XTC

[MikeBass]

Colin Moulding is a great bass player.
I always dug his playing.

 

[KellyC]

I always felt like XTC and The Jam sort of occupied their own sub-genre of intellectual punk pop.
I loved both of them. And when I was young, I hated Duran Duran (though now I appreciate them) because I felt like they stole from those bands, dumbed it down and commercialized it with production polish and dance beats (kind of like how I felt about Nirvana and Green Day commercializing American hardcore and skate punk).

To me, XTC is one of those bands that influenced hundreds of hugely successful bands in the 80s (and their influence is still pretty obvious in bands like Belle and Sebastian), but most people had never heard of them.

 

[JimmyM]

I came here to say exactly this. I think XTC were/are one of the most under-appreciated bands of any era. Skylarking is one of my favorite 2-3 recordings of all time and the other albums for years on either side of it are close.

I never understood the high esteem people place on The Beatles. Many songs were great, but together on their albums listened end to end, they were inconsistent and often didn't flow when put together. YMMV, of course.

The Beatles couldn’t have cared less about “flow.” They would do a rocker, then a show tune, then a sensitive ballad, another rocker, a country song, a string quartet song, and they treated almost every song as a separate entity. Even their alleged “concept album” Sgt. Pepper’s concept ended with the first song. I’d much rather have a band do that than try to have a single sound all through an album. To me, that’s monotonous.

But as you say, YMMV.

 

[Wood and Wire]

I wrote this yesterday in another forum where someone had mentioned XTC (the English band...Andy Partridge, Colin Moulding, Dave Gregory et al) but since that was an Off Topic post in a non-music forum, I figure the question/concept might get more traction here.

XTC is a weird band in my personal listening history...through no fault of their own, I certainly think their music is clever and exquisitely well-crafted and catchy etc. ...but more because of how different it is from all the other music that I've liked but that has prompted other people to recommend XTC to me.

This phenomenon first started back in the very early 1980s when I was still an undergraduate at music school.

Preface: During my teenage years I was mostly listening to archetypal 1970s British prog-rock (e.g., Yes, King Crimson, Gentle Giant) and nascent jazz-rock fusion (e.g., Mahavishnu Orchestra, Return To Forever, Weather Report). Plus lots of Beatles, Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd... and some Classical music, and some "normal" Jazz, and some musical theater.

But by the early 1980s though I was getting really into certain pop/New Wave/post-punk bands...definitely not all of them though; there were only some that seemed to incoprorate (sometimes subliminally) the depth and sophistication I had enjoyed from the prog and fusion bands within their seemingly stripped down pop songs...e.g., The Police, Talking Heads, Peter Gabriel, Romeo Void, The Fixx, Missing Persons, Tears For Fears, Japan, Thomas Dolby, the Adrian Belew-era of King Crimson, etc.

Anyhow, circa 1980 nearly all my college buddies had similar musical tastes and personal listening histories: They all started with prog-rock and fusion, then gravitated to this Police/Talking Heads-type pop.

And so -- here's the part that to this day I don't get -- all my college buddies who had similar tastes and personal listening histories all said "Oh, you also must love XTC!"

:shrugs:

Well, I didn't "love" XTC at the time. (I probably still don't, though I do respect them immensely.) The thing I genuinely don't get is how XTC fits into the aesthetic I just described. I don't hear any connection between XTC's music and Police/Talking Heads-by-way-of-1970s-prog-rock-or-jazz-fusion.

And yet it wasn't just my undergraduate buddies who thought I would like XTC: Folks throughout my life, even recently, once they hear about the music I grew up with, assume that I must also like XTC!

It's inexplicable. And uncanny.

Anyone else experience this? And/or, anyone understand what it is that so many of my aquaintances hear in XTC's music that makes them think I would love it?

Interesting question, Bob. I think the assumption your friends were making probably has to do with what most people’s non-mainstream record collections looked like at the time. Police, Elvis Costello, Talking Heads, XTC, Pretenders, Cure, Joy Division, Gang of 4, Wire, Clash, Pistols, etc. would be the de rigueur vinyl of the day. I’m not surprised someone would assume you also liked or loved XTC if you were also into any of the other bands listed above.

One thing I don’t totally get from your post, and I’m not trying to say I think you’re wrong, is the connection you feel between The Police (etc) and prog or fusion. To me, bands of that era were intentionally distancing from that kind of stuff. I do hear a lot of reggae, rocksteady, and ska influence mixed with pop and punk in bands of that time, especially the Brits. But, that’s only my personal opinion. Maybe your friends were making connections between bands like XTC and the Police based on things other than prog and fusion. They were both young, current, non-mainstream bands. Anyway, you like what you like, no biggie.

Here’s a recording of an XTC show I was at (they were opening for The Police!) at the Michigan Theater in my hometown of Ann Arbor, Michigan on 1/22/80. In two days, it will be 44 years ago. That makes me feel kind of old. I’m 57 now, I was 13 then. I went alone because I was the lone weirdo punk at my junior high school. I walked from home to the theater and back, about 2 miles. I remember freezing my ass off because I was dressed like a miniature Paul Simonon. XTC and the Police were quite different from each other that night, but somehow very similar. Maybe because it was all so fresh to me. I remember thinking XTC were weirder, more aggressive, and I liked them a little better than the Police that night. The police were polished by this point, ready for the mainstream. They were still great, though. But, that’s just my opinion. Enjoy:

The number of times (particularly in the last couple of decades) that I've witnessed revisionist arguments over whether so and so a band were Punk, or what constitutes Punk, by people who weren't there, but insist on putting things in boxes.

Anybody who was there (I was a little kid, but still totally involved, not least due to peer groups, and older siblings - even my Mum was punk AF) was more unified by the world view / philosophy, and attitude of the artists, musicians, film makers, and fashion creators.

The idea of, for example, every band adhering to a generic convention, and sounding the same, is a much later imposition by somebody who has completely missed the point of a non-conformist mini-revolution.

I'd imagine that you're friends were assuming you'd like XTC, based on their attitude, approach, and the other bands of the era that they were generally associated with as part of a scene, rather than some specifics of technique that they may, or may not share with a Prog act that you also listened to.

 

[Wood and Wire]

What they said…

Very good documentary of the same name, on Sky Arts (if you're able to get that in America).

 

[Lugan]

... They created this little world we live in, and changed the world at large. They set a multitude of examples, and practically did everything first, and whatever they did that wasn’t original, they drew from obscure sources but used their clout to bring it to a wider audience. They set new standards for songwriting and recording techniques. They made it possible for a band like XTC to exist, and plenty of times Andy and Colin have borrowed motifs from them, not as plagiarism but in loving tribute. Even those two had a similar ratio of crap/ho-hum songs to the epic ones.

This is such a great point. I sometimes separate music of historical significance from music I like to listen to. Sometimes the venn diagram overlaps for an artist or piece of work, and sometimes not. Makes me think of Captain Beefheart for example - historically significant and I respect that, but I don't like to listen to it.

 

[Matt O]

The idea of, for example, every band adhering to a generic convention, and sounding the same, is a much later imposition by somebody who has completely missed the point of a non-conformist mini-revolution.

Precisely this.

 

[abarson]

One of my favorite albums was actually under the Dukes of Stratsophere moniker. It's fun finding the original songs that inspired those on the album.

 

[ElectroVibe]

I came here to say exactly this. I think XTC were/are one of the most under-appreciated bands of any era. Skylarking is one of my favorite 2-3 recordings of all time and the other albums for years on either side of it are close.

I never understood the high esteem people place on The Beatles. Many songs were great, but together on their albums listened end to end, they were inconsistent and often didn't flow when put together. YMMV, of course.

Back to XTC Skylarking, that album to me is pure perfection because every song is complex but musical while flowing from one song to the next for the whole album.

Todd Rundgren supposedly arranged the songs for that order.

 

[Michedelic]

Very good documentary of the same name, on Sky Arts (if you're able to get that in America).

I posted a link to that right after. It was originally on Showtime. Hopefully it won’t get blocked in certain regions, but it explains everything.

 

[winston]

Now that I know and love Pornography, I wish I could use a time machine

Whatever floats your boat, buddy! But please tidy up the time machine when you're done with it, OK?

There's so much to love in the XTC catalog, IMO they are the best of best of the obviously Beatles-influenced songwriters. My favorites are the Dave Gregory era, he is a remarkable guitar stylist/soloist, up there with Django Reinhardt, Jeff Beck, and Alex Lifeson. The Dukes of Stratosphear stuff is a triumph of analog production techniques and adventurous whimsy. And I believe that the "Phil Collins drum sound" created by Hugh Padgham actually appeared on an XTC album first.

 

[Michedelic]

This is such a great point. I sometimes separate music of historical significance from music I like to listen to. Sometimes the venn diagram overlaps for an artist or piece of work, and sometimes not. Makes me think of Captain Beefheart for example - historically significant and I respect that, but I don't like to listen to it.

Oddly enough, Partridge is a big Beefheart fan. You can definitely hear it in the dissonant guitar work of the early stuff, and they contributed to a tribute album. And…
as a promotion event for one of the Apple Venus volumes, they did an in-store meet and greet at the old Virgin Store in West Hollywood. You bet I went, ended up running into friends in the queue. By the time I got up to them, Andy was available for conversation, so not to waste the moment and be a drooling fanboi, I asked him if he’d ever encountered the good Captain, as they were both on the Virgin label during the same period. Andy told the tale of once being in the same elevator with Don, and struck with awe, unable to speak to him. Endearing, as he could be a fanboi…

 

[Michedelic]

One of my favorite albums was actually under the Dukes of Stratsophere moniker. It's fun finding the original songs that inspired those on the album.

Did you get them all figured out? Some were more obvious than others, but there were some sly quotes otherwise.

 

[Picton]

Folks throughout my life, even recently, once they hear about the music I grew up with, assume that I must also like XTC!

It's inexplicable. And uncanny.

I think it's likely they're all just offering you MDMA, and you're just not understanding them.

 

[bmusic]

Oddly enough, Partridge is a big Beefheart fan. You can definitely hear it in the dissonant guitar work of the early stuff, and they contributed to a tribute album. And…
as a promotion event for one of the Apple Venus volumes, they did an in-store meet and greet at the old Virgin Store in West Hollywood. You bet I went, ended up running into friends in the queue. By the time I got up to them, Andy was available for conversation, so not to waste the moment and be a drooling fanboi, I asked him if he’d ever encountered the good Captain, as they were both on the Virgin label during the same period. Andy told the tale of once being in the same elevator with Don, and struck with awe, unable to speak to him. Endearing, as he could be a fanboi…

I went to that same meet-and-greet! It was a book signing, was it not? I had them autograph my orange and lemon shakers, which of course didn’t survive 20+ years of shaking—

—as well as the book. I asked Colin about his fretless playing and was surprised to hear him say he only used it on English Settlement.

 

[Bob_Ross]

One thing I don’t totally get from your post, and I’m not trying to say I think you’re wrong, is the connection you feel between The Police (etc) and prog or fusion. To me, bands of that era were intentionally distancing from that kind of stuff.

Ironically, it was The Police more than any of the other 80s bands I mentioned that signaled or suggested a connection to prog-rock or fusion for me and my undergrad buddies. This was right around when their Ghost In The Machine album came out, and listening to those tunes -- both then, and even now to this day -- I find it hard not to hear a trio of extremely skilled loaded-with-chops musicians simply trying not to show off...and barely succeeding. Andy, Stewart, and Sting could have easily played Mahavishnu covers -- they all had the musical knowledge and physical skills -- and so it almost sounded like they were slumming. Almost. The thing that to my ear separates The Police from a lot of other stripped down post-punk reggae-influenced bands from that same time period is that you can hear how supremely in control The Police were; their technique was irreproachable. E.g., Sting's basslines may have been simple, but they were not simplistic; they were skillfully minimalist, but executed with a brilliantly high level of musicianship.

That's I think what I was hearing as the connection to prog-rock and/or fusion.

Likewise, Talking Heads' Remain In Light could easily follow Herbie Hancock's Thrust in a DJ's rotation and, other than David Byrne's "oops, I'm singing!" vocal styles, nothing would call attention to any tremendous disparity in style.

 

[ardgedee]

Ironically, it was The Police more than any of the other 80s bands I mentioned that signaled or suggested a connection to prog-rock or fusion for me and my undergrad buddies.

Probably because all three of them established their prog and jazz credentials before joining The Police. Sting was in a relatively obscure fusion group called Last Exit, Copeland was in Curved Air, and Summers spent a while in Soft Machine and other bands.

 

[Wood and Wire]

I posted a link to that right after. It was originally on Showtime. Hopefully it won’t get blocked in certain regions, but it explains everything.

The link in your post is blocked on my side of the Atlantic, so nothing is visible other than a black box, with no indication of what is actually being censored (I get territorial licensing, but I don't get why they remove all indication of what it is that you're not being allowed to see).

Sucks for those in Europe, who're hoping to see it for free.

Thankfully I've seen it a couple of times, and still have Sky Arts.

 

[steve_ss]

Now that I know and love Pornography, I wish I could use a time machine and see that concert again.

Whatever floats your boat, buddy! But please tidy up the time machine when you're done with it, OK?

 

[P. Aaron]

Interesting question, Bob. I think the assumption your friends were making probably has to do with what most people’s non-mainstream record collections looked like at the time. Police, Elvis Costello, Talking Heads, XTC, Pretenders, Cure, Joy Division, Gang of 4, Wire, Clash, Pistols, etc. would be the de rigueur vinyl of the day. I’m not surprised someone would assume you also liked or loved XTC if you were also into any of the other bands listed above.

One thing I don’t totally get from your post, and I’m not trying to say I think you’re wrong, is the connection you feel between The Police (etc) and prog or fusion. To me, bands of that era were intentionally distancing from that kind of stuff. I do hear a lot of reggae, rocksteady, and ska influence mixed with pop and punk in bands of that time, especially the Brits. But, that’s only my personal opinion. Maybe your friends were making connections between bands like XTC and the Police based on things other than prog and fusion. They were both young, current, non-mainstream bands. Anyway, you like what you like, no biggie.

Here’s a recording of an XTC show I was at (they were opening for The Police!) at the Michigan Theater in my hometown of Ann Arbor, Michigan on 1/22/80. In two days, it will be 44 years ago. That makes me feel kind of old. I’m 57 now, I was 13 then. I went alone because I was the lone weirdo punk at my junior high school. I walked from home to the theater and back, about 2 miles. I remember freezing my ass off because I was dressed like a miniature Paul Simonon. XTC and the Police were quite different from each other that night, but somehow very similar. Maybe because it was all so fresh to me. I remember thinking XTC were weirder, more aggressive, and I liked them a little better than the Police that night. The police were polished by this point, ready for the mainstream. They were still great, though. But, that’s just my opinion. Enjoy:

I lived in Ann Arbor then playing awfully in punk rock bands. I regret many great acts that rolled through the area when I had the means and opportunity to see them.