Totally Wired

{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2019}}

{{Infobox song

| name = Totally Wired

| cover = TotallyWired.jpg

| alt =

| type = single

| artist = the Fall

| album =

| A-side = Totally Wired

| B-side = Putta Block

| released = September 1980

| recorded =

| studio =

| venue =

| genre = Post-punk

| length = {{Duration|m=3|s=25}}

| label = Rough Trade

| writer = Mark E. Smith, Marc Riley, Craig Scanlon, Steve Hanley

| producer =

| prev_title = Rowche Rumble

| prev_year = 1979

| next_title = Fiery Jack

| next_year = 1980

}}

"Totally Wired" is a song by the Fall. Released in September 1980, the single became one of their signature tracks. The track subsequently appeared on CD reissues of their album Grotesque (After the Gramme). The track reached no. 2 in the UK Independent Singles Chart and no. 25 in New Zealand.Lazell, Barry (1997) Indie Hits 1980-1989, Cherry Red Books, {{ISBN|0-9517206-9-4}}, p. 83{{cite web|url=https://charts.nz/showinterpret.asp?interpret=The+Fall| title=charts.nz – Discography The Fall| publisher= 2006–2010 Hung Medien / hitparade.ch.| accessdate=27 January 2018}}

Release

The track appeared in John Peel's Festive Fifty in both 1980 and 1981, reaching 21 and 56 respectively and number 34 on All Time Festive Fifty broadcast in 2000.{{cite web|url=http://www.rocklistmusic.co.uk/festive50lists.htm|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120908035744/http://www.rocklistmusic.co.uk/festive50lists.htm|url-status=usurped|archive-date=8 September 2012|title=John Peel's Festive Fifty|publisher=Rocklist.net|accessdate=27 January 2018}} Subsequently it appeared at #57 on the "100 Greatest Singles of the Post-Punk Era" published by Uncut in 2001,{{cite web|url=http://www.rocklistmusic.co.uk/uncut_p2.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131201021231/http://www.rocklistmusic.co.uk/Uncut_P2.htm|url-status=usurped|archive-date=1 December 2013|title=Uncut Lists|publisher=Rocklist.net|accessdate=27 January 2018}} in Gary Mulholland's book This is Uncool – The 500 Greatest Singles since Punk and Disco, published in 2003 , and in the Guide To the (500) Greatest Songs from Punk To the Present published by Pitchfork published in 2014.{{cite web|url=http://www.rocklistmusic.co.uk/steveparker/pitchfork.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090424055425/http://www.rocklistmusic.co.uk/steveparker/Pitchfork.htm|url-status=usurped|archive-date=24 April 2009|title=Steve Parker – Pitchfork 500|accessdate=27 January 2018}}

In a dismissive review on its release, Danny Baker said in NME: "Totally Wired is ugly, and terribly produced – yes it does matter!" and "I can't see there's an audience for the Fall's constant verbal battering."{{citation|title=Singles|last=Baker|first=Danny|author-link=Danny Baker|pages=21|newspaper=New Musical Express|date=6 September 1980}}

Influence

The song has been sampled by the Justified Ancients of Mu Mu on their album 1987 (What the Fuck Is Going On?) and covered by Terry Edwards, Chris Cacavas, and the Last Shadow Puppets on their 2016 EP The Dream Synopsis. The Last Shadow Puppets' performance of the song at Manchester's Castlefield Bowl on 10 July 2016 saw them joined by Johnny Marr,

  • {{cite web|url=https://secondhandsongs.com/work/75270/versions#nav-entity|title=Cover versions of Totally Wired|publisher=Secondhandsongs.com|accessdate=27 January 2018}}
  • {{cite web|url=https://www.nme.com/blogs/nme-blogs/watch-alex-turnerand-johnny-marr-cover-the-falls-totally-wired-2227961|title=Watch Alex Turner and Johnny Marr cover The Falls Totally Wired|date=25 January 2018|publisher=NME.com|accessdate=27 January 2018}} who had earlier admitted to being 'obsessed' with the song.{{Cite book |last= Rogan |first= Johnny |title= Morrissey & Marr: The Severed Alliance |publisher= Omnibus Press |year= 1993 |isbn= 0-7119-3000-7 |url-access= registration |url= https://archive.org/details/morrisseymarrsev0000roga }}

Track listings

All songs written and composed by the Fall (Mark E. Smith, Craig Scanlon, Marc Riley and Paul Hanley).{{cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/song/totally-wired-mt0007770246|title=Totally Wired – The Fall|publisher=Allmusic.com|accessdate=27 January 2018}}

; "Totally Wired" (7")

{{track listing

| headline = Side A

| title1 = Totally Wired

| length1 = 3:25

}}

{{track listing

| headline = Side B

| title1 = Putta Block

| length1 = 4:35

}}

References

{{Reflist}}

Sources

  • Pringle, Steve. You Must Get Them All: The Fall On Record. London: Route Publishing, 2022. {{isbn|978-1-9019-2788-7}}

{{The Fall}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:1980 singles

Category:1980 songs

Category:Rough Trade Records singles

Category:The Fall (band) songs

Category:Songs written by Mark E. Smith

Category:Songs written by Craig Scanlon

Category:Songs written by Marc Riley