Totally Wired
A single from September 1980 that became one of the band's signature tracks.
The Fall, from Grotesque (After the Gramme) (1980)
- Written by
- Mark E. Smith, Craig Scanlon, Marc Riley, Paul Hanley
- Released
- 1980
- Album
- Grotesque (After the Gramme)
"Totally Wired" was released as a single in September 1980, ahead of Grotesque, and later appeared on CD reissues of that album. It reached number 2 on the UK Independent Singles Chart and number 25 in New Zealand. Pitchfork wrote that if you know one song from the Fall, it is probably this one, and that its title may be the one phrase most people know from Smith. It carries the line "I drank a jar of coffee, and I took some of these". In NME, Danny Baker called it ugly and terribly produced.
Peel's listeners placed it in the Festive Fifty in 1980 and 1981, and at number 34 in the All Time Festive Fifty of 2000. Uncut listed it among the best singles of the post-punk era in 2001, and Pitchfork included it in a 2014 guide to 500 songs. The Justified Ancients of Mu Mu sampled it on their album 1987 (What the Fuck Is Going On?). A Guardian writer said hearing it in a friend's cellar had a seismic effect on him.
There are 77 logged setlists, the first on 17 April 1980 and the last on 30 March 2008.
Covers and versions
- Terry Edwards
- Chris Cacavas
- The Last Shadow Puppets (2016) On the EP The Dream Synopsis. At Manchester's Castlefield Bowl on 10 July 2016 they were joined by Johnny Marr, who had admitted being obsessed with the song.
More songs by The Fall
Hip Priest, Paint Work, Cruiser's Creek, Hit the North, Glam-Racket
Sources
- Totally Wired, Wikipedia
- 10 Songs That Defined the Fall and Mark E. Smith, Pitchfork (2018-01-24)
- Legend of the Fall: Mark E Smith kept swinging to the end, The Guardian (2018-01-24)
- Grotesque (After the Gramme), Wikipedia