Colin Moulding is one of the world's most under-rated bassists - his bass lines are fire. The video for this track was a spoof on British 1960s television series "The Avengers". And most of XTC's albums are titled for a random lyric in their previous album. Try Colin's catchy "Generals and Majors" or his more "feral" "Deliver Us from the Elements". BTW, the band pre-dates the drug, but the word ecstasy has been around for centuries.
I just grinned so hard I nearly split my face in two! I have two favorite bands ever and this is one of them (as I've probably yammered to you about before in these comments). So fun when I see you're on another XTC tune. Thanks!
PPS - you're right; one of the coolest things about this group is their range. Complicated Game is one of my favorite XTC songs, too, and I love it for its savage darkness and cynicism as well as the musical brilliance. But the same band that did that song can do 'Mayor', or 'Burning With Optimism's Flames', or 'Summer's Cauldron'! ..there are so many XTC songs I would LOVE to see you do that I won't list them all! It's so fun when you react to them, because they're so niche and it's hard to find weirdos like me who love them.
XTC's "The Mayor of Simpleton" was the only single of the band to hit the Hot 100 chart (#72 in 1989) in the US and narrowly missed the top 40 in the UK. The sentiment of the song is similar to Sam Cooke's "Wonderful World" back in the early 1960s. This song received attention from Rick Beato in his "what makes this song great" feature with a band member from Jellyfish. Great reaction! Try Colin's "Generals and Majors" next.
XTC runs the gamut from thunderous ragers ("Complicated Game" "Travels In Nihilon" "No Thugs In Our House") to perfect pop songs ("Mayor Of Simpleton" "Then She Appeared" "Playground") to the most heart-fluttering beauties (""Love On A Farmboy's Wages" "Harvest Festival" "Easter. Theatre") to every subject under the sun (Nuclear war: "This World Over", Love lost "Snowman" "Your Dictionary")... PLUS: You MUST check out their alter-egos THE DUKES OF STRATOSPHEAR who is the greatest 60s Homage Band ever: ALL original songs that sound like THE BEATLES, THE KINKS, PINK FLOYD, THE BEACH BOYS, etc... The catalog is AMAZING... but start with the title track from their fun debut "25 O'CLOCK"... You'll see again and again what GENIUSES XTC are. Partridge is BRILLIANT. LOVE your comments and thoughtful impressions!
I remember hearing Plans for Nigel a few years ago and really liking the song, about a year after that I heard Respectable Street and Senses Working Overtime. After that I became hooked. One of my favorite bands!
A great song from a superb album. Remember buying this album whilst living in Vancouver. You summed the song up well. A song that is just so relentless...it doesn't stop for a breath. Guitars...bass(especially), drums...words...just flow, flow, flow.
Hi mate ,just stumbled across your channel by chance . I love seeing young people discovering ,and appreciating older music ,there is so much out there to review ,you'll never run of great material 😁👍. I'm 61 and I love my music from the 50,s to present day ,I too suffer with A&D and my release is to drive and listen to some great tunes 🎵.can't beat a long roadtrip . I must say you really do a great in depth review of every track you play ,keep up the great work bud from the UK 🇬🇧🇨🇦👍 Just subscribed
I believe that whilst CM’s basslines were pretty much his own, M of S was the one time AP insisted on playing the bassline AP wanted. I think. Like others, always enjoy seeing others begin to understand how awesome this band was. It’s a gift that keeps on giving.
Like you Nick I just love XTc ever since seeing them live on So It Goes (which broke a lot of punk and post-punk bands especially Joy Division) in 1977. They sang All Along The Watchtower live before a studio audience before Andy Partridge got stage fright and returned to Swindon. Enjoy! th-cam.com/video/7x1oGPoCQRY/w-d-xo.html
Have you reacted to The Dukes of the Stratosphear? It’s basically an XTC side band where they get to flex their Beatlesesque fantasies and 60s Pink Floyd pop dalliances. Their album is chock full of odd gems and shimmering psychedelia. Vanishing Girl. Little Lighthouse are easy entry level tracks to get to know them by…
It’s true that "Wonderful World" has the same basic "I'm dumb but I love you" lyrical conceit as Mayor of Simpleton, but there's really no other similarities between the two songs. I think it's a little silly to cry "ripoff" based on that. There are so many songs that are about the same topic as other songs. Also, for whatever it's worth, I think XTC the band was around before people started called the drug by that name. Andy Partridge says the name came from an old comedy skit by Jimmy Durante, in which he pronounced the word ecstasy "ex-tee-cee".
Dave Gregory is one of the most melodic, innovative guitarists ever. But the mullet he sports here is Hall of Fame horrible! But that aside, this song is one irresistible hook after another until they let us down softly. And yes, the bass work is great because Colin Moulding is unstoppably good on the bass.
Crappy video. Song and album Oranges and Lemons is great. Previius album Skylarking is almost perfect, but go for the original song set, the bonus tracks take away from it.
![ละลาย (LALALYE) - DAOU PITTAYA ต้าห์อู๋ พิทยา [OFFICIAL MV]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/wo6r9TgausI/mqdefault.jpg)
Colin Moulding is one of the world's most under-rated bassists - his bass lines are fire. The video for this track was a spoof on British 1960s television series "The Avengers". And most of XTC's albums are titled for a random lyric in their previous album. Try Colin's catchy "Generals and Majors" or his more "feral" "Deliver Us from the Elements". BTW, the band pre-dates the drug, but the word ecstasy has been around for centuries.
"Deliver Us from the Elements" is a song Colin wrote on the Mummer album.
@@dennisking7872 D'oh, you're right, of course. Corrected.
Mummer is killer. He could do each track on the album
Andy Partridge is a genius. The Black Sea is a superb album as is Drums and Wires !!
Someone once said XTC were GOD's apology for the Beatles breaking up.
Love this song. About 20 years ago I went and saw Joe Jackson and he played this song. Said the he wished he had written it.
I just grinned so hard I nearly split my face in two! I have two favorite bands ever and this is one of them (as I've probably yammered to you about before in these comments). So fun when I see you're on another XTC tune. Thanks!
PS one of the best, funniest lyrics: I don't know how many pounds make up a ton, of all the Nobel Prizes that I've never won. SO FREAKING CLEVER.
PPS - you're right; one of the coolest things about this group is their range. Complicated Game is one of my favorite XTC songs, too, and I love it for its savage darkness and cynicism as well as the musical brilliance. But the same band that did that song can do 'Mayor', or 'Burning With Optimism's Flames', or 'Summer's Cauldron'!
..there are so many XTC songs I would LOVE to see you do that I won't list them all! It's so fun when you react to them, because they're so niche and it's hard to find weirdos like me who love them.
I'm glad you enjoyed it!
XTC's "The Mayor of Simpleton" was the only single of the band to hit the Hot 100 chart (#72 in 1989) in the US and narrowly missed the top 40 in the UK. The sentiment of the song is similar to Sam Cooke's "Wonderful World" back in the early 1960s. This song received attention from Rick Beato in his "what makes this song great" feature with a band member from Jellyfish. Great reaction! Try Colin's "Generals and Majors" next.
Xtc is the most underrated band in history!
XTC runs the gamut from thunderous ragers ("Complicated Game" "Travels In Nihilon" "No Thugs In Our House") to perfect pop songs ("Mayor Of Simpleton" "Then She Appeared" "Playground") to the most heart-fluttering beauties (""Love On A Farmboy's Wages" "Harvest Festival" "Easter. Theatre") to every subject under the sun (Nuclear war: "This World Over", Love lost "Snowman" "Your Dictionary")... PLUS: You MUST check out their alter-egos THE DUKES OF STRATOSPHEAR who is the greatest 60s Homage Band ever: ALL original songs that sound like THE BEATLES, THE KINKS, PINK FLOYD, THE BEACH BOYS, etc... The catalog is AMAZING... but start with the title track from their fun debut "25 O'CLOCK"... You'll see again and again what GENIUSES XTC are. Partridge is BRILLIANT. LOVE your comments and thoughtful impressions!
I remember hearing Plans for Nigel a few years ago and really liking the song, about a year after that I heard Respectable Street and Senses Working Overtime. After that I became hooked. One of my favorite bands!
I love XTC!! Please take a listen to burning with optimism's flames, yacht dance!! You'll love it!!
A great song from a superb album. Remember buying this album whilst living in Vancouver.
You summed the song up well.
A song that is just so relentless...it doesn't stop for a breath. Guitars...bass(especially), drums...words...just flow, flow, flow.
You have great taste in music, XTC are brilliant, this is one of my faves
Thanks! They've become one of my faves!
XTC is AWESOME....Oranges and Lemons is a GREAT recording.
They were the best new wave music great music
Hi mate ,just stumbled across your channel by chance .
I love seeing young people discovering ,and appreciating older music ,there is so much out there to review ,you'll never run of great material 😁👍.
I'm 61 and I love my music from the 50,s to present day ,I too suffer with A&D and my release is to drive and listen to some great tunes 🎵.can't beat a long roadtrip .
I must say you really do a great in depth review of every track you play ,keep up the great work bud from the UK 🇬🇧🇨🇦👍
Just subscribed
Travels In Nihilon is another intense XTC song.
Yes!! It's like industrial way before it was a thing.
ABSOLUTELY.... Same with "No Thugs In Our House"
'This is Pop' was a big early hit for them, they one of the first bands in the genre called new wave
XTC is just amazing. You could play another dozen, two dozen of their songs and still not plumb the depths of their catalog
At least 5 dozen…… 😉😉😉
XTC is NOT about the drug..
Andy heard Jimmy Durante in a movie listening to the perfect musical note and exclaiming "I'm in EX-TA-SY!
Yes correct, The band were around 10 years before the drug or drug label came to be.
Fabulous energy
I believe that whilst CM’s basslines were pretty much his own, M of S was the one time AP insisted on playing the bassline AP wanted. I think. Like others, always enjoy seeing others begin to understand how awesome this band was. It’s a gift that keeps on giving.
A great call on Andy’s part, and of course he could trust Colin to play it fantastically.
This song in particular makes me think of Split Enz who were roughly at the same time from New Zealand. Split Enz - I Got You is essential.
Like you Nick I just love XTc ever since seeing them live on So It Goes (which broke a lot of punk and post-punk bands especially Joy Division) in 1977. They sang All Along The Watchtower live before a studio audience before Andy Partridge got stage fright and returned to Swindon. Enjoy! th-cam.com/video/7x1oGPoCQRY/w-d-xo.html
Hey Nick, try Helicopter or Respectable Street next..
Two Andy classics.
Check “So You Want to Be a Rock 'n' Roll Star” by The Byrds (1967). (D'You Know What I Mean?)
XTC - Helicopter... pleeease! My favourite and such fun.
Can’t stop seeing Dwight Schrute in this video
For anyone interested in XTC, try to find a copy of the This is Pop documentary. Excellent look at the band.
It took me years to work out that ‘XTC’ could be pronounced ‘ecstasy’!
Glad I'm not alone lol
A song tailor made for Nicky Nick. XTC…melody…vibe. He will squint, smile and sway.
I will and I did!
Have you reacted to The Dukes of the Stratosphear? It’s basically an XTC side band where they get to flex their Beatlesesque fantasies and 60s Pink Floyd pop dalliances. Their album is chock full of odd gems and shimmering psychedelia. Vanishing Girl. Little Lighthouse are easy entry level tracks to get to know them by…
I'm glad you love this band they are the best. But the bassline is only one of two XTC baselines that is Andy's
Andy suggested it, Colin played it.
If Complicated Game is your thing, go back & listen to Scissor Man. I prefer the take from Rag & Bone Buffet.
Snipping, snipping, snipping....
It’s true that "Wonderful World" has the same basic "I'm dumb but I love you" lyrical conceit as Mayor of Simpleton, but there's really no other similarities between the two songs. I think it's a little silly to cry "ripoff" based on that. There are so many songs that are about the same topic as other songs.
Also, for whatever it's worth, I think XTC the band was around before people started called the drug by that name. Andy Partridge says the name came from an old comedy skit by Jimmy Durante, in which he pronounced the word ecstasy "ex-tee-cee".
I think Geddy occasionally lifted off Colin back in the early 80s...just a theory of mine...meh, and why not?
Dave Gregory is one of the most melodic, innovative guitarists ever. But the mullet he sports here is Hall of Fame horrible! But that aside, this song is one irresistible hook after another until they let us down softly. And yes, the bass work is great because Colin Moulding is unstoppably good on the bass.
The mullet lmao
Crappy video. Song and album Oranges and Lemons is great. Previius album Skylarking is almost perfect, but go for the original song set, the bonus tracks take away from it.
They haven't got a bad song ! .