Lowdown – The Story of Wire

Without London band Wire, punk rock might never have developed beyond primitive three-chord thrash and cliched songs about tower blocks and dole queues. Arguably the first art-punks, the four musicians – Colin Newman on vocals and guitar, Graham Lewis on bass and vocals, Bruce Gilbert on guitar and Robert Gotobed (nee Grey) on drums – evolved fast from their groundbreaking 1977 debut album Pink Flag, with its 21 short, sharp, minimalist bursts of noise and melody. Paul Lester's book will tell the story of this crucial transitional band, from their early days dodging hostile crowds at punk venues like the Roxy, through their attempts to inject some arthouse experimentation and Situationist subversion into an increasingly conservative punk scene, up to their split in 1981 and beyond their mid-80s return and their various solo projects.