DOWN TO THE WIRE.



wire, noun: a length or quantity of wire used, for example, for fencing or to carry an electric current.

Wire are responsible for producing at least three of my favourite albums between 1977 and 1979. Formed in London in late 1976, this revolutionary punk group - of a distinctly Art School variety - were quite simply incomparable to any other band on the scene. From the first difficult to conveniently file in any box, it was just as much a monkey puzzle to wrestle out their influences. I read somewhere online recently that these range from "artists as diverse as the Ramones and Brian Eno" but that's a trifle trite. While their first LP "Pink Flag" had a manic edge to it complicit with other key releases from the recently emerged ground zero, on first listen it was apparent that they were uniquely different. Something dangerous perhaps lurking in the kitchen drawer.

Oh, and did i mention they signed to Harvest EMI ? The same label synonymous with Pink Floyd and Syd Barrett ?

And while, like New York's Ramones, they managed to cram a staggering 21 tracks onto their debut slab of wax, the mood throughout ranged from the breathtakingly structured melodic (as on "mannequin") to the broodingly foreboding ("reuters" ; "strange"). All this without apparently cracking a smile or breaking sweat. Now, that's got to be value for money.

Featuring Graham Lewis (bass, vocals), Bruce Gilbert (guitar), Colin Newman (vocals, guitar) and Robert Gotobed (né Grey) (drums), ladies and gentlemen i give you wire.



download: WIRE: MANNEQUIN from "Pink Flag" LP (Harvest) November 1977 [SHSP 4076] UK
download: WIRE: OUTDOOR MINER from "Chairs Missing" LP (Harvest) October 1978 [SHSP 4093] UK
download: WIRE: I AM THE FLY 7" (Harvest) February 1978 [HAR 5151] UK
download: WIRE: 40 VERSIONS from "154" LP (Harvest) September 1979 [SHSP 4105] UK.

posted by ib

BLUE RIDGE BARBED WIRE HASSLE AND DEEP-FRIED SOUTHERN CHICKEN.



Hasil Adkins (pronounced "Hassle," not "Haysil"): April 29, 1936 - April 25, 2005.

Anybody out there fond of the Cramps? Remember Lux Interior's crazed psychobilly b-side to 1981's "Goo Goo Muck" on I.R.S., "She Said" ? Well, the original One-Man-Band version by Hasil Adkins was just as manic and a whole lot more interesting.

Born and raised in Boone County, West Virginia - where he lived out his entire life - the young Adkins fashioned his first guitar from barbed wire and tin pails, beating out accompanying rhythms on milk cans and lard churns. Glued to his parents' radio beaming in an evening diet of Jimmie Rodgers and Hank Williams Sr, the star-struck boy could only conceive that these ghostly visitors must play all their intstruments themselves.

From Wiki:

'He was the youngest of 10 children, and was both severely depressive and hyperactive. Growing up in a tarpaper shack on property rented from the local coal company, Hasil attended 6 days of school total and never really worked at anything other than being a musician.'

Apparently, he didn't receive his first pair of shoes until he was five years old. Later on, he would often cite in interviews that his principal hero was Col. Harlan Sanders, the inventor of Kentucky Fried Chicken. Sounds familiar ? Fuck the Waltons, this was unadulterated rawk 'n' roll from the very start.

'Nicknamed "The Haze", Adkins claimed a repertoire of over 9,000 songs including over 7,000 original compositions, recorded scores of small, micro-label 45s, and is responsible for the birth of Norton Records, Psychobilly, and a dance called "The Hunch".'



Hasil Adkins was intentionally run down in his own back yard by a teenager on an ATV on April 16, 2005. He recovered sufficiently to identify the youth from a police mugshot, bud died from his injuries just ten days later. The photograph above of the teenage Adkins in Boone County bears an uncanny resemblance to an old snapshot of my father taken at much the same age. My dad died in 1982 of a massive cardiac arrest. I would like to think he would have appreciated the comparison.

download: HASIL ADKINS: SHE SAID from "She Said/Is This The End ?" 45 (Jody Records) 1966 (US)

download: HASIL ADKINS: CHICKEN WALK from "She's Mine/Chicken Walk" 45 (Air Records) 1962 (US)

download: HASIL ADKINS: WE GOT A DATE from "Out To Hunch (West Virginia Recordings)" CD (Norton Records) 1986 (US)

download: HASIL ADKINS: NO MORE HOT DOGS from "Out To Hunch (West Virginia Recordings)" CD (Norton Records) 1986 (US)

posted by ib