Document & Eyewitness 1979-1980

Document & Eyewitness 1979-1980

After three perfect studio albums, postpunkers Wire were no closer to a commercial breakthrough than when they’d started. Alternative music had yet to establish itself as a formal consideration, and the members of Wire were often at odds in determining how to proceed. They disbanded for six years. This live album’s original configuration had been two LP discs, with one playing typically and the second one containing eight songs and running at 45 rpm. The CD reissue added the industrial dance single “Our Swimmer” and “Midnight Bahnhof Cafe,” which are both included here. This album features live performances at Notre Dame and the Electric Ballroom, as well as rehearsals and “Heartbeat” from a show in Montreux. Listeners can't see a woman pulling two bound men across the stage or someone beating a gas cooker with a hammer: two examples of the many things Wire were incorporating into their visual show. The Ballroom show is also largely improvisational. Selected live tracks feature spoken commentary from hardcore Wire fans Adrian Garston and Russell Mills, explaining the album’s title.

Disc 1

Disc 2

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