WIRE Pink Flag 1977 UK HARVEST 1st PRESS w/INNER MINT
£
57
$
76
£ 57
Sold For
Jul 16, 2012
Sold Date
Jul 6, 2012
Start Date
£ 30
Start price
6
Number Of Bids
Great Britain
Country Of Seller
eBay
Auctioned at
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Description
WIRE Pink Flag 1977 UK HARVEST 1st PRESS 1 PLAY MINT
WIREPink Flag
UK HARVEST (SHSP 4075) FIRST PRESSING (December 1977) OF WIRE'S DEBUT LP "Pink Flag"
LOVELY COPY - ONCE PLAYED
PRESSED WITH THE FIRST ISSUE UK HARVEST LABELS
MATRIX: SHSP 4075 A-1 / SHSP 4075 B-2 (the earliest set for this LP)
MOTHERS/STAMPERS: 1/A and 1/L
THE RECORD IS HOUSED IN THE ORIGINAL MATT, GARROD & LOFTHOUSE PRINTED SLEEVE - DATE CODED '7711' (1977, November)
COMPLETE WITH THE ORIGINAL THICK CARD, ROUNDED CORNER INNER SLEEVE
Perhaps the most original debut album to come out of the first wave of British punk, Wire's Pink Flag plays like The Ramones Go to Art School -- song after song careens past in a glorious, stripped-down rush.
However, unlike the Ramones, Wire ultimately made their mark through unpredictability.
Very few of the songs followed traditional verse/chorus structures -- if one or two riffs sufficed, no more were added; if a musical hook or lyric didn't need to be repeated, Wire immediately stopped playing, accounting for the album's brevity (21 songs in under 36 minutes on the original version).
The sometimes dissonant, minimalist arrangements allow for space and interplay between the instruments; Colin Newman isn't always the most comprehensible singer, but he displays an acerbic wit and balances the occasional lyrical abstraction with plenty of bile in his delivery.
Many punk bands aimed to strip rock & roll of its excess, but Wire took the concept a step further, cutting punk itself down to its essence and achieving an even more concentrated impact.
Some of the tracks may seem at first like underdeveloped sketches or fragments, but further listening demonstrates that in most cases, the music is memorable even without the repetition and structure most ears have come to expect -- it simply requires a bit more concentration.
And Wire are full of ideas; for such a fiercely minimalist band, they display quite a musical range, spanning slow, haunting texture exercises, warped power pop, punk anthems, and proto-hardcore rants -- it's recognisable, yet simultaneously quite unlike anything that preceded it.
Pink Flag's enduring influence pops up in hardcore, post-punk, alternative rock, and even Britpop, and it still remains a fresh, invigorating listen today: a fascinating, highly inventive rethinking of punk rock and its freedom to make up your own rules.
Side 1:
Reuters
Field Day For The Sundays
Three Girl Rhumba
Ex Lion Tamer
Lowdown
Start To Move
Brazil
It's So Obvious
Surgeon's Girl
Pink Flag
Side 2:
The Commercial
Straight Line
106 Beats That
Mr. Suit
Strange
Fragile
Mannequin
Different To Me
Champs
Feeling Called Love
1 2 X U
LABELS: MINT-
Clean, bright, factory-fresh labels with just one light spindle trace per side
VINYL Visual: MINT
Beautifully clean, bright and unmarked surfaces which shine like new
VINYL Audio: MINT-
As this copy has possibly only ever been played once my play-check at loud volume confirmed practically flawless playback (just an impossibly minor touch of surface between one or two of the tracks) - superb copy
SLEEVE:
Practically MINT with crisp, sharp edges and spine - where all text is clear and bold. The only flaw is some light bleed-through from the original price sticker (£3.89) in the top front corner
INNER SLEEVE:
Again, practically MINT and untouched but the record has cut through the bottom edge and produced a small 4.5 cm split
POST & PACKING:
A PROTECTIVE POLY SLEEVE, NEW INNER SLEEVE WITH ANTI-STATIC LINER, QUALITY BOX (NOT ENVELOPE) MAILER AND AMPLE STIFFENERS ARE ALWAYS USED TO ENSURE THAT YOUR RECORD ARRIVES SAFELY
UK: 1st Class: £4.50 (recorded delivery)
EUROPE: Airmail: £12.00 (International Signed For delivery)
INTERNATIONAL: Airmail: £17.00 (International Signed For delivery)
PAYMENT IS BY PAYPAL ONLY SO IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO PAY BY SOME OTHER METHOD PLEASE CONTACT ME FIRST
I will combine postage (normally £1 or £2 per extra record) for items purchased within any 10 day period.
However, at the end of each 10 day period, all outstanding items will need to be paid for in full and will be posted to you.
Any items purchased after payment will be included in the next 10 period.
I am continually adding new items which may be of interest to you and it is impractical for me to allow payment to be postponed indefinitely in the expectation that you might wish to bid on future items.
Thank you for your understanding and cooperation
Guarantee: The record is unconditionally guaranteed and I will offer a complete, no quibble refund (through Paypal) upon return of the item should you not be pleased with it in any way I will email you when payment has been received to let you know when the item will be posted. Please leave feedback upon receipt of the item so that I know you have received it safely. Any problems please email me. Thanks 474 (GS 6.4.2 (474))
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