Wire take rock’s negative space seriously — so much so that their best songs often have more to do with what’s left on the cutting-room floor than with what comes out of the speakers. Many numbers have obscure origins and explanations. Here are three Wire songs with an interesting tale to tell:
“EX-LION TAMER” FROM PINK FLAG | This might be Wire’s catchiest number, the “Stay glued to your TV set” refrain putting it in the pantheon of “TV” punk songs (along with the Stooges’ “TV Eye,” “Black Flag’s “TV Party,” and the Misfits’ “TV Casualty”). Newman wrote a song about a lion tamer; Graham Lewis, who does most of the lyrics, took out the parts he didn’t like, replaced them, and gave it back to Newman, only now it was “Ex-Lion Tamer.” Yowch!
“OUTDOOR MINER” FROM CHAIRS MISSING | The chorus goes: “Face worker, serpentine miner, a roof falls, an underliner, of leaf structure, the egg timer.” Although they sang it like an ode to new-wave romance, it was inspired by a BBC documentary Lewis had seen about a bug called a serpentine miner. Lewis wrote a love song, removed the love part, and replaced it with a bug’s love of eating the chlorophyll out of a holly leaf. Extra tidbit: this must be one of the few instances where a record label asked a band to record a longer version of a song for a single.
“106 BEATS THAT” FROM PINK FLAG | Newman created the chord structure while traveling between Watford and London, matching guitar chords to rail stations. Lewis, meanwhile, tried (and failed) to write a song with exactly 100 syllables.
Related:
Post-masters, Annie, Distinguished flannel, More 
- Post-masters
In the annals of rock-and-roll-origin stories, Colin Newman, singer/guitarist for the pinned-down cynical conceptualist rock band Wire, has one of the odder ones.
- Annie
Annie is adept at balancing bratty tweener kiss-off ’tude with dance-friendly bliss — meaning that someone over 16 can listen to her music without wincing.
- Distinguished flannel
The world-weariness of the whole thing made it clear why this is the wrong band to look to if you’re trolling for Day-Glo flannel nostalgia.
- The new girl
“I am the pink in a sea of darkness.”
- Sweet and lo-
“You know, sometimes capturing the cleanness of how everything sounds is a futile attempt,” says Times New Viking vocalist and keyboard slapper Beth Murphy.
- Pedal pushers
The history of rock is littered with crazies who have craved nothing more than volume on top of volume, who have short-circuited themselves in the pursuit of the purity of noise.
- Upstate of mind
Mercury Rev dig out of Buffalo
- Kicking the habits
Anyone familiar with Wagner's œuvre with the Raveonettes (who come to the Paradise next Thursday) should be surprised by the idea that, having created something awesome, he's ready to move on to something different.
- The wild ones
It's surprising to talk to a band of yahoos and find out just how much focus and dedication goes into such mindless mayhem. Case in point: Atlanta's Black Lips.
- Metallica
It’s hard to say who detests Metallica more.
- Retro active
The ’80s, pop culture’s most tenacious decade, were a mix of greed, technological breakthrough, and hope for a bright future.
- Less
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Music Features
, Misfits (Musical Group), Black Flag (Musical Group), Graham Lewis, More
, Misfits (Musical Group), Black Flag (Musical Group), Graham Lewis, Wire (Musical Group), The Stooges (Musical Group), Less
