Wire: Pink Flag

    In the late70's, I was in junior high and listening to album-oriented rock radio. So I was into Cheap Trick, Foreigner, REO Speedwagon, Boston, Styx and Kansas. Maybe I'll post about that another time, but my point is punk rock wasn't on my radar in middle school. I never knew anybody who listened to it until 1983 when my friend's older brother let us listen to Never Mind the Bollocks. It blew my mind. Looking back now, it was just pop music with a sneer but I still love it. Nobody mentioned Wire. Later, everyone carried on about how awesome and politically relevent the Clash were. All I knew was "Should I Stay or Should I Go", "Train in Vain" and "Rock the Casbah", so I didn't get what the big deal was. A couple years ago, I bought London Calling and was amused that in the title track they slag Beatlemania, then in the next song "Brand New Cadillac" they sound like The Beatles in their Cavern Club days. Still nobody mentioned Wire.
     The first time I heard of Wire was when they were listed as an influence for Guided by Voices. Then in 2008, Wilson Neate wrote a 33 1/3 book about Pink Flag. I decided to take a flyer and bought the cd. That was the best chance I ever took on a cd. It's an amazing album. It's hard to believe that it came out of the British punk movement of the late 70's. Punk's essence was still conventional rock song structure of verses and a chorus. Much of the subject matter was conventional as well. It's easy to see why Wire's Pink Flag is mentioned more as an influence on GbV than as a contemporary punk album with Never Mind the Bollocks. The album consists of 21 songs that clock in at 36 minutes. Several songs aren't much more than fragments. And the subject matter is unconventional. Ironically, the lyrics are more subversive because they are more clever. There are no straight forward lyrics like "God save the Queen / We mean it man / There's no future / and England's dreaming". Colin Newman's vocals are often borderline indecipherable and the lyrics are more nuanced. And unlike Punk, the songs don't all sound the same. There are punk songs, but there's also power pop, hardcore and even slower tempo songs. However, the most amazing thing about Pink Flag is that if it were released for the first time today, it would still be relevent. It's a timeless album. I do have to make one confession though. I just assumed that "Strange " was a R.E.M. song and was surprised when I heard it on Pink Flag. Anyhow, this has quickly become one of my all-time favorite albums and I highly recommend that my kids listen to it.
     Here's a list of my favorite Pink Flag songs. Peace.

* Three Girl Rhumba (Think of a number, divide it by two / something is nothing, nothing is nothing)
        - Elastica probably owes their entire career to this song
* Ex Lion Tamer (Stay glued to your TV set)
* Start To Move
* Pink Flag
* 106 Beats That
* Fragile
* Mannequin
* Champs ( R.E.M. owe some of their early sound to this song)
* Strange (I like this more than the R.E.M. cover version)
* Feeling Called Love