Lowdown: The Story of Wire

by Paul Lester, Johnny Marr (Foreword)

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. They were catalysts in the shift from punk to post-punk, paving the way for the likes of Magazine, Gang of Four, Public Image Limited and Joy Division. 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.It will take you behind the scenes and feature interviews with the original members, following them up to the present, poised as they are to come back with a brand new album and filled with a renewed sense of vigour as one of the most important bands in the last thirty years.

Genres: Music

316 pages, Paperback

First published January 12, 2009

Reviews

[Edmole · Rating 2 out of 5]

I hesitated to pick this up as a)so often when you read a band biog you like a band less once you've read it and b)I've never got past Pink Flag and Chairs Missing with Wire. 154 doesn't get to me, and I have avoided their Mute era work as 80s Mute stuff is not my taste, and the 90s Techno/Industrial/Glitch stuff doesn't intrigue me at all. But PF and CM are records I come back to and always love as fiercely each time.

Wire (at least the Wire that I am familiar with) are a band that make paranoid and awkward songs which are leavened by beauty and brilliance. This book repeatedly talks to the paranoid and awkward aspect of Wire. The interviews Lester has carried out with all of the members of the band seem to dredge up miserable, frustrated recollections; of band politics, of tantalising glimpses of thwarted success, of four men able to make art with each other but not peace. It makes sense that this would produce what Wire produced, but it's very frustrating to have each chapter of their story punctuated with inevitable laments.

Had Wire had the One Big Hit, say Outdoor Miner with EMI, or Eardum Buzz with Daniel Miller's Mute, they might have a different story to tell now. I think, though, that even being tarred as guitar-playing punks frustrated them - being bayed at for one song for thirty years would have just made them more bitter. Maybe the beauty among the paranoia and politics is that they kept going, kept changing, kept being awkward artists in the face of their own awkward feelings on failure.

All bands, singers, songwriters and musicians should be issued with a pamphlet when they start out. And in it should read

1) This won't work out.
2) If it does, it won't be perfect.
3) Even if it is perfect, you won't realise it at the time.
4) It won't be perfect for very long.
5) No one has to like you.
6) No one has the time to listen to everything you release.
7) You're having more fun than pretty much everyone else on earth.
8) So shut up and get on with it.

[Maarten Wagemakers · Rating 3 out of 5]

There's a real sense of unfinished business regarding Paul Lester's Wire biography Lowdown. Of course, there's the fact that the band is still very much a prolific, actively touring artistic force to be reckoned with up to this day, but that still shouldn't keep the author from at least reaching some sort of satisfactory narrative closure. The way he wrapped up something that was a good and informative read for the most part was rather jarring unfortunately, turning the book into a flawed work that would certainly benefit from being revised in the future.

First things first: as is par for the course with almost any band or artist biography there's a heavy focus on the early days and 'classic' period of the band. Even though the band had been around for 33 years by the time the biography came out, almost two thirds of the book are focused on the first three, albeit pivotal, years of Wire. Paul Lester certainly makes the most of it with the level of access that he got from each of the members of Wire and a number of key figures, offering an interesting, informative retelling of the band's early days and their creative process. There's some unnecessary chest-beating involved (at some point there's pages upon pages of reviews hailing the band as the saviors of rock and the 'new' Pink Floyd, which was a bit much), but on the whole it did exactly what you want from a biography - a retrospective look that adds new contexts and depths to classic works of art. And while not exactly on par, there's still a respectable level of depth and information regarding the 'wilderness years' of Wire's first hiatus and side projects, as well as on the first few Mute releases. So far so good.

However, it seems that at that point either Paul Lester lost interest in the project, or his interview subjects did - or perhaps a bit of both. He rushes through the next 20 years of Wire/WIR in a mere 25 pages, still a period that saw at least 8 albums and a whole lot of other material (including some of their boldest yet deeply flawed releases, which may have been painful subjects to the band to talk about, but should not be brushed aside that easily in a book that sets out to tell the full story of Wire). It's also during these 20 years that the band's line-up took some hits. The temporary departure of drummer Robert Gotobed is at least well-covered, but it's especially the sudden disappearance of guitarist Bruce Gilbert and the way it was handled in the biography that leaves you scratching your head.
Up to that point Gilbert is a very informative, visible presence in the book as an interview subject, offering in-depth takes on certain successful or tense periods in the band's history. However, especially considering he left the band in 2004 while all of the interviews for the book had been conducted in 2008 and 2009, it's very surprising that the reason for his departure is left as a complete mystery for the most part. Gilbert does not speak out about it at all despite his many contributions on other eras, while the other members' reactions vary from rather puzzled (bass-player Graham Lewis) to surprisingly sour (frontman Colin Newman). Bad enough that we're left witnessing an open wound in the band's history that's left unresolved, the way author Paul Lester doesn't even bother to acknowledge Gilbert's lack of input ultimately feels like a letdown.

If the book had offered the same level of dedication to all eras (or in some cases at least some level instead of a few rushed paragraphs), Lowdown would have been a lot better. Here's to hoping we still get to read the full story at some point in the future.

[Monty · Rating 1 out of 5]

I love wire, but this was SO. FUCKING. BORING.

[Keith Astbury · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some errors, omissions and repetitions but I enjoyed what Wire themselves had to say x

[Richard · Rating 1 out of 5]

oh dear. unofficial and cobbled together largely from existing material this is just a repetitive mess..

Totally lacking in original insight, this is unlikely to give anyone fresh insight into one of the most consistently innovative band still recording. To be charitable to the author I suspect that the band members aren't the most colourful of characters and only Graham Lewis seems willing to offer and critical analysis of the band's oeuvre, but that cannot excuse the repetition within the content which all to often appears to be a way to pass out what is essentially a very thin tome.

[David Lamerton · Rating 1 out of 5]

Terrible. Avoid this book.