It seems a little lazy to tag an XTC record as “new wave” but that’s what I found and I can’t think of anything better. Black Sea (1980) is definitely my favorite of their albums. Mary is the real XTC fan in this house, but anyone can enjoy songs like “Respectable Street” and “Generals and Majors.” Other than those my favorite is probably “Burning with Optimism’s Flames.” I’m not sure when or where she got this but it appears to be another “cut out.” Black Sea made it to No. 41 on the Billboard charts so no doubt many more were sold than returned to the label or put on sale in the cut out bins.
Track listing from Wikipedia:
All songs written by Andy Partridge, except where noted.
1. “Respectable Street” - 3:37
2. “Generals and Majors” (Colin Moulding) - 4:04
3. “Living through Another Cuba” - 4:44
4. “Love at First Sight” (Moulding) - 3:07
5. “Rocket from a Bottle” - 3:30
6. “No Language in Our Lungs” - 4:53
7. “Towers of London” - 5:24
8. “Paper and Iron (Notes and Coins)” - 4:17
9. “Burning with Optimism’s Flames” - 4:15
10. “Sgt. Rock (Is Going to Help Me)” - 3:56
11. “Travels in Nihilon” - 7:0
- Artist: XTC
- Title: English Settlement
- Year: 1982
- Format: Vinyl 12 in.
- Rating (1-10): 8
- Owner: Mary
- Acquired: "Later... maybe, like, '84... something"
- Keeper: Yes
- Search: Insound, Amazon.com, Google
I went to a hardcore punk throwdown last night with Double Negative, and got to meet my new buddy Kevin, singer of the band. More about that and their new album next Monday.
Today’s record is English Settlement by XTC. Regular readers of this site will know that I’m no card carrying member of the XTC fan club, but this one is better than most. Which is a good thing because it’s a double album. If you’re going to release a double album please put in the extra effort. Otherwise… the obvious. My favorite song is the first one, “Runaways.” This is Mary’s record and I defer to her on the rating.
Sorry about the slightly out of focus album jacket, but I did throw in a pic of one liner sleeve at no extra charge.
Wikipedia has more info about the album and Andy Partridge’s breakdown while touring in support of it.
- Artist: XTC
- Title: Ball and Chain
- Year: 1982
- Format: Vinyl 10 in.
- Rating (1-10): 7
- Owner: Mary
- Acquired: ?
- Keeper: Yes
- Search: Insound, Amazon.com, Google
- Tracy
- What would you rate this record?
- Mary
- I think a 6 or 7.
- Tracy
- Is it a 6 or 7?
- Mary
- A 7. It’s pretty good if you like XTC. For XTC it’s a good record.
- Tracy
- OK.
- Mary
- Don’t quote me.
I prefer the first song on the flip, “No Thugs in Our House.” Printed across the top of the jacket is:
- File Under - Teen Groups
- 10″ single for the price a 7″ single
- Artist: XTC
- Title: Skylarking
- Year: 1986
- Format: Vinyl 12 in.
- Rating (1-10): 5
- Owner: Mary
- Acquired: Plan 9 Records Richmond, VA
- Keeper: Maybe
- Search: Insound, Amazon.com, Google
Listening to music like XTC’s Skylarking reminds me that I do, in fact, have something in common with Dee Snider. I wanna rock. And this record ain’t taking me there. I’m not saying I only want to listen to crunching guitars and screeching vocals. Good classical rocks, even pop can rock, and funk is always rocking. I don’t think XTC is bad, but rarely does their music meet the need I share with Dee.
This copy of Skylarking is the first edition and doesn’t include the hit “Dear God.” More about this record.
- Artist: XTC
- Title: Dear God
- Year: 1986
- Format: Vinyl 7 in.
- Rating (1-10): 7
- Owner: Mary
- Acquired: 1986 - When she worked at Plan 9 Records in Richmond, VA
- Keeper: Yes
- Search: Insound, Amazon.com, Google
Oh man, what was I saying before? So much for redoubling my posting frequency…
XTC created some minor controversy with their single “Dear God.” It seems it was originally a b-side for another single from the album Skylarking. It became such a hit that the album was repressed to include it. As a pop song, I think it’s solid, and certainly more interesting musically than most. The flipside on this is “Big Day” which has a much more psychedelic sound, but not as cartoonish as their stuff under the pseudonym The Dukes of Stratosphear. It’s decent but kind of boring.
And that concludes this pass through the 7 inch singles. We’re all out of Ys and Zs. For the next few posts I’ll put up some new stuff.
- Artist: XTC
- Title: The Big Express
- Year: 1984
- Format: Vinyl 12 in.
- Rating (1-10): 7
- Owner: Mary
- Acquired: ? Looks like she got it used...
- Keeper: Yes
- Search: Insound, Amazon.com, Google
Uh… I never really know what to say about XTC. Some of their stuff is exciting and some is, as the kids say, “meh.” For me, The Big Express is somewhere in between. I’ve played it a few times in the last couple days. Now, I don’t want to play it ever again despite that a couple songs are stuck in my head. I’m sure Mary wants to keep it…
Second pic is from the liner, not the back of the record cover which is sorta meh.
- Artist: XTC
- Title: Waxworks and Beeswax Compilations
- Year: 1982
- Format: Vinyl 12 in.
- Rating (1-10): 7
- Owner: Mary
- Acquired: Used, somewhere far from here, sometime long ago.
- Search: Insound, Amazon.com, Google
It’s a thoroughly ’80s evening. Mary is watching 200 Cigarettes and laughing about how Dave Chappelle’s character Disco Cabbie reminds her of me. (?) I have to say that at least he’s the coolest cat in the movie, with the best lines. This movie was made in 1999 but takes place in 1981. Of course it’s chockablock with some of our favorite music. One year later, 1982, these XTC compilations were released. It’s hard to believe they started so long ago.
XTC’s “Waxworks: Some Singles 1977-1982” (Wikipedia) and “Beeswax: Some B-Sides 1977-1982” were originally released together, but I think they later became separate albums. I have them pushed together in the picture below, but they are in fact physically separate records, not gatefold covers. I’ve never been a huge fan, but I do appreciate their music and have bought some of their records. My favorite song from both records is “Generals and Majors.”
- Artist: Xmal Deutschland
- Title: Sequenz
- Year: 1985
- Format: Vinyl 12 in.
- Rating (1-10): 6
- Owner: Mary
- Acquired: 1985 - Bought when she worked at Plan 9 Records in Richmond, VA
- Keeper: Maybe
- Search: Insound, Amazon.com, Google
“Sequenz” is a three song 12 inch by Xmal Deutschland. When I played the first side I asked Mary if she knew who it was and she guessed Siouxsie and The Banshees. And that’s funny because I later saw this Wikipedia article about Xmal Deutschland and it noted that the singer was often compared to Siouxsie Sioux. I don’t know… I loved the first song “Jahr Um Jahr II”, but the other two, “Autumn” and “Polarlicht” were kinda… blah.
- Artist: X
- Title: See How We Are
- Year: 1987
- Format: Vinyl 12 in.
- Rating (1-10): 7
- Owner: Tracy
- Acquired: 1987 - When I worked at Mother's Records in Hampton, VA.
- Keeper: Yes
- Search: Insound, Amazon.com, Google
I need to listen to this one again. “See How We Are” was never my favorite X record, but I really wasn’t getting into it after a couple listens today. I do like the songs “4th of July” and the title-track “See How We Are”, but the rest of the album just sounds flat. And that’s despite that there are a number of high-energy fast-tempo songs. Overall it just sounds like they’re bummed out. Maybe they were.
I got to see them live, touring for this record, at the Ritz in New York. They were the opening act for Warren Zevon. To me, at the time that was a bill that didn’t make sense. The whole show was kind of a poignant downer. Guitarist Billy Zoom wasn’t there, replaced by Tony Gilkyson in concert and on the album too, and John Doe and Exene had broken up. The latter point was really driven home by Exene being visibly pregnant with someone else’s child. On top of all that, the biggest let down and surprise was that the most of the crowd was actually there to see Warren Zevon. Maybe I was the last guy to know it was the end for X.
Here’s an article about that show from the New York Times archives. Guess who gets 90% of the ink.
- Artist: X
- Title: Ain't Love Grand
- Year: 1985
- Format: Vinyl 12 in.
- Rating (1-10): 8
- Owner: Tracy
- Acquired: 1985 - Maybe Tracks Records in Norfolk, VA.
- Keeper: Yes
- Search: Insound, Amazon.com, Google
When this record came out I remember that I really loved the first (only?) single and video, “Burning House of Love.” This wasn’t quite the end for X, but in hindsight it seems that they had peaked earlier. There’s something flat about the production, or maybe it’s an overuse of keyboards that kinda takes the teeth out of some of the songs. There are also a couple songs I think they could’ve cut. Nowadays, my favorite song on “Ain’t Love Grand” is probably “My Goodness.” It’s a slow and slinky number sung by Exene that’s sounds more like classic lounge than classic punk, or roots rock.
I should’ve kept up with the band and its members over the last decade plus. I’m probably missing out on something special. So much music. So many artists. It can be hard to maintain hundreds of “relationships.” Which is the main reason I’m going through the entire record collection, one disk at a time.
Read all about X at “the official website.”
