XTC Song of the Day thread

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by George Co-Stanza, Aug 11, 2018.

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  1. sacsongs

    sacsongs Senior Member

    Location:
    St. Louis , MO
    Sorry but I like MTG unlike many others here. Oh well...
     
  2. dthomas850

    dthomas850 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Cleveland, Ohio
    Melt The Guns......great song, great message, great lyrics. This song is still so relevant 36 years later, especially in the USA. My only problem with it is the ending, which went on for way too long !!!
     
    Joe N, DiBosco, lightbulb and 3 others like this.
  3. gojikranz

    gojikranz Forum Resident

    Location:
    Sacramento
    certainly agree with melt the guns message but never found the song that engaging sadly.
     
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  4. George Co-Stanza

    George Co-Stanza Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    America
    Okay, let's do another today!

    Today's second song is "All You Pretty Girls"



    This song is kind of strange one for me, in that I find it very catchy and fun, but it seems like an odd mood for XTC. I do love that intro, especially when Andy rolls the 'r' on the 3rd line. On my first listen of The Big Express, this was the one that really stuck out, but while I still like it, it has slid down the list and I no longer put it amongst my favorites from that record. Still a fun chorus to sing along to!
     
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  5. alclarke

    alclarke Active Member

    The key change during that track is glorious! No-one modulates better in pop than XTC.
     
  6. Splungeworthy

    Splungeworthy Forum Rezidentura

    I am right there with you.
     
  7. What a gift for melody Mr Partridge had when he was at the top of his game. I love this song, XTC do a sea shanty.
     
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  8. DirkM

    DirkM Forum Resident

    Location:
    MA, USA
    All You Pretty Girls is interesting to me, in that I find the verse ("Do something for me, boys") to be catchier than the chorus proper! But both are wonderful, and if I had to pick one song to play to someone and say "This is XTC" (such strange games we play!), this would definitely be on my shortlist. It's stuffed with catchy melodies, and yet it also sounds like three or four different songs crammed into one. Plus, it has Andy's non-traditional singing voice to keep things from becoming too twee or saccharine.
     
  9. misterdecibel

    misterdecibel Bulbous Also Tapered

    This one and "Shake You Donkey Up" were the ones that took me the longest to warm up to on this album. Neither work for me as stand-alone songs, but they contribute to the overall album experience.
     
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  10. George Co-Stanza

    George Co-Stanza Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    America
    Today's song is "Knights in Shining Karma"



    Nothing too fancy about this song, just a lovely little song with a gorgeous melody.
     
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  11. DirkM

    DirkM Forum Resident

    Location:
    MA, USA
    I remember almost being moved to tears when I first heard Knights In Shining Karma. It's never since hit quite me as hard as it did on that first listen, but it's still a song that I adore. The sound of the track is exquisite, like all of the best parts of Pet Sounds crammed into one humble pop song.

    As for the lyrics? I'm not sure if they're cheesy or just mere doggerel. Still, the music - and Andy's vocal - are so beautiful that it doesn't really matter.
     
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  12. George Co-Stanza

    George Co-Stanza Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    America
    Today's song is "Life Begins at the Hop"



    This is another one of those early XTC songs I didn't think much of at first, but began to like the more I heard it. I still can't call it a favorite, but it's a fun little song, and the video is a hoot as well.
     
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  13. Fastnbulbous

    Fastnbulbous Doubleplus Ungood

    Location:
    Washington DC USA
    Pretty sure this is the first XTC I ever heard. Liked it a lot, then got pretty tired of it and by Black Sea forgot about it. Catchy little tune though.
     
  14. DirkM

    DirkM Forum Resident

    Location:
    MA, USA
    I suppose it's one of XTC's more disposable tracks, but then, it's also a perfect pop confection. The guitar break, in particular, is fantastic.
     
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  15. brownie61

    brownie61 Forum Resident

    This post is spot on.

    I love perfect pop confections, so Life Begins at the Hop is one of my XTC faves! I remember playing it over and over back in the day.
     
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  16. George Co-Stanza

    George Co-Stanza Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    America
    Today's song is "Merely a Man"



    My first impression when I heard this song was it them trying to do another "Earn Enough for Us," with it being the rocker of the album and nearly in the same spot in the running order (9th out of 15 vs 8th out of 15), but the songs really are not that similar. This tune is the closest thing they got in the late 80's to riff rock, and the cool thing is the song still has many XTC-isms. Like so many songs they have, this one is fun to crank up and effortlessly sing along to. Fun song.
     
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  17. misterdecibel

    misterdecibel Bulbous Also Tapered

    Aargh, there's that headache again. I'm sure there's a good song buried somewhere under that mess.
     
  18. DirkM

    DirkM Forum Resident

    Location:
    MA, USA
    I agree about the headache, but I'm not sure I share your optimism that there's a good song hidden in there. ;)

    It's a shame that Todd and Andy had such a clash of personalities, because I like to think that a Rundgren-produced O&L would sound much better and have a tighter track list.
     
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  19. Fastnbulbous

    Fastnbulbous Doubleplus Ungood

    Location:
    Washington DC USA
    OK so sue me, I like this song. Like so many of their tunes, there are several melodies kluged together; unlike quite a few, the melodies flow together organically.

    Don't really get the hate for this album in general. I agree it's not as well produced as Skylarking, but the material itself is stronger than any album they made thereafter.
     
  20. Abuelo Igor

    Abuelo Igor Forum Resident

    Location:
    Madrid, Spain
    It took me about 20 years to get the "Gaddafi Duck" bit. But I think I prefer the "Shaking Skin House" demo the chorus was taken from. The verses are mostly this mindlessly repeated note, but I adore that, it's tribal and harks back to the punkier days rather than indulging once more in Beatle-like cutesiness.

    Count me also among the minority of "O & L" defenders. Until I came here, I wouldn't have believed that an album so beloved by me could have such a legion of haters.
     
  21. I like this song too. It’s not perfect, it suffers from Andy packing it with too many words. I like the production too.
     
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  22. George Co-Stanza

    George Co-Stanza Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    America
    I don't get it either. Sure, they have a bunch of albums that are better, but O & L is still a darn good album, if you ask me.
     
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  23. Fastnbulbous

    Fastnbulbous Doubleplus Ungood

    Location:
    Washington DC USA
    You could say that about 3/4 of the band's catalog. You could also say that about his obsession with layering instruments and voices to the point of absurdity. I s'pose it's a matter of how much verbiage and musical content a listener's brain can tolerate.

    As for the lyrics to "Merely a Man," they are certainly verbose, but they have the saving grace of faux-profundity that we'd later see in "Peter Pumpkinhead."
     
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  24. Splungeworthy

    Splungeworthy Forum Rezidentura

    Thank you @George Co-Stanza for featuring "Merely A Man". My favorite song from O & L, which is one of my favorite XTC albums. Jam packed production, wacko lyrics, a killer chorus, and a piccolo trumpet solo? I also love the crunchy guitar sound they get; this song could have been on Big Express.
     
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  25. George Co-Stanza

    George Co-Stanza Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    America
    I know what you mean. Maybe it is because I am such a fan of a lot of prog rock, but there are certainly XTC songs where I sometimes think, "I wish this were a little less wordy and had a little instrumental break here and there." I still love most of the songs for what they are, but there are moments where I do think Andy overdid it a bit with having so many vocals/lyrics.
     
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