XTC (band)

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XTC
XTC after a concert in Toronto on October 3, 1978. Andy Partridge, Colin Molding, Terry Chambers and Barry Andrews (from left to right)
XTC after a concert in Toronto on October 3, 1978.
Andy Partridge, Colin Molding, Terry Chambers and Barry Andrews (from left to right)
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 UK US 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
silver

(7 weeks)UK
US41 (24 weeks)
US
First published: September 1980
1982 English settlement UK5
silver
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
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

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 UK US 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
1999 I'd Like That UK96 (1 week)
UK
-
First published: 1999

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

  1. XTC - The Wizards of Swindon on eclipsed (accessed October 21, 2019)
  2. Christoph Dallach: Music: XTC - KulturSPIEGEL 3/1999 on Der Spiegel (accessed October 21, 2019)
  3. a b Chart sources: UK US
  4. Music Sales Awards: UK

Web links