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

"Traffic Light Rock"

I'll try to follow along, but I fall so far behind on some of these threads. My total devotion is to The Kinks thread right now, and sometimes I find it difficult to keep up with several of these song by song threads.

I'm very particular with XTC and only like certain albums, but they are a band I would like to have a better knowledge of. I always expect to like certain records more, so maybe this will provide some guidance. My favorite is The Dukes period, but I find all their albums to be somewhat intriguing. I don't really know the debut album, but I think I may like it. This song reminds me of early Oingo Boingo. I like it. 3.5/5

"Instant Tunes"

This one grates on me more than the last one. I'm also much more in the Andy camp, but Colin does sound like he is doing Andy here. I'm also hearing some of that Boingo Madness mixed with a little bit of Colin Newman thrown in. Not bad, but it's not a song I could see myself revisiting often. 2.5/5

 

Uh oh. We've already had one too many Oingo Boingo comparisons...

If XTC ever put out anything remotely close to this, I would never listen to them again.

 

I'm new to the thread and didn't read anything yet. The Oingo Boingo reference was a truthful response to the song. I'm not jumping on a Oingo Boingo train, but I would imagine there would be others that hear the similarities. Why is this a bad thing?

 

Just personal preference. Although there may be some musical stylistic similarities, I don't place Oingo Boingo anywhere near the same league. Sorry.

 

Danny Elfman may be a freak, but I'm pretty sure this was a song to shock and offend. It's creepy and demented, but that was the point. It also doesn't sound much different from this XTC period.

I'm not putting either of them in a league. I'm neither a Boingo fanatic or an XTC maniac. I would also say that I agree with you and think XTC is far superior overall. In this late 70s period, many bands had a similar vibe. XTC is probably much closer to other bands of the time, but Oingo Boingo is a band many are familiar with.

 

Sparks released "Young Girls" a year before, same theme and wink with lyrics less direct.

 

Our votes for "Instant Tunes"
1-1
2-4
3-11
4-3
5-1
Average: 2.77

 

Today's song is "Let's Have Fun", written by Colin Moulding, produced by John Leckie.


Background:
An outtake from White Music, this was released on Coat Of Many Cupboards in 2002.

Colin:

Andy:

Colin Moulding: lead vocals, bass guitar
Andy Partridge: guitar, backing vocals
Barry Andrews: guitar, backing vocals
Terry Chambers: drums

 

Yep, I'm having some fun with this one Colin - 3/5!

 

I'm beginning to feel like a broken record:

• it's fun.
• it's better than some songs on the album.
• Not as good as others.
• It's energetic.

Perhaps because of the brevity -- I love punky songs that are 80 seconds long, I rate it higher than many of these outtakes. Plus I am one of these rare souls who likes fun.
3.5/5

 

Of course Barry Andrews played keyboards, not guitar.

 

"Let's Have Fun"

Never heard this one before, but it's par for the course for White Music material. If this had been on the album instead of "Do What You Do" I probably wouldn't have raised an eyelid at the time or any time since. It is indeed fun - a bit like "Spinning Top" with its rhythm at times, and it's a pity that it didn't emerge sooner so that it could have been on the original CD, but it's unlikely that it's going to become a long-term listen for me at this stage (and I would would probably have said the same about "Do What You Do" had the aforementioned role reversal occurred). 2/5.

 

I don't know, but there was a much-admired performance by the NYD on the UK TV (non-chart) show The Old Grey Whistle Test in 1973 (I think) which no doubt XTC would have watched.

Let's Have Fun - it's OK, nothing much - ' brevity was XTC's middle name then.' - Xtremely Terse Chaps? 1/5

By the way Tiswas, though nominally a children's programme, was one of my 3 favourite TV shows of the 70s - very funny and almost a satire on the genre.

 

Let’s Have Fun

The chorus is fun. And yes, the band does seem to be really tight. But the verses and keyboard parts are not pleasing to my ears. (I promise I really do love this band. Just not this era.)

2.5/5

 

Let’s Have Fun:
Colin’s comments about the song are funny and make me like the song even more. That guitar tone gets me every time; it’s spiky and brash. A short burst of good natured, youthful exuberance.
3/5

 

"Let's Have Fun" -- 2.5/5

Well, Colin and Andy are correct -- they were definitely a tight band. This is a tight performance of a very slight song.

 

Been away for a couple of days and seem to have missed about 10 songs.

Let's Have Fun - 2.5/5.

As above, slight but tight.

 

Let's Have Fun

Rather hort. It's catchy, and there's some song in there even if it's short. Is that a bridge that ends the song with nothing following it?

Again, this is more of the same compared to the songs on the album (but, not very much more of the same). However, I think it was the correct decision to leave this one off.

There's nothing really wrong with this song so I won't go beneath 3/5. However, for a lot of these b-sides, they are only just 3/5 so I'm voting the same for a number of songs in a row.

3/5

 

"Video Unavailable" Sad thing is, if you don't have C of MC you're out of luck for owning it or even listening to it. I won't pay over 200 dollars Canadian to buy C of MC.

 

Guess it's a territorial restriction in Canada. I can watch it fine.

FWIW, I just snagged an excellent copy of Coat of Many Cupboards on Discogs a few weeks back for about $80 USD, so about $100 Canadian.

 

Let's Have Fun:

They obviously did have fun making songs like this. Agree with the "slight, but tight" crowd.

 

Cheapest on Discogs for me is 140 bucks. We're always getting screwed on the exchange rates in Canada. Oh well. The funny thing is I've heard this track very recently online somewhere and now I can't find it, just disappeared into thin air.

 

Let's Have Fun. Never heard this before, just bought Coat of Many Cupboards from Qobuz the other day. Super super tight playing. A good filler but the playing makes it a almost too good to just throw away.

 

Fun -- 2/5. Most of these b-sides are interesting in some way, but never stick around

 

Pulled "Coat of Many Cupboards" from my shelf only to watch the booklet detach before my eyes. I suppose it can be re-affixed at some point but it is easier to read when not tied to the box.

That said, "Let's Have Fun" is a fun little song. Might have made for an interesting opening to the White Music album as an introduction of things to come.

2.75/5