a b c Bernhardt, Todd; Partridge, Andy (6 January 2008). "Andy discusses 'Complicated Game' ". Chalkhills . Retrieved 30 August 2019. Making Plans for Nigel” is a prime example of Moulding’s songwriting; the second song on Drums and Wires, “Helicopter,” is pure Partridge. While “Nigel” opens with the booming live drums made famous by Townhouse Recording Studio’s stone room (best known for birthing Phil Collin’s signature sound), “Helicopter” zips in on electric-sounding beats and a playful guitar line. Zippy, playful and futuristic, the song is perfect encapsulation of Partridge’s musical bugbears: novelty tunes heard courtesy of a junked record player his father nailed to a tea trolley. “I think he thought that was swish — that you could move it from one room to another and plug it in in another room,” Partridge says. “It was very perverse.” Another fact to be aware of is neither Partridge nor, especially, Moulding can really sing. They reach for notes and sometimes fail to find them. They speak rather than sing, voices sounding like, during puberty, they failed to break completely leaving them in a halfway house where both highs and lows are a stretch. The beauty of the situation being it suits the band perfectly. Not only are the songs bizarrely brilliant but so are the vocalists. Coinciding with Gregory's arrival, in April 1979, the band recorded " Life Begins at the Hop", written by bassist Colin Moulding, and their first record with Lillywhite producing. [9] After the band went on tour for the single, sessions for Drums and Wires resumed from 25 June to July. [10] By this time, Moulding "wanted to ditch [our] quirky nonsense and do more straight-ahead pop." [1] He said that when Andrews was in the band, Partridge had "no kind of foil" to work with, as he "used to like the real kind of angular, spiky, upward-thrusting guitar ... if one is angular, the other has to kind of straighten him out, you know? It was just going too far the other way, I felt. So when Dave came in, and was a much straighter player, it seemed to make more sense, I think." [11] Partridge opined that, before then, Moulding's songs "came out as weird imitations of what I was doing, 'cause he thought that was the thing to do. ... On Go 2 he was sort of getting his own style, and by Drums and Wires he really started to take off as a songwriter." [2] Gregory remembered that XTC's songs "inspired a different approach to listening and playing from that which I'd grown up with. I simply couldn't continue grinding out old blues clichés and power chords, so I began to think more in terms of the songs as the masters and the instruments as the servants." [12] The album was recorded in three weeks and mixed in two. [10] Zaleski, Annie (20 March 2016). " "Music is so abused these days": XTC's Andy Partridge opens up about songwriting, painting and developing the "cruel parent gene" toward your own art". Salon . Retrieved 20 September 2017.

a b Dahlen, Chris (23 June 2004). "The 100 Best Albums of the 1970s". Pitchfork . Retrieved 23 August 2019. a b Bernhardt, Todd (11 May 2009). "Colin discusses 'Life Begins at the Hop' ". Chalkhills . Retrieved 20 September 2017. Lyrically, the album focuses on the trappings of the modern world, a highly new wave sentiment. Best described as “polychromatic”, the album is an off-kilter, angular offering. With the effective production and compositional aspects of the album, they are matched by Partridge’s insightful lyrics and worldview. Andy Partridge, Colin Moulding, Dave Gregory, Terry Chambers, Steve Warren, Hugh Padgham, Al Clark, Laurie Dunn – Vernon Yard Male Voice Choir on "Roads Girdle the Globe" [26] a b Kot, Greg (3 May 1992). "The XTC Legacy: An Appraisal". Chicago Tribune . Retrieved 1 November 2020.

Rate/Catalog

Bernhardt, Todd (24 November 2008). "Colin discusses 'Making Plans for Nigel' ". Chalkhills . Retrieved 20 September 2017. Xu9O9O.QxU35LYCz5Qnd_Ow9X28sMiwb6MGFXLot0dAu2FE4vYUW3JJ8IzZh2uPBWNiDFdRk5rmpOtn6IMQwxYlYI8flXC5XbuloMpm a b Manno, Lizzie (13 February 2019). "21. XTC, Drums and Wires". Paste . Retrieved 30 August 2019. The band went on to release several more classic albums — including 1982’s English Settlement and 1986’s Skylarking, produced by Todd Rundgren. And they weathered their share of issues and triumphs as the years rolled on: the band stopped touring in the early ‘80s and focused on making albums, due in large part to Partridge’s distaste for performing live. (“Performing is very physical,” he says. “I’m not a physical [being]. I live in my brain. I barely exist outside of it.”) They also tussled with Virgin over profits. Still, there were bright spots, specifically 1986’s “Dear God,” one of their best known and highest praised songs of all time — despite its anti-religious message.

Moulding and Chambers reunited in 2017 as TC&I, releasing an EP titled Great Aspirations and playing a run of sold-out shows in their hometown of Swindon. They released a live album in early August 2019, but Moulding isn’t sure they’ll continue with the project. This I believe is one of my favorite top 3 XTC albums. Very underrated, but most XTC fans agree that this one has some amazing songs. This is the first of their albums that is really enjoyable all the way through, or is way more than just a curiosity at least. I do enjoy White Music and Go 2, but I'm not sure how many people would care about their existence if they weren't released by this band. Drums & Wires takes their quirky new wave or "post punk" type of sound from their last 2 records and uses it for some of the catchiest, most fun, clever, original and groundbreaking type of songs this band had yet to put out at this point. Moulding started actively writing songs on Drums and Wires, somewhat due to pressure from Partridge. Although he was the frontman, Partridge did not feel comfortable on stage; he wanted to share that time in the spotlight — or escape it all together.Larkin, Colin (2011). "XTC". The Encyclopedia of Popular Music (5th conciseed.). Omnibus Press. ISBN 978-0-85712-595-8. The long-awaited reissue of XTC‘s 1979 album Drums And Wires has been announced, and like the Nonsuch deluxe release from 2013, the two-disc sets (CD+Blu-ray and CD+DVD-A) will offer a massive amount of extra audio and visual material, including new 5.1 surround and stereo mixes. That was where Moulding came in; the bassist evened out some of Partridge’s more esoteric impulses, creating that balance between batty and boppy that defines XTC. The result is a record that boasts both poppy tunes (Moulding’s “Life Begins at the Hop,” which made it to Top of the Pops) and the very Beefheartian “Roads Girdle the Globe,” Partridge’s hymn to the religiosity of car enthusiasts. a b c d Bernhardt, Todd (15 December 2008). "Dave remembers 'Making Plans for Nigel' ". Chalkhills . Retrieved 20 September 2017.

Herrera, Ernesto (12 April 2019). " 'Drums and Wires': 40 años de un emblema de la 'new wave' ". Milenio (in Spanish) . Retrieved 27 May 2019. In Moulding's recollection, "Up until that point, we were viewed as a poor man’s Talking Heads or something. People called us 'quirky.' But when we came out with Drums and Wires it was like a different band, really. Mainly, that was probably my fault." [65] He was surprised when the label began choosing his songs, instead of Partridge's, as singles. [11] Partridge felt that he was losing the band's leadership and attempted to exert more authority in the group, calling himself "a very benevolent dictator." [1]

Drums and Wires was released on 17 August, with lead single "Making Plans for Nigel" following on 5 September. [43] From 11 September to 5 October, XTC embarked on another underwhelming British tour. [44] Gregory remembered: "in Wolverhampton [there were] about 200 people in a place that holds about 1,500. It was really depressing." [8] On 8 October, the band performed four songs from the album for BBC Radio 1's John Peel show. [45] Performances of "Real by Real" and "Ten Feet Tall" recorded were later released for Drums and Wireless: BBC Radio Sessions 77–89 (1994).