XTC (band)
XTC | |
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XTC after a concert in Toronto on October 3, 1978. Andy Partridge, Colin Molding, Terry Chambers and Barry Andrews (from left to right) |
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General information | |
origin | Swindon , England |
Genre (s) | Pop-Rock , New Wave , Art-Rock |
founding | 1976 |
resolution | 2006 |
Website | ape.uk.net |
Last occupation | |
Andy Partridge | |
Colin Molding | |
former members | |
Terry Chambers (1973-1983) | |
Barry Andrews (1976-1979) | |
Dave Gregory (1979-1998) |
XTC were a British rock band from Swindon , which emerged from the group Helium Kidz in 1976 and split up in 2006. XTC began as a post-punk and new wave band, but also processed influences from the music of the 1960s and developed their style into artistically ambitious pop . Although the band enjoys a high reputation among music critics, the big commercial breakthrough has always been denied.
history
After a long history as The Helium Kidz , XTC came together in 1976 in Swindon with Andy Partridge (guitar, vocals), Colin Molding (bass, vocals), Barry Andrews (keyboards) and Terry Chambers (drums). Although not exactly a punk band , they fit in with their “hyperdynamic” appearance and were able to achieve success with their first records ( White Music and Go2 ).
Barry Andrews left the group in 1979 after the first two records due to musical differences and founded Shriekback . He was replaced by the guitarist and multi-instrumentalist Dave Gregory , which musically led to a significant change in style towards psychedelic guitar pop. In the same year the band achieved one of their greatest successes with the single Making Plans for Nigel, written by Colin Molding . Numerous tours and the collaboration with producer Steve Lillywhite on the albums Drums & Wires and Black Sea established the band internationally. After the hit single Senses Working Overtime from the album English Settlement , frontman Partridge collapsed in early 1982. After that, XTC gave no more concerts, drummer Terry Chambers dropped out. The band last performed on April 4, 1982 at the Hollywood Palladium .
In the following years the band only existed in the studio with changing drummers and with their increasingly psychedelic sound found fewer and fewer listeners on Mummer and The Big Express . The crisis was exacerbated by legal disputes with her former manager. In contrast, she found enthusiasm for her alter ego, The Dukes of Stratosphear, in the burgeoning 60s revival. In 1986, XTC worked on the album Skylarking with producer Todd Rundgren . The recording sessions with the two strong characters Partridge and Rundgren turned out to be quite difficult; however, the album is also viewed by the band as a highlight of their career. Skylarking spawned the US college radio hit Dear God . Originally only the B-side to the single Grass , the religion-critical song became XTC's biggest and most controversial hit. In the USA, XTC found a new, young audience, which in 1989, in anticipation of the unplugged wave, led to an acoustic tour of American radio stations.
Since the following albums, Oranges & Lemons and Nonsuch, were not successful in their English homeland and the musicians were hardly paid for their successful records, tensions arose with their record company, which led to a strike by the band and a release break from 1994 to 1999. Songs that had accumulated during this time were recorded after the contract was terminated. Due to musical and personal differences, Dave Gregory left the band and XTC was henceforth a duo. Partridge and Molding founded their own record company "Idea Records" and released the CDs Apple Venus and Wasp Star . In addition, Partridge brought out solo releases in collaboration with Harold Budd and Peter Blegvad and produced Martin Newell , among others . Meanwhile, her former record company Virgin Records released the previous CDs in remastered versions in 2001, as well as the 4-CD box Coat of Many Cupboards with numerous previously unreleased recordings in the following year . A DVD release of the XTC videos has so far failed due to the royalty dispute between the musicians and the record company.
In 2003 Andy Partridge founded his own record company Ape , initially in order to officially release the demo recordings from his private studio under the name Fuzzy Warbles (in German "indistinct Tralala"), which have been circulating among XTC fans for a long time, and in appropriate sound quality. Partridge finally signed other artists with "Ape", such as the English Milk & Honey Band and the Canadian artist Veda Hille .
At the end of 2005, after a long break, XTC released two new pieces: Partridges Spiral , strongly based on She Said She Said of the Beatles , and Molding's nostalgic Music Hall love song Say It .
In autumn 2006 Partridge completed the Fuzzy Warbles series, and in 2007 the double album Monstrance was released with improvised music that Partridge had recorded with former XTC keyboardist Barry Andrews and drummer Martyn Baker. At about the same time he announced that Colin Molding no longer wanted to work as a musician and that XTC had thus effectively dissolved. In early 2009, Molding announced that the band members would complete unreleased studio recordings for expanded reissues of several XTC albums.
Discography
Releases as The Dukes of Stratosphear
- 25 O'Clock (1985)
- Psonic Psunspot (1987)
- Chips from the Chocolate Fire Ball (An Anthology) (1987)
Solo releases by Andy Partridge
- Take Away / The Lure of Salvage (as Mr. Partridge) (1980)
- Through The Hill (with Harold Budd) (1994)
- Fuzzy Warbles (The Demo Archives) Vol 1 (2003)
- Fuzzy Warbles (The Demo Archives) Vol 2 (2003)
- Fuzzy Warbles (The Demo Archives) Vol 3 (2003)
- Fuzzy Warbles (The Demo Archives) Vol 4 (2003)
- Orpheus - The Lowdown (with Peter Blegvad) (2004)
- Fuzzy Warbles (The Demo Archives) Vol 5 (2004)
- Fuzzy Warbles (The Demo Archives) Vol 6 (2004)
- Fuzzy Warbles (The Demo Archives) Vol 7 (2006)
- Fuzzy Warbles (The Demo Archives) Vol 8 (2006)
- Fuzzy Warbles (The Demo Archives) Collector's Album (2007)
- Monstrance (2007)
Chart placements
Albums
year | title |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks | |
---|---|---|---|---|
UK | US | |||
1978 | White Music |
UK38 (4 weeks) UK |
- |
First published: January 1978
|
Go 2 |
UK21 (3 weeks) UK |
- |
First published: October 1978
|
|
1979 | Drums and Wires |
UK34 (7 weeks) UK |
US176 (8 weeks) US |
First published: August 1979
|
1980 | Black Sea |
UK16
silver
(7 weeks)UK |
US41 (24 weeks) US |
First published: September 1980
|
1982 | English settlement |
UK5
silver
(11 weeks)UK |
US48 (20 weeks) US |
First published: February 1982
|
Waxworks-Some Singles (1977-82) |
UK54 (3 weeks) UK |
- |
First published: November 1982
|
|
1983 | Mummer |
UK51 (4 weeks) UK |
US145 (5 weeks) US |
First published: August 1983
|
1984 | The Big Express |
UK38 (2 weeks) UK |
US178 (5 weeks) US |
First published: October 1984
|
1986 | Skylarking |
UK90 (1 week) UK |
US70 (29 weeks) US |
First published: October 1986
|
1989 | Oranges and Lemons |
UK28 (3 weeks) UK |
US44 (21 weeks) US |
First published: February 1989
|
1992 | Nonsuch |
UK28 (2 weeks) UK |
US97 (11 weeks) US |
First published: April 1992
|
1996 | Fossil Fuel - The XTC Singles (1977-92) |
UK33
silver
(2 weeks)UK |
- |
Compilation, first published: September 1996
|
1999 | Apple Venus Volume 1 |
UK42 (2 weeks) UK |
US106 (3 weeks) US |
First published: February 1999
|
2000 | Wasp Star (Apple Venus Volume 2) |
UK40 (1 week) UK |
US108 (2 weeks) US |
First published: May 2000
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More albums
- Beeswax (Some B-Sides 1977-1982) (1982)
- Look Look (A Video Compilation) (1982)
- The Compact XTC (The Singles 1978-85) (1985)
- Explode Together (The Dub Experiments '78 -'80) (1990)
- Rag & Bone Buffet (Rare Cuts & Leftovers) (1990)
- BBC Radio 1 Live in Concert (1992)
- Drums and Wireless (BBC Radio Sessions 77-89) (1994)
- Transistor Blast (The Best of the BBC Sessions) (1998)
- Homespun (1999)
- Homegrown (2001)
- Coat of Many Cupboards (Hits, Demos, Live & Outtakes) (2002)
- Instru Venus CD (2002)
- Wasp Strumental CD (2002)
Singles
year | Title album |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks | |
---|---|---|---|---|
UK | US | |||
1979 | Life Begins At The Hop |
UK54 (4 weeks) UK |
- |
First published: 1979
|
Making Plans For Nigel |
UK17 (11 weeks) UK |
- |
First published: 1979
|
|
1980 | Generals And Majors / Don't Lose Your Temper |
UK32 (8 weeks) UK |
- |
First published: 1980
|
Towers Of London |
UK31 (5 weeks) UK |
- |
First published: 1980
|
|
1981 | Sgt.Rock (Is Going To Help Me) |
UK16 (9 weeks) UK |
- |
First publication: 1981
|
1982 | Senses working overtime |
UK10 (9 weeks) UK |
- |
First published: 1982
|
Ball and chain |
UK58 (4 weeks) UK |
- |
First published: 1982
|
|
1983 | Love On A Farmboy's Wages |
UK50 (6 weeks) UK |
- |
First published: 1983
|
1984 | All You Pretty Girls |
UK55 (6 weeks) UK |
- |
First published: 1984
|
This World Over |
UK99 (1 week) UK |
- |
First published: 1984
|
|
1985 | Wake up |
UK94 (2 weeks) UK |
- |
First published: 1985
|
1986 | Grass |
UK100 (2 weeks) UK |
- |
First published: 1986
|
1987 | The Meeting Place |
UK100 (1 week) UK |
- |
First published: 1987
|
Dear God |
UK99 (1 week) UK |
- |
First published: 1987
|
|
1989 | The Mayor Of Simpleton |
UK46 (5 weeks) UK |
US72 (6 weeks) US |
First published: 1989
|
King For A Day |
UK82 (3 weeks) UK |
- |
First published: 1989
|
|
1992 | The Disappointed |
UK33 (5 weeks) UK |
- |
First publication: 1992
|
The Ballad Of Peter Punpkinhead |
UK71 (1 week) UK |
- |
First publication: 1992
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|
1999 | I'd Like That |
UK96 (1 week) UK |
- |
First published: 1999
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literature
- Chris Twomey: XTC - Chalkhills And Children . Omnibus Press, 1992, ISBN 0-7119-2758-8 .
- XTC & Neville Farmer: XTC: Song Stories . Helter Skelter Publishing, 1998, ISBN 1-900924-03-X .
- XTC: Testi - con traduzione a fronte; Arcane Editrice Srl (Virgin Music), 1992; ISBN 88-85859-87-9 ; Texts in English and Italian.
swell
- ↑ XTC - The Wizards of Swindon on eclipsed (accessed October 21, 2019)
- ↑ Christoph Dallach: Music: XTC - KulturSPIEGEL 3/1999 on Der Spiegel (accessed October 21, 2019)
- ↑ a b Chart sources: UK US
- ↑ Music Sales Awards: UK
Web links
- Official website (English)
- XTC at laut.de
- XTC archive since 1991