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

She's So Square: Agree with everyone saying they prefer it to the A side. Not too many early B sides of theirs hit me like this one. 4/5
I didn't comment on Science Friction yesterday. I first heard it on the Waxworks cassette sometime early 80s. I didn't seem to think too much of it at the time but enjoy it well enough now.

I first heard heard/saw XTC (and other, similar bands) in 1979/80 on taped videos (betamax??) as a 10-11 year old kid courtesy of my (in the music biz) dad who had to think all these groups were rather ridiculous (as a blues purist and Patti Smith/Rolling Stones devotee) but was still entertained anyway and let me tell you, of all those bands/artists, XTC made by far the biggest impression on me as a youngster and I scrambled to get all I could from them and get playing music myself. My template for a band has always been a Drums And Wires/Black Sea type and never won't be

 

Cool! what a groovy coincidence. I hope it is intact. Mine has the book and one of the trays unglued, unfortunately I think that was common for the set.
Another thing, I think the pre gap/index of disc 2 contains a Drums And Wires era rehearsal. back then my computer disc drive wouldn't rip that disc because of that.

 

Seems like literally every listing on Discogs and eBay makes note of the book being unglued from the set, unfortunately. This one was listed as "practically mint otherwise".

 

I had Barry Andrews sign my COMC at his Detroit gig in 2003, and mine was already unglued at that point.

 

hey neighbor, looking for a drummer raised on XTC?

 

Hey, Lance. Jump! - I'm In. But a day late... I first heard xtc when I moved from New Orleans to San Francisco in November 1978.

I never heard them in the clubs or on the radio in New Orleans. In San Francisco I heard them in the record shops - they played all
the new imports. I heard this first Ep... not sure when, but by early 1979 for sure.

catch-up: "Science Friction" - 1/5 okay for starters, tho.

"She's So Square" -this caught my ear! Reminds me of Mott the Hoople, 1973. Specifically, "All the Way From Memphis", but the
song is super-charged and exciting. Barry is great on this one. I was getting to know Costello at the time, as well. This is similar
to what the Attractions were going for on their first two albums. And, I agree, Joe Jackson was, too. It was music, a new kind of
music, that was coming fast and with a furiousness. I also discovered Nick Lowe and started buying Stiff singles.

You know me, Lance. I was coming from a Beach Boys and American Pop background. So, I was more into The Records. They
were one of the first groups of this kind that I went to see. If I had been more on top of who was opening for whom, I would have
seen xtc when they opened for The Police, 30 October 1980 at the Oakland Auditorium. But, I wasn't much of a Police fan... There
was so much to see in the Bay Area that you just missed some of it. I saw plenty/I missed plenty.

 

Yes! The guitar in the intro reminds me of Bowie/Mott "All The Young Dudes".

 

"She's So Square" - this should've been the A-side, it's more driving and catchier. Ironic to think that 8 years later, XTC would be mining 1967 for all it's worth. Great, careening solo from Andy and a nice, more restrained one from Barry. This is one of my favorite early XTC recordings. 4.5/5.

 

Permit me to join the group who are saying: "Now we're talking." "She's So Square" is both a bit more conventional and a bit more XTC than "Science Friction." Andy's problem at the beginning was an insecure maximalism. He was damned well going to play tricky guitar parts, because he could actually play guitar. And he was furthermore going to write harmonically and rhythmically challenging songs, because he was kind of prog, a fact that embarassed him just enough to make working with Todd Rundgren especially fun. But in case the complex music didn't already set XTC enough apart from the amateurs around them, he'd also devise all sorts of vocal hiccups and contortions to sell the package.

It didn't bother me back then as much as it frankly does today. But while there's affectation on the top line, underneath is Andy's redemptive humor and natural songcraft.

3.5/5

 

Instantly stood out when I first heard it on Beeswax. I forget exactly when that was but I knew XTC well enough to giggle at the 1967 references. Just shows that Andy's heart was always there despite prevailing music trends dictating otherwise. That would change soon enough. 4/5

 

Our votes for "She's So Square"

1-0
2-0
3-6
4-15
5-1
Average: 3.5795

 

Today's song is "Dance Band", written by Colin Moulding and produced by John Leckie.

XTC – Dance Band Lyrics | Genius Lyrics
Background:
Andy:

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

Live Versions:
Two live versions were released on the box set Transistor Blast: The Best of the BBC Sessions in 1998.

The first was recorded for John Peel's show in September 1977, the second was recorded on March 9th, 1978 at The Hippodrome in Golders Green, London.

 

Also, today, I'd like to hold up the entire 3D EP for discussion/rating (if you're inclined.)

Tomorrow I will start holding up songs from White Music.

 

Dance Band is the least accomplished song on the EP by a long way. Fortunately Colin's songwriting would improve greatly. This sounds like it's trying too hard to be quirky. 1/5

 

"Dance Band"

And so we are introduced to the "other guy" - the one that would provide their breakthrough hits. I actually prefer Colin's B-sides from this period to his album tracks. This sounds more mature and less manic than his tracks on White Music, and possibly closer to the eventual style he would begin establishing on Drums & Wires. It has a very infectious groove which is a nice change of pace from the two Andy songs. Also the first XTC track to introduce the dubby bits towards the end. A good song and again Barry's keyboards elevate it. 3/5.

"3D EP"

I didn't experience this in "real time" so have no real affinity towards it, but as an opening salvo to establish the early XTC sound and the relationship between the two writers, it does a good job. 3/5.

 

Dance Band

I think that Colin Moulding wasn't as 'oven ready' as Andy Partridge. This track is weaker and lacks a strong melody. Not that all tracks need a strong melody, there are other ways that they can be interesting. However, I this track needs a bit more than it has.

3.1/5

I'm not going to rate the entire EP as I'm not familiar enough with it. However overall it is a statement of intent for XTC and a good starting point.

 

"Dance Band" -- 2.5/5

Definitely not up to the level of the other two songs, but a decent enough early showing from Colin. I feel like Andy did this style better than he did, overall.

The EP probably warrants a 3/5.

 

Dance Band

It’s interesting to me how similar Colin & Andy’s delivery were in the early years. It took me ages to figure out this was a Colin song.

This isn’t a major work by any stretch, but it’s interesting enough, especially as a precursor to the much more fully realized “Life Begins at the Hop”. Nice and herky-jerky with some amateurish (this is not an insult) dissonance to liven things up, and a good hook that makes up for the slightness of the lyric.
3/5 again.

 

"Dance Band" is a melodic dud, but the keyboards, dissonance and overall energy almost make it work for me...almost.

2.5/5

3D EP is all right. Fun to listen to while it plays and a cool little release; punky, but arty, with musicianship that's a bit above your average punk band without being, like, prog or jazz.

3/5

 

Can't dress it up - Dance Band is a bit weak IMO. An inauspicious beginning for Colin Moulding as a writer, sounds like he's trying to fit into the template established. Despite him writing some of the hits, Moulding's songs always came across to me as influenced/following in the footsteps of Andy's, however he had a real gift for melody and would eventually come into his own with some great work.

I did hear this EP in real time and thought Science Friction was a great song - even if I did wonder if Andy Partridge had some kind of speech impediment.

 

Dance Band

Agree it’s the weakest track. Just not much too it - not particularly catchy, melodic, or lyrically clever.

1.8/5

3D EP

The first two songs make it worthwhile, but still, compared to what’s to come, it’s fairly primitive.

3/5

 

Dance Band - Easily the weakest of the EP tracks. I love the different instrumental flourishes swirling around the mix, but the primary melody and vocals aren't so great. 2/5

 

"Dance Band" 2/5

Not bad but not exactly memorable. Colin's songwriting skills would later flourish, but he was still the junior partner at this point, imo.

 

Dance Band is trying a little too hard to be quirky, but the catchiness is still there. Starts like it’s going to be a Gang Of Four groove, and then gets a nightmare children’s song vibe before a keyboard solo played on what sounds like the most inexpensive keyboard ever, and then descends into Dub land.
So even an early trifle like this contains enough ideas to power 3 or 4 other songs. A nice introduction of Colin and a 3/5.

 

Tomorrow, I'm going to start holding up songs from XTC's first full-length album, White Music.

White Music was recorded in about two weeks at Abbey Road studios. Like 3D EP, White Music was engineered and produced by John Leckie.

Later Andy Partridge would characterize the album's music as being "Captain Beefheart meets The Archies", and said the music was the sum of everything the band enjoyed, including the Beatles, Sun Ra and Atomic Rooster, but in 1992 he dismissed the contents as being "premature songs built around this electric wordplay."

The album was released on January 20th, 1978 (my 7th birthday, which was probably coincidental); UK reviews were generally positive. The album charted at #38 on the UK charts.

The tracklist was:

1. Radios In Motion (Andy Partridge)
2. Cross Wires (Colin Moulding)
3. This Is Pop (Partridge)
   • This Is Pop [single version]
4. Do What You Do (Moulding)
5. Statue Of Liberty (Partridge)
6. All Along The Watchtower (Bob Dylan)
   
   
7. Into the Atom Age (Partridge)
8. I'll Set Myself On Fire (Moulding)
9. I'm Bugged (Partridge)
10. New Town Animal (Partridge)
11. Spinning Top (Partridge)
12. Neon Shuffle (Partridge)

In addition to the above I will hold up the following extra-album tracks:

• Hang On to the Night (Partridge){B-side, Statue of Liberty}
• Heatwave (Moulding) {B-side, This Is Pop}
  • Heatwave Mark 2 Deluxe {remix, from Coat Of Many Cupboards, 2002)
  • The Day They Pulled The North Pole Down (Moulding, Partridge) {remix from Take Away/The Lure of Salvagen 1980}
• Traffic Light Rock (Partridge) {from the VA compilation Guillotine, 1978}
• Instant Tunes (Partridge) {B-side, Are You Receiving Me, 1978}
• Let's Have Fun [Moulding] {outtake, released on Coat of Many Cubboards, 2002}
• Fireball XL5/Fireball Dub (Barry Gray) {outtake, released on Coat of Many Cubboards, 2002}
• Commerciality (Signal Ad) (Partridge) {remix of unreleased "Refrigeration Blues", released on Take Away/The Lure of Salvage, 1980}

Thus if all goes according to plan and all of these songs stream, I should begin holding up songs from Go 2 on January 19th.

If I've omitted/overlooked anything from the list above, please let me know.

Note: I've decided to hold up Andy's Dub experiments from Go 2+ and Take Away/The Lure of Salvage alongside the songs they were created from, rather than do them completely separately. This way people who enjoy them can discuss them, in the context of a larger discussion with the "regular" songs.