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Wipers was an American punk rock band formed in Portland, Oregon, in 1977 by guitarist and vocalist Greg Sage, along with drummer Sam Henry and bassist Dave Koupal. The group's tight song structure and use of heavy distortion were hailed as extremely influential by numerous critics and musicians. In particular, Nirvana's lead singer, Kurt Cobain acknowledged that they had heavily influenced him. They are also considered to be the first Pacific Northwest punk band.
Inspired by Jimi Hendrix, Sage soon picked up the guitar; further, in 1969, at age 17, he played on an eponymous album by professional wrestler Larry Pitchford.
Wipers' first single, "Better Off Dead", was released in 1978 on Sage's own Trap Records.
Sage wanted to make his own recordings and manufacture and run his own label without outside financing. In 1979, Sage approached several Portland punk bands (including Neo Boys, Sado-Nation and Stiphnoyds) and asked them to record singles for his new Trap label.
The Wipers first album, Is This Real?, was issued in January 1980 on Park Avenue Records, a label that the band hoped would gain them wider distribution. It was originally recorded on a 4-track in the band's rehearsal studio, but the label insisted that the band use a professional studio. Once released, the album gained a cult following, although the band was best known for their live shows around the Portland area.
Henry left to join the Rats, and Koupal moved to Ohio.
Later in 1980, Park Avenue released the Alien Boy EP, consisting of the title track and three demo outtakes.
With the new rhythm section of bassist Brad Davidson and drummer Brad Naish (ex-Stiphnoyds), Wipers recorded a second album for Park Avenue, the last for that label. Youth of America, released in 1981, contrasted with the short/fast punk songs of the time. According to Sage, this change of pace was a reaction against the punk trend of releasing short songs. The album was, according to Sage, not well received in the United States at the time of its release, though it did fare better in Europe. Along with other Wipers records, Youth of America came to be acknowledged as an important album in the development of American underground and independent rock movements of the early 80s.
The next album, Over the Edge, issued in 1983 by Trap via Brain Eater Records, was the first Wipers record to gain significant modern rock airplay. It was led by the song, "Romeo", which had already been released the previous year as a 7" single by Trap. The band then embarked on their first extensive tour, documented on the Wipers Tour 84 cassette-only live album, which was reissued by Enigma Records in 1985 as Wipers.
In 1985, Naish was replaced by Steve Plouf, and Enigma issued Sage's first solo album, Straight Ahead.
Signing to Enigma's Restless Records division, Wipers released 1986's Land of the Lost, featuring the song "Let Me Know", used in the film River's Edge. It was followed by Follow Blind (1987) and The Circle (1988). All three records were recorded in Sage's studio 421 Sound.Album credits printed on Wipers album covers (visible on discogs).
In 1989, drummer Travis McNabb joined Wipers for a tour, during which Sage announced that the band was ending due to music business frustrations and the loss of their studio space. Sage then relocated to Phoenix, Arizona, and Davidson left to move to London. After building a new recording studio in Arizona, Sage released a second solo album, 1991's Sacrifice (For Love).
Two compilations were released in this era: The Best of Wipers and Greg Sage in 1990 by Restless, and Complete Rarities '78–'90 in 1993 by Germany's True Believer Records. The latter included the first Wipers 7", the B-side of the "Romeo" 7", sampler contributions, and live material from 1986 and 1989.
Sage restarted Wipers in 1993, rejoined by Plouf, releasing three additional albums as a duo: Silver Sail (1993) and The Herd (1996), both on the Tim/Kerr label, and Power in One (1999) on Sage's new Zeno Records. The band became inactive after 1999.
In 2001, Zeno released Wipers Box Set, which included the first three Wipers albums, which by that time had been long out-of-print, along with the songs from the Alien Boy EP and additional previously unreleased material. Jackpot Records and Sage later reissued Is This Real?, Youth of America and Over the Edge on vinyl.
Plouf operated a vintage goods/Zeno Records store in Portland, appropriately named Zeno Oddities, which closed sometime between 2009 and 2010.
McNabb formed the Beggars, and went on to work as a session and tour drummer for artists including Vigilantes of Love, Billy Pilgrim, Shawn Mullins, Indigo Girls, Brendan Benson, Howie Day, Dar Williams, Mandi Perkins, Big & Rich and Gavin DeGraw. McNabb was a member of Better Than Ezra from 1996 to 2009. In 2007, he joined Bluegrass music/country music act Sugarland.
Davidson (who had previously recorded with the Sage-produced Rancid Vat in 1985) played bass on The Jesus and Mary Chain's 1993 EP Sound of Speed.
In 1992, tribute album Eight Songs for Greg Sage and the Wipers was released by Tim/Kerr as a box set of four colored 7" records, featuring Wipers songs performed by Nirvana, Hole, Napalm Beach, M99, Dharma Bums, Crackerbash, Poison Idea, and the Whirlees. The expanded CD release, retitled Fourteen Songs for Greg Sage and the Wipers, also included covers by Hazel, Calamity Jane, Saliva Tree, Honey, Nation of Ulysses, and Thurston Moore and Keith Nealy.
Wipers had a great influence on Nirvana. For example, fans can hear similarities between the bass line of Wipers' song "Potential Suicide" and Nirvana's track "Breed". Wipers gained significant exposure as a result of Nirvana's 1992 covers of two songs from Is This Real? ("D-7" on the EP Hormoaning, and "Return of the Rat" on the Eight Songs compilation. "D-7" was also released as a B-side on the UK CD single release of "Lithium" and played as part of Nirvana's 1992 live show that was later released as Live At Reading). Kurt Cobain's list of his top 50 albums, probably written in 1993, included the first three Wipers' albums. His wife, Courtney Love, whose band Hole covered "Over the Edge" both on recording and frequently at live performances, was also influenced by the band. German grunge band, Alien Boys named themselves from Wipers song Alien Boy. Other bands that have cited Wipers as an influence include Mudhoney, Cloud Nothings, Hot Snakes, and Metz.
Former members
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