He Said "Hail"

For anyone that knows me even remotely on a musical level, it's well known that I'm a massive fan of all things Wire.  In thinking about that, it occurred to me that the band Wire is probably the most difficult band in my collection to ever really discuss.  For example, if you asked 10 major Wire fans about their favorite Wire album, I think you'd get close to 10 different answers.  The band just covers so many facets and sounds simply under their own band name ("Wire" and "Wir"), but then if you include all the sub projects and solo work, the possibilities are endless.  Plus, I think early/original Wire fans probably hate 80's Wire fans, and neither probably like 2000's Wire fans, so there's definitely a division in the fan universe.

For example, the beginning part of Wire consists of straight up guitar punk.  This is what put them on the map initially, mind you their work has unusual lyrics and they started to dabble into sometimes bizarre experimentation.  Then, they broke up for about 5 years only to return doing nothing but 80's styled electronic music in their usual unusual vein (I personally think that the "Snakedrill" EP is the strangest return a band has ever made and yet I absolutely love it).  After about 4 of those albums, they broke up again only to return in the very late 90's as a rediscovered aging punk band, sometimes reinventing themselves and older music.  Their discography is simply beyond words, to be honest, and the number of releases spanning the entire Wire universe must exceed 70 albums of original material.

In thinking about what actual Wire album I would list here first truly puzzled me.  Personally, I'm a child of the 80's electronic stuff and it holds a very special place in my heart.  In fact, I love Wire's material so much that I never really had a hankering for bands like Depeche Mode, a band that most of my contemporaries really embraced.  The Wire universe pretty much completely filled up that void for me with no need to seek anything else.

While thinking about that Wire album choice, it quickly popped into my head that of ALL the Wire universe that the single most important and influential album under that banner would absolutely have to be He Said "Hail".  To say that I wore this album out is putting it mildly.  To this day, I still marvel at the release, especially given when it was made (1986?), and the fact that it was a total indie release.  It was only released on CD for a limited time in the late 80's, I believe, and is extremely hard to find.  Next to Stump's "A Fierce Pancake" and Wall of Voodoo's albums, "Hail" is about as "me music" as it comes.

A little background...  After Wire broke up the first time, it seems like Colin Newman started doing solo work right out of the gate and was fairly successful at it.  The other main writer of Wire, though, Graham Lewis, started doing heavier experimental work under various band names before he released the first He Said album "Hail".  It was this album that bumped up the production quality quite a bit.  I don't know what the reception was like when it was released but I do know that when I purchased the second He Said album on CD called "Take Care", that the guy at Eastside Records in Tempe, AZ, immediately commented to me that "Hail" was the album to get.  It took 2 more years before that album would be released on CD but I did grab it almost immediately upon release based on that recommendation (I often took this guy's recommendations to heart since we shared a lot of common interests in music).  As much as I loved "Take Care" which will undoubtedly end up in this column at some point, I will say initially I didn't know what to make of "Hail"...but after a few listens it far surpassed the latter more pop driven album.

If you ask me, there's one very common thing about people who love Wire...it's a particular love of listening to music that can be taken kind of seriously and also in a rather weird, goofy or odd fashion.  Think of a Monty Python styled lyric but done completely seriously; that's kind of Wire in a nutshell.  Many friends of mine back in the day didn't understand that cross over but I specialize in it, absolutely adoring that slightly more bizarre side of music and lyrics.

If you're still not following, here's a great example:  "Hail" opens with the fairly pop oriented classic "Pump", of which Lewis, with that incredibly recognizably low and slightly off at times voice, says, "Grass...doesn't grow...on busy....streets".  See what I mean?  The pauses and the tone of his voice makes the listener think he's going to say something terribly profound, and then he simply ends up saying "on busy...streets".  That's what I love about Wire stuff right there, especially Lewis.

Moving on to "Shapes to Escape", this track is much more crazy experimental synth pop, bordering on what was called "industrial music" back then but never going over the edge, and yet containing some of the most interesting sound effects with incredibly particular placement that I've ever heard in my life.  "Kidnap Yourself", well...just the title alone will get you...but it's a strange muted guitar track with some synth backing and a Snoopy's Harp.  And then, one of my personal favorites of all time, the oddly tempo'd "I Fall Into Your Arms".  It's just pure bliss, in my opinion, and I never get tired of these tracks.

"Only One I" is more or less the single on the album and I don't think there's a week that goes by in my life when I don't reference it, although it's been admittedly more lately since, well, only one of my eyes is working (sorry - minor sidenote).  The album has a certain mood and feel that's incredibly unique, and honestly I don't know why more people don't know about these albums, especially if they do like someone like Depeche Mode.

Then again, for that matter, I don't know why Wire isn't a more recognizable name in music history.  It's almost a crime, although they're certainly icons in the underground scene.  I will say that one of the highlights of my life was meeting both Colin Newman and Graham Lewis briefly when they last played at the Casbah in San Diego, and I was really pleased to see how personable, especially Lewis, was.  Quite amazing, but it's almost a crime that these guys are playing the Casbah...and yet it is a win for major fans like myself.