Wire Announce Special CD-Book Reissues of Pink Flag, Chairs Missing and 154 for May 2018 Release

One of the most important bands in underground music is Wire, a band that really doesn’t get the accolades they deserve for shaping the world of punk and post-punk. Their first three records, Pink Flag, Chairs Missing and 154 are defining pieces of experimental punk music, records that pushed boundaries and expectations all while generally staying within the framework of punk. The band would continue to push their sound on future releases and essentially move away from punk rock, but on these three releases it’d be easy to argue that they were the best band in the genre at the time. Legendary punk artists like Black Flag, Minor Threat, Minutemen and more count the British band as major influences on their sound.

The three reissues will be available for music fans on May 18, 2018 as special edition “CD books.” Each album will come in the form of an 80-page hardcover book and feature an introduction by music writer Jon Savage while writer/actor Graham Duff will provide insight into the records with recording notes, band interviews and more. Each album is on its own CD as originally released (although they’ll be remastered) while bonus discs provide b-sides, unreleased songs, demos and more. Pink Flag is a two-CD set while the two others will be released as three-CD sets. There are even more surprises for the Wire-completists in these reissues: special images from the band’s official photographer at the time Annette Green, who shot the covers for Pink Flag and Chairs Missing.

Then on June 22, 2018, these three records will be reissued in standard CD and vinyl form. Each of the album will be re-released as it was originally offered but with remastered audio. From Chairs Missing, here is a stream of one of the standout tracks, “Outdoor Miner.”

As if that wasn’t enough, the band is also releasing a box set on Record Store Day 2018, which is April 21 this year. This box set will be titled Nine Sevens and include nine individual 7″ that feature songs recorded in the years between 1977 and 1980.

Nine Sevens Box Set track list:

Mannequin (Pfs1) – Mannequin / Feeling Called Love / 12XU
I Am The Fly (Pfs2) – I Am The Fly / Ex Lion Tamer
Dot Dash (Pfs3) – Dot Dash / Options R
Outdoor Miner (Pfs4) – Outdoor Miner / Practice Makes Perfect
A Question Of Degree (Pfs5) – A Question Of Degree / Former Airline
Map Ref. 41°N 93°W (Pfs6) – Map Ref. 41°N 93°W / Go Ahead
Our Swimmer (Pfs7) – Our Swimmer/ Midnight Bahnhof Café
154 EP (Pfs8) – Song 1/ Get Down pts 1&2 / Let’s Panic Later / Small Electric Piece
2nd Length (Pfs9) – 2nd Length (Our Swimmer) / Catapult 30

Pink Flag reissue track list:

Vinyl/CD disc 1

1. “Reuters”
2. “Field Day For The Sundays”
3. “Three Girl Rhumba”
4. “Ex Lion Tamer”
5. “Lowdown”
6. “Start To Move”
7. “Brazil”
8. “It’s So Obvious”
9. “Surgeon’s Girl”
10. “Pink Flag”
11. “The Commercial”
12. “Straight Line”
13. “106 Beats That”
14. “Mr. Suit”
15. “Strange”
16. “Fragile”
17. “Mannequin Different To Me”
18. “Champs Feeling Called Love”
19. “12XU”

CD disc 2 (demos and alternative recordings)

First demo sessions

“The Commercial”
“Mr Suit”
“Pink Flag”

Second demo sessions

Surgeon’s Girl”
“Field Day For The Sundays”
“106 Beats That”
“Fragile”

Third demo sessions

“Reuters”
“Different To Me”
“Ex Lion Tamer”
“Mannequin”
“Champs”
“Start To Move”

Alternative mixes

“Three Girl Rhumba” (Alt Mix)
“Ex Lion Tamer” (Alt Mix)
“12XU” (Mono Mix)
“Mannequi”n (Mono Mix)
“It’s So Obvious” (Alt Mix)

Chairs Missing reissue track list

1. “Practice Makes Perfect”
2. “French Film Blurred”
3. “Another The Letter”
4. “Men 2nd”
5. “Marooned”
6. “Sand In My Joints”
7. “Being Sucked In Again”
8. “Heartbeat”
9. “Mercy”
10. “Outdoor Miner”
11. “I Am The Fly”
12. “I Feel Mysterious”
13. “Today From The Nursery”
14. “Used To”
15. “Too Late”

Disc 2 (singles, B-sides and studio recordings)

“I Am The Fly” (single version)
“Dot Dash”
“Options R”
“Outdoor Miner” (single version)
“Practice Makes Perfect” (single version)
“Underwater Experiences” (Advision version)

Disc 3 (studio demos)

Fourth demo sessions

“Practice Makes Perfect”
“Oh No Not So”
“Culture Vultures”
“It’s The Motive”
“Love Ain’t Polite”
“French Film Blurred (version 1) 07 Sand In My Joints”
“Too Late”
“I Am The Fly”
“Heartbeat Underwater”
“Experiences”
“Stalemate”
“I Feel Mysterious Today”

Fifth demo sessions

“Dot Dash”
“French Film Blurred (version 2)”
“Options R”
“Finistaire (Mercy)”
“Marooned”
“From The Nursery”
“Indirect Enquiries (version 1)”
“Outdoor Miner”
“Chairs Missing (Used To)”
“Being Sucked In Again”
“Men 2nd”
“Another The Letter”
“No Romans”

154 reissue track list

Vinyl/CD disc 1

1. “I Should Have Known Better”
2. “Two People In A Room”
3. “The 15th”
4. “The Other Window”
5. “Single K.O.”
6. “A Touching Display”
7. “On Returning A Mutual Friend”
8. “Blessed State”
9. “Once Is Enough”
10. “Map Ref. 41°N 93°W”
11. “Indirect Enquiries”
12. “40 Versions”

CD disc 2 (singles, B-sides and studio recordings)

“A Question Of Degree” (single)
“Former Airline” (single)
“Go Ahead” (single)
“Our Swimmer” (single)
“Midnight Bahnhof Cafe” (single)
“Our Swimmer [2nd Length]” (single)
“Catapult 30” (single)
“Song 1” (154 EP)
“Get Down 1 + 2” (154 EP)
“Let’s Panic Later” (154 EP)
“Small Electric Piece” (154 EP)

CD disc 3 (studio demos)

Sixth Demo sessions

“40 Versions”
“Ignorance No Plea (I Should Have Known Better)”
“Blessed State”
“A Touching Display”
“The 15th”
“A Mutual Friend”
“Once Is Enough”
“The Other Window”
“Stepping Off Too Quick”
“Indirect Enquiries”
“v2 Map Ref. 41°N 93°W”
“Single K.O.”
“On Returning”
“A Question Of Degree”
“Former Airline”
“Two People In A Room”