Senses Working Overtime: XTC and Dukes of Stratosphear Song-by-song

With WHITE MUSIC, XTC roars into view with a surprisingly cohesive statement of purpose; to create tension and release at a high velocity, with liberal use of jagged sounds to ornament the hooks, of which there are plenty. Some songs are a bit formula, and which of those is less than successful depends a lot on your point of view. There is a general consensus that these first two albums were eclipsed by DRUMS AND WIRES and what followed. I totally agree, but I can hear how the threads of the Barry Andrews era are woven through all their subsequent work; their sense of adventure in the form of unusual melodic, rhythmic, chord and texture choices. Lyrics that are puzzles of strong ideas and free association. I think they got themselves signed and on the path to our ears with this version of the band and it has a sense of ambition that is entertaining all on it's own. I think their next album GO2 is both a step forward in terms of vision and brick wall where they run into the limitations of the new wave formula. Their response to that dilemma leads to a lot of amazing music that we love.

Our view is colored by where in an artist's career we get on board. We all have our own story with them. We also treat music as a product; it should deliver the things that we prefer, or else it's a waste of time. I do it. But I also try to counter that and make an effort to hear the work the way the artist is asking to be heard. I like these song-by-song threads because it helps me do just that. Many times I've realized that my first impulse to categorize strong and weak material by an artist actually keeps me from enjoying a whole album or their entire catalog. Often when I'm in the presence of others' enthusiasm for something I've written off as uninteresting, I hear it in a completely new light. There's a lot of great, well-articulated writing about music here and it's making me appreciate new things. So bravo and onward.

3/5

 

I like White Music. I really do and don't mind the few duds on the album. It's a fun album that puts me in a good mood every time I listen to it. A strong debut imo and really captures the zeitgeist in 1978. They made of course better albums later on (not many artists I know released a debut album that ended up being their best), but also worse albums. Based purely on the music, I would give it a 3/5 (which means "good" in my book), but I'll add half a point for this being their debut. So 3.5/5 it is.

 

Yes, yes, yes.

 

I don't remember exactly when I first bought/listened to White Music. I have the US Epic LP ('82) so it must have been after I already owned and enjoyed both Drums And Wires ('79) and Black Sea ('80). Also, probably around the same time as I bought the original Waxworks/Beeswax UK LPs ('82). By the time I heard it, I'm sure I didn't give it much attention; a fairly typical brainy/herky jerky/energetic new wave LP. I listened to the Geffen CD edition several times during the course of this discussion and found that I liked several songs quite a bit. More than I ever have. And, after reading about how they used "All Along The Watchtower" as an intense set closer in the early days, I may have even warmed up to that one ever so slightly. I probably enjoy the LP now much more than some of the mid-late period orchestral-type material. I'm glad I revisited the album now and I'll rate it 3.5/5 overall.

 

White Music - 3.5/5 - While I love the hyperactive, helium-infused sound they have going on here, it does wear over the course of an album. The songwriting is promising, but still very inconsistent. A few classics here, and a lot of serviceable, but not that memorable songs. This is a good start, but we all know it gets much better later on.

 

White Music is pretty wobbly overall but buoyed a bit by a few kinda great songs, which is more than I can say for the next LP.
3/5

 

Despite some songs sounding a bit better than I remember, I can't give the whole album any more than 2/5. When an album actively annoys you, it's never a good sign. Not really having Colin as a George to Andy's Paul and John is a big detriment as well. The balance in the complete album that they would eventually find is sorely missed here. It does seem to have worked better live at the time, but very few people got to witness that.

 

White Music. Honestly, if this had been my starting point with XTC -- I'm not sure I would have hunted down the second album. Some *great* songs on side one interspersed with some really bad ones -- and an overall dud second side. 2/5 (saving the 1/5 for the next album -- no surprises here!)

 

I'd read the Chalkhills bio before I got White Music so I knew the context where Andy used some old songs from when they were trying to be a glam group and Colin had just started writing. This may have made me more inclined to forgive the silly stuff. Still a very fun although uneven record.

 

Yeah I would have gone with This Is Not Music myself. When I first purchased the album in 1978 I had a friend ask if it was racist music. I said “no, it’s cool music”.

 

Colin in particular hadn’t found his voice as a songwriter yet writing imitations of Andy’s music(although he has more material on side one). He quickly did find his voice quickly.

when we get to the second album, I believe it is vastly underrated.

 

I guess a title like "Cool Music" is just asking for it...

 

Another relic .. before we get too far ahead of it in the chat here..



3DEP promo t shirt from 1977. Quite worn, and very rare indeed.

 

Maybe if they'd gone with the idea from "This is Pop?" and called it This is Music?

White Music - This is a strong start with some bold, catchy singles, but marred by more than a few clunkers. Overall, though, I enjoyed this more this time than my memory of it - I think what most stuck in my decrepit, haunted brain was the nightmare of "All Along the Watchtower". Listening to it a song per day, though, that stinker was soon forgotten. What's best about this album is the explosion of energy and the pulses of chaos. 3.5/5

 

Andy’s hiccuping vocals demonstrated he hadn’t found his voice yet.

 

I’d rate White Music with a 3.5 for the first side and 3 for the second. Even the lesser tracks have fun hooks.

 

Agree wholeheartedly. Big Night Music was a big uptick in terms of production and quality of musical arrangements. I suspect that Steve Halliwell (keys on BNM) played a larger role as musical director on that one than credits indicate. Saw them live promoting BNM and Barry was mainly the front man, spending little time at the keys. I know nothing of the history of the split and by no means am I dismissing Barry's catalog but if I were to take a guess, he may have been struggling to articulate his parts to the satisfaction of Andy and Colin's vision.

 

White Music - Some good songs and a few clunkers, the album would've benefited if Colin's b-sides were included, but overall this is an average debut album, and the next one is better.
3/5

 

The 'Watching the Detectives' that was released in November '77, after White Music was already in the can? Time doesn't flow backwards.

Nieve and Andrews are both referencing decades of cheesy organ music, but there's no evidence that either player influenced the other directly, and if it were possible, the influence would have to be operating in the opposite direction, as the only record released in time to be emulated is 'Science Friction' (October '77), which came out before the This Year's Model sessions commenced. But that didn't happen either.

That said, I don't find them to be very similar players at all. They were both playing cheap organs in quasi-punk bands at about the same time, that's all.

 

Wrong again! You guys know all this stuff can actually be looked up in five seconds, right?

 

After the second album, we could take a sidelong glance at Barry Andrews' first two solo singles, which are more in the XTC than the Shriekback vein. The Town & Country EP sounds like more Go 2 leftovers (if that's your thing!) and is rather unformed, but 'Rossmore Road' is a minor pop gem. It was released twice, in different mixes and with different b-sides.

For the curious, he released a CD of this stuff (and other unreleased demos from the period) a few years ago:
Barry Andrews – Lost Pop Songs 78-80 (2018, CD)

As Shriekback indicated, Andrews was headed in a very different direction from XTC, and I can't imagine a comfortable compromise sound going into the eighties.

 

I remember Andy mentioned that Barry had "Rossmore Road" while with XTC but seemed to be holding it back for a solo project.

 

My understanding is that Andy felt genuinely threatened by Barry’s songwriting and arranging talent and that Barry was trying to “take over” his (I.e. Andy’s) band. I think this because Andy said exactly this in the Complicated Game book. Almost word for word.

Whereas Andy and Colin had “a friendly competition “ and he was fine with Colin’s songs because they were arranged democratically by the entire band, Andy felt threatened by the quality of Barry’s music which was exacerbated by the fact that Barry was more dictatorial and had firm views of how his (Barry’s) songs should be arranged. And that created tension between the two and a psychological struggle for dominance within the band.

 

"Too Many Cooks" in the kitchen, as it were.

Andy's stubborn vision for the band made them the pop juggernaut they became, but his stubbornness seems to be what ultimately killed them. (Others will disagree. But there will be plenty of time for that discussion as we get there.)

 

I think Andy saw Colin's style/approach as complimentary/compatible while Barry was from another planet entirely.