The Wheel and the MayPOLL: The XTC Poll Results Thread

Ha, I remember when I bought the (12") single. I was exactly that!

I'd say AP's voice can be a little hard to deal with. I have to give him the benefit of the doubt really.

Listened to the song 'Gold' off Mummer yesterday for the first time and it struck me (I'm sure this must have been mentioned) just how unconventional the structures on many of these songs are.

Oddly enough I'm listening to their version of "All Along The Watchtower" right now, which takes Dylan (already a textbook example of a singer with some, uh, limitations) to a whole new level of bizarrely exaggerated pronounciations.

that cover is so punk & awesome, wish I'd voted for it

I always forget how much I love it until I drag it out again; it is amazing. Just pre-punk, one of my favorite artists was Steve Harley, so I think I was predisposed to liking Andy's vocal stylings.

yh steve harley was another childhood fave of mine, at least his greatest hits

fwiw I always thought this song was kind of a midpoint between Cockney Rebel and early XTC. Yelpy vocal/weedy organ, but trying for some kind of new pop.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sqT4wv305Wc

oh totally! this is really cool

if squeeze are at one end of the worthwhile post-punk spectrum and wire at the other, then this lot fit in near the former and say foxx era ultravox! the latter. all are great

sounds a bit like

http://youtu.be/-ZH2fknRMLE?list=AL94UKMTqg-9B_oAQYmKTmhuA4g_ibPoh2

The thing I love about the 'All Along The Watchtower' cover is that tight but funky groove that Chambers & Moulding lock into... honest to God, I could listen to just the bass and drums grooving away on that for ages. Then there's Barry's unorthodox organ work on top of that as well. It's one of those covers where if you removed the vocal, you'd be hard pressed to guess what song they're covering. I guess Japan's covers are a bit like that, too.

^^^ ahh yes, thank you for this, I'd forgotten the song and have never seen the video. I tend to only remember Boomtown Rats for "I Don't Like Mondays."

It took me years to track down tha actual Secret LP back in the pre-internet days. The rest of it isn't all that good. xpost.

I'd say that the barriers that most people face when getting into XTC are Andy's voice (especially on the earlier albums), Andy's fondness for dissonance and the dense productions of albums like The Big Express and Oranges & Lemons. The impression I've always got when I've read people's opinions of XTC over the years is that Colin's stuff seems to act as a gateway into the band. Colin's stuff is more instant, whereas Andy's stuff is more rewarding in the long run.

And repetition, on songs like "When You're Near Me" and "Scissor man," among many examples.

that cover is so punk & awesome, wish I'd voted for it

I did but I think I may have been the only one. So true about the lock and groove on that song.

Has anybody pre-ordered the Drums & Wires reissue? It's due in about a week iirc. I'm even weirdly excited to hear the instrumental version of the whole record.

Also, while we are talking about early yelpy, herky jerky bands, The Nits early records are worth checking out.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LIQ_U3I2bZY

Sound - On - Sound by Bill Nelson's Red Noise must be the closest relative of White Music/Go 2 XTC? produced by John Leckie as well

I think I read a contemporary interview where Nelson was denying that XTC had been an influence on Red Noise and said that half of Sound - On - Sound had been written before White Music was released? early XTC frequently sound like a speeded up Be Bop Deluxe anyway

I love everything about that Nits video, esp. the apparently confounded audience of 7.

Also amazed at how many records they released!

hahaha that is seriously fucking brilliant

Seal of approval from Andy Partridge himself for Hideous Lump's fine illustrations.

Wau!

Ha, cool.

"As for the poll,totally disagree,but fun eh?" New board description please!

Seal of approval from Andy Partridge himself for Hideous Lump's fine illustrations.

wwwwwaaaaaaaaaht

they really should have tweeted him as the results were being rolled out so he could appear on the thread when Pale and Precious came so low and do some Marshall McLuhan/You Know Nothing of My Work! type bit

lol

Or when 'Senses Working Overtime' came in at #1...

You could have had his ballot!

Whoa, cool!

http://i1086.photobucket.com/albums/j449/HideousLump/Eugen_de_Blaas_The_Flirtation.jpg

Listening to Nonsuch right now, and I know that 'The Disappointed' has its critics, but fucking hell I love this song. I particularly love the way that the intro is actually the middle eight of the song, and that the "ooh" vocals during these parts follows the same melody that Partridge uses on the word "hearts" throughout the verse. Partridge then plays off this vocal in the middle eight by introducing a lead vocal over the top of the "ooh"s and the effect, in my humble opinion, is just fucking sublime. It gives me goosebumps every time, no matter how often I listen to it... I definitely think it placed far too low in the poll, but honestly, these poll results were always going to be unexpected.

25. You’re The Wish You Are I Had (950 points, 12 votes)
75. Rook (436 points, 6 votes)

http://cdn.videogum.com/files/2012/03/shrug.jpg

"Rook" definitely higher on my Top 500 ballot than "Wish", but I understand why people would prefer it. "Rook" is absolutely no fun to sing at parties. Then again, "Wish" is no fun to play while gazing out over a rainy moor, so....

I have a friend who loves the original "All Along the Watchtower" so I sent him the XTC version and he responded with "this is the worst thing I've ever heard" and now refuses to give XTC another chance. His loss.

I have a live recording of the Sultans of Ping FC doing "are you experienced"

lol what a rockist idiot xp

yeah he pretty much insisted that I only like it because it's 'ironic' and so on. I mean I do think the thing is hilarious but cover or not it's got a hell of a busted groove to it

exack

Hmm, I've always thought XTC's version was pretty worthless and always skip, I may revisit but I'll prob still not like.

if yer gonna murder a classic, do it properly

admittedly I'm not a big fan of XTC - even my fave albums by them (Drums & Wires through Mummer is the sweet spot (hon mention Skylarking) would rate no better than a 4 out of 5 (RYM-style) each at most. (I didn't like The Big Express, though haven't heard it since the '80s. and Andy's solo Take Away/The Lure Of Salvage is prob my overall fave XTC album/thing)

but had I voted "Ladybird" would have been my #1. reminds me a bit of Bacharach/David "This Girl's In Love With You". I also like the Colin Moulding pop songs like "Ten Feet Tall", "Love At First Sight", etc.

Being American, I only just realized while preparing for this poll that the Ladybird ain't no bird--she's a ladybug.

Tell that to Mrs Johnson.

Congratulations to Andy Partridge for winning the Classic Songwriter award at the Q Awards!

Man do I wish now that I could have snuck a few more B-sides onto my ballot: 'Jump', 'Extrovert' and 'Happy Families' in particular.

did we do an albums poll?

*tumbleweed*

I'm just getting stuck into the XTC back catalogue now after having lived with the Fossil Fuels compilation. I know Skylarking is often held up as their best work but so far it's gotta be Mummer that stands out. Loving the steam-age imagery and Hardy's Wessexiness of Love On A Farmboy's Wages / Great Fire... it's just so anti-punk. No wonder their drummer quit in a pique

oh and I just got Black Sea, Mummer and an XTC singles compilation in the post. Nice!

mummer might have done better if the tracks were sequenced differently. all the songs are excellent but it plays out like an inverted bell curve.

No wonder their drummer quit in a pique

Ha, I think he quit because just playing in the studio without touring wasn't gonna pay the bills. But yeah, I don't know if he could've handled, say, "Ladybird."

I haven't listened to Mummer since...eep...1987, but relistening now I'm reminded of how much (and why) I loved it at the time. It initially struck me as an early attempt at what they'd explore more fully on Skylarking, but it's totally its own thing. And it's all killer, no filler.