Chairs Missing#Track listing

Although it features some of the minimalist punk rock of the band's debut Pink Flag, Chairs Missing contains more developed song structure (taking some cues from 1970s prog-rock, psychedelia, and art rock), keyboard and synthesizer elements brought in by producer Mike Thorne, and a broader palette of emotional and intellectual subject matter. 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".{{cite web |url=http://trouserpress.com/entry.php?a=wire |title=Wire |work=Trouser Press |accessdate=27 February 2012 |last1=DeRogatis |first1=Jim |author-link1=Jim DeRogatis |last2=Neate |first2=Wilson}}

The album was released through Harvest Records on 8 September 1979.{{cite news |title=News|editor-last=Burbeck|editor-first=Rodney|page=2|location=London|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240920035638/https://www.worldradiohistory.com/hd2/IDX-UK/Music/Archive-Music-Week-IDX/IDX/1978/Music-Week-1978-09-16-IDX-2.pdf|archive-date=20 September 2024|url-status=live|url=https://www.worldradiohistory.com/hd2/IDX-UK/Music/Archive-Music-Week-IDX/IDX/1978/Music-Week-1978-09-16-IDX-2.pdf |work=Music Week |publisher=Morgan-Grampian |date=16 November 1978}}{{cite news |title=News |url=https://worldradiohistory.com/hd2/IDX-UK/Music/Archive-Record-Mirror-IDX/IDX/70s/Record-Mirror-1978-09-09-IDX-5.pdf |access-date=2 November 2021 |work=Record Mirror|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221024230058/https://www.worldradiohistory.com/hd2/IDX-UK/Music/Archive-Record-Mirror-IDX/IDX/70s/Record-Mirror-1978-09-09-IDX-5.pdf|archive-date=24 October 2022|url-status=live|page=5|publisher=United Newspapers|location=London|editor-last=Shearlaw|editor-first=John|date=9 September 1978}}

{{Music ratings

| rev1 = AllMusic

| rev1score = {{Rating|5|5}}{{cite web |url=http://www.allmusic.com/album/chairs-missing-mw0000196376 |title=Chairs Missing – Wire |publisher=AllMusic |accessdate=27 February 2012 |last=Huey |first=Steve}}

| rev2 = The Encyclopedia of Popular Music

| rev2score = {{Rating|4|5}}{{cite book |chapter=Wire |title=The Encyclopedia of Popular Music |last=Larkin |first=Colin |author-link=Colin Larkin |publisher=Omnibus Press |edition=5th concise |year=2011 |isbn=978-0-85712-595-8}}

| rev3 = The Great Rock Discography

| rev3score = 9/10{{cite book|title=The Great Rock Discography|author=Martin C. Strong|author-link=Martin C. Strong|edition=1st|year=1998|isbn=978-0-86241-827-4|publisher=Canongate Books}}

| rev4 = MusicHound Rock

| rev4score = {{rating|4.5|5}}{{cite book|title=MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide|editor=Gary Graff|editor-link=Gary Graff|edition=1st|year=1996|location=London|isbn=978-0-7876-1037-1|publisher=Visible Ink Press}}

| rev5 = Pitchfork

| rev5score = 10/10{{cite web |url=http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/11866-pink-flag-chairs-missing-154/ |title=Wire: Pink Flag / Chairs Missing / 154 |work=Pitchfork |date=5 May 2006 |accessdate=8 February 2012 |last=Tangari |first=Joe}}

| rev6 = Q

| rev6score = {{Rating|5|5}}{{cite magazine |title=Dawning of a New Era |magazine=Q |issue=386 |date=July 2018 |last=Harris |first=John |author-link=John Harris (critic) |pages=120–21}}

| rev7 = The Rolling Stone Album Guide

| rev7score = {{Rating|4|5}}{{cite book |chapter=Wire |last=Gross |first=Joe |title=The New Rolling Stone Album Guide |title-link=The Rolling Stone Album Guide |editor1-last=Brackett |editor1-first=Nathan |editor1-link=Nathan Brackett |editor2-last=Hoard |editor2-first=Christian |editor2-link=Christian Hoard |publisher=Simon & Schuster |edition=4th |year=2004 |isbn=0-743-20169-8 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/newrollingstonea00brac/page/883 883–84]}}

| rev8 = Spin Alternative Record Guide

| rev8score = 9/10{{cite book |chapter=Wire |last=Weisbard |first=Eric |author-link=Eric Weisbard |title=Spin Alternative Record Guide |title-link=Spin Alternative Record Guide |editor1-last=Weisbard |editor1-first=Eric |editor2-last=Marks |editor2-first=Craig |publisher=Vintage Books |year=1995 |isbn=0-679-75574-8 |pages=435–37}}

| rev9 = Uncut

| rev9score = {{Rating|5|5}}{{cite magazine |title=Wire: Chairs Missing |magazine=Uncut |issue=106 |date=March 2006 |page=106}}

| rev10 = Under the Radar

| rev10score = {{Rating|8.5|10}}{{cite web|url=http://www.undertheradarmag.com/reviews/wire_chairs_missing_special_edition_reissue|title=Chairs Missing (Special Edition Reissue)|website=Under the Radar|author=Ian Rushby|date=13 June 2018|accessdate=21 December 2020}}

}}

In a 1979 Trouser Press review, Jim Green said, "Wire are disconcerting, laconic yet eloquent in fragmented visions, jarring even at their most accessible. They disdain cliche, pushing out the limits of rock; the easy way is too boring." He continued, "Their stripped-down rhythms take on the quality of being familiar yet somehow alien, just as their bleak lyrics lift the everyday from its context and illuminate its ironies." Green concluded that "[y]ou have to listen for yourself."{{cite magazine |url=https://trouserpress.com/magazine-covers-4/ |title=Wire: Chairs Missing |magazine=Trouser Press |location=New York |volume=6 |issue=1 |date=January 1979 |access-date=22 December 2021 |last=Green |first=Jim |page=41}} The Sandwell Evening Mail wrote that "the songs are sparse, sometimes rather frightening, but often superbly constructed."{{cite news |title=Wire, Chairs Missing |work=Sandwell Evening Mail |date=21 October 1978 |page=11}}

In its retrospective review, Steve Huey of AllMusic wrote: "The arty darkness of Chairs Missing, combined with the often icy-sounding synth/guitar arrangements, helps make the record a crucial landmark in the evolution of punk into post-punk and goth, as well as a testament to Wire's rapid development and inventiveness." BBC Music called the album a "glorious avant-pop coup" and (referring to the 2006 edition of the album) "the most satisfying of the three reissues [the others being Pink Flag and 154]."{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/music/reviews/p98c |title=Wire Pink Flag/Chairs Missing/154 Review |publisher=BBC Music |date=20 November 2002 |accessdate=27 February 2012 |last=Smith |first=Sid}} In 2004, Pitchfork listed Chairs Missing as 33rd best album of the 1970s.{{cite web |url=https://pitchfork.com/features/staff-lists/5932-top-100-albums-of-the-1970s/7/ |title=The 100 Best Albums of the 1970s |work=Pitchfork |date=23 June 2004 |accessdate=2 October 2018 |author=Pitchfork staff |page=7}} In 2013, NME listed the album as the 394th greatest album of all time.{{cite magazine |url=https://www.nme.com/photos/the-500-greatest-albums-of-all-time-400-301-1426436 |title=The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time: 400–301 |magazine=NME |date=23 October 2013 |accessdate=2 October 2018 |last=Barker |first=Emily}}

In 2004 the US record label Words-on-Music released A Houseguest's Wish, a CD tribute album to the band consisting solely of 19 different versions of the Chairs Missing track "Outdoor Miner".{{cn|date=August 2024}}

In 2016, Paste named the album as the third-best post-punk release of all time. Staff writer Garrett Martin assessed: "It’s hard to imagine 'post-punk' even existing as a genre tag without this record; although a couple of songs recall the minimal, straight-forward punk of Pink Flag, the rest of the album adds synthesizers, guitar effects, a disco beat on 'Another the Letter,' and various other flourishes and experiments that clearly marked this as something new and different at the time. It foreshadowed so much of the punk-derived music that followed that you can draw a straight line from Chairs Missing to a handful of different indie-rock subgenres."{{Cite magazine |title=The 50 Best Post-Punk Albums |url=https://www.pastemagazine.com/music/the-50-best-post-punk-albums |access-date=2025-06-16 |magazine=Paste |language=en-US}}

Credits adapted from the 2018 Special Edition.

All music written by Colin Newman, except where noted. All lyrics written by Graham Lewis, except where noted.

{{Track listing

| headline = Side one

| title1 = Practice Makes Perfect

| lyrics1 = Bruce Gilbert

| length1 = 4:11

| title2 = French Film Blurred

| length2 = 2:34

| title3 = Another the Letter

| lyrics3 = Gilbert

| length3 = 1:07

| title4 = Men 2nd

| music4 =Lewis, Newman{{#tag:ref|The songwriting credits for Chairs Missing have been modified on all reissues since 2006.{{cite book |title=Read & Burn: A Book About Wire |last=Neate |first=Wilson |publisher=Jawbone Press |location=London |year=2013 |isbn=978-1-90827-933-0 |page=81}} "Men 2nd" was originally credited to Graham Lewis alone.|group="nb"}}

| length4 = 1:43

| title5 = Marooned

| lyrics5 = Gilbert, Lewis

| length5 = 2:21

| title6 = Sand in My Joints

| music6 =Lewis

| length6 = 1:50

| title7 = Being Sucked in Again

| lyrics7 = Newman

| length7 = 3:14

| title8 = Heartbeat

| lyrics8 = Newman

| length8 = 3:16

}}

{{Track listing

| headline = Side two

| title9 = Mercy

| length9 = 5:46

| title10 = Outdoor Miner

| length10 = 1:44

| title11 = I Am the Fly

| length11 = 3:09

| title12 = I Feel Mysterious Today

| length12 = 1:57

| title13 = From the Nursery

| length13 = 2:58

| title14 = Used To

| music14 =Gilbert, Newman{{#tag:ref|"Used To" was originally credited to Bruce Gilbert and Graham Lewis alone.|group="nb"}}

| lyrics14 = Gilbert, Lewis

| length14 = 2:23

| title15 = Too Late

| music15 =Gilbert, Newman{{#tag:ref|"Too Late" was originally credited to Bruce Gilbert alone.|group="nb"}}

| lyrics15 = Gilbert

| length15 = 4:14

}}

{{Track listing

| headline = Bonus tracks

| title16 = Go Ahead

| music16 =Gilbert, Robert Gotobed, Lewis, Newman

| length16 = 4:01

| note16 = 1989 reissue, single B-side

| title17 = Outdoor Miner (Long Version)

| length17 = 2:54

| note17 = 1994 reissue, single A-side

| title18 = Former Airline

| music18 =Gilbert

| lyrics18 = Gilbert

| length18 = 3:20

| note18 = 1989 and 1994 reissues, single B-side

| title19 = A Question of Degree

| length19 = 3:09

| note19 = 1989 and 1994 reissues, single A-side

}}

*The bonus tracks on the 1989 and 1994 reissues were removed from the 2006 remastered reissue because they, according to the band, didn't honour the "conceptual clarity of the original statements".{{cite magazine |url=http://www.chartattack.com/news/2006/04/11/wire-reissuing-first-three-lps-and-early-live-recordings/ |title=Wire Reissuing First Three LPs and Early Live Recordings |magazine=Chart Attack |date=11 April 2006 |accessdate=2 October 2018 |last=Villeneuve |first=Phil |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130810083120/http://www.chartattack.com/news/2006/04/11/wire-reissuing-first-three-lps-and-early-live-recordings/ |archive-date=10 August 2013 |url-status=usurped}}

{{Track listing

| headline = Disc one (Original Album)

| title1 = Practice Makes Perfect

| lyrics1 = Bruce Gilbert

| length1 = 4:11

| title2 = French Film Blurred

| length2 = 2:34

| title3 = Another the Letter

| lyrics3 = Gilbert

| length3 = 1:07

| title4 = Men 2nd

| music4 =Lewis, Newman

| length4 = 1:43

| title5 = Marooned

| lyrics5 = Gilbert, Lewis

| length5 = 2:21

| title6 = Sand in My Joints

| music6 =Lewis

| length6 = 1:50

| title7 = Being Sucked in Again

| lyrics7 = Newman

| length7 = 3:14

| title8 = Heartbeat

| lyrics8 = Newman

| length8 = 3:16

| title9 = Mercy

| length9 = 5:46

| title10 = Outdoor Miner

| length10 = 1:44

| title11 = I Am the Fly

| length11 = 3:09

| title12 = I Feel Mysterious Today

| length12 = 1:57

| title13 = From the Nursery

| length13 = 2:58

| title14 = Used To

| music14 =Gilbert, Newman

| lyrics14 = Gilbert, Lewis

| length14 = 2:23

| title15 = Too Late

| music15 =Gilbert, Newman

| lyrics15 = Gilbert

| length15 = 4:14

| total_length = 42:27

}}

{{Track listing

| headline = Disc two (Singles, B-sides, and Studio Recordings)

| title1 = I Am the Fly

| note1 = single version A-side

| length1 = 3:06

| title2 = Dot Dash

| note2 = single A-side

| length2 = 2:24

| title3 = Options R

| note3 = single B-side

| music3 =Lewis, Newman{{#tag:ref|"Options R" was originally credited to Graham Lewis alone.|group="nb"}}

| length3 = 1:35

| title4 = Outdoor Miner

| note4 = single version A-side

| length4 = 2:52

| title5 = Practice Makes Perfect

| note5 = single version B-side

| lyrics5 = Gilbert

| length5 = 4:05

| title6 = Underwater Experiences

| note6 = Advision Studios version

| length6 = 3:32

| total_length = 17:34

}}

{{Track listing

| headline = Disc three (Fourth and Fifth Demo Sessions)

| title1 = Practice Makes Perfect

| note1 = Fourth demo session, December 1977, Riverside Studios, London, England

| lyrics1 = Gilbert

| length1 = 3:46

| title2 = Oh No Not So

| note2 = Fourth demo session, December 1977, Riverside Studios, London, England

| length2 = 1:35

| title3 = Culture Vultures

| note3 = Fourth demo session, December 1977, Riverside Studios, London, England

| length3 = 2:06

| title4 = It's the Motive

| note4 = Fourth demo session, December 1977, Riverside Studios, London, England

| length4 = 1:19

| title5 = Love Ain't Polite

| note5 = Fourth demo session, December 1977, Riverside Studios, London, England

| lyrics5 = Newman

| length5 = 1:06

| title6 = French Film Blurred (Version 1)

| note6 = Fourth demo session, December 1977, Riverside Studios, London, England

| length6 = 1:14

| title7 = Sand in My Joints

| note7 = Fourth demo session, December 1977, Riverside Studios, London, England

| music7 =Lewis

| length7 = 1:49

| title8 = Too Late

| note8 = Fourth demo session, December 1977, Riverside Studios, London, England

| music8 =Gilbert, Newman

| lyrics8 = Gilbert

| length8 = 4:12

| title9 = I Am the Fly

| note9 = Fourth demo session, December 1977, Riverside Studios, London, England

| length9 = 6:00

| title10 = Heartbeat

| note10 = Fourth demo session, December 1977, Riverside Studios, London, England

| lyrics10 = Newman

| length10 = 2:42

| title11 = Underwater Experiences

| note11 = Fourth demo session, December 1977, Riverside Studios, London, England

| length11 = 3:14

| title12 = Stalemate

| note12 = Fourth demo session, December 1977, Riverside Studios, London, England

| lyrics12 = Newman

| length12 = 2:15

| title13 = I Feel Mysterious Today

| note13 = Fourth demo session, December 1977, Riverside Studios, London, England

| length13 = 1:40

| title14 = Dot Dash

| note14 = Fifth demo session, April 1978, Riverside Studios, London, England

| length14 = 2:19

| title15 = French Film Blurred (Version 2)

| note15 = Fifth demo session, April 1978, Riverside Studios, London, England

| length15 = 2:15

| title16 = Options R

| note16 = Fifth demo session, April 1978, Riverside Studios, London, England

| music16 =Lewis, Newman

| length16 = 1:48

| title17 = Finistaire (Mercy)

| note17 = Fifth demo session, April 1978, Riverside Studios, London, England

| length17 = 5:45

| title18 = Marooned

| note18 = Fifth demo session, April 1978, Riverside Studios, London, England

| lyrics18 = Gilbert, Lewis

| length18 = 2:16

| title19 = From the Nursery

| note19 =Fifth demo session, April 1978, Riverside Studios, London, England

| length19 = 2:50

| title20 = Indirect Enquiries (Version 1)

| note20 = Fifth demo session, April 1978, Riverside Studios, London, England

| length20 = 1:42

| title21 = Outdoor Miner

| note21 = Fifth demo session, April 1978, Riverside Studios, London, England

| length21 = 1:43

| title22 = Chairs Missing (Used To)

| note22 = Fifth demo session, April 1978, Riverside Studios, London, England

| music22 =Gilbert, Newman

| lyrics22 = Gilbert

| length22 = 4:09

| title23 = Being Sucked in Again

| note23 = Fifth demo session, April 1978, Riverside Studios, London, England

| lyrics23 = Newman

| length23 = 3:38

| title24 = Men 2nd

| note24 = Fifth demo session, April 1978, Riverside Studios, London, England

| music24 =Lewis, Newman

| length24 = 1:45

| title25 = Another the Letter

| note25 = Fifth demo session, April 1978, Riverside Studios, London, England

| lyrics25 = Gilbert

| length25 = 1:06

| title26 = No Romans

| note26 = Fifth demo session, April 1978, Riverside Studios, London, England

| length26 = 1:12

| total_length = 66:26

}}

Credits adapted from the liner notes of the 2018 Special Edition.

; Wire

• Colin Newman – vocals, guitar, backing vocals, arrangement
• Bruce Gilbert – guitar, arrangement, concept
• Graham Lewis – bass, vocals on "Sand in My Joints", backing vocals, arrangement, concept, original sleeve design
• Robert Gotobed – drums, percussion, arrangement

; Additional personnel and production

• Kathryn Lukas – flute on "Heartbeat"
• Mike Thorne – production, keyboards, synthesizers, backing vocals on "Being Sucked in Again", arrangement
• Paul Hardiman – engineering
• Ken Thomas – assistant engineering
• Annette Green – photography
• Brian Palmer – art direction
• Tim Chacksfield – project co-ordination (1994 reissue)
• Phil Smee – packaging (1994 reissue)
• Chris Blair – cutting engineering (1994 reissue)
• Andrew Day – design (2006 reissue)
• Denis Blackham – Remastering (2006 and 2018 reissues)
• Nick Glennie-Smith – engineering (disc 3, 2018 reissue)
• Jon Wozencroft – art direction, layout (2018 reissue)
• HQ – layout (2018 reissue)
• Malka Spigel-Newman – photo restoration (2018 reissue)
• Jon Savage – liner notes (2018 reissue)
• Graham Duff – liner notes (2018 reissue)
• Craig Grannell – booklet editor (2018 reissue)

{{Reflist}}

{{Reflist|group="nb"}}

• {{Discogs master|50617}}
• {{Official website|http://www.pinkflag.com/read/discography/chairs-missing.php|Lyrics for the album on Wire's official website}}
• [https://stereosociety.com/chairsmissing/ The making of Wire's Chairs Missing album]

{{Wire}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:Wire (band) albums

Category:1978 albums

Category:Harvest Records albums

Category:Restless Records albums

Category:Albums produced by Mike Thorne

Category:Avant-pop albums