''Wired'' is the second solo studio album by

Hugh Cornwell Hugh Alan Cornwell (born 28 August 1949) is an English musician, singer-songwriter and writer, best known for being the lead vocalist and lead guitarist for the punk rock and new wave band the Stranglers from 1974 to 1990. Since leaving the ...

, released on 21 June 1993 on the Transmission label. It follows the collaboration album with Robert Williams, ''

Nosferatu ''Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror'' (German: ''Nosferatu – Eine Symphonie des Grauens'') is a 1922 silent German Expressionist horror film directed by F. W. Murnau and starring Max Schreck as Count Orlok, a vampire who preys on the wife ...

'' (1979), and first proper solo outing, ''

Wolf The wolf (''Canis lupus''; : wolves), also known as the gray wolf or grey wolf, is a large canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been recognized, and gray wolves, as popularly un ...

'' (1988). ''Wired'' was produced by

Gary Langan Gary Michael Langan (born 19 April 1956) is an English engineer, record producer, mixer and musician. Biography His career started at age 18 when he worked as an assistant engineer at Sarm East Studios, learning the craft from Gary Lyons and M ...

(

Art of Noise Art of Noise (also The Art of Noise) were an English avant-garde synth-pop group formed in early 1983 by engineer/producer Gary Langan and programmer J. J. Jeczalik, along with keyboardist/arranger Anne Dudley, producer Trevor Horn, and mus ...

), with the exception of "Ain't It Strange", which was produced by Cornwell. It was recorded in 1992 at Metropolis Studios in London and Soundlab Studios in

Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated Wilts) is a historic and ceremonial county in South West England with an area of . It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset to the southwest, Somerset to the west, Hampshire to the southeast, Gloucestershire ...

. The album's progress was affected by contractual disputes. Cornwell was initially signed to Phoenix Records, but the label started to fall into difficulties and Cornwell cited them for breach of contract. A new deal was struck with NTV (Transmission) to finish the album. Phoenix then maintained that NTV had no right to release the album with arguments over the matter continuing until February 1994. As a result, the album was initially only released in Europe. Two singles were released from the album, "The Story of He & She" in 1993, and "My Kind of Loving" in 1994. The album was re-released by Griffin Records in 1995 in both CD and cassette formats. The album was released in the United States on 27 April 1999 on the Velvel Record label, under the title ''First Bus To Babylon'' with different artwork and different track listing. The album includes a cover version of Jimi Hendrix's " Stone Free", which according to Cornwell was originally considered for inclusion on the initial release of ''Wired''.

Track listing

The American edition retitled ''First Bus to Babylon'' dropped the track "Make It With You" and includes "Stone Free" and "My Kind of Loving" (12" version).

Personnel

Credits adapted from the album liner notes. ;Musicians *

– guitar, vocals * Chris Goulstone – guitar * Ted Mason – guitar *

Tomoyasu Hotei , also known simply as Hotei ( ), is a Japanese musician, singer-songwriter, composer, record producer and actor. With a career spanning more than 35 years, Hotei claims record sales of over 40 million copies and has collaborated with acclaimed a ...

– guitar * Alex Gifford – bass guitar * Phil Andrews – keyboards * George De Angelis – Hammond organ * Robert Williams – drums, percussion * Steve Ferrera – additional drum programming * Wesley Magoogan – brass * Joel Squires – harmonica ;Technical *

– producer (except "Ain't It Strange"), photography * Hugh Cornwell – producer ("Ain't It Strange") * James Cadsky – engineer * Jamie Cullum – assistant engineer *

John Pasche John Pasche (born 24 April 1945) is a British art designer, best known for designing the Rolling Stones' tongue and lips logo. Pasche completed his BA degree in graphic design from the Brighton College of Art between 1963 and 1967. He completed ...

– artwork, design *

David Mach David Mach (born 18 March 1956) is a Scottish sculptor and installation artist. Life and work Mach was born in Methil, Fife. His artistic style is based on flowing assemblages of mass-produced objects. Typically these include magazines, ...

– artwork (hanger head) * David Scheinmann – photography

Track listing

Personnel

Release history

References

Further reading