who??
xtc was an old british pop/punk/psych/new wave/irrelevant band, established in the country's
veritable boonies by a couple lads named andy...partride. and colin,,, and think another guy named terry.,,.
and some other guys too i think. their lineup changed a lot, that and these three members contributed a lot of
the songwriting/musical acumen that this band is known for.
the magic of this is that, while both members had strong creative visions and stylistic quirks (say, colin's
bucolic, flowery writing, or andy's cartoonish, whacked-out vocals), it didn't create a lennon-mccartney
situation where the two figureheads were in a constant tug-of-war over the band's identity. (8/25/24: idk
where i got the idea that this was true LMAO. lennon and mccartney constantly worked together. maybe it was a
weird interpretation of lennon's animosity towards mccartney post-beatles, or their development as independent
songwriters on later beatles rekkids?? either way this assertion is incorrect, so sorry) if anything, much of
their oeuvre was shaped by the producers they teamed up with; todd rundgren, mutt lange, steve lillywhite, all
produced for bands way bigger than xtc, but arguably didn't make as much of an impact on the common, basically
stereotyped sounds of 80s pop and rock. this is your favorite band's favorite band, and when you listen to
bands like oingo boingo, the police, early blur (tracy jacks), they might be giants, etc. that becomes
self-evident when you listen to xtc.
ooo interesting
xtc's eclectic discography makes them easy to get into too. no one album treads over the same ground,
and many fans have a favorite after sifting through it all. i like skylarking; a normie choice, but it
is a fucking ADDICTIVE album. i was planning on writing a live-listen for the album, but my interest in
it always seems to come on sudden and intense.
there's plenty of info about this band online, if you desire anything other than a cursory listen.
try chalkhills.org, the net's premier(e) source of info for xtc (apparently it's one of the oldest
sites on the web ever! it was first established in 1991.
showtime's "this is pop" documentary is pretty sweet too. very andy focused though.