The Q Book Of Punk Legends
- Q116, April 1996
(Simon's Note: there are quite a few
inaccuracies in this item but I have left them uncorrected.)
Andy Partridge (guitar vocals),
Colin Moulding (bass vocals),
Dave Gregory (keyboards),
Terry Chambers (drums).
September: Partridge (b November 11, 1953, Malta), Moulding (b August 17, 1955, Swindon, Wilthsire) and Chambers (b July 18, 1955, Swindon) are all ex-members of the Swindon-based Star Park rock band who, having changed their name to helium Kidz at the height of the punk boom, are joined by ex-King Vrimson keyboard player Barry Andrews (b September 12, 1956, West Norwood, London) to form XTC. Having played club dates in London during the summer (including a gig at the hope and Anchor, Islington, London in July), and earlier auditioned for CBS records, XTC have signed to Virgin Records (with Partridge and Moulding inked to Virgin Publishing for song copyrights), which releases the debut EP, 3-D.
January: Debut album White Music, recorded in one week and largely written by Partridge, makes UK Number 38, as the band is linked to the currently popular UK new wave movement. (During the month, Partridge's parents appear on the ITV quiz show "Mr And Mrs".)
February: Statue Of Liberty is released.
May: This Is Pop, produced by Robert John "Mutt" Lange, is released.
November: Go 2, helmed by Martin Rushent, reaches UK Number 21, including the extracted Are You Receiving Me?
January: Andrews quits band on their return from a 10-date US mini-tour. (He teams with Robert Fripp to form the League Of Gentlemen, before joining Sherikback and recording as a soloist for Virgin) He is replaced by long-time freind of the band, Dave Gregory.
May: Life Begins At The Hop peaks at UK Number 54.
July: Band tour Australia, New Zealand and Japan.
August: Third album Drums And Wires, a firm pop/rock set showcasing Partridge's sharp lyrical wit, and produced by Steve Lillywhite, makes UK number 34, as XTC begin a brief UK tour.
November: Making Plans For Nigel, written by Moulding, reaches UK number 17.
February: Partridge releases the John Leckie-produced solo album Takeaway (The Lure Of Salvage), under the name of Mr. Partridge, as Drums and Wires climbs to US Number 176.
March: Wait Till Your Boat Goes Down is released.
September: Double A-side Generals And Majors/Don't Lose Your Temper makes UK Number 32, while Black Sea, again produced by Lillywhite reaches UK number 16.
October: Towers Of London makes UK Number 31.
November: Take This Town, from the "Times Square" movie soundtrack, is released.
February 21: Sgt Rock (Is Going To Help Me) reaches UK Number 16, while Black Sea reaches US Number 41.
March: Respectable Street fails to make the chart, partly because of the ban imposed by BBC Radio for a reference mae to Sony, as the group begin a tour of Venezuela. They will also visit the US, Middle East, South-east Asia and Australia during the year.
February 20: Partridge-written Senses Working Overtime, their biggest success, hits UK Number 10.
February 27: Critically-revered double album English Settlement, produced by Hugh Padgham, hits UK Number 5.
March: Partridge collapses from exhaustion on stage in Paris, France.
April 10: Ball And Chain peaks at UK Number 58. Partridge collpases again (with a stomach ulcer), having given himself less thatn a month to recover from his earlier illness. he later claims it is "a phobia about being infront of people". A tour is cancelled, and Chambers leaves.
May: No Thugs In Our House is released.
May 22: English Settlement makes US Numbver 48.
November 20: While Partridge has announced that the band will never play live in concert again, the compilation Waxworks - Some Singles (1977-1982), peaks at UK Number 54 (initially released with a free companion B-sides collection, Beeswax.)
May: Great Fire, produced by Bob Sargeant, is released, followed by Wonderland in July.
August: Mummer, featuring songs written during Partridge's convalescence, makes UK Number 51. Pete Phipps (ex-Glitter Band) plays drums on tracks on which Chambers does not appear. Refusal to promote album with live work causes friction between band and label.
October: Love On A Farmboy's Wages makes UK Number 50.
November: XTC, guised as the Three Wise Men, release Thanks For Christmas. Partridge begins producing other acts, including Peter Blegvad (ex-Slapp Happy.)
March: Mummer, released by Geffen, makes US Number 145.
October: Co-produced by the band with David Lord, album The Big Express makes UK Number 38 and US Number 178, with All You Pretty Girls peaking at UK Number 55 in the UK Chart.
April: Mini-album The Dukes Of Stratosphear: 25 O'Clock is released by the group's '60s send-up, psychedelic alter-ego outfit the Dukes Of Stratosphear.
June: Virgin releases The Compact XTC, an 18-track singles retrospective.
October: Skylarking, produced by Todd Rundgren at his own studio in Woodstock, Nerw York and the Tubes' Soundhole Studios in San Francisco, peaks at UK Number 90. It will spend over six months on the US chart, reching Number 70 in 1987.
August: A second Dukes Of Stratosphear project, Psonic Psunspots, and a CD-only compilation Chips From The Chocoloate Fireball are released. Remaining a trio, they continue to work as a studio band only, reasling both XTC and alias issues, including Partridge's singles under the name Buster Gonad and the Jolly Jesticles.
February: Mayor Of Simpelton makes UK Number 46.
March 11 Paul Fox-produced Oranges And Lemons, once again much favoured by music critics, reaches UK Number 28 and makes US Number 44, the group's most successful US album to date.
May 20: Mayor Of Simpleton peaks at US Number 72.
November: Partridge-produced Hands Across The Ocean released by The Mission, reaches UK Number 28. (Still in demand at the stuio desk, he will also helm for the Lilac Time, while Gregory produces and album for Cud, both in 1991.)
August: Group begins work on a new album and the Chipping Norton Studios, Oxfordshire with producer Gus Dudgeon.
April 18: The Disappointed makes UK Number 33.
May 9: XTC's first album of the '90s, Nonsuch, featuring Fairport Convention's Dave Mattacks, and displaying a greater emphasis on orchestration and keyboards, debuts at its UK Number 28 peak.
May 16: Nonsuch reaches its US Number 97 peak.
June 13: The Ballad Of Peter Pumpkinhead charts for a week at UK Number 71. (By year's end, the band's official biography, Chalkhills And Children, written by Chris Twomey, will be published by Omnibus Press.)
August: Partridge has teamed up with Martin Newell, ex-Cleaners From Venus and lyricist for Captain Sensible, to release The Greatest Living Englishman, issued on the Pipeline label in the US.
August: Through The Hill, Partridge's collaboration with ambient music innovator Harold Budd, is released by All Saints Records.
November: NightTracks Records issues Drums And Wireless: BBC Radio Sessions 1977-1989.
October: Thirsty Ear Records (US) releases A Testimonial Dinner: The Songs Of XTC, a various-artists XTC-tribute album including covers by the Crash Test Dummies, the Rembrandts, They Might Be Giants and Joe Jackson among others.
All original work is acknowledged as being the copyright of the originator.