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The Wipers are a punk rock group formed in Portland, Oregon in 1977 by guitarist Greg Sage, drummer Sam Henry and bassist Doug Koupal.
Is This Real?, The Wipers first album, was first released in 1979 and quietly gained a cult following. The Wipers became more well known after the wildly popular punk rock band Nirvana covered two songs from Is This Real? and Nirvanas Kurt Cobain admitted being heavily influenced by the band. The Wipers are considered to have been a major influence on the grunge music scene, and Is This Real? is now considered by many to be one of the greatest and most influential punk albums of all time.
While the Wipers began by pioneering the tight/catchy punk rock that Nirvana and others would later perfect, the band quickly evolved into producing guitar-solo soaked, labyrinthine punk rock epics. Sage became known for not only his do-it-yourself ethics and guitar solos, but also for his domineering approach to the bands creative process.
In 1992, the tribute album Eight songs for Greg Sage and the Wipers (Tim Kerr Records) was released on 4 colored 7-inch records, and included Wipers songs performed by Nirvana, Hole, Napalm Beach, M99, Crakerbash, Poison Idea, and The Whirlees. The CD release of tribute album was called Fourteen Songs for Greg Sage and the Wipers, and was expanded to include covers by Hazel, Calamity Jane, Saliva Tree, Honey, Nation of Ulysses, and Thurston Moore-Keith Nealy.
For the tribute album, Nirvana first recorded the song D7 using studio time furnished unknowingly by the Geffen music label and Geffen subsequently did not allow the recording to appear on Eight Songs. Ultimately, Nirvana then later recorded the song Return of the Rat using their own money.
In 2001, Greg Sages Zeno Records released a 3 CD Box Set of the Wipers first 3 albums, which by that time had become long out-of-print.
Discography
- Is This Real?, (1979)
- Youth of America, (1981)
- Over the Edge, (1983)
- The Wipers, (1985)
- Land of the Lost, (1986)
- Follow Blind, (1987)
- The Circle, (1988)
- Silver Sail, (1995)
- The Herd, (1996)
- Power in One, (1999)
- 3 CD Box Set, (2001)
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