From: owner-idealcopy-digest@smoe.org (idealcopy-digest) To: idealcopy-digest@smoe.org Subject: idealcopy-digest V1 #113 Reply-To: idealcopy@smoe.org Sender: owner-idealcopy-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-idealcopy-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk idealcopy-digest Friday, August 28 1998 Volume 01 : Number 113 Today's Subjects: ----------------- the first letter/number [Stephen Harper ] re: the first letter/number ["Jack Steinmann" ] Re: the first letter/number [Jeffrey with 2 Fs Jeffrey ] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 27 Aug 1998 02:20:15 -0700 (PDT) From: Stephen Harper Subject: the first letter/number What is the story (stories) behind the title "the first letter"? Obviously, it refers to 3ir's new name when Robert left (3 for the number of band members). But what is the connection with the India Postage stamp featured on the record sleeve? Is this just taken from one of Colin's letters from his time in India? Such are the questions that keep me awake at night. One a related note, does any other list member believe that Wire were so good in the 80s that Colin must have had access to arcane knowledge about the arts during his Indian experience, perhaps fasting for days on end and living in a hut? Stephen == If a great man could make us understand him, we should hang him - George Bernard Shaw _________________________________________________________ DO YOU YAHOO!? Get your free @yahoo.com address at http://mail.yahoo.com ------------------------------ Date: 27 Aug 98 10:31:50 -0500 From: "Jack Steinmann" Subject: re: the first letter/number Reply to: re: the first letter/number If trivia memory serves, there is different postage stamp artwork for each version of the album: LP, cassette, CD. On 8/27/98, Stephen Harper wrote: But what is the connection with the India Postage stamp featured on the record sleeve? ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 27 Aug 1998 10:51:20 -0500 (CDT) From: Jeffrey with 2 Fs Jeffrey Subject: Re: the first letter/number On Thu, 27 Aug 1998, Stephen Harper wrote: > What is the story (stories) behind the title "the first letter"? > Obviously, it refers to 3ir's new name when Robert left (3 for the > number of band members). But what is the connection with the India > Postage stamp featured on the record sleeve? Is this just taken from > one of Colin's letters from his time in India? Such are the questions > that keep me awake at night. I've always thought "Wire" to "Wir" worked like this: the words are pronounced the same, but the "e" in "Wire" (Robert) was silent/had outgrown its usefulness, thus the name change. The "3" thing, I think, is only part of _The First Letter_'s graphic design, not a typographical thing. (Don't get me started on cutesy typographic crap - intercaps, all lower-casing, fIREHOSE, etc.) - --Jeff J e f f r e y N o r m a n Department of English http://www.uwm.edu/~jenor/ University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee ::crumple zones:::::harmful or fatal if swallowed:::::small-craft warning:: ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 27 Aug 1998 15:36:34 -0400 (EDT) From: Andrew N Westmeyer Subject: Re: the first letter/number Excerpts from mail: 27-Aug-98 Re: the first letter/number by Jeffrey 2 Fs Jeffrey@csd > > What is the story (stories) behind the title "the first letter"? > > Obviously, it refers to 3ir's new name when Robert left (3 for the > > number of band members). ... > I've always thought "Wire" to "Wir" worked like this: the words are > pronounced the same, but the "e" in "Wire" (Robert) was silent/had > outgrown its usefulness, thus the name change. The first video piece I ever saw of Wire included a brief MTV interview, which unfortunately I no longer have. The interviewer asked if the pronounciation of the band's name had changed (without the "e"), and Graham replied that they were going to leave that to the fans. Graham also said that the title "The first letter" was chosen because it seemed "poeticly appropriate". Incidentally, Eden's book says that when they reformed in 1986, they considered dropping the "e" even then if Robert didn't re-join. (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 ------------------------------ End of idealcopy-digest V1 #113 *******************************