Wire

***Beyond a few seconds of snatched performance, a micro-interview on Tony Wilson's precursor to So It Goes, and a couple of mime-alongs on Belgian TV, there is no footage of Wire from the '70s beyond one item. Luckily it has been preserved. British viewers never got to see a live performance of Wire on their tellies, but Alan Bangs, who had the late night show on British Forces radio in Germany, crossed over to German-speaking media and by early 1979 was a presenter on RockPalast, an hour-long studio concert slot on WDR, already established as German's most important "serious" rock music show. Wire were old sparring partners of Bangs, appearing on his radio show every time they were anywhere near Cologne. 
 
Although 15th generation VHS copies of the screened parts of this performance have been making the rounds for many years, this DVD is the first time that the complete performance and the never-screened interview have been brought together. The combination of video digitally cloned from the broadcast master and freshly mastered audio eclipse the rogue dubs completely and permanently. You are now free to record over the nefarious bootlegs. 
 
Track listing: 
 
1. Introduction  
2. Another the Letter  
3. The 15th  
4. Practice Makes Perfect 
5. Two People in a Room 
6. I Feel Mysterious Today 
7. Being Sucked in Again  
8. Once is Enough 
9. Blessed State  
10. A Question of Degree 
11. Single KO  
12. Mercy  
13. 40 Versions 
14. Former Airline  
15. A Touching Display 
16. French Film Blurred  
17. Men 2nd 
18. Map Ref. 41¢ÆN 93¢ÆW 
19. Heartbeat  
20. Pink Flag 
 
also: 
 
Wire Send (Pink Flag ®¢ PF6) CD 16.98 
 
• Wire performing live on German TV, Valentine's 
Day 1979, as definitive as it is legitimate 
 
• DVD over 77 minutes; 
Audio CD 58 and change (same material as 
DVD minus the interview) 
 
• All material from the Chairs Missing/154 era, 
recorded right between the two 
 
• Packaged in a CD-sized 
double digipack