Love this band immensely! A friend once mentioned an album which if I recall was entitled ‘The Talented Mr. Partridge’, which was actually Andy Partridge sneaking into the studio and re-mixing ‘Drums and Wires’ until it was completely unrecognizable. Does anyone know anything about this album, or was my friend just having me on?
much love for English Settlement and Black Sea ; they hold up really well and bring back some very fond memories.
Strange, for some reason before this thread I’ve never really heard people talk about Black Sea. It’s always been Drums and Wires, English Settlement, Skylarking and Oranges & Lemons. Have I just had strange luck, or is it an overlooked album?
I liked XTC from when I heard “Making Plans for Nigel” on Radio 1 as a kid. But the first album I bought was Oranges and Lemons - I was a junior in high school and it seemed pretty sophisticated when the other kids were buying Warrant records.
I also got Waxworks when I joined the Columbia House record club. XTC more or less disappeared after the O&L follow up, Nonsuch, which I thought was a bit uneven. So I went backwards. I remember XTC got a lot of recognition in the U.S. with Skylarking but I while I like the album, it’s a bit… polished. Too much perhaps? Andy famously did not get on with producer Todd Rundgren, but he acknowledged the album was well done.
The first two albums, White Music and Go 2, are a bit angular, and while I like the singles from the albums, I find them hard to listen to. Drums and Wires is more melodic, perhaps because Barry Andrews was replaced by Dave Gregory. The singles are awesome, and this is one album where perhaps Moulding outshined his more prolific partner Partridge - he wrote “Making Plans for Nigel,” “Life Begins at the Hop” (on the U.S. reissues) and “Ten Feet Tall.” “Reel By Reel” is a smashing song by Andy, though. It should also be noted that D&W was the band’s first collaboration with Steve Lillywhite and Hugh Padgham. (One or both served as engineer or producer for the Drums and Wires, Black Sea, and English Settlement albums - probably their best run of albums.)
However, Black Sea was the first XTC album I could listen to all the way through without skipping any tracks - they’re all great. It explodes with the arguing guitars and percussive bombast of “Respectable Street,” the tuneful “Generals and Majors,” another Moulding gem in “Love at First Sight” (with one of the most interesting guitar solos in the XTC canon, as well as a catchy Linn drum line), the droning “No Language in our Lungs,” the melancholic “Towers of London” (with a cracking riff - one of the best in the XTC catalog), and the album is rounded out with “Paper and Iron,” with that loud whacking chorus. I’m less a fan of “Sgt. Rock,” but that might have to do with the fact that I read that Partridge was mortified of the lyric and felt the song is embarrassing in retrospect.
The CD version has “Smokeless Zone,” which is another Moulding classic, “Don’t Lose Your Temper” (which always reminds me of Oingo Boingo for some reason), and the very atmospheric, almost spooky “The Somnambulist.”
rikc, get yourself to a record store and bless your ears with this amazing album!
My rankings of the XTC albums:
- Black Sea
- English Settlement
- Oranges & Lemons
- The Apple Venus albums
- Drums & Wires
- The Big Express
- Nonsuch
- Go 2
- White Music
I should point out the gap between 4-7 are a hair’s breadth. I also loved the boxset, Coat of Many Cupboards, and the BBC session compilation, Transistor Blast.
Such a brilliant thread. Can I tell you how proud I am to be a Doper, with all of you professing your love for XTC?
Oh, one other piece of trivia. The Black Sea album cover (once you remove the green bag, purists) is just a photo of the band in diving suits… but the band’s name is represented on the cover through symbols. The seagull is the “X,” the ship’s mast is the “T,” and the crescent moon is the “C.”
Cool, huh?
Well I’ll be. Learn something new every day.
Counter-trivia: the diving suit photo was taken because the album was originally going to be called Working Under Pressure, a veiled jab at their manager who had them on a constant grind of touring and recording that eventually led to Partridge’s burnout. Said manager, recognizing the criticism for what it was, insisted the album title be changed.
It’s real - the title is ‘Take Away’ by the Talented Mr Partridge. It’s for the hardcore must-have-everything fan.
As for the OP; - I love XTC and have said here before how the shape of my life was changed by seeing their last full live gig. Great gig too - the notion that AP suffered from stage-fright seemed ridiculous after seeing him revel in it.
Anyway I came in to support the OP getting the Fuzzy Warbles. My son bought the presentation set for my birthday and not only is the music great, but it is truly inspiring to hear the variety and scope of Partridge’s genius.
For me, stand out songs would be -
Broomstick Rhythm
I Defy You Gravity
I Dont Want to Be Here
Don’t Ever Call Me Chickenhead
Everything Will Be Alright
Goosey Goosey
Snowing Angels
Goodbye Humanosaurus
Sonic Boom
and so on. I’m just talking about new songs - the demos are fantastic and inspirational too.
My wife hates XTC, largely because I played little else when we met.
They are one of very few bands that you can tell by the chord structure alone.
MiM
All these XTC fans, and yet nobody ever responded to my question in this thread.
Math is my worst subject!
We are mayors of simpleton 
No love for Mummer?
XTC is one of the best pop bands ever. Their music is timeless, and pre-dated music videos by having vivid imagery, creating a built-in video in each song…
“Well I don’t know how many pounds make up a ton.” - Partsy, “Mayor of Simpleton”
Maybe the best coda of any song they’ve ever written. Nice one Andy.
Did everybody else’s Nonsuch come with the insert of Andy’s blurbs for all the previous XTC discs?
I like XTC. My only complaint is the microscopic font they use for the lyrics in the CD booklets–Skylarking and English Settlement, for example.
Some, but it’s my least favorite of their “mature” (read: post-Barry Andrews) work. Mostly the production I think – it just sounds flaccid and shrill.