Wire Train was a
San Francisco
San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...
-based
alternative rock
Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from Popular culture, mainstre ...
band, who released six albums in the 1980s and 1990s.
History
The band was formed in 1983 by four students from San Francisco State University, Kevin Hunter, Kurt Herr, Frederico Gil-Sola, and Anders Rundblad. They were first known as the Renegades; when they had to change their name, they became Wire Train. The band's first album features Anders Rundblad (bass guitar, vocals), Federico Gil-Sola (drums), Kevin Hunter (vocals, guitar), and Kurt Herr (vocals, guitar). Rundblad had previously played with the Swedish bands Motvind and Gary T'To Band.
In June 1983, Wire Train signed to the local
415 Records
415 Records was a San Francisco record label created in 1978. The label focused its efforts on local punk rock and new wave music acts of the late 1970s through the late 1980s, including The Offs, The Nuns, The Units, Romeo Void, and Wire Train. ...
label, also home to acts like
Translator
Translation is the communication of the Meaning (linguistic), meaning of a #Source and target languages, source-language text by means of an Dynamic and formal equivalence, equivalent #Source and target languages, target-language text. The ...
,
Red Rockers
Red Rockers were an American musical band from New Orleans, Louisiana, United States, active from 1979 to 1985. Originally formed as a hard-charging punk rock band, they changed their style to a smoother, more melodic sound and released two alb ...
and
Romeo Void
Romeo Void was an American new wave/post punk band from San Francisco, California, formed in 1979. The band primarily consisted of saxophonist Benjamin Bossi, vocalist Debora Iyall, guitarist Peter Woods, and bassist Frank Zincavage. The band ...
, all of which found themselves with national distribution when 415 entered into a deal with
Columbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music, Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese Conglomerate (company), conglomerate Sony. It was founded on Janua ...
.
Wire Train's debut, ''
In a Chamber,'' produced by
David Kahne
David Kahne is an American record producer, musician, composer, and former record company executive.
Professional career
Kahne started his musical career as a working musician and soon became Director of A&R for America's first punk and new ...
at
The Automatt
The Automatt was a sound recording studio in San Francisco, California, promoted for its early mix automation system. During its eight active years, 1976 to 1984, it was one of the top recording studios in the region. The Automatt was founded by p ...
in San Francisco, was released late in 1983. It achieved success on the U.S. college charts during 1984, and the band toured as openers for
Big Country
Big Country are a Scottish rock band formed in Dunfermline, Fife, in 1981.
The height of the band's popularity was in the early to mid 1980s, although it has retained a cult following for many years since. The band's music incorporated Scot ...
.
Brian MacLeod replaced Gil-Sola prior to their second album, ''
Between Two Words,'' and Herr left during its recording, replaced by Jeff Trott (ex-the Lifers). The album, produced in Vienna by Peter Maunu, was released in 1985. The band's third album, ''Ten Women'', was recorded by Tim Palmer at Utopia studios in London and released in 1987. Ten Women featured a guest appearance by
the Alarm
The Alarm are a Welsh rock band that formed in Rhyl, Wales, in 1981. Initially formed as a punk band, the Toilets, in 1977, under lead vocalist Mike Peters, the band soon embraced arena rock and included marked influences from Welsh language ...
guitarist
Dave Sharp
Dave Sharp (born 28 January 1959) is an English guitarist who co-founded, along with Mike Peters, the Welsh punk/new wave band The Alarm.
Early career
Sharp was born in Kersal, Salford, Lancashire, and began playing with the band Seventeen ...
on "Breakwater Days" and had its first single "She Comes On" banned by the BBC.
After a 1987 European tour, the band went on a two-year hiatus, extricating themselves from their contract with Columbia. Trott played with
World Party
World Party were a British musical group, which was essentially the solo project of its sole member, Karl Wallinger. He started the band in 1986 in London after leaving the Waterboys.
Career
After a stint as musical director of a West End pe ...
. and McLeod with
Toy Matinee
Toy Matinee was a short-lived United States, American rock band, which released one eponymous album. Their sound featured an array of influences, including progressive rock, Album-oriented rock, AOR and Pop music, pop reminiscent of both the Beat ...
.
''
Wire Train
Wire Train was a San Francisco-based alternative rock band, who released six albums in the 1980s and 1990s.
History
The band was formed in 1983 by four students from San Francisco State University, Kevin Hunter, Kurt Herr, Frederico Gil-Sola, a ...
'' (1990) and ''
No Soul No Strain
''No Soul No Strain'' is the fifth album by the American band Wire Train, released in 1992.
The first single was "Stone Me". The band supported the album by touring with Live, among others.
Production
The album was produced by Bill Bottrell. Wir ...
'' (1992) were issued by
MCA Records
MCA Records was an American record label owned by MCA Inc., which later became part of Universal Music Group.
Pre-history
MCA Inc., a powerful talent agency and a television production company, entered the recorded music business in 1962 wit ...
. The latter, produced by
Bill Bottrell
William A. Bottrell (born October 27, 1952) is an American record producer and songwriter. He has collaborated with Michael Jackson, Madonna, Electric Light Orchestra and Sheryl Crow.
Biography
Between 1967 and 1970, Bottrell attended Cresc ...
, was their fourth album to chart, peaking at No. 43 on the
''Billboard'' 200.
In 1993, MCA rejected their next effort, ''Snug,'' as "too weird". It was released digitally in April 2009.
In 1996, Columbia released a compilation CD, ''Last Perfect Thing... A Retrospective''. The first pressings mistakenly included an uncredited "Half a Lifetime", substituted on later pressings with the correct track, "Last Perfect Thing".
In 2009, Hunter, MacLeod, Trott and Rundblad reunited for a three-gig tour in California, in part, to commemorate the digital release of ''Snug.'' According to Hunter another collection of songs was recorded concurrently with ''Snug'' under the working title of ''Electric''. No new album has been released at this time.
Other projects
McLeod, Trott and Rundblad all later played with
Sheryl Crow
Sheryl Suzanne Crow (born February 11, 1962) is an American musician, singer, songwriter and actress. Her music incorporates elements of rock, pop, country, folk, and blues. She has released eleven studio albums, five compilations and three li ...
.
After leaving Wire Train, Gil-Sola returned to his native Argentina, where he was a member of
Divididos
Divididos ("Divided") is an Argentine rock band.[El Polaco Goyeneche fue el prim ...](_blank)
from 1990 to 1995.
In popular culture
"I Will Not Fall" appeared on the soundtrack for the film ''
Point Break
''Point Break'' is a 1991 American action crime film directed by Kathryn Bigelow and written by W. Peter Iliff. It stars Patrick Swayze, Keanu Reeves, Lori Petty and Gary Busey. The film's title refers to the surfing term "point break", where ...
'' (1991), "I'll Do You" appeared in the game ''
Scarface: The World Is Yours'' (2006) and "Chamber of Hellos" appeared in the episode "Limbo" (2015) of ''
Halt and Catch Fire''.
The band
the Action Design
The Action Design was an American rock band formed in Petaluma, California, after the breakup of the former punk rock band Tsunami Bomb. Emily Whitehurst and Matt McKenzie came together to produce a new band self-described as "a refreshing mix ...
covered two Wire Train songs ("I'll Do You" and "Chamber of Hellos") for the soundtrack to ''
Endless Bummer'' (2009).
Discography
Studio albums
Compilation albums
* ''In a Chamber / Between Two Words'' (1995, Oglio Records)
* ''Last Perfect Thing... A Retrospective'' (1996,
415/Columbia/Legacy)
* ''In a Chamber / Between Two Words / Ten Women'' (2020, BGO Records)
Singles
* "Chamber of Hellos" (1983)
* "I'll Do You" (1984)
* "Last Perfect Thing" (1985)
* "Skills of Summer" (1985)
* "She Comes On" (1987)
* "Diving" (1987)
* "Should She Cry?" (1990)
* "Stone Me" (1992) - US Modern Rock #23
References
External links
Wire Train on Facebook
{{Authority control
American new wave musical groups
Musical groups established in 1983
Musical groups disestablished in 1992
Musical groups from San Francisco
415 Records artists
Columbia Records artists
MCA Records artists