When I did an
interview with Andy Partridge back in 1985 he started talking about his
home town Swindon. According to Partridge, Swindon was a dump, it had
nothing to show for itself, it was so dead they might as well turn off
the city lights at 9 p.m. and go to bed. He even claimed that the
Swindon football team were once up against 11 garbage cans and lost. 29
years later Swindon Town is top 3 in League 1, so the days of garbage
can humiliations are long gone.
Anyway, his
Swindon bashing covered the fact that the city gave birth to one of the
most remarkable bands in British rock since The Beatles. I am of course
talking about the unpredictable, highly original and wonderfully quirky
XTC.
Even if you’d be
quick to spot the Beatles-references and a continuation of The Kinks’
drowsy snapshots of everyday life, their songs took so many left turns
they would make both Frank Zappa and the early 10cc proud.
They debuted back
in 1977, the year of punk. Trying to sound punk-like, even deliberately
reducing themselves to a two chord racket, they still couldn’t hide the
art school playfulness that was holding its breath in the background,
just waiting for a chance to bounce out of the speakers like a thousand
multicoloured rubber balls.
Already on their
breakthrough single “Life Begins At The Hop” (no. 54 in 1979), XTC had
great difficulty sticking to the din. The song was simply too starry
eyed and full of life’s wonders. Then came “Making Plans For Nigel”,
and XTC never looked back. “Nigel” is weird and twisted, the melody
line so insisting it almost gets on your nerves, but not quite, thanks
to that strange, accentuated beat that gives the impression of a song
nonchalantly dragging its feet.
To call XTC a band
is a bit misleading. Andy Partridge took control very early on, and his
only challenger, Colin Moulding (the man behind “Nigel ...”), simply
failed to match Partridge’s productivity. He also lacks his boss’
intellectual way with words (Partridge’s lyrics are clever, precise and
often ironic). But Moulding is important for the overall mix on the
XTC-albums. 45 minutes with Andy Partridge alone would simply be too
much.
In spite of their
potential XTC never achieved world domination. Their only TOP 10 hit,
“Senses Working Overtime”, came as early as 1982, and they have hardly
been near the charts since.
The reasons for
this are certainly numerous. In the heydays of punk and new wave XTC
stood out as lively, funny, brave and colourful. But then came the
80’s, the poseurs, the hair styles, the cheap and synthetic dance-pop,
and XTC suddenly both looked and sounded irrelevant. They simply
required too much of the listener, even if they were working in the pop
factory.
One can also argue
that yes, Partridge & Moulding share the Beatles’ unorthodox views
regarding how a pop song should sound. But they lack the Liverpudlians’
gift of creating melodies that are so strong that they can sneak all
sorts of weird antics into the brains of the millions. They don’t have
the Beatles’ singing voices either. But then who has?
This does not
diminish the group’s rich and diverse catalogue however. It only
explains why they never achieved stardom.
So where to start
if you want a taste of the multi coloured world of XTC? Most people
would go for a compilation, I guess. And as this column focuses on
vinyl, the answer might be “Waxworks: Some Singles 1977–1982”, a 12
track album released back in 1982. But then you would miss out on some
of their greatest albums. I’d add “Skylarking” (1986) and “Nonsuch”
(1992), that’s for sure, and the stunning “Black Sea” (1980).
If you are not a
vinyl junkie, the double CD “Fossil Fuel: The XTC Singles 1977-92”
(includes all 12 tracks from “Waxworks”) is an impressive document of
Swindon’s only pride. 31 songs that should have been the world wide
hits, if God had wanted it to happen. But He didn’t, so He was awarded
with His own song “Dear God”, which definitely is not on the playlist in
Heaven.
Released:
November 1982
(All songs written
by Andy Partridge, except where noted)
Contents:
Science Friction/Statue of Liberty/This is Pop?/Are You Receiving
Me?/Life Begins at the Hop” (Moulding)/Making Plans for Nigel
(Moulding)/Wait Till Your Boat Goes Down/Generals and Majors
(Moulding)/Towers of London/Sgt. Rock (Is Going to Help Me)/Senses
Working Overtime/Ball and Chain (Moulding)
