… still young in so many ways.
@@deidrajnay4697 it's great when the surprise is a positive one. I'm glad you enjoyed the show, i hadn't seen any live action for too long, the last one was SWANS, three years ago. Cover blues bands and local hard rock bands don't count
@@deidrajnay4697 I saw them on what must have been the same tour, in Seattle, and yes they were absolutely amazing! I’ve seen more than a few of the old first generation punk bands in recent times, and for the most part they all seemed well past their prime and much less relevant than they were in their younger days, but that wasn’t the case with Wire. They still blow minds live, plus their newer albums are still fresh sounding and worth purchasing. I hope to hear something new from them soon.
From what I read in a Wire biography, he had some pretty conventional, standard, three-chord Bach punk idas, while the other four were developing interests in very different directions, as time would soon tell. But they were basically his backing band, but when we wasn't around, they'd work on ideas that came to fruition on 'Pink Flag'. If I remember the nature of the injury correctly, the frontman broke his leg. When he got out of it, he'd discovered his backing band had left him and taken the name with them. I don't find this bad at all. Just a bit predictable and of its time. The first three Wire albums will still sound amazing in 100 yeRs. I'm a bit conflicted about some of their later work, but that seems to be a common condition.
Thanks for the info. While I think Pink Flag is really innovative and has a few real highlights, I find a lot of the songs on it to be sketches or fragments, and generally the album seems a bit arch and self-conscious. This has a more stream-of-consciousness jam band feel like the Velvet Underground mixed with an aggressive punk approach, characterized by the bellicose singer - it's a really interesting combination. It's interesting to note this was recorded in August 1976, before the Damned or Sex Pistols released their singles. If this had been professionally recorded and released in late 1976 or early 1977 it would have been considered a genre-defining classic and crucial lynchpin of UK punk's year zero. It's only that history took another turn that we discount it so readily. In many respects I find the music here superior to Pink Flag. But then I am a huge VU fan.
@@niallbyrne2680 I have to say I agree though there are some undeniable classics on it (Reuters, Ex-Lion Tamer, Fragile) I got lucky because the first Wire album that I was able to get a hold of in the USA was 154 which I’d never heard anything remotely like. Then I shelled out the extra four bucks for Chairs Missing which I consider one of the - let’s say Top 50 greatest rock albums ever. I had no idea Pink Flag was written before the Damned and the Pistols had released their opening salvos. In fact it’s amazing. To play music like what’s found on Pink Flag I would have thought you’d need to hear ‘New Rose’ at least once. Then again Wire never were dole queue yobs. Their lyrics were enigmatic to say the least. For whatever reason I always felt they were soul mates of (pre-ambient) Brian Eno, lyrically if not musically. A little while back I read a book about Wire and I’m not sure if you’ve heard this one or not but Colin Newman claims his favorite album of all time is Todd Rundgren’s ‘A Wizard, A True Star’. To me that record is practically a sound effects demonstration album. And you’re right about the Velvets. That was the one band they all shared a liking for and you certainly can hear it in some of the guitar effects and even more so in Gotobed’s drumming. Other than those influences Wire were one of those bands that can be categorized as true originals. I still love your upload though because it makes me nostalgic for the racket me and my friends used to make trying to live up to the punk precept ‘Anyone can do it’. Admittedly we were never as good as even this primitive version of Wire but ‘good’ was for hippies !! It’s got a lot of energy and is definitely a valuable historical artifact so thank you again for posting it !
They were brilliant thru this and thru "Pink Flag", but like most of the 1st-wave punk bands, they exhausted their vision and became safer and more mainstream overnight. The Sex Pistols were wise not to have done a 2nd album, because, let's face it, it would have sucked.
Speaking of music that isn't here. There is another demo album out there that I bought as a bootleg years ago called Not About To Die. Have you heard of it? It has alternate takes of Culture Vultures,options R, a faster version of French Film Blurred, Stalemate plus more. Does it sound familiar? I'm trying to find out the session date(s) Thanks
Their influences were any of the punk bands that came before them. Sex Pistols, The Damned, The Saints, The Clash. and if your wondering who these bands influences were, The Ramones, who had their first ep out in February of 76. The Ramones formed in 73 and were already playing at CBGB'S in 74.
PosEurs M0sh Punks slaM Point being that the Ramones , a band that I know only to well , where and Joey still is , writing and performing music that resembles R/R of the fifties rather than the Art Punk Nevo breakthrough that J Richmans' Modern Lovers or better yet the Wipers did in their perspective time slots ~
Love that album! The ‘tators were the missing link between the Dolls and the Ramones, and for whatever reason *STILL* don’t get the credit they deserve for beating almost everyone else to the punch. Yeah, Go Girl Crazy was nowhere near as great as the first Ramones album, but it’s still an important piece of punk history that all too often gets overlooked. Amazing live band too. One of the best I’ve seen.
Never heard this one before have always liked "Wire"...One track reminded me of "velvet underground" fact is Punk started in the sixties with The Monks,stooges,velevet underground which later developed into Glam rock And the new york dolls Mclaren only copied what andy warhol had done during the sixties but added some new concepts in clothing which then became the fashion of the late seventies...Sid vicious was an actor juts like johnny lyndon it was all part of the publicity stunt.Mclaren wasn't stupid but then neither Is John Lyndon....Music like fashion moves in waves...In the Fifthties rock and roll began from various roots blues and big band sounds,drums fused with guitar and double bass...The sixties was the big break through in all sorts of music styles there are many bands that have never got that famous which created some original music expreimentals...By the early sevenities it moved into the Glam rock period which produced such bands like Roxy music,Marc bolan,Bowie....Bowie was one of the first to create an image with dyed hair...By 1975 the youth wanted something new they could relate to...The music was near enough the same as some sixties music like the stooges and can...It was the image which made the new wave...mclaren used to wear teddy boy coats...By the eighties music and fashion had moved on in new expressions of style...Labels were so easily given to anything then as they are now.....suicide created a new electronic dance music which in the seventies no one could relate to because everyone was so backward into punk rock....suicide and tangerine dream were the forerunners for the modern electronic music which would later be the basis for the new machine music created by an idiot who can't play an instrument...Trance,techno etc all came out of the original pioneers of synth music...And now where are we...We are listening to the same beats over and over again ad nauseum...The music is now so predictable that you can tell what will be coming out next....Nothing new there a?.....Music always needs to move into new fields of expression otherwise it stagnates the same with art....But what is important is performance art with good music...
John Lydon wasn't part of the act. He was the only member of the Sex Pistols that was serious about what he was doing. That's why he quit and formed Public Image Ltd. I definitely agree though that Punk's genesis was the 60's. "White Light/White Heat" was the first true full on punk album if you ask me. By 1977, when the so called 'first wave' of punk was going on, the people that were in the know were pushing the possibilities of what punk could be into deep space. While people were all up in arms over the Sex Pistols and The Clash, you had Throbbing Gristle making horrifying undulating electronic noise while screaming about murder, burn victims, rape, nazis, and forced abortions, This Heat scoring the soundtrack for a post-nuclear hellscape, The Fall Ranting about Industrial decay and lovecraftian horror over endless shambling instrumentals, Pere Ubu doing whatever indescribable alien shit they were doing, The entire No Wave scene happening under everyone's noses in downtown New York, the list goes on!
Kind of a good thing they lost that turd of a lead songwriter to a well timed broken leg. Quartet, trio, duo - all great. While a very interesting document and fun and raw in its way, it's not THE Wire. Five piece was one guy too much.
Eric Rhodes As both historic documents and music go it’s a great upload I’m thrilled to hear. I read a biography of Wire a few years back and didn’t remember they went by Overload but I think I do recall that the singer who considered it ‘his’ band broke a limb or something and once he’d recovered his entire band had deserted him to form Wire. The history of punk is littered with Pete Best type characters like him. Gene October of Chelsea had the same trick pulled on him two or three times, poor bugger.
@@teddydog6229 Thanks for dropping that. I never knew that aspect of the story. Gotta say that if you keep getting ditched by your bands (multiple) it's gotta be a you thing.
Well, pickle me granny ! this is really wierd , never knew this existed , its like a pub rock band but a bit punkier , they actually sound more like a punk band here
George Gill. He wasn't into the minimalism they were gravitating towards (Three Girl Rhumba, Lowdown, Reuters, etc.) so they took a break and when they reconvened, they didn't tell him. He's the one playing all the "pub rock" solos (as they referred to it).
@@BedlamAndBones Thanks Garrett! Aren't we all much better off with the sans-Gill version of the band...the remaining 4 bandmembers created MAGIC Cheers
@@dougsmith7083 True - wouldn't trade away what WIRE became (favorite band for sure) but I'm STOKED to hear these demos, finally. It just further affirms the solemn truth that their music could never be stagnant, always changing, still sounding fresh as hell today.
@@thomaskenneally219 totally! It is pretty awesome to be able to have these tracks as a document of the evolution of the band...the bandmembers...the noticeable differences in sound and, the direction that the four core members of WIRE would undertake going forward! That direction being ever evolving and embracing both technology and change. I have to believe that their constantly evolving sound would have been stymied considerably if they kept this lineup...we may never have been gifted those incredible first three albums. Kinda similar to the embryonic Clash with three guitarists...who, after Levene (easily the most skilled guitarist in the band) brought Strummer into the fold...was given the boot by Joe...I can only imagine how much different the Clash would have sounded with Keith's dub, prog and, electronic fixations. His ORIGINAL (rejected) arrangements of a couple of key early Clash songs were radically different from the recorded versions. Unfortunately...this period of The Clash has not been document at all. Buzzcocks is another example...luckily for us, we have the complete studio recordings (Spiral Scratch ep + recorded outtakes) and, live film of the short period that Howard DeVoto was the lead vocalist/co-songwriter of the band. He only played 11 gigs (Levene only 6 with The Clash)! I firmly believe that the split that birthed the Shelley led Buzzcocks and the DeVoto led Magazine was a brilliant decision...Buzzcocks (like Wire) broadened their oeuvre to include elements of Krautrock, art-pop/punk, post-punk, perfect pop, hypnotic, circular European beat pop...Velvetslike droning incorporated into proggy, yearning, sweetheart love songs...and, Magazine helped to create post-punk...incorporating theatre, surrealism, a certain thespian type of lyricism...along with more electronics and pedal effects on guitar and bass...in fact, including the "post-punk Jeff Beck" guitar playing of the incredible John McGeoch!!! In Magazine virtuoso playing was encouraged... I could babble forever...apologies for the lengthy reply Cheers
@@dougsmith7083 Hell yeah - definitely agree with the statements on WIRE. You dropped some knowledge I was unaware of with The Clash and The Buzzcocks. Admitting I have never spent that much time listening to either band or digging into them but I was born in '87 so what would one expect? I heard Combat Rock as a high schooler and decided I was all set - couldn't appreciate it at the time and never really went back to it. Something about WIRE, though... I found Pink Flag at the right time and explored each record one by one only when I was tired of the previous. By not trying to cruise the whole discography in a short span, I feel like I gave myself a chance to really vibe it out. Not to mention that there seemed to be a WIRE record or a WIRE-related project for every conceivable mood or need inspiration. For instance, I only became aware of Duet Emmo this year while watching a Depeche Mode doc in lockdown... and I fucking love it. Would I have loved it had I heard it in high school? Probably not. I'm rambling but my point is that I appreciate the slow unpacking and exploration of a "new to you" band's discography. There's a lot to learn in the details that can hastily be overlooked in an era where all music is available at your fingertips... Maybe I should go listen to The Clash again...probably not, though lol.
Amen. Took me years of critical pontificating to realize my ears were mistaken and 'Give Em Enough Rope' was a terrible record. I was just a teenager. What do they know about rock n roll ?
yeah, there are some good songs on this demo LP, just released a few years ago. Some pretty punky songs, punkier than anything on Pink Flag. The sound is harsh and unpleasant on some of these demos, so it helps to turn down the treble and boost the bass a bit when you play it.
Passée la première bonne impression... c'est au final très faible, avec des titres bien trop longs. Bref, ils ont bien fait de se réorienter vers le quatuor Wire. La différence entre la version de What is this feeling called Love et celle de Pink Flag dit tout. Même Roadrunner est chiante, comparée à l'original ou à la version des Sex Pistols.
![Tool - 72826 (1991) [Full Demo Tape] [HD] [Remastered]](/img/n.gif)
Wow. Every time I listen to this, I struggle with wrapping my head around the fact that less than 3 years after this, the same band would record “154”. The rate at which they evolved was a bit frightening.
Awesome, never knew this existed. I am nearly 60 and still loving this punk sound.
Man those were the days... Nowadays youth could learn something from those times..
Youth today listen to shit worse than hippie days. Punk tells the truth, that is why it was and never will be accepted.
@@ficticious2025 LOLOL What are you talking about? Punk rock has sold BILLIONS of records around the world! There have been HUNDREDS of documentaries made about punk rock. You can buy Exploited T-shirts at Hot Topic. The Ramones are a household name. Bad Religion was on The David Letterman Show. NOFX music has been performed by orchestras. What F-ing world do you imagine you are living in?????
Dem yoof do know some stuff about punk init. Yeah it was an epic movement and has had a massive impact on music ever since, but it reflected it's time. It will never die in the hearts and minds of those who lived through it. Great days.
@@-Deena. Yep, the years '77 - '78 - '79 were a flood of great releases. All across the music scene from Elvis Costello, Graham Parker to the Dead Kennedy's and so on. Still love to play those tunes (I'm a musician myself) though at 65 I have to work harder to keep up the fast ritmes. All the best from Holland Deena.
@@RolandWieffering1 I am a musician as well. Bass guitar. Once supported The Ramones...well we were on at 5pm..then 5 more bands then The Ramones...but technically...no I did! I look younger than I am...i was there. Great days indeedy! Hi from the UK - the spiritual home of punk.
My vinyl collection is my life!
A very special birthday Robert Gotobed aka Robert Grey, english drummer (70, r&b band "the Snakes", "Wire", * 1976, until 1990, after his departure named into "Wir", rejoined Wire in 2000 etc.)
Sounds a very raw collective of songs. Wire are the true origninal punks.
one of a few original punks, they can't be THE original punks since the Ramines formed in 73 and had their ep out in February 76. They sound great, raw as it should be.
Jack Walton
Almost but incorrect on many levels , IMO
Jack Walton
Give Em Enough Rope was my first punk LP alongside The Ramones first pressing ,
honourable mention NY Dolls and Bostons MA.s' Modern Lovers and I never looked back
(I don't care he don't care and I Wanna Sniff Some Glue) (Safe European Home) come to mind
Jack Walton
G.G. Alinns' The Lunachicks Wipers Fugazi and The Birtdayparty broke my hymen with a hot butter knife ,
Ouch , I can't sit for any length of time
In my mind this was the album that inspired punk, it's not quite punk but punk was built on some kind of foundation...Fun House is the second studio album by American rock band The Stooges. It was released on July 7, 1970 by Elektra Records.
Sort of Roxy Music goes 'Oi' !
I am. A big Wire fan from the debut of a heir first LP to 154. I saw them at CBGB’s in 1977 and they kick some ass. I’ve never heard this but I dig the shit out of it. Thanks for the turn on. LAMF my man.
Amazing what the removal of one member - in this case guitarist George Gill (at extreme left in the photo) - can do for a band’s sound. Once the other four members got rid of him, they improved exponentially.
Hats off to anyone in the band .....true punk
What a Thoroughly Competent, Fascinatin' Band; to say the Very least.
kind of amazed that one of these songs (feeling called love) ended up on pink flag. wouldn’t have guessed they’d want to keep anything from the Gill years.
Anyone know what ever became of George "Pub Rock Solos" Gill?
This is fine, basic, noisy 76 punk rock for sure...but, it definitely is NOT the unique, brilliantly arranged, and, sonically epic music that the 4-piece band would evolve into and, continue to reimagine from Pink Flag to Chairs Missing to 154...
This is definitely cool...just not the almost revolutionary sound that WIRE gave us
Agreed. As a sonic snapshot of a band at their genesis, this is definitely interesting and worth at least one listen, but it doesn’t scratch the same itch that the first 3 official albums do. This is just raw, primal punk rock, but it’s a lot more one-dimensional than the ideas that started coming together on Pink Flag and came to full fruition on Chairs Missing and 154.
True OGS, many followed especially in America ie Pavement but that is what music is a regurgitation of content, ideas and styles. Just best give respect where it is due
You do realize that the punk movement wouldn'tve existed if it wasn't for American bands like The Sonics, The Velvet Underground, Television, or the Stooges.
At this stage they sound alot like the american band (crime)
Nice to hear Jonathan Richman's influence!
That is a very good call.
I was just thinking that they weren’t total Ramona’s ripoffs and how great that was.
also I hear the heartbreakers
This is way ahead of it's time wtf. It's way more like American hardcore than I expected, I'm surprised af right now lol.
I’m surprised that you’re surprised. All hardcore was, was a reaction from a younger generation of punks to strip punk down to it’s basics and rev up the tempos and the aggression… essentially returning punk to it’s original initial essence. You can hear the same level of intensity on most of the earliest punk recordings, whether it’s Wire, the Damned, Ramones, the Saints, or even the Pistols.
Awesome!!!! Going to their Phoenix show tonight!!!!! Waited all my life.
they never play old stuff lol
Was it good?
@@anfrankogezamartincic1161 incredible! I’m so glad I went. It was probably one of the last shows I’ll ever see… I even sat with them on the balcony before the show but I was too shy to talk to them. A whole lot of my really old friends from way back when showed up. It was like a punk reunion… and the band sounded great… still young in so many ways.
@@deidrajnay4697 it's great when the surprise is a positive one. I'm glad you enjoyed the show, i hadn't seen any live action for too long, the last one was SWANS, three years ago. Cover blues bands and local hard rock bands don't count
@@deidrajnay4697 I saw them on what must have been the same tour, in Seattle, and yes they were absolutely amazing! I’ve seen more than a few of the old first generation punk bands in recent times, and for the most part they all seemed well past their prime and much less relevant than they were in their younger days, but that wasn’t the case with Wire. They still blow minds live, plus their newer albums are still fresh sounding and worth purchasing. I hope to hear something new from them soon.
Wow never heard this before! Didnt know they did anything before Pink Flag...
Yeah. This is back when they were called Overload. They didn't become Wire until 77 when they left George Gill's band.
what a fuckin' energy untied,love the songs where is more rocka-rolla than punk Wire
From what I read in a Wire biography, he had some pretty conventional, standard, three-chord Bach punk idas, while the other four were developing interests in very different directions, as time would soon tell. But they were basically his backing band, but when we wasn't around, they'd work on ideas that came to fruition on 'Pink Flag'. If I remember the nature of the injury correctly, the frontman broke his leg. When he got out of it, he'd discovered his backing band had left him and taken the name with them. I don't find this bad at all. Just a bit predictable and of its time. The first three Wire albums will still sound amazing in 100 yeRs. I'm a bit conflicted about some of their later work, but that seems to be a common condition.
Teddy Dog well, with their later work, they merely moved on with the times and still produced quality rock music.
Correct except one thing: They didn't take the name with them. At the time of these recordings they were called 'Overload'.
Thanks for the info. While I think Pink Flag is really innovative and has a few real highlights, I find a lot of the songs on it to be sketches or fragments, and generally the album seems a bit arch and self-conscious. This has a more stream-of-consciousness jam band feel like the Velvet Underground mixed with an aggressive punk approach, characterized by the bellicose singer - it's a really interesting combination. It's interesting to note this was recorded in August 1976, before the Damned or Sex Pistols released their singles. If this had been professionally recorded and released in late 1976 or early 1977 it would have been considered a genre-defining classic and crucial lynchpin of UK punk's year zero. It's only that history took another turn that we discount it so readily. In many respects I find the music here superior to Pink Flag. But then I am a huge VU fan.
@@niallbyrne2680 I have to say I agree though there are some undeniable classics on it (Reuters, Ex-Lion Tamer, Fragile) I got lucky because the first Wire album that I was able to get a hold of in the USA was 154 which I’d never heard anything remotely like. Then I shelled out the extra four bucks for Chairs Missing which I consider one of the - let’s say Top 50 greatest rock albums ever. I had no idea Pink Flag was written before the Damned and the Pistols had released their opening salvos. In fact it’s amazing. To play music like what’s found on Pink Flag I would have thought you’d need to hear ‘New Rose’ at least once. Then again Wire never were dole queue yobs. Their lyrics were enigmatic to say the least. For whatever reason I always felt they were soul mates of (pre-ambient) Brian Eno, lyrically if not musically. A little while back I read a book about Wire and I’m not sure if you’ve heard this one or not but Colin Newman claims his favorite album of all time is Todd Rundgren’s ‘A Wizard, A True Star’. To me that record is practically a sound effects demonstration album. And you’re right about the Velvets. That was the one band they all shared a liking for and you certainly can hear it in some of the guitar effects and even more so in Gotobed’s drumming. Other than those influences Wire were one of those bands that can be categorized as true originals. I still love your upload though because it makes me nostalgic for the racket me and my friends used to make trying to live up to the punk precept ‘Anyone can do it’. Admittedly we were never as good as even this primitive version of Wire but ‘good’ was for hippies !! It’s got a lot of energy and is definitely a valuable historical artifact so thank you again for posting it !
They were brilliant thru this and thru "Pink Flag", but like most of the 1st-wave punk bands, they exhausted their vision and became safer and more mainstream overnight. The Sex Pistols were wise not to have done a 2nd album, because, let's face it, it would have sucked.
I thought this was Eddie and The Hot Rods. Not bad!
Beautiful archive!
For us - discovered by my mate "Meic Bach" (little mike in English) in the mid to late 70's. A great spot.
A lot more Rock and Roll sounding with George Gill on guitar.
Wire! Pure, good, moving Punk! Thanks! 2017 is almost gone. Will continue the Wire-Way in 2018!
Punk zeigt dir was abgeht!!! Brennen, Drogen, Bier, Gitarren, Drums, Bass, Gesang, biss der Arsch im Sarge liegt.
This sounds like the lurkers.
They had a different sound before getting immersed into the punk scene which started hitting its stride not long after this.
Thanks for posting , never heard this before, didn't know it existed
at last 1oo nights of the roxy!!! bring it on 76-77
Hmmm haven't hit their art punk stride yet...interesting
Speaking of music that isn't here. There is another demo album out there that I bought as a bootleg years ago called Not About To Die. Have you heard of it? It has alternate takes of Culture Vultures,options R, a faster version of French Film Blurred, Stalemate plus more. Does it sound familiar? I'm trying to find out the session date(s) Thanks
did you post this somewhere
This would be late '77 / early '78. Those tracks been officially released on Behind The Curtain.
those tracks have since been released on the Super Deluxe reissues of the first 3 albums
A great Smart Finest Original UK response to US Punk!
Just amazing! To think it was done in 1976. Can't imagine who their influences were... this is hardcore punk way ahead of it's time.
Well I can definitely hear some Velvet Underground in spots
Their influences were any of the punk bands that came before them. Sex Pistols, The Damned, The Saints, The Clash. and if your wondering who these bands influences were, The Ramones, who had their first ep out in February of 76. The Ramones formed in 73 and were already playing at CBGB'S in 74.
PosEurs M0sh Punks slaM
The Modern Lovers 1973~77
tomorrow'mares
iggy, Dolls, Elvis.
what's your point?
ML not a punk band, they were not new music for the times.
PosEurs M0sh Punks slaM
Point being that the Ramones , a band that I know only to well , where and Joey still is , writing and performing music that resembles R/R of the fifties rather than the Art Punk Nevo breakthrough that J Richmans' Modern Lovers or better yet the Wipers did in their perspective time slots ~
The Dictators Go Girl Crazy a 1975 release predates the Ramones or Damned. Not as good as Wire but worth a listen.
Love that album! The ‘tators were the missing link between the Dolls and the Ramones, and for whatever reason *STILL* don’t get the credit they deserve for beating almost everyone else to the punch. Yeah, Go Girl Crazy was nowhere near as great as the first Ramones album, but it’s still an important piece of punk history that all too often gets overlooked. Amazing live band too. One of the best I’ve seen.
@@Shikta-poobah67 Happy to hear from one of the few punk fans who are hep to the Dictators. Great punk LP.
Check out "Blues Climax" from 1969. The only '60s proto-punk record to sound like the Ramones
thaaaank you
Never heard this one before have always liked "Wire"...One track reminded me of "velvet underground" fact is Punk started in the sixties with The Monks,stooges,velevet underground which later developed into Glam rock And the new york dolls Mclaren only copied what andy warhol had done during the sixties but added some new concepts in clothing which then became the fashion of the late seventies...Sid vicious was an actor juts like johnny lyndon it was all part of the publicity stunt.Mclaren wasn't stupid but then neither Is John Lyndon....Music like fashion moves in waves...In the Fifthties rock and roll began from various roots blues and big band sounds,drums fused with guitar and double bass...The sixties was the big break through in all sorts of music styles there are many bands that have never got that famous which created some original music expreimentals...By the early sevenities it moved into the Glam rock period which produced such bands like Roxy music,Marc bolan,Bowie....Bowie was one of the first to create an image with dyed hair...By 1975 the youth wanted something new they could relate to...The music was near enough the same as some sixties music like the stooges and can...It was the image which made the new wave...mclaren used to wear teddy boy coats...By the eighties music and fashion had moved on in new expressions of style...Labels were so easily given to anything then as they are now.....suicide created a new electronic dance music which in the seventies no one could relate to because everyone was so backward into punk rock....suicide and tangerine dream were the forerunners for the modern electronic music which would later be the basis for the new machine music created by an idiot who can't play an instrument...Trance,techno etc all came out of the original pioneers of synth music...And now where are we...We are listening to the same beats over and over again ad nauseum...The music is now so predictable that you can tell what will be coming out next....Nothing new there a?.....Music always needs to move into new fields of expression otherwise it stagnates the same with art....But what is important is performance art with good music...
John Lydon wasn't part of the act. He was the only member of the Sex Pistols that was serious about what he was doing. That's why he quit and formed Public Image Ltd. I definitely agree though that Punk's genesis was the 60's. "White Light/White Heat" was the first true full on punk album if you ask me. By 1977, when the so called 'first wave' of punk was going on, the people that were in the know were pushing the possibilities of what punk could be into deep space. While people were all up in arms over the Sex Pistols and The Clash, you had Throbbing Gristle making horrifying undulating electronic noise while screaming about murder, burn victims, rape, nazis, and forced abortions, This Heat scoring the soundtrack for a post-nuclear hellscape, The Fall Ranting about Industrial decay and lovecraftian horror over endless shambling instrumentals, Pere Ubu doing whatever indescribable alien shit they were doing, The entire No Wave scene happening under everyone's noses in downtown New York, the list goes on!
they've ever said their playing from 6 month ago in 77 I think it's doubt lol
In some ways it reminds me of pre (joy division) Warsaw ..esspecially when you hear the guitar solos ..
Thanks for sharing, jim
its like buzzcocks spirals scratch meets the berlin brats
Its like "wire"
@@victorvague3751 This sounds very little like the Wire that I know and love.
Kind of a good thing they lost that turd of a lead songwriter to a well timed broken leg. Quartet, trio, duo - all great. While a very interesting document and fun and raw in its way, it's not THE Wire. Five piece was one guy too much.
You're right. It's not Wire, it's Overload.
Eric Rhodes As both historic documents and music go it’s a great upload I’m thrilled to hear. I read a biography of Wire a few years back and didn’t remember they went by Overload but I think I do recall that the singer who considered it ‘his’ band broke a limb or something and once he’d recovered his entire band had deserted him to form Wire. The history of punk is littered with Pete Best type characters like him. Gene October of Chelsea had the same trick pulled on him two or three times, poor bugger.
@@teddydog6229 Thanks for dropping that. I never knew that aspect of the story. Gotta say that if you keep getting ditched by your bands (multiple) it's gotta be a you thing.
superband...superdemo ;)
great band
Mais, c'est bien, mais c'est bien... trop bien
2 People with the thumb downing nonesense have no hope in life.
I just want to send xs' and os' for this , thankyou
Well, pickle me granny ! this is really wierd , never knew this existed , its like a pub rock band but a bit punkier , they actually sound more like a punk band here
Feedback!!!!
Five members then! I wonder what happened, lol
Very, very cool
Whats the story behind the 5th member and him leaving the band?
George Gill. He wasn't into the minimalism they were gravitating towards (Three Girl Rhumba, Lowdown, Reuters, etc.) so they took a break and when they reconvened, they didn't tell him. He's the one playing all the "pub rock" solos (as they referred to it).
@@BedlamAndBones Thanks Garrett! Aren't we all much better off with the sans-Gill version of the band...the remaining 4 bandmembers created MAGIC
Cheers
@@dougsmith7083 True - wouldn't trade away what WIRE became (favorite band for sure) but I'm STOKED to hear these demos, finally. It just further affirms the solemn truth that their music could never be stagnant, always changing, still sounding fresh as hell today.
@@thomaskenneally219 totally! It is pretty awesome to be able to have these tracks as a document of the evolution of the band...the bandmembers...the noticeable differences in sound and, the direction that the four core members of WIRE would undertake going forward! That direction being ever evolving and embracing both technology and change.
I have to believe that their constantly evolving sound would have been stymied considerably if they kept this lineup...we may never have been gifted those incredible first three albums.
Kinda similar to the embryonic Clash with three guitarists...who, after Levene (easily the most skilled guitarist in the band) brought Strummer into the fold...was given the boot by Joe...I can only imagine how much different the Clash would have sounded with Keith's dub, prog and, electronic fixations. His ORIGINAL (rejected) arrangements of a couple of key early Clash songs were radically different from the recorded versions.
Unfortunately...this period of The Clash has not been document at all.
Buzzcocks is another example...luckily for us, we have the complete studio recordings (Spiral Scratch ep + recorded outtakes) and, live film of the short period that Howard DeVoto was the lead vocalist/co-songwriter of the band. He only played 11 gigs (Levene only 6 with The Clash)!
I firmly believe that the split that birthed the Shelley led Buzzcocks and the DeVoto led Magazine was a brilliant decision...Buzzcocks (like Wire) broadened their oeuvre to include elements of Krautrock, art-pop/punk, post-punk, perfect pop, hypnotic, circular European beat pop...Velvetslike droning incorporated into proggy, yearning, sweetheart love songs...and, Magazine helped to create post-punk...incorporating theatre, surrealism, a certain thespian type of lyricism...along with more electronics and pedal effects on guitar and bass...in fact, including the "post-punk Jeff Beck" guitar playing of the incredible John McGeoch!!! In Magazine virtuoso playing was encouraged...
I could babble forever...apologies for the lengthy reply
Cheers
@@dougsmith7083 Hell yeah - definitely agree with the statements on WIRE. You dropped some knowledge I was unaware of with The Clash and The Buzzcocks. Admitting I have never spent that much time listening to either band or digging into them but I was born in '87 so what would one expect? I heard Combat Rock as a high schooler and decided I was all set - couldn't appreciate it at the time and never really went back to it.
Something about WIRE, though... I found Pink Flag at the right time and explored each record one by one only when I was tired of the previous. By not trying to cruise the whole discography in a short span, I feel like I gave myself a chance to really vibe it out. Not to mention that there seemed to be a WIRE record or a WIRE-related project for every conceivable mood or need inspiration. For instance, I only became aware of Duet Emmo this year while watching a Depeche Mode doc in lockdown... and I fucking love it. Would I have loved it had I heard it in high school? Probably not.
I'm rambling but my point is that I appreciate the slow unpacking and exploration of a "new to you" band's discography. There's a lot to learn in the details that can hastily be overlooked in an era where all music is available at your fingertips...
Maybe I should go listen to The Clash again...probably not, though lol.
This is so kool!
Wow! Thanks for sharing!
So when and why did Bruce decide to stop doing guitar solos?
It wasn't Bruce doing the guitar solo's.'twas the fifth meber who got sacked off.
Jonny Zchivago It was George Gill
Their music didn't need solos.. Their songs start, do what they need to get done, and then it's on to the next one.
@@iamdamosuzuki_ Exactly. Wire is more about creating jagged little soundscapes (with the guitar) rather than virtuosity.
This is hardcore
Amen. Took me years of critical pontificating to realize my ears were mistaken and 'Give Em Enough Rope' was a terrible record. I was just a teenager. What do they know about rock n roll ?
Too true!!!😂
Have these demos had an official release?
awesome
SHHIT IS TOP SHHELF ///
14:45
Awesome! ;)
yeah, there are some good songs on this demo LP, just released a few years ago. Some pretty punky songs, punkier than anything on Pink Flag. The sound is harsh and unpleasant on some of these demos, so it helps to turn down the treble and boost the bass a bit when you play it.
Awesome!
これ最高
THAAAAAAAAANK YOU!
Super.ok
Awww yeah!
Tu danses les slows...🤫
Passée la première bonne impression... c'est au final très faible, avec des titres bien trop longs.
Bref, ils ont bien fait de se réorienter vers le quatuor Wire.
La différence entre la version de What is this feeling called Love et celle de Pink Flag dit tout.
Même Roadrunner est chiante, comparée à l'original ou à la version des Sex Pistols.
like !!
Never mind. Forgot about Gill! Wish he stayed with em.
They got better, this sounds like "try hard" punk after they'd seen the pistols or the damned!!
lol, this shit slays the overhyped sex pistols. been a wire fan for years and this is my favorite album.
Only a few songs sound like those UK punk bands - most of it sounds more like the Velvet Underground. 'Bitch' is a Stooges homage.
This made the Ramones, the pistols, and all the other corporation made, con-job bands of the mid-70’s look lame as they truly were…..
14:40