Wire - Pink Flag

Original Release Date

1977

Release Information

UK LP 1977 (Harvest - SHSP 4076)
US LP 1978 (Harvest - ST-11757)

A1 Reuters 3:00
A2 Field Day For The Sundays 0:26
A3 Three Girl Rhumba 1:22
A4 Ex-Lion Tamer 2:18
A5 Lowdown 2:25
A6 Start To Move 1:12
A7 Brazil 0:40
A8 It's So Obvious 0:53
A9 Surgeon's Girl 1:14
A10 Pink Flag 3:47
B1 The Commercial 0:48
B2 Straight Line 0:42
B3 106 Beats That 1:11
B4 Mr. Suit 1:21
B5 Strange 3:55
B6 Fragile 1:16
B7 Mannequin 2:34
B8 Different To Me 0:42
B9 Champs 1:44
B10 Feeling Called Love 1:19
B11 12XU 1:54

___________________________________________________

UK CD 1994 (Harvest - 7243 8 29846 2 7)

1 Reuters 3:03
2 Field Day For The Sundays 0:28
3 Three Girl Rhumba 1:23
4 Ex Lion Tamer 2:19
5 Lowdown 2:26
6 Start To Move 1:13
7 Brazil 0:41
8 It's So Obvious 0:53
9 Surgeon's Girl 1:17
10 Pink Flag 3:45
11 The Commercial 0:49
12 Straight Line 0:44
13 106 Beats That 1:12
14 Mr Suit 1:25
15 Strange 3:59
16 Fragile 1:18
17 Mannequin 2:37
18 Different To Me 0:43
19 Champs 1:46
20 Feeling Called Love 1:28
21 12 X U 1:57
Bonus Tracks
22 Dot Dash 2:25
23 Options R 1:36

___________________________________________________

UK CD 2006 (Harvest/EMI - 07243 473198 2 2). Remastered

1 Reuters 3:03
2 Field Day For The Sundays 0:28
3 Three Girl Rhumba 1:23
4 Ex Lion Tamer 2:19
5 Lowdown 2:26
6 Start To Move 1:13
7 Brazil 0:41
8 It's So Obvious 0:53
9 Surgeon's Girl 1:17
10 Pink Flag 3:45
11 The Commercial 0:49
12 Straight Line 0:44
13 106 Beats That 1:12
14 Mr Suit 1:25
15 Strange 3:59
16 Fragile 1:18
17 Mannequin 2:37
18 Different To Me 0:43
19 Champs 1:46
20 Feeling Called Love 1:28
21 12 X U 1:57

___________________________________________________

UK 2xCD 2018 (Pinkflag - PF11SE). Special Edition

Disc 1 (Original album)
1 Reuters 3:03
2 Field Day For The Sundays 0:28
3 Three Girl Rhumba 1:23
4 Ex Lion Tamer 2:19
5 Lowdown 2:26
6 Start To Move 1:13
7 Brazil 0:41
8 It's So Obvious 0:53
9 Surgeon's Girl 1:17
10 Pink Flag 3:45
11 The Commercial 0:49
12 Straight Line 0:44
13 106 Beats That 1:12
14 Mr Suit 1:25
15 Strange 3:59
16 Fragile 1:18
17 Mannequin 2:37
18 Different To Me 0:43
19 Champs 1:46
20 Feeling Called Love 1:28
21 12 X U 1:57

Disc 2 (Demos and alternative recordings)
First Demo Sessions
1 The Commercial 0:51
2 Mr Suit 1:32
3 Pink Flag 2:34
Second Demo Sessions
4 Surgeon's Girl 1:38
5 Field Day For The Sundays 0:32
6 106 Beats That 1:15
7 Fragile 1:14
Third Demo Sessions
8 Reuters 2:23
9 Different To Me 0:45
10 Ex Lion Tamer 2:09
11 Mannequin 3:03
12 Champs 1:57
13 Start To Move 1:14
Alternative Mixes
14 Three Girl Rhumba (Alt Mix) 1:23
15 Ex Lion Tamer (Alt Mix) 2:05
16 12XU (Mono Mix) 1:47
17 Mannequin (Mono Mix) 2:36
18 It's So Obvious (Alt Mix) 0:51

Chart Placings

None

Credits

UK/US LP:

Vocals - Colin - Black Hair
Drums - Robert Gotobed - 6'3"
Guitar - BC Gilbert - Blue Eyes
Bass - Lewis - 9st. 6lbs.

All titles produced by Mike Thorne
Engineer Paul Hardiman
Asst. Engineer Ken Thomas
Sleeve concept B.C. Gilbert and Lewis
Front cover photography Annette Green
With thanks to Kate Lukas, flute on 'Strange'
Dave Oberlé, backup vocals on 'Mannequin'
and Pete and Lawrence
Art direction David Dragon
Recorded at Advision Studios

___________________________________________________

Additional Credits on 1994 CD:

Project Co-ordination: Tim Chacksfield
Compact Design Package Design: Phil Smee at Waldo's Design

22-23: Dot Dash 7", released June 1978

___________________________________________________

Additional Credits on 2006 CD:

Remastered by Dennis Blackham at Skye Mastering
Re-issue design by Andrew Day (RedRoom/EMI)

___________________________________________________

Additional Credits on Special Edition:

Mastered at Skye Mastering by Denis Blackham

Disc 1
Recorded and mixed September/October 1977 at Advision Studios, Gosfield Street, London
Engineer - Paul Hardiman. Assistant engineer - Ken Thomas (with thanks to Pete and Lawrence)
Produced by Mike Thorne

Disc 2
1–3. Recorded and mixed May 1977 at EMI Studios, Manchester Square, London.
Produced by Mike Thorne

4–7. Recorded and mixed May 1977 at Riverside Studios, Church Path, Chiswick, London.
Produced by Mike Thorne

8–13. Recorded and mixed August 1977 at Riverside Studios, Church Path, Chiswick, London.
Produced by Mike Thorne

14–18. Recorded and mixed September/October 1977 at Advision Studios, Gosfield Street, London
Engineer - Paul Hardiman. Assistant engineer - Ken Thomas (with thanks to Pete and Lawrence)
Produced by Mike Thorne

Reviews & Opinions

PUNKY GIBBON: Armed with peculiar minimalist songs based on strange four-chord guitar structures, metronomic drumming and abstruse lyrics sung in sarcastic Cockney accents, Wire were one of Britain's most entertainingly offbeat groups. While many of their peers were basically peddling old fashioned rock with more speed and swearing, Wire were out there on a planet entirely their own, retaining a bug-eyed stance that somehow fitted in perfectly with the times but constantly bashing down boundaries and befuddling expectations. A strong case could be made for Pink Flag being the greatest album of its year: 21 songs rush by in little over 36 minutes in an adrenaline rush that manages to be crazy, cold, angry, bemused, amused, frosty, surreal, concise and frightening. Sometimes it's all these things at the same time (the expletive-riddled 'Mr Suit' shouts "You can take your fucking money and shove it up our arse!"). Short, razor-sharp ditties stop and start like some insane avant-garde conveyor belt, and their masterful debut single '1 2 X U' is given another chance ("And here it is...again...and it's called..."). Yet, the most striking thing is that, despite being truly weird, the band a) know how to rock and b) write brilliant pop songs. A masterpiece.

Additional Notes

Why three CD versions listed? Each offers something for someone. The 1994 version sounds great to me, comes in a jewel case, has relevant singles sides, and the booklet contains the lyrics; the 2006 version is just the bare-bones album itself, comes in a digipak, has new liner notes but no lyrics, and is for those who don't care about bonus tracks and want a cheap option; and the Special Edition has loads of bonus tracks and comes in a 80-page 7-inch sized hardback book with recording details, new interviews with the band members, photographs and lyrics. The 2006 and Special Editions feature the same mastering. The Special Editions were also issued simultaneously as single disc versions with the same tracks as the 2006 versions.

Images

UK LP 1977 (Harvest - SHSP 4076). Click here for more

US LP 1978 (Harvest - ST-11757). Click here for more

UK CD 1994 (Harvest - 7243 8 29846 2 7). Click here for more

UK CD 2006 (Harvest/EMI - 07243 473198 2 2). Digipak. Click here for more

UK 2xCD 2018 (Pinkflag - PF11SE). Special Edition. Click here for more