Chairs Missing
Encyclopedia
Chairs Missing is the second album by the British rock
band Wire
. It was released in 1978.
Although it shares a punk-derived "outsider" voice with the band's debut, Pink Flag
, it features more developed song structure (taking some cues from 70's prog-rock, psychedelia
and art rock
) and a broader palette of emotional and intellectual subject matter. The album was produced by Mike Thorne, who added keyboard and synthesizer elements (compare the versions of "Outdoor Miner"; with and without the piano accompaniment), which were later expanded upon by the band members on their later releases. These contributions add to the album's identification as the release in which the band largely transcended and abandoned the punk genre. The pop sensibilities that would come to the fore in their later incarnation of 1985 are evident in songs such as "Outdoor Miner" and "I Am the Fly".
EMI appreciated the more melodic sound of the short track "Outdoor Miner" so much that they asked the band to create an expanded version of the song for release as a single.
The title is said to be a British slang
term for a mildly disturbed
person, as in 'that guy has a few chairs missing in his front room'.
In 2004 the US record label Words-On-Music released 'A Houseguest's Wish'. The CD was a Wire tribute compilation, consisting solely of 19 versions of the 'Chairs Missing' track 'Outdoor Miner'.
Side two
Extra tracks have been removed from the 2006 remastered reissues, because they, according to the band, didn't honor the "conceptual clarity of the original statements".
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
band Wire
Wire (band)
Wire are an English rock band, formed in London in October 1976 by Colin Newman , Graham Lewis , Bruce Gilbert , and Robert Gotobed...
. It was released in 1978.
Although it shares a punk-derived "outsider" voice with the band's debut, Pink Flag
Pink Flag
Pink Flag is the first album by the band Wire, released in 1977. Upon its release, Robert Christgau called it a "punk suite" and praised its "simultaneous rawness and detachment" and detected a rock-and-roll irony similar to but "much grimmer and more frightening" than the Ramones...
, it features more developed song structure (taking some cues from 70's prog-rock, psychedelia
Psychedelic rock
Psychedelic rock is a style of rock music that is inspired or influenced by psychedelic culture and attempts to replicate and enhance the mind-altering experiences of psychedelic drugs. It emerged during the mid 1960s among folk rock and blues rock bands in United States and the United Kingdom...
and art rock
Art rock
Art rock is a subgenre of rock music that originated in the United Kingdom in the 1960s, with influences from art, avant-garde, and classical music. The first usage of the term, according to Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, was in 1968. Influenced by the work of The Beatles, most notably their Sgt...
) and a broader palette of emotional and intellectual subject matter. The album was produced by Mike Thorne, who added keyboard and synthesizer elements (compare the versions of "Outdoor Miner"; with and without the piano accompaniment), which were later expanded upon by the band members on their later releases. These contributions add to the album's identification as the release in which the band largely transcended and abandoned the punk genre. The pop sensibilities that would come to the fore in their later incarnation of 1985 are evident in songs such as "Outdoor Miner" and "I Am the Fly".
EMI appreciated the more melodic sound of the short track "Outdoor Miner" so much that they asked the band to create an expanded version of the song for release as a single.
The title is said to be a British slang
Slang
Slang is the use of informal words and expressions that are not considered standard in the speaker's language or dialect but are considered more acceptable when used socially. Slang is often to be found in areas of the lexicon that refer to things considered taboo...
term for a mildly disturbed
Mental illness
A mental disorder or mental illness is a psychological or behavioral pattern generally associated with subjective distress or disability that occurs in an individual, and which is not a part of normal development or culture. Such a disorder may consist of a combination of affective, behavioural,...
person, as in 'that guy has a few chairs missing in his front room'.
In 2004 the US record label Words-On-Music released 'A Houseguest's Wish'. The CD was a Wire tribute compilation, consisting solely of 19 versions of the 'Chairs Missing' track 'Outdoor Miner'.
Track listing
Side one- "Practice Makes Perfect" (Bruce GilbertBruce GilbertBruce Gilbert is an English musician. One of the founding members of the influential and experimental art-punk band Wire, Gilbert branched out into electronic music, performance art, music production, and DJing during the band's extended periods of inactivity...
, Colin NewmanColin NewmanColin Newman is an English musician, record producer and record label owner.-Biography:Newman is a member of the rock band Wire. When the band temporarily split in 1980, Newman pursued a solo career. His first solo LP, A-Z, was released in 1980 on the Beggar's Banquet label...
) – 4:11 - "French Film Blurred" (Graham LewisGraham LewisGraham Lewis is an English musician.Lewis is the bassist with punk rock/post-punk band Wire, a band formed in 1976...
, Newman) – 2:34 - "Another the Letter" (Gilbert, Newman) – 1:07
- "Men 2nd" (Lewis) – 1:43
- "Marooned" (Gilbert, Lewis, Newman) – 2:21
- "Sand in My Joints" (Lewis) – 1:50
- "Being Sucked in Again" (Newman) – 3:14
- "Heartbeat" (Newman) – 3:16
Side two
- "Mercy" (Lewis, Newman) – 5:46
- "Outdoor Miner" (Lewis, Newman) – 1:44
- "I Am the Fly" (Lewis, Newman) – 3:09
- "I Feel Mysterious Today" (Lewis, Newman) – 1:57
- "From the Nursery" (Lewis, Newman) – 2:58
- "Used To" (Gilbert, Lewis) – 2:23
- "Too Late" (Gilbert) – 4:14
Bonus tracks
- "Go Ahead" (Gilbert, Robert Gotobed, Lewis, Newman) – 4:01 [1989 reissue]
- "Outdoor Miner" (long version) (Lewis, Newman) – 2:54 [1994 reissue]
- "Former Airline" (Gilbert) – 3:20 [1989 reissue, 1994 reissue]
- "A Question of Degree" (Lewis, Newman) – 3:09 [1989 reissue, 1994 reissue]
Extra tracks have been removed from the 2006 remastered reissues, because they, according to the band, didn't honor the "conceptual clarity of the original statements".
Personnel
- Colin NewmanColin NewmanColin Newman is an English musician, record producer and record label owner.-Biography:Newman is a member of the rock band Wire. When the band temporarily split in 1980, Newman pursued a solo career. His first solo LP, A-Z, was released in 1980 on the Beggar's Banquet label...
- vocals, guitars - B.C. GilbertBruce GilbertBruce Gilbert is an English musician. One of the founding members of the influential and experimental art-punk band Wire, Gilbert branched out into electronic music, performance art, music production, and DJing during the band's extended periods of inactivity...
- guitars - Graham LewisGraham LewisGraham Lewis is an English musician.Lewis is the bassist with punk rock/post-punk band Wire, a band formed in 1976...
- bass, vocals - Robert Gotobed - drums
Additional personnel
- Kate Lukas - fluteFluteThe flute is a musical instrument of the woodwind family. Unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is an aerophone or reedless wind instrument that produces its sound from the flow of air across an opening...
on "Heartbeat" - Mike Thorne - keyboards, synthesizers