I Like 'Black Sea'.

Respectable Street, Sgt. Rock and Generals and Majors* are good tracks , but I understand what you mean by annoying.

*There's a really good version of this song Live at the BBC.

XTC= Not Crap, but I'll break it down a bit:

"Drums & Wires"= NC x 10
"Homo Safari Series"= NC x 5
"Dear God" = one of the most NC songs ever
Dukes of Stratosphear = NC x 2
"Apple Venus V.1" = NC x 3
Andy Partridge's struggle with stage fright = Crap x 50

placeholder wrote:

Cranius wrote:'Helipcopter' is perfect pop music. It's about 'clever' as it gets.

It says something good about XTC that I actually like this song, despite the fact that I think some of the words are stupid. I usually pay a lot of attention to lyrics, and I just have to tune out XTC's sometimes. Still, my verdict is out.

Do you recommend anything?

Try English Settlement - lots to like, and I think the lyrics are not snarky on that one.

CRAP...from time to time they start to have a good song, then they'll there'll be a change, like a chorus or something, and it'll instantly turn horrible...at times The Homosexuals remind me of what XTC might be like were they not crap...

Cranius wrote:I Like 'Black Sea'.

So, so good!!

NOT CRAP .

Zero

Listening to "White Music" right now. So very NOT CRAP. The cover of "All Along The Watchtower" is so great. The only other album of theirs I have heard is "Skylarking," which is also great.

Mr. Chimp wrote:Trivia - The drummer on this record also played with Mr. Mister, on The Rembrants' "Friends" theme, and King Crimson.

XTC isn't crap, though.

Pat Mastelotto. Oranges and Lemons.
Apparently he did that record for well below his normal rate because he's such a fan of the band. He showed up with a row of snares and proceeded to try to make them happy with tones, etc. They were pretty blown away and amazed at how gracious he was.

Prarie Prince was on Skylarking.

XTC is one of my favorite bands. I'm not so into the late records, but I do like almost all of their phases. Dave Gregory is just an unreal player. He's a technician, but that in no way kills his creativity. Very rare.

The chords to Paper and Iron are post-punk at it's best. The solo in Rocket From a Bottle is just beyond cool. The textures he got right for the Dukes records were so impressive - a total scholar of the genre.

Fans should check out the URGH! A Music War performance. They were on fire.

I'm a little disappointed that they didn't show up in Rip It Up And Start Again. Pop or not, they were a post-punk band. Throbbing Gristle practically got a whole chapter, and I think they barely fit into "post punk," yet XTC gets mentioned once, in a sentence.

-A

I saw XTC open for The Police in 1979. They more or less blew the cops off the stage. Monster Art Rock to the extreme. They could certainly bring it live, not as subtle as the recordings but great sounds and performance.

Xcellent.

zom-zom wrote:They could certainly bring it live, not as subtle as the recordings but great sounds and performance.

This is precisely why it's sad that they stopped performing.
As the BBC session mini box set proves, those songs function well not only as studio gems, but as straight ahead rockers as well.
In many cases, the live version's better.

They played almost no shows after English Settlement was released. I would have loved to have heard those songs stripped down because I love the album versions so much.

Man, I can't believe you saw them live.

-A

Andy Partridge has some "nervous condition" that made it hard for him to play shows, I guess.

Yeah, it was a real treat even though the venue was the Minneapolis Armory, a quonset-hut shaped barn with the worst acoustics of any show I've ever been to.

I was right up in front, not too many people into the New Wave in the midwest at that time really.