Every now and then I get people asking for a playlist of every song mentioned in my videos: Well here's a Spotify link for this one: open.spotify.com/playlist/3ul92QHaYkHxKJN2H3m5qv?si=109364e2708b4189 And the TH-cam Music link: music.th-cam.com/play/PLooaZ33lSaldxagNZbFOStlyV94Nmkz0h.html&si=FyEZ8siWOYnJGnMf
Bands like XTC were great because they were able to create their own identity while absorbing the trends of the time. I always liked how their music was too weird for normal people and too normal for weird people.
I lived about 5 doors down from Andy Partridge in Penhill Swindon, in the summer of 71 he'd have his bedroom window open and be blasting out music from Hendrix and Pink Floyd, while we were listening to things like Tony Orlando and Dawn "Tie a yellow ribbon round the old oak tree". He was way ahead of us. Local boy done good.
This is the best summation of XTC I've seen on TH-cam so far. Tremendous selection of moments to pick out, and there's still so much more for people to discover when they dive into the albums and story. The ending wish for a "Running Up That Hill" moment with them is something I am confident will happen someday, and the only hindrance to it is the bevy of incredible songs that could potentially do it. But we should all keep trying to push it to happen, because their music absolutely deserves it. And it's absurd it never happened in their prime. Thanks for an amazing video!
I'm not surprised. Trash Theory is the absolute best channel yet for this that I have come across. The amount of research that goes into making this is staggering and after watching most videos by TT covering a band that I find interesting, I end up with feelings of gratitude towards the team behind this channel and great satisfaction with delight.
Someone once said that XTC was God's apology for The Beatles breaking up. Growing up near Washington DC, I listened to WHFS. They were among the first "commercial" stations to play REM, New Order and more. In America, it was almost always on a low power college station. WHFS showed me Charlatans, Stone Roses, Depeche Mode, The Cure, James, The Smiths and XTC.
As an HFS listener, you’ll undoubtedly remember iconic DJ Jonathan “Weasel” Gilbert… I was listening to his show one day back in the 80s, and he said something that has stuck with me all these days, that Andy Partridge was suffering from an identity crisis and thought he was Paul McCartney. I didn’t quite understand what he meant at the time, but it certainly seems fitting given your comment.
The Police were playing South Florida in 1980 for the third time, and I got in line for tickets, mostly to see the opening band for the first time - XTC. When I learned that XTC had canceled, I went home ticketless. So many of my friends were at the Police show the night John Lennon was killed, but I was watching Monday Night Football.
I was in a band called The Secret and toured with XTC (around UK) as the support band back in 1977. I remember the first night of the tour listening to them and we all looked at each other with comments like what the hell is this music? Basically laughing at their sound! We were also amazed how they had a big punk following at the time. We played almost every night for 6 weeks and after the tour all of us in The Secret went out and bought XTC's album "White Music" It took a while but we all realized that these guys were very talented and unique. I still listen to this album with fond memories (David Banks AKA Shrink)
I was brought to XTC’s doorstep at the end of my high school and beginning of the rest of my life by a perceived first love. I have washed that love out of my mind and put the entire XTC catalog in his place. I know now I didn’t truly love that man but he gave me one of the most enduring loves of my life that I shall take to my grave.
You put me out of your mind because I watched the next episode? I said I'm sorry! rats, good luck getting your XTC mp3's to pretend that it was the dog that farted after the El Patio dinner.
Making Plans For Nigel was one of the best songs of the 70's & Towers Of London one of the 80's finest singles. Shame that Andy couldn't tour as XTC would have been not one of but perhaps the top band of the 80's. Their songs were that good. 1 2 3 4 5 !
I knew a Nigel at the time this came out so would think of him. Now I think of Nigel Farage. I Just Can't Get Enough by Depeche Mode also reminds me if Nigel Farage.
XTC is arguably the best band never to hit it big. They changed from record to record, and challenged us to do the same. Music listeners today would be fortunate indeed to have the likes of Andy Partridge, Colin Moulding and Dave Gregory making music for them. I hope some day they will.
There's a plethora of great English bands who never made it big from the times of Zombies and Pretty Things onwards. XTC is surely great band, but real pundit should refrain from the word best or greatest.
There are so many bands and musicians that I love that never became household names, especially British musicians. I'm an obsessed fan of Nick Lowe. I've got most of his albums, his autograph (twice!), a big poster, and I've loved him since the 1970s (Rockpile!). Rarely do I meet people who know who he is, but they know his songs. Everyone from Elvis Costello, to Tom Petty, to Johnny Cash have performed his songs. Heck, he was even Johnny Cash's son-in-law for several years!
@@LazyIRanch I saw Nick Lowe open for The Cars in Los Angeles in 1982. That was my first concert, so technically he was the first rock band I ever saw live.
XTC are virtually an unmatchable band. Andy Partridge and Colin Moulding were two absolute geniuses and some of their stuff is just out of this world. I regard Skylarking as one of the greatest pop albums in history for sure. Anybody who loves this band totally gets my vote. Kudos to the fanbase! 🤠🎸
@@kimberlyvespa Eh, well, so it goes with the mainstream, I suppose. At least, XTC has had the necessary impact they've had on several artists and a wide range of music connoisseurs. 💪
It’s wild to me to find out they were not wildly popular in the UK. Growing up in the 80s in the southern US, XTC were bigger than The Beatles or Queen in my household thanks to my dad’s love for them. The Dukes records dubbed on to a single cassette were always in rotation our summer roadtrips. Anyone looking for a great example of their adventurousness should track down the B-Sides collection ‘Rag and Bone Buffet.’ It’s not on streaming but used copies seem to be pretty cheap.
Surprised me too! They were always a band that I loved and listened to here in the US. I worked at a record and video store in 1987 and Skylarking was a record in our rotation that I made sure that I played in-store a lot!😊
Seen as too clever by half by the inky music press of the time (NME in particular), who were always suspicious of people who are smarter than they are. Throw in burnout, ego clashes and non-touring and you end up back in Swindon. AP did write my all-time favourite Monkees tune, You Bring The Summer, from his blimmin' garden shed. That's good enough for me ...
They did do OK here but the moment they stopped touring the hits dried up and sad to say because videos became more and more popular and they weren't particularly good looking or fashionable (besides Moulding) that went against them too. Before they stopped touring they had two top 10 hits with 'Sgt Rock' and 'Senses Working Overtime' and 'Nigel' made the top 20.
Wonderful documentary. My favorite album of theirs has always been English Settlement, but my love for the others continues to grow over the years. I introduced them to my daughter and she is a die hard fan now too. Nothing like waking up and hearing "Making Plans for Nigel" or "Jason and the Argonauts" in her bedroom as she's getting ready for school. Thanks for taking the time to make this and share it! Peace.
My absolute favourite band, they are so underrated. They are all so full of talent, although I have always preferred Colin’s compositions and melodic songs to Andy’s, but still, their development throughout the years is impressive, and all their albums bring something unique to the table. Thanks for making a video about them ❤
In 2018 a brain haemorrhage completely screwed up my music-making career. I woke up from surgery unable to play the piano ever again with a nurse spoon-feeding me yoghurt. XTC's remarkable music helped me acclimatise to my new broken life (for several weeks their special music was all I listened to) and reminded me why I'll be a music-lover to the end of my days.
Sorry to hear your loss, but way to find joy still . You should read Oliver Sacks “A Leg to Stand On”. I had a similar experience with The Church “anaesthesia”, and middle period albums
I was lucky enough to have seen XTC open up for The Cars. That was my first official rock concert of my teenage years and a ticket that I paid for with money that I earned with my afterschool job.
College radio in the mid-eighties northeast USA was soaked in XTC, REM, echo and the bunnymen, half man half biscuit, husker dü, smithereens, and a million other sounds that truly provided an atmosphere that was an alternative to the outside world of hair metal and classic rock.
The music cliques in the 80s were pretty funny. Those hair bands were so awful and ridiculous and I'm sure their fans thought you were the ridiculous one.
Anyone here remember WFNX? Especially prior to 1990, it was absolute music heaven. I started listening late ‘86, and was happy to recognize some of the songs l loved from watching V66 in middle school, haha. V66…Man those were the days, all the best and the worst jumbled together. First you’d see like Don Henley or something, then maybe Depeche Mode or the Smiths followed by Black Betty by Ram Jam, lmao. Educational!
Dear God is a legendary tune imo, my mother was always obsessed with religion and this song was the first time I really started questioning things as a kid..
Opposite here. I was antireligion at 13 and then heard this song. I took the critique to heart but... then had critiques to the critique. I am Catholic now.
@@zimriel The most profound innovation crafted by the divine entities was the idea of free will. This innovation not only relieved the gods of any accountability but also concurrently bestowed it upon us, the human race.
XTC gets a rep for being an an anti-religion band because of this song, but there are plenty of other XTC songs that take spiritual perspectives and even pay homage to the concept of churches (such as Church of Women). I think Partridge questions religion as organized and/or exploited by man, but I don't think he is 100% against it in concept.
My dad put me on XTC when I was 13 or so, circa 1997. He and my mom used to go see XTC live in NYC whenever they came through late 70s-early 80s. I've known and loved their catalogue for most of my life- a truly special band!!
XTC is up there with The Beatles, The Kinks and The Who as one of the best british groups ever. It is the perfect bridge between 60s psychadelia, new wave atittude and britpop coolness
Very high quality films that incorporate much research. Only raelnyc's progressive rock videos match this guys, IMO. Helps that a favourite band is featured today.
XTC was my favorite band; I was lucky enough to see them and meet them in Chicago on the DRUMS AND WIRES tour. Andy Partridge shared his beer with me. He gave me his address in Swindon; I wrote him and he wrote a really nice letter back. A year later they were opening for The Police in a much larger venue in Detroit. I liked BLACK SEA, but only decades later did I learn what Andy was going through. Back at that small venue Chicago gig backstage, he whispered in my ear that I probably would like his forthcoming dub album. I did, and when I got a slot on college radio in Ann Arbor I always opened with "Steam Fist Futurist." Thanks for the documentary. Andy Partridge changed my life.
@@GurungyNoHamuster Ooh I didn't know this existed! I love a ton of songs on the BE but totally agree with Runt's production critique, stoked to listen to this. Thank you!
Yes, definitely underrated in general. But among music nerds my age, referring to them alongside Kate Bush and Peter Gabriel is perfectly apt. If your interest is piqued by this, but don't know where to start, consider the collection Fossil Fuel: The XTC Singles 1977-92 as a starting point.
XTC will forever be underrated. They deserved to be successful in real time not retrospectively. I keep hoping that someone like me who was part of the album buying public in the last years of the 70's and early eighties will use the song for something cool. And the kids will embrace them kinda like Stranger Things did for Kate Bush. I always found it interesting that every time I met a fellow fan they turned out to be a musician. I was a college radio music director in the early to mid eighties and I rotated the shit out of XTC. Still listening now, thanks for the video.
What a Legend,still living in Swindon! I loved Making plans for Nigel.Im 57 now and this film has really put XTC in a landscape for me past and present.I always thought Sensi was a person doing overtime at work.I was too busy singing to listen properly.I have been diagnosed with ADHD only last year.Now the song makes sense.😅
"Music as good" as their heroes indeed. Such a great thoughtful heartful expose to such an underated band, well deserved. Loved it! Thank you for my new set list of great influences. Magnifique!
I saw them during the drums and wires tour, I think it was at Danceteria in New York. The irony is that they were so much better live than in the studio. Songs like 10 feet tall and roads girdle the globe were just absolutely amazing live. They totally eclipsed the recorded versions. I’m glad I got to see them live once. Had Partridge been able to reconcile himself to performing live,, I think they might’ve changed more fame. Because I find their studio records a little dry compared to the euphoric cacaphony of energy energy of the live performances. Something was really lost in translation with this band in the studio compared to some other bands that do wonderfully in the studio. But no matter how you slice it, they are, indeed, one of the most criminally underrated bands in history.
10 feet tall was a particular stand out, as was roads girdle the globe. As was real by real, actually. Every song was better live than on the Studio version but those three really stood out.
@@NoBSMusicReviews thats awesome! i was born wayy too late to see XTC live, but i've watched a lot of concert recordings :)) my personal favourite is helicopter
Every now and then I get Senses Workjng Overtime running through my head. I then reach for the guitar, crash it out a few times and get an XTC album on the stereo on repeat for a few days until I've had my top up! Like so many of the best XTC hits the subjects and messages in the lyrics remain uncannily current - Generals and Majors, Peter Pumpkjnhead, Dear God etc, etc. Which makes me wonder, what did these guys know back then and how come we didn't listen harder to them!? That they rose out of their roots but didn't become consumed with fame like so many other bands had a certain sweet appropriateness about it, I think. Thank you XTC, you made a real difference and it continues!
Thanks for finally addressing one of my favorite bands. They were always getting airplay during my college years of the early 82-86, but mysterious because of their relative obscurity in America. One of my roommates bought Skylarking when it came out, and I didn't hear Dear God until years later when it got heavy rotation on US popular "alternative" radio stations. I didn't even know it was from the Skylarking sessions until fairly recently.
I truly love your well researched and excellently presented material. Would you consider a "Teardrop Explodes" Julian Cope/Ian McCulloch expose? I would be thrilled. Thanks for all your content!
Interesting stuff. Dear God is in my top 10 songs of all time. It's an inspired creation. I now regret never seeing them live (and I had the chance several times but I was more into metal and reggae) but in 1979 I had a girlfriend from Swindon and when we went back to her hometown once we visited one of her school friends. The schoolfriend's husband came into the kitchen looking for his car keys and said hello ... typically shaking hands and having a little chat and then he was off. His name was Andy Partridge ... and it was months later before I realized who he was. My girlfriend had said he was a musician in a band but then we all were so it wasn't really even a talking point! So, beat that ... been in Andy Partridge's kitchen for a cuppa ;-)
My only rule in a used record store is that if I see XTC, I buy XTC. Loved this video, and learned more about a deeply loved band and their journey. Thank you.
I was a kid in the '80's and was listening to a little more main stream stuff. I'd never heard of XTC until 97 when I really got into Sarah McLachlan and discovered a cover of Dear God on her Rarities, B Sides and Other Stuff. I've been listening to them ever since!
my dad introduced me to XTC in the early 00s when I was around 7 years old. he picked me up from school and the radio began playing “Senses Working Overtime” he lit up and turned up the radio and we began singing it together because I found the chorus so damn catchy.
Properly dug into their discography this year and haven’t been able to put them down since. Insanely good songwriting with a strange parallel to The Beatles. Great video, Oranges and Lemons and Nonsuch ended up being 2 of my favourites - King For A Day really stands out as one of Colins best for me. A shame they’re not more widely known but reading the comments makes me so happy.
I hadn't really heard of XTC until I was about 40 a few years ago, when they played "King" on the radio at work semi-regularly. I was like "What is this, it's amazing?" Shazamed it, and within a couple of months I had their Fossil Fuel compilation in my collection. And I frigging LOVE it.
I was always put off by "King For A Day"; I thought it sounded way too much like a re-write of the Tears For Fears song "Everybody Wants To Rule The World", which I found intolerable.
Best thing about this channel is pausing it all the time and just going into the Spotify search with all the bands or tunes referenced. I come away not only knowing the subject of the video but cross references to explore later.
One thing that deserves more mention is the quality of their musicianship as players. Partridge is probably the best rhythm guitarist of his generation. Dave Gregory's solos are some of the most tasteful, adept and inventive in rock/pop.
Clearly you are a guitarist, not a bassist, or you would be in awe of Colin Moulding too. I agree with you regarding the 'musicianship' of Andy & Dave.
They are all extraordinary musicians, makes sense that they inspired Jellyfish, the best US band never to have "made it big" that so many musicians love, both of them tend to have great drums really prominent in the mix, makes such a difference
First time I saw XTC was on what I believe was their first ever tv appearance on kids tv show Magpie, Mick Robertson, Jenny Hanley etc in late 19 seventy frozen to death. They did Science Friction and I was hooked after the first chorus had finished. Dashed out to buy the 12" 3DEP for which you needed 3D glasses to look at the sleeve properly. I still love those first two albums as much today as I did then. That is not to say anything after was worse because far from it, obviously were not, just different. Even through all the trouble, trials and tribulations, they never stopped evolving. I just read (after watching this) that Nunsuch was nominated for a Grammy and the magnificent The Disappointed (one of my all time favourite XTC songs) for an Ivor Novello. Criminal that neither got a gong, but blimey, how good are they? Just a magnificent band with a catalogue many would die for just a small portion of
You've mentioned the band's appearance on Magpie. I'm a Swindon musician & have known the members of XTC since shortly before the 3D EP was released. One lunchtime, I was in the bar, where they stored their gear & rehearsed in the beer cellar, Terry (Chambers) appeared wanting the keys to get into the cellar & unload the band's van. I ended up helping him & one of the bands roadies with the gear. Amongst the equipment were 3 large Polystyrene letters XTC, from the Magpie TV show, at the time the band thought that may be the highlight of their fame & took the letters (that were behind them onstage on the programme) home as a memento.
I was one of those college radio DJs (WCFM at Williams College) in the 80s who played this song constantly. I was also a good Catholic kid away from home for the first time and really exploring my complete lack of belief in the God and religion I'd been taught. I think "Dear God" is so brilliant because it can be read as an atheist rejecting the entire concept, or as a person of faith grappling with the spiritual questions of good and evil that every Christian really has to confront. The very structure of the song as an argument with God implies the deity has to exist, while the lyrics insist it cannot and it's jaggedness evokes that crisis of faith. It's a better song than Partridge may realize.
Insightful comment! I grew up in the Bible Belt and was blown away by the audacity of the song's lyrics when I first heard it back in the early 90's. I'm gonna play the song now after watching this video - will pray beforehand to reassure Jesus that I'm not being blasphemous, just curious.
Thanks for the great video! Yeah I've always felt XTC was underrated. Their earlier stuff was a terrific blend of Pop and Punk; and Partridge had that taunting "Nhyah Nuh Nuh Nyah Nyah" quality to his vocals. I'm glad you somewhat covered 25 o'clock . That was simply an amazing album. What in the World's hilarious ultra-psychoactive imagining of a future world saturated in psychedelic drugs, is one of their all time best songs! (of course so many of their songs fit into the category of "all time best") Does anyone know if that is Woody Allen at the end of My Love Explodes? I wish there was an extended version of this documentary! Thanks again!
I love XTC. I love Andy Partridge's voice. I love that XTC were SO British! I listened to them at the age of 17 in New Zealand and now almost 60 I still love the sound of XTC. Thank you for the great music XX
Thanks so much for covering this underrated gem of a band. I also implore you to check out "Me and the Wind", "Poor Skeleton Steps Out", "Greenman", "Yacht Dance", "Battery Brides" "My Weapon" and "Complicated Game"
There was a particular sweetness for Andy in working with the Monkees as he had won a sketch contest as a child when they were at the height of their popularity the first time. Andy also contributed to the Christmas album the Monkees recorded with the song Unwrap You at Christmas. That song has been recorded with Andy's daughter Holly doing the vocals. On Ape House Records. I was lucky. I saw XTC live at the legendary Cuckoo's Nest. Andy sang a good part of the show with a Barry Manilow album cover on his head.
XTC... what can I say? As a Belgian musician, last year I visited Stonehenge and Avebury... but also Swindon ... for the 'Great Western Railway' and the legacy of my heroes.
Thank god for curious college radio DJs in the U.S. That song is irresistible. To think that was a B side! I thought it was a boy singing as well 🙂 "A petulant failure". I can understand why he thinks that when you consider their entire catalogue, but I'll always love it alongside the other XTC classics. Can't even imagine the world of music without that tune in it. And the response was bound to be huge. Andy Partridge has clearly had a tough ride. That's quite often what makes someone create very special work. This is a fascinating upload. A great watch. Thank you so much.
Marvellous review of the marvellous XtC. Astonishing that a work of art as sublime as Skylarking only made it to number 90 in the UK album charts. And that XtC and Andy Partridge weren't massively commercially successful in addition to being critically lauded. The masses have neither taste nor intelligence.
@@davidalau No, but he needs more credit for all the fine tunes. Met the great Andy once and he was really modest and down to earth - as you'd expect a Swindon lad to be. Witty too. Seems like we won't get another XtC album in our lifetime, sadly.
It’s a fool’s errand judging an artist in a world where Taylor Swift is seen as talent. I met my heroes in an airport in LA at the Air Canada booth in 1987. And yes, they were very kind and patient with me as I blurted stupid things at them…how much the songs meant, how the songs saved my life, blah blah blah. What Mr Partridge “needs” isn’t for me to say. I hope he has what he wants. A wonderful wife, a lovely talented daughter and creative partners to extend his repertoire. He still puts out beautiful and fascinating music even if not many care to go looking and listening and thinking about them. Maybe if we all paid for his cool merch and left positive comments on his downloads, that would bring a smile.
@@davidalau That's a fair appraisal. Andy's pretty contented with the adoration he receives from the people that matter (his musical peers, his real fans and his family) and his quirky interests both musical and nerdy - he has quite a model soldier, comic and toy collection I'm told. He does OK from the merch and, as you're smart enough to know, many rock giants in their mansions aren't happy dudes. You met the band at a creative peak - nice. I just had a painfully awkward chat with Andy alone and wish I'd planned it as it was excruciating - he was a good guy throughout. Best never to meet your heroes is advised (although my cuppa with Peter Cushing was lovely!) Maybe Andy's seen this video and the mostly glowing comments about him, his music and his band? If so he can smile and think "yeah, I'm a legend!" Cheers, matey.
I have been a fan of XTC since the late 80's when I first heard them. True genius, intelligent lyrics, mesmerizing melodies and harmonies. They have achieved music on the level of their heroes. Thanks for this piece, and thank you XTC!
Once again you have produced a fantastic examination and analysis of a great band. Growing up in Northern NY state, I was listening to XTC on Canadian radio stations. Their influence was made clear in this piece.
18 years ago this week, I was finishing a semester abroad in London and my best friend back in the US asked me to pick up some albums that were out of print stateside or just not out yet, and bring them back. One of the ones out of print was Skylarking. I had somehow never heard of XTC before and when I listened to it before packing it up to bring it home to my friend, it didn’t quite land with me…yet. But the seeds of my growing into a weird 38 year old who counts post punk, a genre that peaked around the time of my birth, as-if not my absolute favorite, then certainly close to it-had been planted.
My brother-in-law is a huge XTC fan. I live in Canada and when I went house hunting in 2004 one of the house's basement wall had a mural of Drums and Wires on it.
For years I ‘only’ had Black Sea and 25 o’Clock, I couldn’t believe they could put out other albums as good as those. I was wrong, they were pretty much all as fantastic- a brilliant and musically varied band with great lyrics, a lot of intelligence, humour and talent. Top shelf!
Another great TT upload! Really appreciate you covering some of my favorite overlooked bands so I can just send friends links to your vids and say, "Here, this puts my thoughts into words better than I can"
I stumbled across XTC while watching music videos late one night back in the early 80s. The song was "Making Plans for Nigel". It was very catchy and I've remembered it ever since. Never really explored XTC to see what else they were about. Now I'm beginning to think maybe I should. Some intriguing stuff you've presented, especially some of the later retro stuff.
Always I loved XTC. So under rated and under appreciated. Lost track of them when all the splits began. In my seventies now and caught up with all the latter stuff after hearing English Settlement My What an album it was like meetings crush from my youth and finding the sparks still there.
I was introduced to XTC through their spot in the movie URGH: A Music War. Afterwards I bought a copy of Black Sea and nearly wore the grooves off the record. The band still occupies a place in my play lists. XTC is as relevant today as they were thirty years ago. Perhaps even more so.
Good job! Matter-of-fact and to the point, with only a minimum of fluff. I'm in America, and I remember "Dear God" being popular. It was the only XTC song that I heard until one of my computer buddies played a few other songs for me in the early 1990s. I never liked XTC's style, although I do appreciate the little mimickings of the band's influences. The aforementioned computer buddy also played for me a couple of Dukes of Stratosphear songs, "25 O'Clock" and "You're My Drug", which I very much enjoy. I dare say that "You're My Drug" is the tightest psychedelic Britpop song that I've ever heard. I think that the band missed its true musical niche by a decade.
30:20 is unbelievable, no song has ever done the subject more justice. that ending section with the pounding quarter note drums gives me chills every single time
My friends and I, who considered ourselves lovers of alternative) loved XTC. I'm surprised to learn that they broke out in the US with Skylarking. That was one of the later tapes I got (though I remember later buying Oranges and Lemons when it released). We loved and played the hell out of Drums&Wires, Go 2 (which had one of the greatest album covers of all time), Black Sea and The Big Express. I even had to buy a second copy of Black Sea when the tape deck ate my first one (and tape money was hard earned mowing lawns and weeding gardens).
Went through a big XTC phase a few years ago. Dug into the whole discography an the documentary. So many great songs, and I'm happy to hear them out in the world on occasion. Making Plans for Nigel was a bit of an inside joke for a bunch of my co-workers.
About XTC not having their "pop-cultural needle drop moment" - I distinctly remember them being name-checked frequently on Gilmore Girls, especially when Apple Venus came out. Not quite 'Running Up That Hill' going number 1 decades after the fact, but worth noting! (Excellent work as usual, BTW.)
One of my all time favorite British bands! I've always thought they were never given their due as writers or players. Such amazing tunes, and sadly i was an adult before I ever got turned on to them, thanks in large part to and indie radio station in Nashville, TN called Lightning 100. I constatnly am talking about them to my students and younger listeners! WOuld love to see them get a big pop culture moment.
Nice video -- comprehensive and well-researched (thanks for the name checks!), and helps give the band the credit their due. I do wonder about your source about who is responsible for getting "Mermaid Smiled" on the album instead of "Dear God" -- in my conversations with the band members and with Todd R, "Dear God" was going to be on the album until Andy insisted on including "Another Satellite," so that was the song responsible for bumping DG off of the initial release (of course, once DG exploded in popularity, the album was re-released with MS removed and DG included). Thanks.
Thanks - your interviews with Andy and Colin were invaluable in getting into the meat of the songs. With the "Mermaid Smiled" thing, I think I just got mixed up between the pre-release track listing and that of the re-release. I've now removed that little bit from the video, as to not confuse anyone.
So many XTC gems for the youngsters to discover! "Ten Feet Tall", "Take This Town", "Ball and Chain", "The Smartest Monkeys", "Pink Thing", "The Man Who Sailed Around His Soul", "Bungalow"... And someday they will.
That was really good. I personally like the first two albums a lot but Drums and Wires is such a masterpiece! Incredible creativity from these guys all the way up to Nonesuch (last I had) with Skylarking being the other major work of art. Some songs are just amazing, most are just excellent. A few of my very favorites are, excluding the Drums and Wires and Skylarking albums, in no particular order, 'The Disappointed' 'Wrapped in Grey' 'Blue Overall' 'Great Fire' 'Desert Island' 'Human Alchemy' 'Rocket from a bottle' 'No language in our lungs' 'The Somnambulist' 'Burning with Optimism's Flames' 'Don't Lose Your Temper' 'New Town Animal in a Furnished Cage' 'I'm Bugged' 'Into the Atom Age' 'Radios in Motion' 'This Is Pop?' 'Statue of Liberty' 'Spinning Top' 'Melt the Guns' 'Fly on the Wall' 'Snowman' 'Knuckle Down' 'No Thugs in Our House' 'Battery Brides' 'The Rhythm' 'Are You Receiving Me?' 'Red' 'Beatown' 'Life Is Good in the Greenhouse' 'Seagulls Screaming Kiss Her, Kiss Her' 'This World Over' 'Wake Up' 'I Remember the Sun' 'King for a Day' 'The Mayor of Simpleton' 'One of the Millions' 'Cynical Days' 'Across This Antheap' 'Chalkhills and Children' 'Pink Thing' 'Here Comes President Kill Again' and the brilliant 'All along the Watchtower' cover. Andy, if you're out there, lets form a band!!!
Hi Jasper. Still don't like much of their early work before Drums & Wires, but from then on XtC's less new-wave sound started to gel - particularly when Mr Partridge ceased touring after English Settlement. It's as if they grew up as a band and by Oranges & Lemons they were masterly, able to throw out gems every track.
Thank you so much for making this. I’ve been fascinated by Andy Partridge and XTC ever since I saw their cover of All Along The Watchtower on TOTP2 over a decade ago - it’s my all-time favourite cover. I’ve just got tickets to see EXTC next year and cannot wait!
Great documentary. I heard of XTC back in the 80's and even played a cover of "It's Nearly Africa" in a band, which I loved. But I never really got in to them until a friend played Skylarking for me in 1986. It completely blew my mind! It's so disappointing to hear about how difficult that album was to make because it is so brilliant, and I want to think that making something so brilliant must have been so much fun. After hearing Skylarking I worked my way backward and discovered just how truly brilliant this band is. I've been a fan ever since and XTC is for sure one of my favorite bands of all time. I think they will go down in history as one of the greatest bands of all time, but it may take a while because they were so ahead of their time. Andy, Colin, Dave and Teri, put aside your differences and make some new music before it's too late!
XTC have three truly great albums (English Settlement, Skylarking, Oranges & Lemons) and several timeless stand-alone hits. But they also made albums with a lot of (in my opinion) un-listenable filler. Like, Chinese-water-torture unlistenable. I'll always love and respect this band.
Absolutely profoundly underrated. Still amazed at how many people don’t know who they were/are! They are in my humble opinion only preceeded by the Beatles, and only barely. This was great, by the way.
Excellent documentary! XTC is one of my desert island bands (along with Gentle Giant) whose music will forever be a part of my playlist. They were one of the few bands whose growth and development as brilliant songwriters was evident from album to album. They were in a constant state of evolution until their capstones: Apple Venus and Wasp Star! I miss Andy's incomparable wit, cynicism, humor, "Englishism", and overall genius!
Great video. Really enjoyed learning about a band whose songs I've heard throughout my life, but didnt know that much about. They are a way more important band, musically, than they were given credit for.
Loved XTC since I first discovered them back in the '80s. I still listen to them, in fact, just embarking on another XTC groove for the rest of this summer. Cheers from Texas. One of my fave bands ever. (Great documentary BTW. Thx !!!)
XTC have been my favourite band for thirty years. This excellent video reminds me why. Makes a great primer for anyone wanting to know more about the band. Great research, and so well put together.
I always saw Andy and Colin more like the Lennon and McCartney of the new wave generation. They even kinda resembled John and Paul to an extent. It never occurred to me that there wasn't quite that same balance. It's also worth mentioning that Paul McCartney looked to several new wave bands for inspiration for the Back To The Egg album (my personal favourite of his post-Beatles albums), most notably XTC. I can't remember the title, but there's a song on that album that would fit right in on Drums And Wires. That must have been a cool moment, having one of your heroes being inspired by your work.
I’ve been a fan since Life Begins at the Hop. I used to have a tape in my tractor when I was a lad and I would sing along like mad. It’s easy to say a band is underrated but XTC did well and many of us think they are one of the greatest.
@@stuartjameswright I think that song was about not getting paid enough by the record company disguised as an English folk song! Scarecrow People, Grass, Season Cycle...they all have an English countryside 'flavour '. Anyway keep on tractoring mate!
I've watched so many of this, but I just realized I've never thank you in the comments for helping me learn so much about music and helping me discover great bands and artist, so thanks a lot, you make such a good job with these❤
Great timing and extra thanks on this one--- XTC is an all-time favorite band and we're currently having a bit of an XTC-playing renaissance in our household. It's a broad back catalog to introduce to people and was the direct influence for me getting my partner to watch the brilliant (and short-lived) Wonderfalls tv show. Andy's Title song is a typical quirky and catchy earworm by him.
my girlfriend and i were listening to her "discover weekly" playlist on spotify. that's how i found "complicated game". at first i was eager to skip it since it starts rather slowly, but then the beat came in and it caught my attention. the chord progression was so interesting, so off and wierd; the rhythm - hypnotizing. just thinking about that song, especially about its second partgl gives me chills. hands down one of the darkest, creepiest and heaviest songs ever written. it holds a special place in my heart, a spiritual one i would say, cathartic perhaps, altough leaving me with a little feeling of uneasiness at the same time. what a masterpiece
XTC were fantastic. They are still in heavy rotation at my house. Andy is high on my list of influences as a guitar player and lyricist. A brilliant mind.
![XTC's Andy Partridge - How I Write Songs [Part 1]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/sZzhjgQqCJI/mqdefault.jpg)
Every now and then I get people asking for a playlist of every song mentioned in my videos: Well here's a Spotify link for this one:
open.spotify.com/playlist/3ul92QHaYkHxKJN2H3m5qv?si=109364e2708b4189
And the TH-cam Music link:
music.th-cam.com/play/PLooaZ33lSaldxagNZbFOStlyV94Nmkz0h.html&si=FyEZ8siWOYnJGnMf
Bands like XTC were great because they were able to create their own identity while absorbing the trends of the time. I always liked how their music was too weird for normal people and too normal for weird people.
That's a great weird to describe most bands...The edgy stuff is underground and the pop is over
Great comment, I could not have said it better myself...👍👏
As GOOD as the Beatles? I don't agree with that. But he's a great songwriter and he living his dream!
Maybe, but I’m not sure living alone in a small house in Swindon was his dream. I just hope he is happy.
What he has said is that he has written songs as good as the Beatles. True, & Subtly different.
"I've written - and my bunch of lads have made - music as good as our heroes." F*ck YEAH you did! 100% true and I'm so very thankful for it.
I second this.
Indeed they did. And in a lot of cases, they surpassed their mentors.
@@PfalzD3 the ayes have it!
Yes, it had to be said, and I'm glad he at least said it!
I lived about 5 doors down from Andy Partridge in Penhill Swindon, in the summer of 71 he'd have his bedroom window open and be blasting out music from Hendrix and Pink Floyd, while we were listening to things like Tony Orlando and Dawn "Tie a yellow ribbon round the old oak tree". He was way ahead of us. Local boy done good.
This is the best summation of XTC I've seen on TH-cam so far. Tremendous selection of moments to pick out, and there's still so much more for people to discover when they dive into the albums and story. The ending wish for a "Running Up That Hill" moment with them is something I am confident will happen someday, and the only hindrance to it is the bevy of incredible songs that could potentially do it. But we should all keep trying to push it to happen, because their music absolutely deserves it. And it's absurd it never happened in their prime. Thanks for an amazing video!
I'm not surprised. Trash Theory is the absolute best channel yet for this that I have come across. The amount of research that goes into making this is staggering and after watching most videos by TT covering a band that I find interesting, I end up with feelings of gratitude towards the team behind this channel and great satisfaction with delight.
Not a patch on This is Pop.
Only a matter of time until a film producer fan gives them their much deserved "Running Up That Hill" recognition.
"Senses Working Overtime"... called it.
Rly good work here
Someone once said that XTC was God's apology for The Beatles breaking up.
Growing up near Washington DC, I listened to WHFS. They were among the first "commercial" stations to play REM, New Order and more. In America, it was almost always on a low power college station. WHFS showed me Charlatans, Stone Roses, Depeche Mode, The Cure, James, The Smiths and XTC.
As an HFS listener, you’ll undoubtedly remember iconic DJ Jonathan “Weasel” Gilbert…
I was listening to his show one day back in the 80s, and he said something that has stuck with me all these days, that Andy Partridge was suffering from an identity crisis and thought he was Paul McCartney. I didn’t quite understand what he meant at the time, but it certainly seems fitting given your comment.
I miss ‘HFS. They were astonishingly ahead of so many musical trends.
"God's apology for The Beatles breaking up. " Yep, I do believe that sums it up.
The Police were playing South Florida in 1980 for the third time, and I got in line for tickets, mostly to see the opening band for the first time - XTC. When I learned that XTC had canceled, I went home ticketless. So many of my friends were at the Police show the night John Lennon was killed, but I was watching Monday Night Football.
I was lucky to listen to XTC on KROQ-FM 106.7.
I was in a band called The Secret and toured with XTC (around UK) as the support band back in 1977. I remember the first night of the tour listening to them and we all looked at each other with comments like what the hell is this music? Basically laughing at their sound! We were also amazed how they had a big punk following at the time. We played almost every night for 6 weeks and after the tour all of us in The Secret went out and bought XTC's album "White Music" It took a while but we all realized that these guys were very talented and unique. I still listen to this album with fond memories (David Banks AKA Shrink)
Wow, thanks for sharing
I was brought to XTC’s doorstep at the end of my high school and beginning of the rest of my life by a perceived first love. I have washed that love out of my mind and put the entire XTC catalog in his place. I know now I didn’t truly love that man but he gave me one of the most enduring loves of my life that I shall take to my grave.
Awww❤
Same here, only around the beginning of HS . . .
You put me out of your mind because I watched the next episode? I said I'm sorry! rats, good luck getting your XTC mp3's to pretend that it was the dog that farted after the El Patio dinner.
Making Plans For Nigel was one of the best songs of the 70's & Towers Of London one of the 80's finest singles. Shame that Andy couldn't tour as XTC would have been not one of but perhaps the top band of the 80's. Their songs were that good. 1 2 3 4 5 !
I knew a Nigel at the time this came out so would think of him. Now I think of Nigel Farage. I Just Can't Get Enough by Depeche Mode also reminds me if Nigel Farage.
XTC is arguably the best band never to hit it big. They changed from record to record, and challenged us to do the same. Music listeners today would be fortunate indeed to have the likes of Andy Partridge, Colin Moulding and Dave Gregory making music for them. I hope some day they will.
There's a plethora of great English bands who never made it big from the times of Zombies and Pretty Things onwards. XTC is surely great band, but real pundit should refrain from the word best or greatest.
Idk they were one of my favorite growing up and I happened to walk by and my 25 year old kid was listening to xtc. Quality endures.
There are so many bands and musicians that I love that never became household names, especially British musicians.
I'm an obsessed fan of Nick Lowe. I've got most of his albums, his autograph (twice!), a big poster, and I've loved him since the 1970s (Rockpile!). Rarely do I meet people who know who he is, but they know his songs. Everyone from Elvis Costello, to Tom Petty, to Johnny Cash have performed his songs. Heck, he was even Johnny Cash's son-in-law for several years!
@@LazyIRanch Well, I've seen Rockpile, XTC and Elvis Costello live all between 79 and 82, so I do know what you're talking about.
@@LazyIRanch I saw Nick Lowe open for The Cars in Los Angeles in 1982. That was my first concert, so technically he was the first rock band I ever saw live.
XTC are virtually an unmatchable band. Andy Partridge and Colin Moulding were two absolute geniuses and some of their stuff is just out of this world. I regard Skylarking as one of the greatest pop albums in history for sure. Anybody who loves this band totally gets my vote. Kudos to the fanbase! 🤠🎸
Don't leave out Terry and Dave's contributions! They are both fantastic musicians.
@@jayfrank1913 Absolutely! I totally agree with you. 😁💞
I can’t believe they weren’t as big as I thought they were back home. The influence that they’ve had, as well.
@@kimberlyvespa Eh, well, so it goes with the mainstream, I suppose. At least, XTC has had the necessary impact they've had on several artists and a wide range of music connoisseurs. 💪
Always had a soft spot for XTC, but also a BIG Barry Andrews fan.
It’s wild to me to find out they were not wildly popular in the UK. Growing up in the 80s in the southern US, XTC were bigger than The Beatles or Queen in my household thanks to my dad’s love for them. The Dukes records dubbed on to a single cassette were always in rotation our summer roadtrips.
Anyone looking for a great example of their adventurousness should track down the B-Sides collection ‘Rag and Bone Buffet.’ It’s not on streaming but used copies seem to be pretty cheap.
Surprised me too! They were always a band that I loved and listened to here in the US. I worked at a record and video store in 1987 and Skylarking was a record in our rotation that I made sure that I played in-store a lot!😊
Seen as too clever by half by the inky music press of the time (NME in particular), who were always suspicious of people who are smarter than they are. Throw in burnout, ego clashes and non-touring and you end up back in Swindon. AP did write my all-time favourite Monkees tune, You Bring The Summer, from his blimmin' garden shed. That's good enough for me ...
They did get lots of singles in the pop charts in UK. As a young kid I'd not have had exposure to them otherwise. But they weren't high charting.
They did do OK here but the moment they stopped touring the hits dried up and sad to say because videos became more and more popular and they weren't particularly good looking or fashionable (besides Moulding) that went against them too. Before they stopped touring they had two top 10 hits with 'Sgt Rock' and 'Senses Working Overtime' and 'Nigel' made the top 20.
love rag and bone buffet, it's on youtube!
Wonderful documentary.
My favorite album of theirs has always been English Settlement, but my love for the others continues to grow over the years. I introduced them to my daughter and she is a die hard fan now too. Nothing like waking up and hearing "Making Plans for Nigel" or "Jason and the Argonauts" in her bedroom as she's getting ready for school.
Thanks for taking the time to make this and share it!
Peace.
My absolute favourite band, they are so underrated. They are all so full of talent, although I have always preferred Colin’s compositions and melodic songs to Andy’s, but still, their development throughout the years is impressive, and all their albums bring something unique to the table. Thanks for making a video about them ❤
In 2018 a brain haemorrhage completely screwed up my music-making career. I woke up from surgery unable to play the piano ever again with a nurse spoon-feeding me yoghurt. XTC's remarkable music helped me acclimatise to my new broken life (for several weeks their special music was all I listened to) and reminded me why I'll be a music-lover to the end of my days.
Sorry to hear your loss, but way to find joy still . You should read Oliver Sacks “A Leg to Stand On”. I had a similar experience with The Church “anaesthesia”, and middle period albums
I was lucky enough to have seen XTC open up for The Cars. That was my first official rock concert of my teenage years and a ticket that I paid for with money that I earned with my afterschool job.
thats an amazing first rock concert
@@happyhapsly sadly for me,, my kiddo is just not into music the way I am and was at his age
College radio in the mid-eighties northeast USA was soaked in XTC, REM, echo and the bunnymen, half man half biscuit, husker dü, smithereens, and a million other sounds that truly provided an atmosphere that was an alternative to the outside world of hair metal and classic rock.
The music cliques in the 80s were pretty funny. Those hair bands were so awful and ridiculous and I'm sure their fans thought you were the ridiculous one.
Anyone here remember WFNX? Especially prior to 1990, it was absolute music heaven. I started listening late ‘86, and was happy to recognize some of the songs l loved from watching V66 in middle school, haha. V66…Man those were the days, all the best and the worst jumbled together. First you’d see like Don Henley or something, then maybe Depeche Mode or the Smiths followed by Black Betty by Ram Jam, lmao. Educational!
Dear God is a legendary tune imo, my mother was always obsessed with religion and this song was the first time I really started questioning things as a kid..
Opposite here. I was antireligion at 13 and then heard this song. I took the critique to heart but... then had critiques to the critique.
I am Catholic now.
Good art provokes strong feelings. I'm in a marriage of mixed faith. Atheist and Catholic and we both love the song.
@@zimriel The most profound innovation crafted by the divine entities was the idea of free will.
This innovation not only relieved the gods of any accountability but also concurrently bestowed it upon us, the human race.
@@ari1234a Are you always so fatuous, or do you save that for youtube comments?
XTC gets a rep for being an an anti-religion band because of this song, but there are plenty of other XTC songs that take spiritual perspectives and even pay homage to the concept of churches (such as Church of Women). I think Partridge questions religion as organized and/or exploited by man, but I don't think he is 100% against it in concept.
My dad put me on XTC when I was 13 or so, circa 1997. He and my mom used to go see XTC live in NYC whenever they came through late 70s-early 80s. I've known and loved their catalogue for most of my life- a truly special band!!
XTC is up there with The Beatles, The Kinks and The Who as one of the best british groups ever. It is the perfect bridge between 60s psychadelia, new wave atittude and britpop coolness
I agree. And the small faces
Eh. Disagree. Not bad. But not in that league.
@@markallen2984 ....Exactly, love the band but they were not even close to those bands.
This is my favorite youtube channel. You always bring the in depth knowledge and insight into the music we love. THANK YOU!!!
Very high quality films that incorporate much research. Only raelnyc's progressive rock videos match this guys, IMO. Helps that a favourite band is featured today.
This was an awesome documentary on one of my favorites!
XTC was my favorite band; I was lucky enough to see them and meet them in Chicago on the DRUMS AND WIRES tour. Andy Partridge shared his beer with me. He gave me his address in Swindon; I wrote him and he wrote a really nice letter back. A year later they were opening for The Police in a much larger venue in Detroit. I liked BLACK SEA, but only decades later did I learn what Andy was going through. Back at that small venue Chicago gig backstage, he whispered in my ear that I probably would like his forthcoming dub album. I did, and when I got a slot on college radio in Ann Arbor I always opened with "Steam Fist Futurist." Thanks for the documentary. Andy Partridge changed my life.
The string arrangement on "1000 Umbrellas" is all Dave Gregory btw. Pure brilliance, even Rundgren admitted it
Skylarking is overproduced but in a good way. Great song-writing coupled with Brian Wilson-esque sound = one of the best albums of any era.
The Burning Shed Steven Wilson remixes are much better. Especially the Big Express which is wonderfully decluttered.
@@GurungyNoHamuster Ooh I didn't know this existed! I love a ton of songs on the BE but totally agree with Runt's production critique, stoked to listen to this. Thank you!
Yes, definitely underrated in general. But among music nerds my age, referring to them alongside Kate Bush and Peter Gabriel is perfectly apt. If your interest is piqued by this, but don't know where to start, consider the collection Fossil Fuel: The XTC Singles 1977-92 as a starting point.
XTC will forever be underrated. They deserved to be successful in real time not retrospectively. I keep hoping that someone like me who was part of the album buying public in the last years of the 70's and early eighties will use the song for something cool. And the kids will embrace them kinda like Stranger Things did for Kate Bush. I always found it interesting that every time I met a fellow fan they turned out to be a musician. I was a college radio music director in the early to mid eighties and I rotated the shit out of XTC. Still listening now, thanks for the video.
What a Legend,still living in Swindon! I loved Making plans for Nigel.Im 57 now and this film has really put XTC in a landscape for me past and present.I always thought Sensi was a person doing overtime at work.I was too busy singing to listen properly.I have been diagnosed with ADHD only last year.Now the song makes sense.😅
"Music as good" as their heroes indeed. Such a great thoughtful heartful expose to such an underated band, well deserved. Loved it! Thank you for my new set list of great influences. Magnifique!
I saw them during the drums and wires tour, I think it was at Danceteria in New York. The irony is that they were so much better live than in the studio. Songs like 10 feet tall and roads girdle the globe were just absolutely amazing live. They totally eclipsed the recorded versions. I’m glad I got to see them live once. Had Partridge been able to reconcile himself to performing live,, I think they might’ve changed more fame. Because I find their studio records a little dry compared to the euphoric cacaphony of energy energy of the live performances. Something was really lost in translation with this band in the studio compared to some other bands that do wonderfully in the studio. But no matter how you slice it, they are, indeed, one of the most criminally underrated bands in history.
what was your favourite song to hear live? :)
10 feet tall was a particular stand out, as was roads girdle the globe. As was real by real, actually. Every song was better live than on the Studio version but those three really stood out.
@@NoBSMusicReviews thats awesome! i was born wayy too late to see XTC live, but i've watched a lot of concert recordings :)) my personal favourite is helicopter
That was literally the next on my list. One of my favorites as well.
Every now and then I get Senses Workjng Overtime running through my head. I then reach for the guitar, crash it out a few times and get an XTC album on the stereo on repeat for a few days until I've had my top up! Like so many of the best XTC hits the subjects and messages in the lyrics remain uncannily current - Generals and Majors, Peter Pumpkjnhead, Dear God etc, etc. Which makes me wonder, what did these guys know back then and how come we didn't listen harder to them!?
That they rose out of their roots but didn't become consumed with fame like so many other bands had a certain sweet appropriateness about it, I think.
Thank you XTC, you made a real difference and it continues!
hard to grow a tight following after they quit touring.
Thanks for finally addressing one of my favorite bands. They were always getting airplay during my college years of the early 82-86, but mysterious because of their relative obscurity in America.
One of my roommates bought Skylarking when it came out, and I didn't hear Dear God until years later when it got heavy rotation on US popular "alternative" radio stations. I didn't even know it was from the Skylarking sessions until fairly recently.
I love that XTC had firm production plans. They wrote great songs then developed them in the studio. Masterclass
I truly love your well researched and excellently presented material. Would you consider a "Teardrop Explodes" Julian Cope/Ian McCulloch expose? I would be thrilled. Thanks for all your content!
I would be totally into that!
Interesting stuff. Dear God is in my top 10 songs of all time. It's an inspired creation.
I now regret never seeing them live (and I had the chance several times but I was more into metal and reggae) but in 1979 I had a girlfriend from Swindon and when we went back to her hometown once we visited one of her school friends. The schoolfriend's husband came into the kitchen looking for his car keys and said hello ... typically shaking hands and having a little chat and then he was off. His name was Andy Partridge ... and it was months later before I realized who he was. My girlfriend had said he was a musician in a band but then we all were so it wasn't really even a talking point!
So, beat that ... been in Andy Partridge's kitchen for a cuppa ;-)
Been at Andy's and had several cuppas, and still have a cassette tape I made while there.
My only rule in a used record store is that if I see XTC, I buy XTC. Loved this video, and learned more about a deeply loved band and their journey. Thank you.
I was a kid in the '80's and was listening to a little more main stream stuff. I'd never heard of XTC until 97 when I really got into Sarah McLachlan and discovered a cover of Dear God on her Rarities, B Sides and Other Stuff. I've been listening to them ever since!
my dad introduced me to XTC in the early 00s when I was around 7 years old. he picked me up from school and the radio began playing “Senses Working Overtime” he lit up and turned up the radio and we began singing it together because I found the chorus so damn catchy.
Properly dug into their discography this year and haven’t been able to put them down since. Insanely good songwriting with a strange parallel to The Beatles. Great video, Oranges and Lemons and Nonsuch ended up being 2 of my favourites - King For A Day really stands out as one of Colins best for me. A shame they’re not more widely known but reading the comments makes me so happy.
I hadn't really heard of XTC until I was about 40 a few years ago, when they played "King" on the radio at work semi-regularly. I was like "What is this, it's amazing?" Shazamed it, and within a couple of months I had their Fossil Fuel compilation in my collection. And I frigging LOVE it.
I knew basically nothing about XTC until this year(I am 55), but they have been my go to band for 2023 for sure.
I was always put off by "King For A Day"; I thought it sounded way too much like a re-write of the Tears For Fears song "Everybody Wants To Rule The World", which I found intolerable.
Oranges and Lemons is terminally underrated and I don't understand why.
Best thing about this channel is pausing it all the time and just going into the Spotify search with all the bands or tunes referenced. I come away not only knowing the subject of the video but cross references to explore later.
One thing that deserves more mention is the quality of their musicianship as players. Partridge is probably the best rhythm guitarist of his generation. Dave Gregory's solos are some of the most tasteful, adept and inventive in rock/pop.
Clearly you are a guitarist, not a bassist, or you would be in awe of Colin Moulding
too. I agree with you regarding the 'musicianship' of Andy & Dave.
They are all extraordinary musicians, makes sense that they inspired Jellyfish, the best US band never to have "made it big" that so many musicians love, both of them tend to have great drums really prominent in the mix, makes such a difference
First time I saw XTC was on what I believe was their first ever tv appearance on kids tv show Magpie, Mick Robertson, Jenny Hanley etc in late 19 seventy frozen to death. They did Science Friction and I was hooked after the first chorus had finished. Dashed out to buy the 12" 3DEP for which you needed 3D glasses to look at the sleeve properly. I still love those first two albums as much today as I did then. That is not to say anything after was worse because far from it, obviously were not, just different. Even through all the trouble, trials and tribulations, they never stopped evolving. I just read (after watching this) that Nunsuch was nominated for a Grammy and the magnificent The Disappointed (one of my all time favourite XTC songs) for an Ivor Novello. Criminal that neither got a gong, but blimey, how good are they? Just a magnificent band with a catalogue many would die for just a small portion of
You've mentioned the band's appearance on Magpie. I'm a Swindon musician & have known the members of XTC since shortly before the 3D EP was released. One lunchtime, I was in the bar, where they stored their gear & rehearsed in the beer cellar, Terry (Chambers) appeared wanting the keys to get into the cellar & unload the band's van. I ended up helping him & one of the bands roadies with the gear. Amongst the equipment were 3 large Polystyrene letters XTC, from the Magpie TV show, at the time the band thought that may be the highlight of their fame & took the letters (that were behind them onstage on the programme) home as a memento.
@@Ian-does-noise Love it ❤️ What a great memory to have 😊
I was one of those college radio DJs (WCFM at Williams College) in the 80s who played this song constantly. I was also a good Catholic kid away from home for the first time and really exploring my complete lack of belief in the God and religion I'd been taught. I think "Dear God" is so brilliant because it can be read as an atheist rejecting the entire concept, or as a person of faith grappling with the spiritual questions of good and evil that every Christian really has to confront. The very structure of the song as an argument with God implies the deity has to exist, while the lyrics insist it cannot and it's jaggedness evokes that crisis of faith. It's a better song than Partridge may realize.
In addition, Andy later said he thought it could also be called "Dear Man" since we do it to ourselves.
Insightful comment! I grew up in the Bible Belt and was blown away by the audacity of the song's lyrics when I first heard it back in the early 90's. I'm gonna play the song now after watching this video - will pray beforehand to reassure Jesus that I'm not being blasphemous, just curious.
Very well put! I came at it from that same angle.
Dear God and 10cc’s Second Sitting for the Last Supper were the twin pillars of my youthful atheism. I still adore them both.
Thanks for the great video! Yeah I've always felt XTC was underrated. Their earlier stuff was a terrific blend of Pop and Punk; and Partridge had that taunting "Nhyah Nuh Nuh Nyah Nyah" quality to his vocals. I'm glad you somewhat covered 25 o'clock . That was simply an amazing album. What in the World's hilarious ultra-psychoactive imagining of a future world saturated in psychedelic drugs, is one of their all time best songs! (of course so many of their songs fit into the category of "all time best") Does anyone know if that is Woody Allen at the end of My Love Explodes?
I wish there was an extended version of this documentary!
Thanks again!
Simpleton is a master class in song writing.
I love XTC. I love Andy Partridge's voice. I love that XTC were SO British! I listened to them at the age of 17 in New Zealand and now almost 60 I still love the sound of XTC. Thank you for the great music XX
Thanks so much for covering this underrated gem of a band. I also implore you to check out "Me and the Wind", "Poor Skeleton Steps Out", "Greenman", "Yacht Dance", "Battery Brides" "My Weapon" and "Complicated Game"
They are absolutely underrated. Listening to the likes of Blur, Bloc Party, and other English pop their influence is undeniable.
XTC is the best band. no one has been able to match Andy and Colin's songwriting prowess since them.
Before i discovered their music i never paid attention to lyrics in music
@@hendog5667 Yes, their lyrics are actually cleverer than groups like Andy's influence the Beatles. Very smart lines on most of their albums.
Few could match them. i'd say Prince and Elvis Costello did.
Chiming in to say Nonsuch is wildly underrated and Ballad of Peter Pumpkinhead is one of the best album openers of all time
Yep it's brilliant
A simply outstanding band that never got their due.
The best, most under-rated band ever. These guys should have been bigger than U2.
No shit! Early U2 was cool, but I’ve found them so irritating since the mid eighties!!! Pompous ass, that Bono.
Spot on, the most underrated and over rated bands.
They are in this house
They were bigger than U2 in 1990.
There was a particular sweetness for Andy in working with the Monkees as he had won a sketch contest as a child when they were at the height of their popularity the first time.
Andy also contributed to the Christmas album the Monkees recorded with the song Unwrap You at Christmas.
That song has been recorded with Andy's daughter Holly doing the vocals. On Ape House Records.
I was lucky.
I saw XTC live at the legendary Cuckoo's Nest.
Andy sang a good part of the show with a Barry Manilow album cover on his head.
XTC... what can I say? As a Belgian musician, last year I visited Stonehenge and Avebury... but also Swindon ... for the 'Great Western Railway' and the legacy of my heroes.
Thank god for curious college radio DJs in the U.S. That song is irresistible. To think that was a B side! I thought it was a boy singing as well 🙂 "A petulant failure". I can understand why he thinks that when you consider their entire catalogue, but I'll always love it alongside the other XTC classics. Can't even imagine the world of music without that tune in it. And the response was bound to be huge. Andy Partridge has clearly had a tough ride. That's quite often what makes someone create very special work. This is a fascinating upload. A great watch. Thank you so much.
Marvellous review of the marvellous XtC. Astonishing that a work of art as sublime as Skylarking only made it to number 90 in the UK album charts. And that XtC and Andy Partridge weren't massively commercially successful in addition to being critically lauded. The masses have neither taste nor intelligence.
Is Andy writing that?
@@davidalau No, but he needs more credit for all the fine tunes. Met the great Andy once and he was really modest and down to earth - as you'd expect a Swindon lad to be. Witty too. Seems like we won't get another XtC album in our lifetime, sadly.
It’s a fool’s errand judging an artist in a world where Taylor Swift is seen as talent.
I met my heroes in an airport in LA at the Air Canada booth in 1987. And yes, they were very kind and patient with me as I blurted stupid things at them…how much the songs meant, how the songs saved my life, blah blah blah. What Mr Partridge “needs” isn’t for me to say. I hope he has what he wants. A wonderful wife, a lovely talented daughter and creative partners to extend his repertoire. He still puts out beautiful and fascinating music even if not many care to go looking and listening and thinking about them. Maybe if we all paid for his cool merch and left positive comments on his downloads, that would bring a smile.
@@davidalau Taylor Swift is talented, sorry that you're too much of a snob to recognise it.
@@davidalau That's a fair appraisal. Andy's pretty contented with the adoration he receives from the people that matter (his musical peers, his real fans and his family) and his quirky interests both musical and nerdy - he has quite a model soldier, comic and toy collection I'm told. He does OK from the merch and, as you're smart enough to know, many rock giants in their mansions aren't happy dudes. You met the band at a creative peak - nice. I just had a painfully awkward chat with Andy alone and wish I'd planned it as it was excruciating - he was a good guy throughout. Best never to meet your heroes is advised (although my cuppa with Peter Cushing was lovely!) Maybe Andy's seen this video and the mostly glowing comments about him, his music and his band? If so he can smile and think "yeah, I'm a legend!" Cheers, matey.
I have been a fan of XTC since the late 80's when I first heard them. True genius, intelligent lyrics, mesmerizing melodies and harmonies. They have achieved music on the level of their heroes. Thanks for this piece, and thank you XTC!
Once again you have produced a fantastic examination and analysis of a great band. Growing up in Northern NY state, I was listening to XTC on Canadian radio stations. Their influence was made clear in this piece.
18 years ago this week, I was finishing a semester abroad in London and my best friend back in the US asked me to pick up some albums that were out of print stateside or just not out yet, and bring them back. One of the ones out of print was Skylarking. I had somehow never heard of XTC before and when I listened to it before packing it up to bring it home to my friend, it didn’t quite land with me…yet. But the seeds of my growing into a weird 38 year old who counts post punk, a genre that peaked around the time of my birth, as-if not my absolute favorite, then certainly close to it-had been planted.
An episode on The Pouges would be amazing!
And on Sinéad O'Connor
My brother-in-law is a huge XTC fan. I live in Canada and when I went house hunting in 2004 one of the house's basement wall had a mural of Drums and Wires on it.
For years I ‘only’ had Black Sea and 25 o’Clock, I couldn’t believe they could put out other albums as good as those. I was wrong, they were pretty much all as fantastic- a brilliant and musically varied band with great lyrics, a lot of intelligence, humour and talent. Top shelf!
25 o clock such a phenomenal album listen to it constantly.
Another great TT upload! Really appreciate you covering some of my favorite overlooked bands so I can just send friends links to your vids and say, "Here, this puts my thoughts into words better than I can"
Barry Andrews would go on to form Shriekback, which is a whole new and rather odd back catalogue to delve into.
with someone from Gang of Four iirc
I know a musician who was very influenced by Gunning for the Buddha.
Before that Barry made some early XTC like tunes on his Town and Country EP.
Nemesis is still played at goth clubs here in the US.
I stumbled across XTC while watching music videos late one night back in the early 80s. The song was "Making Plans for Nigel". It was very catchy and I've remembered it ever since. Never really explored XTC to see what else they were about. Now I'm beginning to think maybe I should. Some intriguing stuff you've presented, especially some of the later retro stuff.
Always I loved XTC. So under rated and under appreciated. Lost track of them when all the splits began. In my seventies now and caught up with all the latter stuff after hearing English Settlement
My
What an album it was like meetings crush from my youth and finding the sparks still there.
I was introduced to XTC through their spot in the movie URGH: A Music War. Afterwards I bought a copy of Black Sea and nearly wore the grooves off the record. The band still occupies a place in my play lists.
XTC is as relevant today as they were thirty years ago. Perhaps even more so.
No XTC - no Blur, their influence is long lasting . Do a video on Prefab Sprout next please.
Good job! Matter-of-fact and to the point, with only a minimum of fluff.
I'm in America, and I remember "Dear God" being popular. It was the only XTC song that I heard until one of my computer buddies played a few other songs for me in the early 1990s. I never liked XTC's style, although I do appreciate the little mimickings of the band's influences. The aforementioned computer buddy also played for me a couple of Dukes of Stratosphear songs, "25 O'Clock" and "You're My Drug", which I very much enjoy. I dare say that "You're My Drug" is the tightest psychedelic Britpop song that I've ever heard. I think that the band missed its true musical niche by a decade.
30:20 is unbelievable, no song has ever done the subject more justice. that ending section with the pounding quarter note drums gives me chills every single time
My friends and I, who considered ourselves lovers of alternative) loved XTC. I'm surprised to learn that they broke out in the US with Skylarking. That was one of the later tapes I got (though I remember later buying Oranges and Lemons when it released). We loved and played the hell out of Drums&Wires, Go 2 (which had one of the greatest album covers of all time), Black Sea and The Big Express. I even had to buy a second copy of Black Sea when the tape deck ate my first one (and tape money was hard earned mowing lawns and weeding gardens).
XTC are the group i would pick if i could only ever listen to one bands complete discography ever again. But i would sneak in Talk Talk as well...
Went through a big XTC phase a few years ago. Dug into the whole discography an the documentary. So many great songs, and I'm happy to hear them out in the world on occasion. Making Plans for Nigel was a bit of an inside joke for a bunch of my co-workers.
About XTC not having their "pop-cultural needle drop moment" - I distinctly remember them being name-checked frequently on Gilmore Girls, especially when Apple Venus came out. Not quite 'Running Up That Hill' going number 1 decades after the fact, but worth noting! (Excellent work as usual, BTW.)
One of my all time favorite British bands! I've always thought they were never given their due as writers or players. Such amazing tunes, and sadly i was an adult before I ever got turned on to them, thanks in large part to and indie radio station in Nashville, TN called Lightning 100. I constatnly am talking about them to my students and younger listeners! WOuld love to see them get a big pop culture moment.
XTC are the type of band you can really become obsessive about they're that good.
Nice video -- comprehensive and well-researched (thanks for the name checks!), and helps give the band the credit their due. I do wonder about your source about who is responsible for getting "Mermaid Smiled" on the album instead of "Dear God" -- in my conversations with the band members and with Todd R, "Dear God" was going to be on the album until Andy insisted on including "Another Satellite," so that was the song responsible for bumping DG off of the initial release (of course, once DG exploded in popularity, the album was re-released with MS removed and DG included). Thanks.
Thanks - your interviews with Andy and Colin were invaluable in getting into the meat of the songs. With the "Mermaid Smiled" thing, I think I just got mixed up between the pre-release track listing and that of the re-release. I've now removed that little bit from the video, as to not confuse anyone.
So many XTC gems for the youngsters to discover! "Ten Feet Tall", "Take This Town", "Ball and Chain", "The Smartest Monkeys", "Pink Thing", "The Man Who Sailed Around His Soul", "Bungalow"... And someday they will.
The Smartest Monkeys was really good.
That was really good. I personally like the first two albums a lot but Drums and Wires is such a masterpiece! Incredible creativity from these guys all the way up to Nonesuch (last I had) with Skylarking being the other major work of art. Some songs are just amazing, most are just excellent. A few of my very favorites are, excluding the Drums and Wires and Skylarking albums, in no particular order, 'The Disappointed' 'Wrapped in Grey' 'Blue Overall' 'Great Fire' 'Desert Island' 'Human Alchemy' 'Rocket from a bottle' 'No language in our lungs' 'The Somnambulist' 'Burning with Optimism's Flames' 'Don't Lose Your Temper' 'New Town Animal in a Furnished Cage' 'I'm Bugged' 'Into the Atom Age' 'Radios in Motion' 'This Is Pop?' 'Statue of Liberty' 'Spinning Top' 'Melt the Guns' 'Fly on the Wall' 'Snowman' 'Knuckle Down' 'No Thugs in Our House' 'Battery Brides' 'The Rhythm' 'Are You Receiving Me?' 'Red' 'Beatown' 'Life Is Good in the Greenhouse' 'Seagulls Screaming Kiss Her, Kiss Her' 'This World Over' 'Wake Up' 'I Remember the Sun' 'King for a Day' 'The Mayor of Simpleton' 'One of the Millions' 'Cynical Days' 'Across This Antheap' 'Chalkhills and Children' 'Pink Thing' 'Here Comes President Kill Again' and the brilliant 'All along the Watchtower' cover. Andy, if you're out there, lets form a band!!!
Hi Jasper. Still don't like much of their early work before Drums & Wires, but from then on XtC's less new-wave sound started to gel - particularly when Mr Partridge ceased touring after English Settlement. It's as if they grew up as a band and by Oranges & Lemons they were masterly, able to throw out gems every track.
@@PaIaeoCIive1684 it's already in those 2 early albums, but with RAW and unfiltered energy.
Oh my gosh! Did you stop at any Nonsuch? Please search out Apple Venus and Wasp Star! Then get back to me 😊.
@@vestalfor I Heard It once, EN passant, many years After It came out. Wasn't taken by It. I shall listen again.
Thank you so much for making this. I’ve been fascinated by Andy Partridge and XTC ever since I saw their cover of All Along The Watchtower on TOTP2 over a decade ago - it’s my all-time favourite cover. I’ve just got tickets to see EXTC next year and cannot wait!
Great documentary. I heard of XTC back in the 80's and even played a cover of "It's Nearly Africa" in a band, which I loved. But I never really got in to them until a friend played Skylarking for me in 1986. It completely blew my mind! It's so disappointing to hear about how difficult that album was to make because it is so brilliant, and I want to think that making something so brilliant must have been so much fun. After hearing Skylarking I worked my way backward and discovered just how truly brilliant this band is. I've been a fan ever since and XTC is for sure one of my favorite bands of all time. I think they will go down in history as one of the greatest bands of all time, but it may take a while because they were so ahead of their time. Andy, Colin, Dave and Teri, put aside your differences and make some new music before it's too late!
XTC have three truly great albums (English Settlement, Skylarking, Oranges & Lemons) and several timeless stand-alone hits. But they also made albums with a lot of (in my opinion) un-listenable filler. Like, Chinese-water-torture unlistenable. I'll always love and respect this band.
You mentioned him at the end... But would love a piece on Steven wilson/porcupine tree. Criminally underappreciated English band.
Absolutely profoundly underrated. Still amazed at how many people don’t know who they were/are! They are in my humble opinion only preceeded by the Beatles, and only barely.
This was great, by the way.
Do you know what "preceded" means?
Maybe not! 🤣I think I might have meant to say 'superseded by". My bad.@@marknewbold2583
Excellent documentary! XTC is one of my desert island bands (along with Gentle Giant) whose music will forever be a part of my playlist. They were one of the few bands whose growth and development as brilliant songwriters was evident from album to album. They were in a constant state of evolution until their capstones: Apple Venus and Wasp Star! I miss Andy's incomparable wit, cynicism, humor, "Englishism", and overall genius!
I love how Partridge's son is Harry Partridge, a legendary online animator.
Great video. Really enjoyed learning about a band whose songs I've heard throughout my life, but didnt know that much about. They are a way more important band, musically, than they were given credit for.
Thank you for this marvelous Bio of XTC !
Now please film a bio of Shriekback. 🙂
Loved XTC since I first discovered them back in the '80s. I still listen to them, in fact, just embarking on another XTC groove for the rest of this summer. Cheers from Texas. One of my fave bands ever. (Great documentary BTW. Thx !!!)
On top of being an excellent video, this is a good reminder that I haven't listened to XTC in a while.
XTC have been my favourite band for thirty years. This excellent video reminds me why.
Makes a great primer for anyone wanting to know more about the band. Great research, and so well put together.
Great! A music journalist who actually tells you about the music and not themself; and isn't a pain in the arse to listen to. Nice work man.
Excellent work! And, yes, XTC is criminally underrated by the public at large.
I always saw Andy and Colin more like the Lennon and McCartney of the new wave generation. They even kinda resembled John and Paul to an extent. It never occurred to me that there wasn't quite that same balance. It's also worth mentioning that Paul McCartney looked to several new wave bands for inspiration for the Back To The Egg album (my personal favourite of his post-Beatles albums), most notably XTC. I can't remember the title, but there's a song on that album that would fit right in on Drums And Wires. That must have been a cool moment, having one of your heroes being inspired by your work.
I’ve been a fan since Life Begins at the Hop. I used to have a tape in my tractor when I was a lad and I would sing along like mad. It’s easy to say a band is underrated but XTC did well and many of us think they are one of the greatest.
Did you listen to Love on a Farmboys Wages in the tractor too?!😊
@@noelmaher6218 i certainly did. You could say I identified with it. :-)
@@stuartjameswright I think that song was about not getting paid enough by the record company disguised as an English folk song! Scarecrow People, Grass, Season Cycle...they all have an English countryside 'flavour '. Anyway keep on tractoring mate!
@@noelmaher6218 I took it literally as an 18 year old. I haven't driven a tractor in anger since 1987. The wages weren't good enough. :-)
I've watched so many of this, but I just realized I've never thank you in the comments for helping me learn so much about music and helping me discover great bands and artist, so thanks a lot, you make such a good job with these❤
Oh hell yeah! I can’t wait to get into this! They’ve been a favorite of mine for 35 years now.
Great timing and extra thanks on this one--- XTC is an all-time favorite band and we're currently having a bit of an XTC-playing renaissance in our household. It's a broad back catalog to introduce to people and was the direct influence for me getting my partner to watch the brilliant (and short-lived) Wonderfalls tv show. Andy's Title song is a typical quirky and catchy earworm by him.
I’ve got three XTC songs among my all time favourites, “Dear God”, “King For A Day” and “The Disappointed”. Still listen to them in 2023 👌
my girlfriend and i were listening to her "discover weekly" playlist on spotify. that's how i found "complicated game". at first i was eager to skip it since it starts rather slowly, but then the beat came in and it caught my attention. the chord progression was so interesting, so off and wierd; the rhythm - hypnotizing. just thinking about that song, especially about its second partgl gives me chills.
hands down one of the darkest, creepiest and heaviest songs ever written. it holds a special place in my heart, a spiritual one i would say, cathartic perhaps, altough leaving me with a little feeling of uneasiness at the same time. what a masterpiece
This is so cool! Thanks Trash Theory!!! I've always thrown early XTC in my mixtapes. Now I've got a comprehensive guide to their catalogue.
XTC were fantastic. They are still in heavy rotation at my house. Andy is high on my list of influences as a guitar player and lyricist. A brilliant mind.