Pink Flag is the debut album by the English rock band Wire,[5] released in December 1977.[6] The album was critically acclaimed on release, and has since been highly influential; today it is regarded as a landmark in the development of post-punk music.[5]
| Pink Flag | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | December 1977[1] | |||
| Recorded | September–October 1977 | |||
| Studio | Advision, London | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 35:37 | |||
| Label | Harvest | |||
| Producer | Mike Thorne | |||
| Wire chronology | ||||
| ||||
Critical reception
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |  [7] |
| Christgau's Record Guide | A[8] |
| Encyclopedia of Popular Music |  [9] |
| The Great Rock Discography | 8/10[10] |
| MusicHound Rock | [11] |
| Pitchfork | 10/10[12] |
| Q | [13] |
| The Rolling Stone Album Guide | [14] |
| Sounds | [15] |
| Spin Alternative Record Guide | 10/10[16] |
| Uncut | [17] |
Reviewing in 1978 for The Village Voice, Robert Christgau called Pink Flag a "punk suite", praised its "simultaneous rawness and detachment" and detected a rock-and-roll irony similar to, but "much grimmer and more frightening" than, the Ramones.[18] In a 1978 Trouser Press review, Ira Robbins said that "Wire [push] minimalism to new heights" and that the band "dredges up images of...beat poetry--short fragments of impressions set to music." He further said that the 21 tracks are "not songs...There's no easy structure or meter. Each explores or describes or electrifies or challenges. There's no easy listening." Robbins concluded, "I can't say this is an enjoyable album. Maybe it's just a stupid bit of rubbish. But you won't know unless you find out."[19]
In a retrospective review, Steve Huey of AllMusic opined that Pink Flag was "perhaps the most original debut album to come out of the first wave of British punk" and also "recognizable, yet simultaneously quite unlike anything that preceded it. Pink Flag's enduring influence pops up in hardcore, post-punk, alternative rock, and even Britpop, and it still remains a fresh, invigorating listen today: a fascinating, highly inventive rethinking of punk rock and its freedom to make up your own rules."[7] Retrospectively, Trouser Press called the album "a brilliant 21-song suite" in which the band "manipulated classic rock song structure by condensing them into brief, intense explosions of attitude and energy, coming up with a collection of unforgettable tunes".[20] Pitchfork writer Joe Tangari summarized the album as "a fractured snapshot of punk alternately collapsing in on itself and exploding into song-fragment shrapnel."[12]
Legacy
Although the album has received critical acclaim,[21] it was not a big seller. It was listed at number 412 on Rolling Stone's list of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time in 2012[22] – jumping up to number 310 in its 2020 edition[23] – and at number 378 in NME's list of the same name in 2013.[24] Music journalist Stuart Maconie described it as "extraordinary" by the standards of the time at which it was produced.[25] Pitchfork ranked Pink Flag number 22 in its list "Top 100 Albums of the 1970s".[26] The album was included in Robert Dimery's 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.
Britpop band Elastica were influenced by Wire; they used a riff similar to that of "Three Girl Rhumba" for their song "Connection".[27] Graham Coxon of Blur cited Pink Flag as an influence on his eighth studio album A+E.[28]
Track listing
Credits adapted from the 2018 Special Edition.[29][nb 1]
All music written by Colin Newman, except where noted. All lyrics written by Graham Lewis, except where noted.
| No. | Title | Lyrics | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Reuters" | 3:03 | |
| 2. | "Field Day for the Sundays" | 0:28 | |
| 3. | "Three Girl Rhumba" | Newman | 1:23 |
| 4. | "Ex Lion Tamer" | 2:19 | |
| 5. | "Lowdown" | 2:26 | |
| 6. | "Start to Move" | 1:13 | |
| 7. | "Brazil" | 0:41 | |
| 8. | "It's So Obvious" | 0:53 | |
| 9. | "Surgeon's Girl" | Newman | 1:17 |
| 10. | "Pink Flag" | 3:47 |
| No. | Title | Lyrics | Music | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 11. | "The Commercial" | (instrumental) | Lewis | 0:49 |
| 12. | "Straight Line" | Bruce Gilbert | Gilbert, Newman | 0:44 |
| 13. | "106 Beats That" | 1:12 | ||
| 14. | "Mr. Suit" | Newman | 1:25 | |
| 15. | "Strange" | Gilbert | Gilbert, Newman | 3:58 |
| 16. | "Fragile" | 1:18 | ||
| 17. | "Mannequin" | 2:37 | ||
| 18. | "Different to Me" | Annette Green | 0:43 | |
| 19. | "Champs" | 1:46 | ||
| 20. | "Feeling Called Love" | Newman | 1:22 | |
| 21. | "12 X U" | Gilbert, Lewis | 1:55 |
| No. | Title | Music | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 22. | "Dot Dash" (1994 reissue, 1978 single A-side) | 2:25 | |
| 23. | "Options R" (1989 and 1994 reissues, 1978 single B-side) | Lewis, Newman[nb 2] | 1:36 |
* The bonus tracks were removed from the 2006 remastered reissues, because, according to the band, they did not honour the "conceptual clarity of the original statements".[31] The tracks were also left off both editions of Pink Flag's 2018 remaster, but can be found on the 2018 deluxe reissue of Chairs Missing.
2018 Special Edition
The first disc of the Special Edition contains the twenty-one tracks from the original album.
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "The Commercial" (First demo session, May 1977, EMI Studios, London) | 0:51 |
| 2. | "Mr. Suit" (First demo session, May 1977, EMI Studios, London) | 1:32 |
| 3. | "Pink Flag" (First demo session, May 1977, EMI Studios, London) | 2:34 |
| 4. | "Surgeon's Girl" (Second demo session, May 1977, Riverside Studios, London) | 1:38 |
| 5. | "Field Day for the Sundays" (Second demo session, May 1977, Riverside Studios, London) | 0:32 |
| 6. | "106 Beats That" (Second demo session, May 1977, Riverside Studios, London) | 1:15 |
| 7. | "Fragile" (Second demo session, May 1977, Riverside Studios, London) | 1:14 |
| 8. | "Reuters" (Third demo session, August 1977, Riverside Studios, London) | 2:23 |
| 9. | "Different to Me" (Third demo session, August 1977, Riverside Studios, London) | 0:45 |
| 10. | "Ex Lion Tamer" (Third demo session, August 1977, Riverside Studios, London) | 2:09 |
| 11. | "Mannequin" (Third demo session, August 1977, Riverside Studios, London) | 3:03 |
| 12. | "Champs" (Third demo session, August 1977, Riverside Studios, London) | 1:57 |
| 13. | "Start to Move" (Third demo session, August 1977, Riverside Studios, London) | 1:14 |
| 14. | "Three Girl Rhumba" (Alternative mix, September–October 1977, Advision Studios, London) | 1:23 |
| 15. | "Ex Lion Tamer" (Alternative mix, September–October 1977, Advision Studios, London) | 2:05 |
| 16. | "12 X U" (Mono mix, September–October 1977, Advision Studios, London) | 1:47 |
| 17. | "Mannequin" (Mono mix, September–October 1977, Advision Studios, London) | 2:36 |
| 18. | "It's So Obvious" (Alternative mix, September–October 1977, Advision Studios, London) | 0:51 |
Personnel
Credits adapted from the liner notes of the 2018 Special Edition.[29]
Wire
- Bruce Gilbert – guitar, sleeve concept
- Robert Gotobed – drums
- Graham Lewis – bass guitar, backing vocals, sleeve concept
- Colin Newman – vocals, guitar, backing vocals
Additional personnel and production
- Kate Lukas – flute on "Strange"
- Dave Oberlé – backing vocals on "Mannequin"
- Mike Thorne – production, piano on "Reuters", backing vocals on "Reuters" and "Mr. Suit", flute arrangement on "Strange", electric piano on "Options R"
- Paul Hardiman – engineer
- Ken Thomas – assistant engineer
- David Dragon – art direction
- Annette Green – front and back cover photography
- Richard Bray – back cover photography
- Lynda House – back cover photography
- Tim Chacksfield – project co-ordination (1994 reissue)
- Phil Smee – packaging (1994 reissue)
- Denis Blackham – remastering (2006 and 2018 reissue)
- Jon Wozencroft – art direction (2018 reissue)
- Jon Savage – liner notes (2018 reissue)
- Graham Duff – liner notes (2018 reissue)
References
Informational notes
External links
- Pink Flag at Discogs (list of releases)
- Lyrics for the album on Wire's official website
- The making of Wire's Pink Flag album
- Reynolds, Simon (2009) [2005]. Rip it Up and Start Again. Postpunk 1978–1984. London: Faber & Faber. ISBN 978-0-571-25227-5.