From: owner-idealcopy-digest@smoe.org (idealcopy-digest) To: idealcopy-digest@smoe.org Subject: idealcopy-digest V1 #25 Reply-To: idealcopy@smoe.org Sender: owner-idealcopy-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-idealcopy-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk idealcopy-digest Wednesday, April 8 1998 Volume 01 : Number 025 Today's Subjects: ----------------- Wire Fan ["charles / wmo" ] The Drill [Stewart Mason ] I feel ambitious [Andrew N Westmeyer ] More questions, was Re: Wire Fan [my spiritual forklift ] Re: More questions, was Re: Wire Fan [] Re: Wire Fan [] New List Member! [Chad Wilson ] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 7 Apr 1998 08:58:57 -0700 From: "charles / wmo" Subject: Wire Fan Okay, it's Charles from WMO here. I first heard Wire in 1977-78, at a used record shop in Milwaukee. Ended up taking a bus back to the store 'cause I couldn't get Pink Flag out of my head. Proceeded to carry it around for a week or two, but then again that's what 14 yrolds do! Needless to say it was all downhill from there! 154 was an album that just couldn't be reconciled. It was unlike anything at the time - more prog than prog, more art than art... The classic. For the record, Chairs Missing was a very expensive import at the time of release, thus I didn't get until after 154. Was a bit confused with all the Dome stuff, but struggled thru it anyway. Sometimes you know with Wire that all will be revealed in the future. Especially the solo stuff. Anyway, I was in college when Ideal Copy came out and needless to say flipped when Snakedrill appeared. What a comeback. Never saw them tour in 87-88 which is a huge regret. Got in contact with them after the First Letter, which is where WMO begins. My reason - simple - I wanted to complete my Wire collection! :) My favs? I have to admit that both Document & Eyewitness and Turns & Strokes are the two albums I listen to from the "early" period. The studio albums - well - don't we know then well by now? Later era Wire - IBTABA is the most enjoyable for me; Bell and Ideal Copy fall into the "heard too many times" catagory like the first three. Drill is a fucking classic! and has to be my favorite Wire song of all time, though the version of "german shepherds" on Coatings is a very close second. Solo stuff - well, I don't listen to most of it. I do think 'the Haring' from Bruce is a great record though, but I' like that musique concrete thing. The P'o record is something special too - "Blind Tim" is the classic Gilbert/Lewis/Dome/Whatever incarnation. I'd like to take this opportunity to thank Andrew, Miles, anyone that's ever ordered from the mail order or bought a record in a shop, and above all Kevin Eden (whose book is the essential Wire record!) for all they've done. WMO is a labor of love for all involved - it doesn't make money, it doesn't sell very many records, but it exists because the music is important to all of us. - -------------------------------------------- charles@wiremailorder.com http://wiremailorder.com/ catalog@wiremailorder.com updated: February 10, 1998 - -------------------------------------------- ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 07 Apr 1998 10:11:38 -0600 From: Stewart Mason Subject: The Drill Okay, here's a question I've pondered for some time now--why was the reunited Wire so enthralled with the song "Drill"? I mean, the original version on SNAKEDRILL, the live version on the "Kidney Bingos" single, and then an entire album of remakes--why this song in particular? I guess I'm asking a chicken-or-the-egg question--was the song written to exemplify a certain sound or compositional process that the reunited group wanted to explore, or did they record the song and think, "Oh, that's a good one, let's keep screwing with that"? Stewart *****************************FLAMINGO RECORDS**************************** Stewart Mason | Flamingo Records | Box 40172 | "Less talk, more monkey." Albuquerque NM 87196 | www.rt66.com/~flamingo | ************************HAPPY MUSIC FOR NICE PEOPLE********************** ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 7 Apr 1998 13:58:33 -0400 (EDT) From: Andrew N Westmeyer Subject: I feel ambitious Hi all, I updated the web page again today. There were lots of little changes all over the place (more bootlegs, more links, more images, etc.). But the big change was that I made an add-on for the Mac game Maelstrom. The details are all on the page. If you have a Mac, please check this out and let me know what you think. Basically, it substitutes the normal sounds for the game with samples from different versions of "Ambitious". Like when the black hole sucks you in, Graham sings "magnetic behavior..." Well, I think it's funny! 10 points goes to anyone who recognizes what I took the icon from. I also made the mistake of searching the net for the phrase "Ex-Lion Tamer". It turns out that in 1980, a surf-rock band called the Insect Surfers covered this song. So this is the earliest known Wire cover. Man, I'm full of this sort of factoid trivia. :) Anyhow, at the end of this message is the current list of cover versions. Please let me know if anything is missing. I'm dangerously close to having all of them. :) Andrew - --- Insect Surfers - Ex-Lion Tamer Minor Threat - 12XU Second Wind - Mr Suit Big Black - Heartbeat Henry Rollins - Ex-Lion Tamer R. E. M. - Strange Dog Nasty - 12XU Sorry - Ex-Lion Tamer Ruth's Refrigerator - Outdoor Miner Antenna - Outdoor Miner Band Of Susans - Too Late Carter USM - Mannequin fIREHOSE - Mannequin Lush - Outdoor Miner The New Bomb Turks - Mr Suit Red Zoo - 5 / 10 The Grays - Outdoor Miner Kustomized - Surgeon's Girl Therapy? - Reuters Flying Saucer Attack - Outdoor Miner Boss Hog - 12XU Yo La Tengo - Too Late Garlic Frog Diet - Mr Suit Halogen - Heartbeat Luna - Outdoor Miner Spoke - Ahead Pink Lincolns - Ex-Lion Tamer The Orb - (Wir) So And Slow It Grows (The Orb In Atlas Mix) LFO - (Wir) Take It (LFO Remix) Pro-Seed - (Wir) Naked, Whooping, And Such-Like This Mortal Coil - (Colin Newman) Not Me This Mortal Coil - (Colin Newman) Alone LFO - (H. A. L. O.) Eclipsed (Emmersion Mix) LFO - (H. A. L. O.) Eclipsed (Growth Mix) LFO - (H. A. L. O.) Eclipsed (Sweep Mix) Elastica - Connection (= Three Girl Rhumba) (A)ndrew Westmeyer qwerty@cmu.edu www.contrib.andrew.cmu.edu/~qwerty "What a blessing that so much of humanity is able to be alive at the same time as myself." -Cecil Adams ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 7 Apr 1998 18:41:48 -0500 (EST) From: my spiritual forklift Subject: More questions, was Re: Wire Fan Charles wrote: > My reason - simple - I > wanted to complete my Wire collection! :) And thank you soooo much! You've made life so much easier for us! > Solo stuff - well, I don't listen to most of it. I do think 'the Haring' > from Bruce is a great record though, but I' like that musique concrete > thing. The P'o record is something special too - "Blind Tim" is the classic > Gilbert/Lewis/Dome/Whatever incarnation. I'm really looking forward to the P'o release. I can't wait. So I have a couple of questions for the list: What Wire or Wire-related item have you been searching for, or what have you finally found after much searching? What other music do you listen to? I had been searching for the Commercial Suicide cd for years. I found it on vinyl, but since I don't have a turntable, I couldn't listen to it that often. Finally, someone on the 'net was selling it for $10. I was thrilled. And on a trip to Amoeba Records in Berkeley, CA, I managed to find The Shivering Man and This Way to the Shivering Man. Now if I could only find This Way... As far as music goes, I listen to 80s 4AD stuff, The Jazz Butcher, My Bloody Valentine, The Fall, and Bowery Electric, among many others. I also enjoy jazz, blues, traditional Japanese music, and Edith Piaf. Amanda - -- aschi@bronze.lcs.mit.edu aki@retina.net :=:=:=:=:=:=:=:=:=:=:=:=:=:=:=:=:=:=:=:=:=:=:=:=:=:=:=:=:=:=:=:=:=:=:=:=:=: "The avant-garde always ends up at WalMart sooner or later." -- A. Codrescu ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 7 Apr 1998 20:37:38 -0400 (EDT) From: Andrew N Westmeyer Subject: Re: More questions, was Re: Wire Fan Excerpts from mail: 7-Apr-98 More questions, was Re: Wir.. by my s. forklift@bronze.lc > What Wire or Wire-related item have you been searching for, or > what have you finally found after much searching? Yesterday I scanned a bunch of stuff for the web page. Then when I got home, there was yet another Wire-related CD in my box (The Grays cover of "Outdoor Miner"). Some days it seems like I can't keep up! Then today I was in the local music store looking for the Halogen 7" with the cover of "Heartbeat". They didn't have it. But they did have a Hafler Trio 7", so I thought, what the heck, and looked at it. Wouldn't you know it... Edvard Graham Lewis on bass guitar. Fruity from Carter USM told me once, "My, these guys have been busy in the last 20 years!" (A)ndrew Westmeyer qwerty@cmu.edu www.contrib.andrew.cmu.edu/~qwerty "What a blessing that so much of humanity is able to be alive at the same time as myself." -Cecil Adams ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 7 Apr 98 22:07:23 -0400 From: Subject: Re: More questions, was Re: Wire Fan >What Wire or Wire-related item have you been searching for, or > what have you finally found after much searching? > What other music do you listen to? I have some interesting stories regarding Wire purchases. As many of you may already know, Wire releases have become more prevalent in cut-out bins than anywhere else; I have picked up the following over the years courtesy of these bargain bins: He Said: "Hail" and "Take Care" $1.00 each Bruce Gilbert: "Insiding" and "The Shivering Man" $1.00 each Colin Newman: "Commercial Suicide" 49 cents (!!) and "It Seems" $2.00 Wire: "Manscape", "Life in the Manscape" single, "Document & Eyewitness" $2.00 each I have found these releases in backwoods truck stops, Camelot music stores, and Drug stores, believe it or not. I would recommend to everyone to always always always thoroughly search through bargain bins in even the largest and most detestable commercial chains: you never know what you may find!! Other bands I've found in these bins: Throbbing Gristle, Cabaret Voltaire, Chris & Cosey, Coil, etc. The only releases I need (apart from bootlegs) are Duet Emmo and P'o. Also, I know that videotapes exist somewhere in this world, so if anyone knows where I might acquire live video performances PLEASE let me know!!! As far as other musics, here's a small list: Autechre, Bowery Electric, Bowie, Can, Cluster, Coil, Julian Cope, Eno, Faust, Harmonia, Legendary Pink Dots, Neu, O Yuki Conjugate, Pulp, Suede, Television, Velvets; countless 60's garage-punk bands; 70's glam; anything on the swim~, Dorobo, Extreme, and Soleilmoon labels. Well, that's enough self-congratulatory blabber from me. Eric auteur@ix.netcom.com ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 7 Apr 98 22:14:34 -0400 From: Subject: Re: Wire Fan >WMO is a labor of love for all involved - it doesn't make money, it doesn't >sell very many records, but it exists because >the music is important to all of us. I would also like to throw heaps of praise to WMO for its immeasurable service to me and my collection! I'd like to know how many copies of each WMO release are printed up and distributed (maybe a ball-park figure?) I've also been curious to see approximately how many people had subscribed to the WMO newsletter (for no other reason than my own curiosity...) Can you throw out any numbers, Charles? cheers Eric auteur@ix.netcom.com ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 7 Apr 1998 20:56:04 -0700 From: Chad Wilson Subject: New List Member! I am a new list member but a long time Wire and affiliates fan! I was lucky enough to catch them at the Fillmore June 16th 1988 on the Bell is a Cup tour! I am also one of the fortunate ones in that I received CN1 (the rare cd-single shipped with some US "Singing Fish / Not To" CD's) for Christmas last year! Well, look forward to some dialogue! Chad ------------------------------ End of idealcopy-digest V1 #25 ******************************