BIOGRAPHY
Wire formed in London in October 1976, with Colin Newman, Graham Lewis, Bruce Gilbert and Robert Grey settling into the lineup that defined the band. Rejecting punk's fast, three-chord template, they pared songs down to blunt, angular fragments, an approach that shaped their landmark 1977 debut Pink Flag and helped seed the emerging post-punk scene, including an appearance on the Roxy London WC2 compilation. Their sound then grew more atmospheric and layered, adding guitar effects and synthesizers on Chairs Missing (1978) and 154 (1979). Money troubles and creative friction split the group in 1979, producing the live document Document and Eyewitness (1981). They returned in 1985 as an electronics-leaning "beat combo," later releasing The Ideal Copy (1987) and the noisier Send (2003). Newman, Lewis, Grey and Matthew Simms have continued making new material since.