Peter Gabriel's 'And Through the Wire' at 45

The 'Melt' album turns 45 today. To celebrate, we're taking a quick look at one of my favorites on the record.

Good morning!

Today we’re dropping the needle on Peter Gabriel’s “And Through The Wire.”

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Note: This first ran a few years ago, in the very early stages of this project. The writing and format(s) have changed. My love for this song has not.

KA—

Music fans love to talk about their favorite deep tracks. Sometimes, they’ll skip right over the bigger songs and claim a lesser-known one as if doing so is a way of passing a purity test.

And if the subject is Peter Gabriel’s 1979 eponymously titled album (the 3rd one of those, by the way), one might skip over “I Don’t Remember” and mention this one instead.

And through the wire I hear your voice
And through the wire I touch the power
And through the wire I see your face
It’s through the wire

They might pass right by “Games Without Frontiers,” with its synthesizers and gloomy overtones, and instead, talk about the fantastic guitar riff on “And Through The Wire,” making sure to mention that it’s courtesy of The Jam’s Paul Weller.

And through the wire You are secure
And through the wire We can talk
And through the wire We can walk
It’s through the wire

They might make a note that the album was Gabriel’s only US release on Mercury records, after Atlantic decided this wasn’t commercial enough, and chose not to distribute it.

Maybe they’d note that distinct absence of cymbals on the song.

In an interview with Mark Blake, Gabriel commented:

“Artists given complete freedom die a horrible death…So, when you tell them what they can’t do, they get creative and say, ‘Oh yes I can,’ which is why I banned cymbals. Phil {Collins]was cool about it. [Marotta] did object and it took him a while to settle in. It’s like being right-handed and having to learn to write with your left.”

Or, if you’re lucky, they’ll just hand you the record and say you gotta listen to it.

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Listen:

Peter Gabriel | ‘And Through the Wire’ 1979

Click the record to listen on the platform of your choice.

Cover art courtesy of Virgin Records

As always, I’d love to hear your thoughts on this record, or whatever’s on your mind! Comment below!

Thanks for being here,
Kevin—

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