Bruce Gilbert and Graham Lewis were members of the innovative and highly influential post-punk band Wire - whose three late 70s albums Pink Flag, Chairs Missing and 154 - were a fertile and increasingly abstract voyage into the possibilities of the post-punk musical universe. By 1980, the band were on the brink of losing their record deal with EMI and were starting to fragment into separate recording units. Ivo was (and remains) a big Wire fan - and after meeting him at a Bauhaus show, Bruce and Graham offered 4AD some material they had been working on. Shortly afterwards, an EP (called "Like This For Ages") was released under the name Cupol; it was followed by the full length album 3R4 which was credited simply to BC Gilbert/ G. Lewis. All of Bruce Gilbert and Graham Lewis's 4AD material was subsequently collected on the 8 Time CD.