1976 to 1980 Wire began as a five-piece band in October 1976. Initially, the band's main songwriter was guitarist George Gill but after he broke his leg and was unable to perform, the band moved on without him in February 1977. They dropped most of the songs written by Gill, although many of these early songs have been released as demos or on compilation albums. Wire's debut album,
Pink Flag (1977) – "perhaps the most original debut album to come out of the first wave of
British punk", according to
AllMusic – contains songs that are diverse in mood and style, but most use a
minimalist punk approach combined with unorthodox structures. "Field Day for the Sundays", for example, is only 28 seconds long. {{Listen Their second album,
Chairs Missing (1978), marked a retreat from the stark minimalism of
Pink Flag, with longer, more atmospheric songs and synthesizer parts added by producer
Mike Thorne. "
Outdoor Miner" was a minor hit, peaking at number 51 in the UK singles chart. The experimentation was even more prominent on
154 (1979). According to Jim Green in an interview with Newman, "personnel changes at EMI had left Wire without any support." Colin Newman's solo album, "
A-Z was planned as the fourth Wire album, but EMI cancelled studio time in the wake of failed negotiations with the band, and then dropped Wire's option." The LP came packaged with an
EP of a different performance of more new material. Some of these songs, along with others performed but not included on the album, were included on Newman's post-Wire solo albums (
5/10,
We Meet Under Tables), while others were released by Gilbert's and Lewis' primary post-Wire outlet
Dome (
And Then...,
Ritual View). Between 1981 and 1985, Wire ceased recording and performing in favour of solo and collaborative projects such as
Dome, Cupol,
Duet Emmo and several Colin Newman solo efforts.
1985 to 1992 In 1985, the group re-formed as a "
beat combo" (a joking reference to early 1960s
beat music), with greater use of
electronic musical instruments. Wire announced that they would perform none of their older material, hiring Ex-Lion Tamers (a Wire
cover band from
Hoboken, New Jersey, named after a song title from
Pink Flag) as their opening act for a 1987 U.S. Tour. Ex-Lion Tamers played Wire's older songs, and Wire played their new material. In June 1988, Wire were part of a lineup that included
Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark and
Thomas Dolby supporting
Depeche Mode at the
Pasadena Rose Bowl where they played to over 60,000 people. In 1989, Wire released
IBTABA, a "live" album of mostly reworked versions of songs from
The Ideal Copy and
A Bell Is a Cup, heavily rearranged, edited, and remixed. A new song from the album, "Eardrum Buzz", was released as a single and peaked at number 68 in the UK singles chart. In 2005,
The Scottish Play: 2004, which contained recordings of live performances from this era, was released. In 2006, Wire's 1970s albums were remastered and re-released with the original vinyl track listings. In 2007,
Read & Burn 03 was released. According to Newman, Gilbert featured in a minimal capacity on this EP; Gilbert would no longer feature in Wire after this release. Later, in 2010, Wire would release
Send Ultimate which added a bonus disc to the
Send album.
Send Ultimate collected all the tracks from the first two Read and Burn EPs along with other unreleased material and both sides of the "Twelve Times You" single. A full-length album of new material entitled
Object 47 was released in July 2008 with Wire now consisting of three members. In January 2011, Wire released
Red Barked Tree, which according to the band's press release "rekindles a lyricism sometimes absent from Wire's previous work and reconnects with the live energy of performance, harnessed and channelled from extensive touring over the past few years". The album was written and recorded by Newman, Lewis and Grey, but speaking to
Marc Riley on the day of the release, Newman introduced as "a new boy" guitarist
Matt Simms (from It Hugs Back), who had been a touring member with the band since April 2010. In March 2013 the band released
Change Becomes Us, their 13th studio album, which was very well received. Their fourteenth album, eponymously titled
Wire, was released in April 2015. The following year, in April 2016, the band's 15th studio album, entitled
Nocturnal Koreans, was released on their label Pinkflag. The album consisted of eight songs recorded during the sessions for their previous album which were as of then unreleased.
Stereogum named
Nocturnal Koreans the Album of the Week. Reviews for the album were mostly positive. In 2017 Wire celebrated 40 years since their debut gig on 1 April 1977 by releasing their 16th studio album,
Silver/Lead, and headlining the Los Angeles edition of their DRILL : FESTIVAL. In 2018, Wire released multi-disc special editions of their first three albums. Each album was housed in a book containing lyrics and other information about the album. The three releases collected non-LP singles and the demo sessions from this era along with remastered versions of the original albums. Also in 2018, Wire released a nine-disc vinyl box set,
Nine Sevens, which compiled their first eight singles and the free EP given away with
154.
Nine Sevens was rereleased in April 2025 as a double vinyl set as part of Record Store Day. In January 2020, Wire released
Mind Hive on their own Pinkflag label. The band appeared on the front cover of
Wire magazine (issue 432) published in January 2020; it featured an interview with the band about the new album and discussed the enduring nature of the group. On
Record Store Day, June 2020, Wire released an eight-song album entitled
10:20. Side one of the vinyl LP consists of four tracks that were originally released as the limited edition
Strays EP, which was given away with mail ordered copies of
Red Barked Trees. Side two contains four tracks that were recorded during the
Mind Hive sessions but not released until their appearance on
10:20. In June 2021, in conjunction with Record Store Day, Wire released
PF456 Deluxe an 18-song vinyl-only compilation of the first two Read and Burn EPs, the "Twelve Times You" single, and the four unreleased tracks from
Send. Concurrently, Wire released a CD version of
PF456 Redux, a 16-song vinyl-only compilation, originally released in 2003, of edited versions of all the songs from the first two Read and Burn EPs along with the unreleased songs on
Send. In April 2022, in conjunction with Record Store Day, Wire released
Not About to Die which was originally released as a bootleg in the early 1980s. The album consists of recordings made for EMI as demos for the 1978 and 1979 albums,
Chairs Missing and
154. The songs on
Not About to Die were also previously released in 2018 by Wire on the special editions of the two EMI albums. == Musical style and influences ==