First three Wire albums to be remastered

don't care.

Are they adding lots (key word, lots) of unreleased / extra tracks?

If so, I may care.

I do care.

Depends if there are any extras on the discs, etc.

no extras on the skinny promo versions

.. but they do have a big fat sound.

never heard the albums previously so cant compare to the orig cd versions - sorry.

xpost : the band have been involved with the remastering process accoring to the PR ..

I'm just feeling cranky today.

Seek the older Japanese import CD's for all the extra tracks you would be missing or cheaper still get 'Behind The Curtain' and 'Turns & Strokes' which covers most of them.

But it would be better to add them on an extra CD, even if seperate from the reissues.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/kbd-punk-wire-after-midnight-live-demos_W0QQitemZ4812086150QQcategoryZ2262QQssPageNameZWD1VQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

(This has expired, but it has more details than the 'current' ones.)

YES, PLEASE DO THIS. i have heard of it and would be overjoyed to experience it.

:-D

As for the subject at hand, like Kyle I have a couple of Restless editions for Pink Flag and 154 but I've never actually owned a full copy of Chairs Missing.

i think i have all the behind the curtains tracks on an old zip disc. ill see if i can free them from that stupid format...i recall the quality being utter crap though (which would explain why theyre on a zip disc somewhere).

Erasure/WIR - Fingers In Thumbs (Cold Summer's Day) - Renamed 'Fingers In Crumbs'

9'30" MP3 190k

http://s63.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=2E43DFDT1PWG13OUU6S19FREH4

Really interested to hear what you think of this track.

On Returning (1977-1979) is good to have as well, if you want the piano version of "Outdoor Miner" and the And Here It Is... Again live version of "12XU"... thankfully, that's an easy used find these days.

I don't really feel the need to have these reissues, but to each his (or her) own.

(This works for albums that got decent masters the first time around.. not alternate mixes or what-not, obviously.)

[Yakov Smirnov joke goes here]

You know, I first heard 154 about oh...18 years ago? Didn't like it much at the time, despite Map Reference. Tried it again about 4 years ago, still didn't get it. But all of a sudden I'm starting to understand, since watching the DVD twice. Sneaky-ass album, that.

Thank god this thread has alerted me to Behind The Curtain and Turns & Strokes, too. I've got my work cut out for me.

Did I mention how much I love DOME? How insanely amazing even their last album "Yclept" is? Does anyone know if there will ever be any more Dome in this world?

I suppose I will have to try this Erasure track, even though I can't stand Erasure.

!

probably my favourite track from the first three albums. ach.

incidentally: i don't think i'm going to be buying these; not unless the remastering somehow turns them into entirely new albums. to be frank, i don't see the point. how about they make a new album, rather than fannying about with stuff most people think is classic anyway?

Calling "Mercy" a horror is like giving the baby jesus a dried chunk of nougat topped with smashed cockroaches.

.... FLIIIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!

I remember Band Of Susans, Page Hamilton era, doing a decent cover of this song.

granted, it wasn't untill elastica that i remembered to try wire again...one of many ways justine frishman has been useful to me.

holy crap that's amazing. I emailed the guy who ran the Feelies site about getting some live boots but never followed through...I should get on that again.

I'm still completely flabbergasted to be finally enjoying 154 after all these years.

If you want 'extras' keep an eye out for the 'box'.

There's no price on it as yet though.

I love Wire, but, yeah, I had the same reaction. I thought the previous EMI reissues were just about perfect as it is. Plus, it the iTunes age it's easy to create a playlist that only includes the tracks that appeared on the original album if you need to hear the original record as it was. Or shut off your CD player before the bonus tracks are played.

Anyway, my 1994 CDs sound fine as they are. I'm unclear what new sonic treasures a remaster job - or re-remaster job, if that's what this is - will reveal.

Now the Buzzcocks - they need to be remastered.

...........fuk off, i'm happy with the 1994 versions

And make up a disc 6 of the 'bonus' tracks and the EMI non-repeated stuff from "Behind the Curtain" and "Document and Eyewitness"

?!

i saw them at triptych in glasgow a couple of years back and they blew the fucking roof off. i was deaf for a day afterwards.

http://www.posteverything.com/news/article.php?id=13896

1. WHEN WILL IT BE AVAILABLE?

It should become available in the week starting the 24th April.

2. WHAT EXACTLY IS IN IT?

The box contains 5 CDs in mini-vinyl sleeves they are:

The first 3 Wire albums,
Pink Flag (pf11)
Chairs Missing (pf12)
154 (pf13)
which are all re-mastered versions of the original vinyl track-listings

plus 2 “co-releases” from the same period
Live at The Roxy, London - April 1st & 2nd 1977 (pf9)
Live at CBGB Theatre, New York - July 18th 1978 (pf10)
Of complete live performances

There is also a 60 page booklet containing sleeve-notes for all 5 albums, Images relating to all the releases and lyrics.

3. WHY IS IT TAKING SO LONG?

The box set is a completely different edition to the EMI versions or the Pinkflag America digipack versions (which should become available during the 2nd or 3rd week of April). Because the format is different (mini-vinyl) and there are two extra CDs it was re-designed from the ground up. Additionally the booklet is more than an agglomeration of the 3 booklets with the digipack versions, it was completely re-designed and includes sleevenotes and pictures relating to the two live albums also. It is important to pinkflag that this is a definitive article. Therefore time has been taken to get it right.

about fifty quid, guvnor.

oops, box too small.

And here we go again -- but it's a bit different this time:

http://pinkflag.com/specialeditions/

These seminal albums are now getting the definitive re-release treatment, in a format owners of the Silver/Lead and Change Becomes Us special editions will already be familiar with. Each album is presented as an 80-page hardback book – the size of a 7-inch, but obviously much thicker. After a special introduction by Jon Savage, Graham Duff provides insight into each album. These texts include recording details, lyrics, and brand-new interviews with Colin Newman, Graham Lewis, Robert Grey and Bruce Gilbert.

The original album is presented on its own CD, and is accompanied by additional discs that feature relevant extra tracks: singles; B-sides; demos; and many previously unreleased songs. Pink Flag is a two-CD set; Chairs Missing and 154 have three CDs each. All audio has been painstakingly remastered – or, in some cases, mastered for the first time!

This stunning set of presentations includes a range of images from the archive of Annette Green. Wire’s official photographer during this period, Green also shot the covers for Pink Flag and Chairs Missing. Promotional and informal imagery – in colour and black and white – is featured throughout the books. Most of the photographs have not been seen for 40 years – and many have never been published anywhere before.

These special editions are something every Wire fan will want to own.

Please note: although the three original albums remain available through digital stores and streaming services, the extra tracks from the special editions will not be released digitally.

god damn it

they're gonna get me this time, I just know it

How many songs is Colin Newman going to claim he wrote this time around?

but but I have the 2006 box set! dammit.

this strikes me as bullshit

like, lovingly-packaged, beautifully-presented bullshit

gonna withhold judgement until I see the track listing

I have the 1995 Japanese CDs which have "Behind The Curtain" spread out on them - they sound amazing. I just can't be bothered repurchasing even my favorite albums these days.

Let's see how much they're charging for these.

maybe they've earned the payday idk

Who's getting the money though?

Track lists:
https://pinkflag.greedbag.com/buy/pink-flag-8/
https://pinkflag.greedbag.com/buy/chairs-missing-7/
https://pinkflag.greedbag.com/buy/ihqrye/

Greedbag!

Rhymes with pinkflag

and yes, I did :-/

'40 Versions' indeed!

that looks... very similar to the Japanese version of Pink Flag I have with 17 bonus tracks, I'll have to take a closer look later.

Seems like they could've put some of the Behind the Curtain songs that didn't make it to the albums, instead of only including demos of songs that are on the album. or the Live at the Roxy version of 12XU they put on On Returning.

All of "Behind The Curtain" except the first six live tracks are spread out on these special editions.

ah I only looked at Pink Flag, which would've been the place to put the live tracks. Not that they are very good, apart from Just Don't Care which I quite like.

maybe they've earned the payday idk

― imago, Monday, March 19, 2018 12:34 PM (forty-three minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

yeah ya fucking think so? p much everyone who has ever downloaded or streamed music can miss me with the concern trolling about "selling out" don't buy it if you don't want it

Pretty clear you're paying for the liner notes and cool packaging, which is cool with me.

They've been skint for most of their career, it took Elastica ripping them off before they started making any money - which is what prompted Colin Newman to start revising the writing credits.

ah I only looked at Pink Flag, which would've been the place to put the live tracks. Not that they are very good, apart from Just Don't Care which I quite like.

Too True is classic, so hilarious.

I'm sort of glad that 7" box is only getting released in the UK so I don't have to worry abt tempting myself to buy it.

I thought their first big payday was when REM covered "Strange"?

The Elastica track was used in a TV commercial, I'm assuming that must have made them more money because that's when Colin Newman got annoyed about having to share royalties with the rest of the band. Having said that "Strange" had lyrics by Bruce Gilbert and "Three Girl Rhumba" was all Newman.

In fact, I think Bruce Gilbert wrote the music for "Strange" too, so Colin was no doubt less concerned about distribution of royalties back then.

And seeing as I finally shelled out for the pf box set about three months ago... AAAARGGGHHH!

Just twigged that Chairs Missing and 154 are three cd sets

I wonder if they will do a tour featuring songs from these records. There was an interview with them on WFMU when they were in Brooklyn last year and Colin intimated that something special will be happening in June. He could have just been referring to these re-issues though.

The last sentence in the email I got this morning was all "wire are having a very quiet 2018, if you can count re-issueing all their seventies albums being quiet"

So, no.

Thx for the clarification. Bummed but not surprised.

https://www.rollingstone.com/music/premieres/hear-wires-rare-poppy-outdoor-miner-single-version-w517800

"rare"

God, yes, who hasn't heard that before?

Its new to Rolling Stone

haha

it's just the one with the piano solo in it, huh

ok ok, it's only medium rare I guess

Well done.

But also Well Done.

Capitalization, that's where I went wrong.

Any further exposure for the lads is ok in my book.

my kid loves wire.

out today: Bruce Gilbert's new album Ex Nihilo : http://editionsmego.com/release/EMEGO-250

And the hits just keep coming from Bruce :)

Great album, that.

Hmmm, just went back to the Pink Flag site to get a few more details and it appears that is no longer any mention of these being re-issued in vinyl format http://pinkflag.com/specialeditions/ or maybe I'm just not looking in the right place?

the three links I posted still seem to have vinyl options?

Are the CD sets only available through Pink Flag? Haven’t seen them listed elsewhere.

Just found them on Amazon US for $35 a pop, ouch. I preordered them for £19.75 on Amazon.co.uk, though the price has gone up since then. Hope something cheaper comes along, as I’d like to own all of these.

Spin has the set for sixty-one quid

Tom, where’s more info (thread?) about the alleged Colin claims? Gilbert is my fave member, singer, etc but I think the understanding for Pink Flag is Colin wrote most of the music and Graham most of the lyrics. some of Colin’s PF music is rehashed pop history, e.g. Strange is Sister Ray, Feeling Called Love is Wild Thing, etc. sonically, Bruce is all over this - it’s his guitar sound (as important as the tunes) but Colin is the McCartney to Graham’s Geezer Butler (awkward parallel/fit I know, bit strangely apt).

He changed credits for various songs last time the albums were released - I don't mean on "Pink Flag", because he did write those tunes, for the most part, but on the next two albums. I've got the Wilson Neate book, "Read & Burn" in front of me and, flipping it open, I note that Newman claims "Red Barked Tree" was the first time Graham Lewis had contributed two songs to a Wire album and, quote, have them both be pretty good - though he doesn't really consider them authentically Wire songs, in comparison to his own songs. That's what the rest of Wire are/were up against.

So Graham didn't really "write" the songs he sings on 154? They generally sound so different from Colin's songs that I always thought that was the case. I read Read & Burn but I can't remember.

My CD reissues from the '90s have songwriting credits.

I had those CD reissues for Pink Flag, Chairs Missing, and 154 from the 90s once upon a time. Seeing the price tag for these new reissues makes me realize I am indeed a very stupid man for thinking that —and I believe this was something I actually said out loud just before trading them in— the albums were "good, but overrated."

Why in the world would I get rid of music that I thought was genuinely good?

Well, I'm an idiot.
https://youtu.be/sEJafYSTyU4?t=5s

^thought that was gonna be a link to "I Should Have Known Better"

So Graham didn't really "write" the songs he sings on 154? They generally sound so different from Colin's songs that I always thought that was the case. I read Read & Burn but I can't remember.

He did write them. But Colin didn't like "Single KO" and "A Touching Display" - he didn't bother playing on the latter, such were his feelings for it. He said he rescued "I Should Have Known Better" by rearranging it - so he liked that one. If you're an admirer of Colin Newman, don't read this book.

My CD reissues from the '90s have songwriting credits.

Chairs Missing and 154 have always had credits but they were changed sometime in the mid 2000s - adding Newman and subtracting Gilbert here and there, I think?

'Ey up folks it's a bit of a reunion...

Wire and the group of individuals who worked on creating the Speci al Editions have teamed up with Rough Trade East to create a launch event. This will take place at the Brick Lane store in London on 19 May 2018 (the day after the Special Editions are released).

Billed as ‘on stage in conversation’, the event will feature Graham Duff (writer), Jon Savage (writer), Jon Wozencroft (designer), Graham Lewis, Robert Grey and Colin Newman (of Wire), and Bruce Gilbert (formerly of Wire). Doors are at 5:30, and the event starts at 6:30.

What you need to know…

A. This is a chat – not a gig!

B. We have pushed Rough Trade to make this an open event. They previously wanted to issue tickets only to those who had pre-ordered from their store. Obviously, that would be deeply unfair to people who have pre-ordered from our own mail order. However, if you plan to attend and have not pre-ordered, there will be plenty to buy (at the same price as on our store).

C. If you don’t know Rough Trade East, it’s a big shop – but still a shop. Capacity is around 150 so our advice is to get there early!

D. You are welcome to bring your copies in for signing.

For more information, go HERE

.. HERE being http://www.roughtrade.com/gb/events/rough-trade-east-wire

So? Anyone go?