Transistor Blast

Of all the bands to emerge during the punk years of 76-77, the one that for me produced the most consistently excellent albums would be, without question, XTC, who in the course of their career went from weird sci-fi themed punk bandwagon jumpers to the finest English pop band since the Beatles.

Helped by having two songwriter genius' in the form of guitarist Andy Partridge and bassist Colin Moulding, XTC spent most of the 70s in embryonic form alongside drummer Terry Chambers and assorted others. With the arrival of punk and keyboard whiz Barry Andrews, they made a name on the London circuit for their high-energy, frantic shows. Partridge would garble rapid-fire lyrics about aliens, the Statue of Liberty, and modern technology being all the rage while Andrews showed off his skills, Chambers pounded his kit and Moulding looked handsome.

Signed to Virgin, their John Leckie-produced debut album White Music reflected their gigs and started with the excellent Radios In Motion, the best track from XTC Mk I. Also gaining notices was their dub-tinged cover of All Along The Watchtower. The album crept into the lower reaches of the top 40, the singles went nowhere, including an excellent re-recording of This Is Pop? helmed by "Mutt" Lange, of all people. Released in no time afterwards, Go 2 offered more of the same, though without the novelty factor of White Music. Of more interest was a bonus EP of dub remixes by Partidge entitled Go+, showing a far more experimental slant.

Despite getting a couple of songs on the album, Barry Andrews felt he wasn't getting a fair deal and left the band - later going on to form Shriekback with Carl Marsh and Dave Allen (ex-Gang of Four). In his place stepped Dave Gregory, a friend from Swindon who had been playing in various local bands for the previous decade.

With him, XTC really hit their stride. Teaming up with Steve Lillywhite and Hugh Padgham, the title of 1979s Drums and Wires reflected the new sound, the wires being the extra guitar strings. Their first consistently excellent album, it also saw Colin Moulding step up to the plate, writing their first minor hit (Life Begins At The Hop) and first major hit (Making Plans For Nigel) while his Ten Feet Tall was their first number to feature acoustic guitar prominently. Partridge put forward the manic Helicopter, Scissor Man and Outside World as the band began a hectic touring schedule that would later have serious consequences.

The following year saw the band improve further still with Black Sea, from which Blur seem to have based a huge part of their sound during the Modern Life Is Rubbish era. Dominated by Partridge songs, it's tight arrangements were a result of the band working their socks off on the gig circuit. The lyrical stance also began to take on a more sophisticated stance, with Respectable Street and Generals and Majors poking fun at sections of English life.

Taking a what would become characteristic change of direction, English Settlement brought in more acoustics and less frantic arrangements. Boosted by their biggest hit single, Senses Working Overtime, it would become their biggest hit album in the UK. Perhaps a little too long, it nevertheless features one of Partridge's more sublime moments, the closing Snowman. Growing lyrical storytelling abilities were shown on the amusing No Thugs In Our House, in which a thuggish National Front type is protected by his disbelieving well-to-do parents.

Yet at their peak in terms of commercial success and their skills as a performing band, Andy Partridge suffered a major breakdown brought on by exhaustion due to constant touring. Collapsing at the start of a gig in Paris, he was nevertheless flown to California to start a major US tour. On the second night, he once again fell ill and returned to Swindon. XTC would never perform live again.

Convalescing in his garden, Partridge continued in the vein of the last album by writing Ladybird and Love On A Farmboy's Wages. When rehearsing the new songs, drummer Terry Chambers - always the bandmember who enjoyed touring the most - decided the new studio-only XTC wasn't for him and packed off to Australia with his new bride and child. Glitter Band drummer Peter Phelps was brought in to finish what would become Mummer. The album, to put it shortly, sank without trace despite the release of Great Fire, one of their most brilliant songs, as a single.

The Big Express in 1984 didn't do much better. In total contrast to the previous two albums, it sounded metallic - the Linn drum machine being used liberally throughout - with the exception of Colin Moulding's wistful jazz-tinged I Remember The Sun. Lyrically, Partridge was back on top form, with his concerns ranging from bad management (I Bought Myself a Liarbird), marital infidelity (Seagulls Screaming Kiss Her, Kiss Her) and his own doubts on his path in life - Train Running Low On Soul Coal featured the line "Hammer goes down, brakes all scream/Me a couple of empty carriages slide down hill", the carriages presumably being Moulding and Gregory, suffering from his illness preventing the band making a better living.

With spirits at their lowest, some respite came in the form of the 25 O' Clock EP by the Dukes of Stratosphear: six songs released as the "lost" recordings of a 60s English psychedelic band, actually XTC working with John Leckie again. It sounded authentic, the songs were great and it managed to sell more than The Big Express despite being recorded at a fraction of the cost.

Somewhat buoyed, Partridge, Moulding and Gregory travelled to Woodstock to work with Todd Rundgren. The sessions were fraught with conflict between the huge egos of bandleader and producer, yet managed to produce a career highlight in Skylarking. Expertly sequenced by Rundgen around the general theme of a summer day, it's an album full of magical songs, including one which didn't make the initial cut and was assigned to b-side duties of lead single Grass.

Dear God was a Partridge polemic that he considered unsuitable for the album. However, US radio flipped the single and Dear God began picking up airplay, as well as getting play on MTV - the video later earning several awards. Re-released with a new track order, Skylarking still went nowhere in the UK, but it reignited the career in the States.

After recording a full (and final) album as the Dukes, they decamped to Los Angeles with rookie producer Paul Fox. Oranges and Lemons sounded ready for America, and The Mayor of Simpleton gave them their only US Hot 100 hit and led to it's parent album being their best seller. Despite some of their best songs (Across This Antheap and Chalkhills and Children in particular), it's slighty dated production hasn't helped the songs age as well as on Skylarking or the albums with Steve Lillywhite.

Attempting to follow it up resulted in another painful recording session for Andy Partridge, this time at the hands of Gus Dudgeon, most famous for his work with Elton John. A strong set of songs, including their first UK 40 hit single in nearly ten years with The Disappointed were recorded, but a huge fall-out during the mixing stage led to some falling out. Remixed by Nick Davies, Nonsuch was a fine effort that contains at least two of my favourite XTC songs - the poppy Then She Appeared and the sweeping Wrapped In Grey.

The latter was slated to be a single, but when it was withdrawn it proved to be the last straw for Partridge regarding Virgin Records, not helped by the fact that despite selling millions of records, the band themselves hadn't seen much of the proceeds - both Moulding and Gregory had done stints van driving in the 80s to make ends meet. Downing tools, XTC refused to work until they were released from their contract.

A stand-off which lasted until 1999 when Apple Venus appeared on the Cooking Vinyl label. By this time, Dave Gregory had quit the band after a series of arguments with Partridge, going on to become an in-demand session player. Acoustic and orchestrated, the album was in part themed on Partridge's divorce in the mid 90s (Your Dictionary) and new love (I Can't Own Her). Moulding, more settled in domestic life, contributed the aptly titled Frivolous Tonight.

Apple Venus was quickly followed by the more electric Wasp Star, recorded at the same time and more electric in sound. Though not as successful as a set as it's sibling, it still contained some fine moments.

Since then, Colin Moulding has retreated from music and little new material has been released by Partridge, which seems a shame from two such talented songwriters. With the XTC name now (apparently and sadly) consigned to history, I can never urge people enough to check them out. Buy the Fossil Fuel 2CD compilation and work from there. Pop music has rarely sounded so better, so varied and so full of life.