A trawl through the music and art work of XTC's single releases (part 2)

 Following on from my previous post, a trawl through the music and art work of XTC's single releases (part 1), below is the second installment in the series. In my previous post, we finished at the end of 1980, with Towers of London and so to start this post we kick-off with XTC's first single release of 1981, and another track taken from their fourth album, Black Sea, Respectable Street. Once again the lyrics to one of their songs courted controversy, and the album version of this track was rewritten to replace some of the wording which the BBC did not favour, namely 'contraception' and 'abortion'. Despite this forced change however, it would seem that the BBC still did not give any airtime to Respectable Street and it failed to chart.

The b-side featured 2 tracks, Strange Tales, Strange Tails (Andy Partridge) and Officer Blue (Colin Moulding). Unlike many of their previous, and indeed future, releases, the sleeve of the single did not feature any 'gimmicks' that I'm aware of.

XTC - Respectable Street, Virgin records, c.1981

Moving on to 1982, next up is XTC's best selling single, Senses Working Overtime, which reached the dizzy heights of number 10 in the UK charts. This was the first of 3 tracks to be released as a single from their fifth album, English Settlement. The a-side was written by Andy Partridge. The b-side featured 2 tracks, Blame the Weather (Colin Moulding) and Tissue Tigers (Andy Partridge). Early copies of the 7" single were released in a fold out sleeve showing each of the 5 senses and included the lyrics. There are a fair few of these on Ebay, although most seem to be the version without the foldout sleeve.

XTC - Senses Working Overtime, Virgin records, c.1981

This single was also released on 12", making it their first 12" release since the 3D EP back in 1977. The only additional track on the 12" version was Egyptian Solution (Homo Safar Series No. 3), written of course by Andy Partridge.

Following on from the success of Senses Working Overtime, XTC went on to release a second single from English Settlement, Ball and Chain, written by Colin Moulding about the over development in his home town, Swindon. Unlike the single before however, it only graced the lower end of the UK charts. The b-side features 2 Andy Partridge tracks, Punch and Judy, and Heaven Is Paved With Broken Glass. This single release comes in a conventional picture sleeve, with no 'enhancements' although perhaps the story behind the picture did not require any embellishing. The picture is of Peter Uzzell's house in Swindon which he refused to move out of when all the surrounding houses were being demolished. The track was apparently played at his cremation.

It was also released in 12" format with an additional track, Cockpit Dance Mixture, written by Andy Partridge.

XTC - Ball and Chain, Virgin records, c.1982

The third and final single to be taken from their English Settlement album was No Thugs In Our House, which despite the success of earlier singles failed to chart at all. The a-side was written by Andy Partridge and chronicles the antics of Graham, who has joined a far right group and spends his time drinking and being violent, to the (seeming) ignorance of his parents. The b-side has 3 tracks, Chain of Command (Andy Partridge), Limelight (Colin Moulding) and Over Rusty Water (Andy Partridge). Chain of Command and Limelight were originally available on the 7" that was given away with early copies of their 1979 Drums and Wires album.

The sleeve on this release has to be one of the most intricate of XTC's many singles. The sleeve opens out into a theatre with the characters (Graham's parents, the policeman and the judge) on a separate cardboard insert.

XTC - No Thugs In Our House, Virgin records, c.1982

As we move into 1983, we see another XTC album release, Mummer, from which 3 more singles were taken, staring with Great Fire. All tracks were written by Andy Partridge. The b-side on the 7" is Gold, and on the 12" version the extra tracks are Frost Circus (No. 5 In The Homo Safari Series) and Procession Towards Learning Land (No. 6 In The Homo Safari Series). This should have concluded the Homo Safari series, although number 4 comes later, which we'll come to in a few record's time.

Initial copies of the Great Fire 7" single came in a plastic sleeve with a wavy pattern on it. The sleeve of the record fits inside this and also has a wavy pattern on it. Removing the sleeve from the plastic sleeve creates a fire-like effect.

XTC - Great Fire, Virgin records, c.1983

The next single to be take from the Mummer album was the Colin Moulding penned Wonderland, with Jump by Andy Partridge on the b-side. It was released as a limited edition picture disc as well as in a conventional picture sleeve. It only managed to reach number 104 in the UK charts. This release was not issued on 12". The non-picture disc version of the 7" seems fairly common on Ebay but the picture disc version less so.

XTC - Wonderland, Virgin records, c.1983

The final track to be taken from Mummer as a single was Love On A Farmboy's Wages. Every bit as good as Senses Working Overtime, this single only managed to reach number 50 in the UK charts, which seems surprising. The a-side was written by Andy Partridge, and was perhaps surprisingly covered by Fairport Convention on their Sense of Occasion album from 2007. The b-side features a Colin Moulding song, In Loving Memory of a Name. There was a limited edition double single version of this release, in a gatefold sleeve which opens up like a wallet. The tracks on the extra single, both written by Andy Partridge, are Desert Island and Toys. 

This single was also release on 12" and, perhaps unusually, features 3 completely different tracks compared to the double 7" single. These 3 tracks are Burning With Optimism's Flame (Andy Partridge), English Roundabout (Colin Moulding), and Cut It Out (Andy Partridge), the last 2 of these being live recordings from the Hammersmith Odeon in May 1981.

XTC - Love On A Farmboy's Wages, Virgin records, c.1983

Moving on to 1984 now sees the release of yet another XTC album, The Big Express, again producing 3 singles. This album has some innovative sleeve design, but I think that will have to wait for another day. The first single to be released from The Big Express was All You Pretty Girls, written by Andy Partridge, with Washaway on the b-side. There was a limited edition version of the single which features a die-cut outer sleeve designed like a sailor's top, with a printed inner sleeve showing the tattoo adorned sailor's chest, which houses the vinyl.

The single was also released on 12" with an extra track, Red Brick Dream, written by Andy Partridge.

XTC - All You Pretty Girls, 7" Virgin records, c.1983

The second single to be released from The Big Express was This World Over, written by Andy Partridge about nuclear weapons. The single sleeve came with 6 mini postcards attached, with "Greetings from" each of Paris/Berlin/Tokyo/Moscow/New York/London. The b-side is a track called Blue Overall, also written by Andy Partridge. The 12" version of the release does not include any additional tracks but the version of This World Over is the full length version.

XTC - This World Over, Virgin records, c.1984

Just the 2 singles in 1984 before we head on into 1985 for the third and final single taken from The Big Express album. This time it's Colin Moulding's track, Wake Up. On the b-side are 2 Andy Partridge compositions, Take This Town and, finally number 4 in the Homo Safari series, Mantis On Parole, thus completing the 6 parts of this series, albeit not quite in the right order. No particular extensions to the sleeve artwork on this one as far as I can see, almost marking the end of such antics. The 12" version of Wake Up includes 3 additional tracks, Making Plans For Nigel, Sgt Rock, and Senses Working Overtime, almost like a mini greatest hits compilation.

XTC - Wake Up, Virgin records, c.1985

So, that's the end of the second installment. Many thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed it. Hopefully the third and final part will follow shortly, starting with Grass from 1986.

Before I do bring this post to an end, here are links to a few books about XTC which may be of interest:

 

Complicated Game, Inside the Songs of XTC, by Andy Partridge

The XTC Bumper Book of Fun for Boys and Girls

XTC - Chalkhills and Children, the Definitive Biography

A trawl through the music and art work of XTC's single releases (part 1)

If ever there was a band who, as far as I'm concerned anyway, have never released a bad record, it's XTC. With 12 studio albums and over 20 singles, that's an impressive achievement. Releasing their first record in 1977, the heyday of punk, they continued to release some quite brilliant records right through to the early 1990's, and after a hiatus of a few years again in the late 1990's and early 2000's.

For those of you not familiar with XTC's work, a great place top start would be one of their singles compilations. Fossil Fuels is a collection of their singles from 1977 to 1996, starting with Science Friction and going through to Ballad of Peter Pumpkinhead, which I think may only be available on CD. Alternatively there are 2 other compilation releases, Waxworks, Some Singles, 1977 - 1992 and Beeswax, Some B-Sides, 1977 - 1992, available on both vinyl and CD.

As I sit working my way through their impressive back catalogue, I'm not only struck by the sheer brilliance of the tracks, but also the art work and the extras which often accompanied each release. I'm going to focus on the singles here but may come back to cover the albums at a later stage, as not only are they all musically wonderful, the packaging of several is worthy of discussion.

So, without further ado, let's make a start as this may take a while.

First up we have Science Friction, released on Virgin records in October 1977, with She's So Square as the b-side. It was originally released as a 7" single but quickly withdrawn to be replaced by a 12" version with an extra track, Dance Band. The 12" version, also referred to as the 3D EP is reasonably common 'out in the wild', i.e. in second hand record shops, and also on Ebay, and Amazon, but I don't think I've ever seen the withdrawn 7". There are a couple of copies of the 7" single on Discogs, without the picture sleeve, for over £200. One for serious collectors I guess - I'm happy to make do with the 12" version.

XTC - 3D EP, Virgin records, c.1977

As 1977 drew to a close and 1978 began, the first wave on punk morphed into new wave, a scene and genre perhaps more fitting for XTC's talents and sensibilities, and they released 3 further singles, as well as 2 studio albums, White Music and Go 2.

Their first single of 1978 was the Andy Partridge penned Statue of Liberty, with Hang On To The Night on the b-side. Early copies has the blue Virgin labels on both sides, whereas later copies have the green and red Virgin labels. I was not aware of this at the time, but perhaps explains its lack of any chart presence, that Radio 1 banned it for the lyric, "In my fantasy I sail beneath your skirt". Hardly offensive or scandalous compared to the lyrics in some of today's music, but enough to get the BBC all flustered back in the day.

Despite being released in 1978, it's reasonably easy to track down a copy, although the sleeve is made from quite thin paper and subject to dirtying and tearing, so finding a decent copy may be more of a challenge. Again Ebay seems to have quite a few.

XTC - Statue of Liberty, Virgin records, c.1978

April 1978 saw the release of XTC's third single, This Is Pop?, written by Andy Partridge, with Colin Moulding's Heatwave on the b-side. The a-side also featured on their debut album, White Music, but the 7" version is different.

XTC - This Is Pop, Virgin records, c.1978

Still yet to trouble the music charts, well at least from a singles perspective, XTC's final single release of 1978 was Are You Receiving Me? Written by Andy Partridge, with Colin Moulding's Instant Tunes appearing on the b-side. The single was released in a fairly minimal picture sleeve, again made of very thin paper and easy to tear, with a huge question mark taking up the majority of the front cover, and a similarly sized exclamation mark on the back of the sleeve. The band's name and song title appear beneath in small type.

XTC - Are You Receiving Me?, Virgin records, c.1978

And so we come to 1979, probably the year most people will have become aware of XTC. Their first single of that year to be released was Life Begins At The Hop, written by Colin Moulding about his experiences as a youth going to 'youth dances' in Swindon. The b-side is Homo Safari, an instrumental written by Andy Partridge, which would become the first of a six part series of ambient tracks gracing the b-sides of this and future XTC 7" and 12" releases.

Life Begins At The Hop is also the first XTC single with, for want of a better phrase, enhanced artwork and sleeve design. Not only did the release come in a clear plastic sleeve, designed to look like a record player, but the vinyl itself was clear too. I had imagined that this limited edition version on clear vinyl would have been hard to track down these days, but Ebay seems to have a few at reasonable prices at the time of writing this article.

XTC - Life Begins At The Hop, Virgin records, c.1979

And now perhaps, if you were to ask someone who had heard of XTC but was not necessarily a die-hard fan, what would be their most recognisable song, then it's highly likely to be their next single release from 1979, Making Plans For Nigel. The track was written by Colin Moulding and taken from their 1979 Drums and Wires album and was their first Top 20 hit. The b-side of the single featured 2 tracks written by Andy Partridge, Bushman President and Pulsing Pulsing, the former being the second in Andy Partridge's Homo Safari series.

Not only a brilliant track, but the packaging of the record was innovative too. The first 20,000 copies of the 7" single came in a fold out sleeve that opened out into Nigel versus his parents version of the Snakes and Ladders game. There seem to be plenty of these available on Ebay but most seem to be the version without the game. 

XTC - Making Plans For Nigel, Virgin records, c.1979

After the success of Making Plans For Nigel, XTC should have gone on to be more of a household name, but their next single, the Andy Partridge penned, Wait Till Your Boat Goes Down, did not sell well and did not even chart. The b-side was Colin Moulding's Ten Feet Tall, taken from the Drums and Wires album, which was also the used as the first single by the band to be released in the USA.

XTC - Wait Till Your Boat Goes Down, Virgin records, c.1980

As 1980 continued, XTC released their fourth studio album, Black Sea, which spawned 3 more hit singles, and 1 that missed, all with interesting art work and in some cases additional tracks. The first single to be taken from Black Sea was Generals and Majors, written by Colin Moulding, with the b-side, Don't Lose Your Temper, written by Andy Partridge.

The single dented the Top 40, peaking at number 32. The first 15,000 copies were released as a double 7" in a gatefold sleeve with the additional single containing 2 further tracks, Smokeless Zone (Colin Moulding) and The Somnambulist (Andy Partridge).

XTC - Generals and Majors, Virgin records, c.1980

Following on from the modest chart success of Generals and Majors came another, limited edition, double single release, which was to be the second single taken from the Black Sea album, Towers of London, written by Andy Partridge. The b-side was a live version of Colin Moulding's Set Myself on Fire, with a live version of Battery Brides and a John Peel session version of Scissor Man making up the extra 7".

The records in the limited edition double release come as 2 separate singles in separate pictures sleeves, encased in a plastic outer sleeve with a silhouette of London skyline printed on it.

XTC - Towers of London, Virgin records, c.1980

And finally for part one of my wander through XTC's singles, is the third track to be released from the Black Sea album, going on to what would be their biggest hit to date, the Andy Partridge written, Sgt Rock (Is Going To Help Me). Its lyrical content seems however to now be a source of embarrassment to him now, with what was supposed to be an ironic take on comic book action heroes being taken at face value and attracting hate mail.

The single features 2 live tracks on the b-side, Living Through Another Cuba and Generals and Majors, which were recorded at the Lyceum in October 1980. Early pressings of the single included a poster.

XTC - Sgt Rock (Is Going To Help Me), Virgin records, c.1980

So, that's the end of the first installment. Many thanks for reading, If you enjoyed it then you can find the second part of this 3 part post at a trawl through the music and art work of XTC's single releases (part 2) which starts with Respectable Street, courting more lyrical controversy with the BBC, but more about that later.

But before I do finally sign off, here are a few links to books about XTC which may be of interest:

 

Complicated Game, Inside the Songs of XTC, by Andy Partridge

The XTC Bumper Book of Fun for Boys and Girls

XTC - Chalkhills and Children, the Definitive Biography

Vinyl from the mod revival of the late 1970's

 Following on from my earlier post, inspired by The Chords album, So Far Away, I started thinking about the other bands from the late 70's mod revival. I'm not so much thinking of The Jam, although of course they fit into this category quite nicely at times, but I'm thinking more of the other bands like Secret Affair, The Lambrettas, Purple Hearts, The Chords, Squire, The Vapors and The Merton Parkas.

Probably the first mod revival record I heard was Time For Action by Secret Affair, taken from their debut album, Glory Boys. The single was released in 1979 on I-Spy records. Early versions came in a brown paper bag style sleeve, with no writing on the front of the sleeve, just on the back. Later versions came in a black I-Spy sleeve which just a small keyhole on the front of the cover. Copies released in other countries all seem to feature a picture of the band though.

Time For Action was their biggest hit, reaching number 13 in the Top 40. This was followed by Let Your Heart Dance and My world, both also making the Top 40, but after that their singles were less successful and the band split in 1982.

Secret Affair - Time For Action, 7" single in its original brown paper bag sleeve, c.1979

Secret Affair - Time For Action, 7" single in its I-Spy label sleeve, c.1979

Time For Action also lent its name to a book, '79 Time For Action, The Mod Revival by Garry Bushell.

And on the subject of sleeves, one of the early singles by The Lambrettas, Another Day, from 1980, was issued in what they referred to as an Emergency Sleeve. The reason behind this was that the song was originally called Page 3 but when The Sun newspaper threatened to sue, the name of the song was changed and the sleeve also. Like Secret Affair, they were also quite a short lived band, and with interest interest in the mod revival waning, they split in 1982 after a couple of studio albums and a handful of singles, although did reform some time in the 1990's.

The Lambrettas - Another Day, 7" single in its 'emergency bag' sleeve, c.1980

Another mod revival band from the time were Purple Hearts, who took their name from a drug popular with the mods of the 1960's. As with most of the mod revival bands though, they only enjoyed modest chart success, with their single Millions Like Us being their highest Top 40 placing at number 57. They were tour mates with fellow mod revivalists, Secret Affair, and also featured in the March of the Mods tour. They released a couple of studio albums and a few singles, mostly on the Fiction records label.

Purple Hearts - Millions Like Us, 7" vinyl released on Fiction records, c.1979

Millions Like Us features in this 4 CD set, also called Millions Like Us, which according to the label, is the first-ever box set to properly document the Mod Revival scene of the late Seventies and Eighties. Across 100 tracks by all the key bands, the story of the Mod Revival is told, from its roots in Punk/New Wave through to its commercial heyday in 1979 with bands like Secret Affair and The Lambrettas and its resurrection in 1985 with The Untouchables and Makin’ Time.

The Vapors, again another short lived band, probably best known for their single Turning Japanese, also released a number of other singles and a couple of albums in the late 1970's and early 1980's. I'm not sure if they can truly be classified as a mod revival band, but their association with The Jam perhaps puts them as contenders, although I think perhaps they lean more towards new wave.

The Vapors - Prisoners 7" single & News At Ten 7" single, from 1979 and 1980 respectively

And finally, although I wrote about The Chords recently, I didn't think I could leave them out of this mini trawl though my mod revival vinyl selection, so here are a couple of my favourite singles of theirs, which both feature on their only studio album, So Far Away.

The Chords - Maybe Tomorrow & Something's Mission single, from 1979 and 1980 respectively

A couple of other items associated with the mod revival which may be of interest:

 Eddie Piller presents The Mod Revival

Millions Like Us, The Story of the Mod Revival, 1977 - 1989

The Chords - So Far Away

 December proved to be a good month for shortening my ever growing vinyl wants list. One of the records I was very pleased to unearth 'out in the wild' was the debut (and only) studio album by The Chords, So Far Away, released on Polydor records in 1980. I'd bid on Ebay copies in the past but they always seemed to go for more than I wanted to pay, so was more than happy to find this copy for £10. It doesn't have the free 7" that was included with initial copies, but there's always the chance that I'll find that separately another time.

I'd had most of The Chords 7" singles for a while, although 'One More Minute' still alludes me, but this was the first time I'd ever owned the album, and what a treat it is. Labelled as a mod revival band, they also take their influence from the UK punk and new wave scenes, sounding, in places, not to dissimilar to The Jam circa 1978/1979. The album kicks off with probably their most recognisable track, 'Maybe Tomorrow', which was released as a single in 1980, troubling the Top 40 at number 40. When their other singles charted, if at all, they were all just outside the Top 40. Side two of the album also kicks off with another of their singles, 'Something's Missing'.

The majority of the tracks on the album were written by lead guitarist Chris Pope, one co-written with Billy Hassett, and one attributed to Billy on his own. There are also a couple of great cover versions: 'Hold On I'm Coming' and the Beatles 'She Said, She Said'.

The Chords remain yet another band who 'could have been', or more likely 'should have been'. Their career however was blighted by a series of incidents, some self-inflicted, but many inflicted upon them. After a couple of John Peel sessions, a couple of Top of the Pops appearances, supporting The Jam and The Undertones, a solitary studio album, and a handful of modestly placed singles, they decided to call it a day in 1981.

Other items associated with the mod revival which may be of interest:

 Eddie Piller presents The Mod Revival

Millions Like Us, The Story of the Mod Revival, 1977 - 1989