The Partridge Family - Sounds, March 1989

XTC's music deals with the essence of England but America has taken them to its heart. Roy Wilkinson discusses fame, philosophy and family life over a six pack with main man Andy Partridge.

Slipping down another tab, Andy 'Mad Jack' Partridge incisively considers his group's key place in the UK's Acid House Bop Experience.

"Oh...really? I didn't know about that."

As I proffer a few capsules of Ecstasy (XTC - geddit?), he slowly but surely rumbles my bumper-fun opening gambit.

"Oh, oh, arrff, arrff - English humour, don't you just love it? Actually, somebody did a whole interview based purely on why we named ourselves after the drug. Considering we started in 1977 and I didn't hear of the drug until 1981 or so, it seemed a bit, well, redundant."

Of course, good ol' XTC would never align themselves with anything as perfidiously moderne as Acid House - they took their name from Jimmy Durante finding the lost chord and bellowing, I'm in X-T-C. But, while providing a merely nominal tribute to the dance-assisting drug, Ecstasy, XTC have consistently paid tribute to another chemical-crazed era - the '60s.

After trotting out the ultimate '60s psychedelic pastiche with their two Dukes Of Stratosphear alter-ego albums, XTC have returned with a double album songsmith OD, 'Oranges And Lemons'.

And surprise, surprise, sounding through XTC's distinctive pop voice on 'Oranges' are echoes of late '60s period Lennon & McCartney. They may spurn jacking tabs, but XTC's traditional sampling techniques remain in full effect.

Andy: "yes, we seem to have fitted the entire 'White Album' into the middle eight on 'President Kill Again' - that's a bit of mischief. I wouldn't put other people's music out and seriously claim it was our own, but when you've listened to a lot of music, some'll come out either subconsciously or mischievously."

As Mr Partridge sits in his attic in Swindon's old town, surrounded by hundreds of toy soldiers, his tape machines and guitar and the robot tanks sent by Japanese fans, XTC remain a subtly bizarre twist in the Brit pop industry.

Bassist Colin Moulding spends most of his time fishing, while guitarist Dave Gregory sits in his living room, hunched over his four-track, knocking out curious facsimiles of songs by anyone from Hendrix to Beefheart.

It's years since they've toured, but their albums sell a steady 30,000 in this country and an ever-rising number on the US college circuit. Undisturbed by fad and innovation, XTC sit in their West Country backwater, quiet craftsmen in the traditional British skill of songwriting.

They beaver away with considerable talent, applying the tricks that you only learn with time. They're happy, simple folk, keen to barter their wares for the occasional gold disc. It's how they earn their crust, but it doesn't seem like a matter of life or death.

Andy: "I wouldn't die for music - I wouldn't be crucified on a Japanese copy of a Fender guitar, or something, for my art. I just love making records and, for people who want to buy them, that's fine. That's the sex angle.

"I wouldn't die for it because if we didn't sell anything, or got dropped from every label going, I might as easily take up roadsweeping or housepainting for a living. It's not as if this is making us a lot of money - you're talking to someone with £300 in the bank.

"It's still a fun hobby. If it ever stopped being fun I'd stop doing it. The touring stopped being fun so I stopped that."

These days Andy's big fascination is for his two Children, something documented on 'Oranges' tracks such as 'Chalkhills And Children' and the cheeky 'Pink Thing', where AP saucily has us wondering whether he's referring to his son Harry or his enormous rock 'n' roll willy.

"Oh yeah, having kids is what it's all about. I realise now that my penis isn't just a piss hose. It actually has a function. I've made the ultimate Airfix kit with these kids. And I didn't blunder - I remembered to paint the pilot before I put the cockpit on. You live your whole life selfishly until you have kids. Kids are A-OK, but you can forget sleep. It's a bit like being a Motorhead roadie - no sleep involved at all.

"'Chalkhills And Children' is a great deflater song. If you start getting famous or whatever and people start giving you awards, changing a shitty nappy is a brilliant leveller. I think everybody should wipe at least one other person's arse before they die."

For a group as fascinated by the essences of England as XTC, it's ironic that America has long since become their biggest sales base.

"Maybe we're too run of the mill to people over here. Besides, we have this awful war crimes record from 1977, which the English pop press won't forgive us for - smart-ass technopunks or whatever. I try not to use the word 'clever'.

"In America we haven't got any background - they just take us as we are right now. I suppose they see us a Britain's REM with the exotic factor - they fact we're from Britain. I don't worry about the fact that Britain has forsaken us. It's like a butcher wondering why this vegetarian chap hasn't been in his shop recently. Obviously we don't sell what England wants - we'll stick to the meat eaters."

As usual, there's a fair bash of barroom polemic on 'Oranges And Lemons'. The XTC songwriters, Colin and Andy, seem to be in accordance with the epochal Cockney rejects dictum, "It's all about 'avin a larf an' a say".

XTC have their say, striking a no-nonsense line on subjects as diverse an intercontinental affection (highly recommended on 'The Loving'), war mongers (given a right seeing to on 'President Kill Again') and self-seeking materialism (Just say no, advises 'One Of The Millions').

"Maybe it's more sat in front of News At Ten with a six pack than barroom philosophising. Every little soul's entitled to it's shout, you know. Everyone wants their soapbox and it just happens that with XTC I've made quite a decent-sized one - I can get a little bit higher than the bloke next door who doesn't make records."

"It's just a bunch of songs about a bunch of subjects that I think about. I think 'President Kill' is as good as anything we've done. I think 'Chalkhills And Children' is a splendid few minutes. For those alone it's worth the effort."

You can't say fairer than that. Andy Partridge, a diamond geezer wiv a lot to say, a Beatles fixation and some storming little tunes. A fair day's work for a fair day's pay.

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