''154'' is the third album by the English

post-punk Post-punk (originally called new musick) is a broad music genre, genre of Punk Music, punk music that emerged in the late 1970s as musicians departed from punk's traditional elements and raw simplicity, instead adopting a variety of avant-garde s ...

band

Wire Overhead power cabling. The conductor consists of seven strands of steel (centre, high tensile strength), surrounded by four outer layers of aluminium (high conductivity). Sample diameter 40 mm A wire is a flexible strand of metal. Wire is c ...

, released in 1979 on

EMI EMI Group Limited (originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records Ltd. or simply EMI) was a British Transnational corporation, transnational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate founded in March 1 ...

imprint

Harvest Records Harvest Records is a British-American record label belonging to Capitol Music Group, originally created by EMI in 1969. History Harvest Records was created by EMI in 1969 to market progressive rock music, and to compete with Philips' Vertigo ...

in the UK and Europe and

Warner Bros. Records Warner Records Inc. (formerly Warner Bros. Records Inc.) is an American record label. A subsidiary of the Warner Music Group, it is headquartered in Los Angeles, California. It was founded on March 19, 1958, as the recorded music division of the ...

in America.

Music

Branching out even further from the minimalist punk rock style of their earlier work, ''154'' is considered a progression of the sounds displayed on Wire's previous album ''

Chairs Missing ''Chairs Missing'' is the second studio album by English rock band Wire. It was released on 8 September 1978 by Harvest Records. The album peaked at number 48 in the UK Albums Chart. Although it features some of the minimalist punk rock of th ...

'', with the group experimenting with slower tempos, fuller song structures and a more prominent use of guitar effects, synthesizers and electronics. The unusual title of the track "Map Ref 41°N 93°W" was based on a guess of the centre of the

American Midwest The Midwestern United States, also referred to as the Midwest or the American Midwest, is one of four census regions of the United States Census Bureau (also known as "Region 2"). It occupies the northern central part of the United States. I ...

by bassist and singer

Graham Lewis Graham Lewis (born Edward Graham Lewis, 22 February 1953) is an English musician. Lewis is the bassist with punk rock/post-punk band Wire, a band formed in 1976. Biography On Wire's first studio album Graham Lewis was credited as ''Lewis''; ...

; the location of these coordinates is coincidentally close to Centerville, Iowa. One of My Bloody Valentine's last releases prior to reconvening in 2007 was a cover of this track for a Wire tribute entitled ''Whore''. The song was selected as a favourite cover of the 1990s by

Flak Magazine ''Flak Magazine'' was an early American online magazine, founded in 1998 by James Norton, Benjamin Fowler, Justin Knoll, Nicholas Coleman and others, mostly alumni and students at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. The chief editor was James Nor ...

Release

''154'' peaked at number 39 in the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts ...

, the highest position the band has achieved. It was first issued on CD in 1987 by EMI Japan and later reissued by

Restless Records Restless Records is a record label that was started in El Segundo, California in 1986 by Enigma Records and primarily released alternative, metal, and punk records. Restless also licensed and released records from Bar/None Records, Metal Blade R ...

in 1989. First editions of the

vinyl album A phonograph record (also known as a gramophone record, especially in British English), or simply a record, is an analog sound storage medium in the form of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove. The groove usually starts near ...

were accompanied by an EP, the tracks from which are included on the Harvest CD, issued in 1994, along with an additional bonus track. The new remastered release, released by Pinkflag as

digipack Optical disc packaging is the packaging that accompanies CDs, DVDs, and other formats of optical discs. Most packaging is rigid or semi-rigid and designed to protect the media from scratches and other types of exposure damage. Jewel case ...

s in 2006, does not contain any extra tracks, because, according to the band, such additions dishonour the "conceptual clarity of the original statements." The album is so named because the band had played 154 gigs in their career at the time of the album's release. In 2004, ''

Pitchfork A pitchfork (also a hay fork) is an agricultural tool with a long handle and two to five tines used to lift and pitch or throw loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. The term is also applied colloquially, but inaccurately, to ...

'' listed ''154'' as 85th best album of the 1970s.

Track listing

Credits adapted from the 2018 Special Edition. Tracks 19–24 are demo versions that have also appeared on compilations such as ''Behind the Curtain'' and ''After Midnight''.

2018 Special Edition

Personnel

Credits adapted from the liner notes of the 2018 Special Edition. ;Wire *

Colin Newman Colin John Newman (born 16 September 1954) is an English musician, record producer and record label owner. He is best known as the primary vocalist and songwriter for the post-punk band Wire. Early life Newman was born in Salisbury, Wiltshire ...

– vocals, guitar, backing vocals, distorted bass on "On Returning" *

– bass, vocals on "I Should Have Known Better", "A Touching Display" and "Blessed State", backing vocals, percussion on "Once Is Enough", sleeve concept * B. C. Gilbert – guitar, spoken word on "The Other Window", sleeve concept *

Robert Gotobed Robert Grey (born 21 April 1951) is an English musician best known as the drummer for Wire. He is sometimes credited as Robert Gotobed. Career In 1973, Grey joined his first band, an R&B group called the Snakes, as vocalist. The Snakes released ...

– drums, percussion ;Additional personnel and production * Kate Lukas – alto flute on "Single K.O." *

Tim Souster Tim Souster (29 January 1943 – 1 March 1994) was a British composer and writer on music, best known for his electronic music output. Biography Education Born Timothy Andrew James Souster in Bletchley, Buckinghamshire, Souster was educated ...

–

electric viola ; german: Bratsche , alt=Viola shown from the front and the side , image=Bratsche.jpg , caption= , background=string , hornbostel_sachs=321.322-71 , hornbostel_sachs_desc=Composite chordophone sounded by a bow , range= , related= *Violin family ...

on "A Touching Display" *

Hilly Kristal Hillel Kristal (September 23, 1931August 28, 2007) was an American club owner, manager and musician who was the owner of the iconic New York City club CBGB, which opened in 1973 and closed in 2006 over a rent dispute. Early years Kristal was bo ...

– bass vocals on "A Mutual Friend" * Joan Whiting – cor anglais on "A Mutual Friend" *

Mike Thorne Mike Thorne (born 25 January 1948) is an English record producer, arranger, composer, engineer, and musician. He started playing the piano at the age of 10. After studying physics at Hertford College, Oxford, in the late 1960s he worked as a ta ...

– production, synthesizer, piano on "Single K.O." *

Paul Hardiman Paul Hardiman is a British record producer. He worked with Lloyd Cole and the Commotions (on their debut ''Rattlesnakes'') and Lloyd Cole's solo career. His other production credits include Chris de Burgh's most commercially successful albums '' ...

–

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the limit ...

* Ken Thomas – assistant engineer * Dave Dragon – art direction * Brian Harris – typographic design ;Bonus tracks * Colin Newman – vocals, guitar, syndrum on "Go Ahead", saxophone on "Former Airline", keyboards on "Midnight Bahnhof Cafe",

production Production may refer to: Economics and business * Production (economics) * Production, the act of manufacturing goods * Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services) * Production as a stati ...

on "Get Down (Parts I + II)" * Graham Lewis – bass, keyboards on "Go Ahead", saxophone on "Former Airline", vocals and production on "Let's Panic Later" * B. C. Gilbert – guitar, bass on "Go Ahead", saxophone on "Former Airline", production on "Small Electric Piece" * Robert Gotobed – drums, production on "Song 1" * Mike Thorne – production on "A Question of Degree" and "Former Airline" * Paul Hardiman – engineer on "A Question of Degree" and "Former Airline" * Ken Thomas – assistant engineer on "A Question of Degree" and "Former Airline" *

– production on "Go Ahead", "Our Swimmer", "Midnight Bahnhof Cafe", "Our Swimmer (2nd Length)", "Catapult 30" and the sixth demo sessions *

Nick Glennie-Smith Nickolas Glennie-Smith is an English film score composer, conductor, and musician who is a frequent collaborator with Hans Zimmer, contributing to scores including '' The Rock'' (nominated for the Academy Award for Best Sound), the 2006 histori ...

– engineer on ''154'' EP and the sixth demo sessions * Daniel Priest – engineer on "Go Ahead", "Our Swimmer" and "Midnight Bahnhof Cafe" * Steve Parker – engineer on "Our Swimmer (2nd Length)" and "Catapult 30" * "A Question of Degree" and "Former Airline" recorded and mixed April 1979 at Advision Studios, London * ''154'' bonus EP recorded and mixed July 1979 at Riverside Studios, London * "Go Ahead", "Our Swimmer" and "Midnight Bahnhof Cafe" recorded and mixed November 1979 at Magritte Studios,

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a historic county in southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the ceremonial county of Greater London, with small sections in neighbour ...

* "2nd Length (Our Swimmer)" and "Catapult 30" recorded and mixed 1980 at Scorpio Sound, London

References

Informational notes

External links

* *
The making of Wire's ''154'' album

at Acclaimed Music {{Authority control 1979 albums Wire (band) albums Harvest Records albums Warner Records albums Restless Records albums Albums produced by Mike Thorne Avant-pop albums