Wire
By user • Oct 1st, 2008 • Category: Band Bios
How much money can a band expect when a court rules that the flagship song from the fastest-selling debut in U.K. history sounds strikingly similar to a song of their own? If your band is Wire and the year is 1995, not a pence. That was the result of an out-of-court settlement that awarded no money to the punk legends despite determining that Elastica’s track “Connection” sounded a bit too much like (read: exactly fucking like) Wire’s “Three Girl Rhumba.” The case defines the London first-wave punk icons: a bevy of followers and endless critical acclaim, with nary the bank account to show for it. During the more than 30 years since Wire’s flawless debut, Pink Flag (which featured “Rhumba”) and certainly in the decade since that court battle found its way into British tabloids, the legendary foursome remains a centerpiece of any conversation about great acts that never got their just dues.
Chicago Innerview Magazine, October 2008
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