The Wheel and the MayPOLL: The XTC Poll Results Thread

Also, 'No Language In Our Lungs'? What makes that so good? Each to their own and all that, but...

― Shat Parp (dog latin),

The way the guitars are mixed, the rhythm section, the way the band keeps reining itself in, the "I Want You" lilt to those guitars.

Shoulda voted, but I was only a casual fan at the time. My top fifteen:

1. Love On A Farmboy's Wages
2. When You're Near Me I Have Difficulty
3. The Wheel & the Maypole
4. Poor Skeleton Steps Out
5. Great Fire
6. Helicopter
7. Wrapped In Grey
8. Beating Of Hearts
9. Scarecrow People
10. Summer's Cauldron
11. The Disappointed
12. Generals and Majors
13. No Thugs In Our House
14. Living Through Another Cuba
15. Making Plans For Nigel

This poll set me off on a massive XTC binge which cemented them as one of my favourite bands - my ballot would be much longer and very differently ordered today.

I really hope those images are preserved somewhere, such excellent work.

No Language In Our Lungs is a masterpiece

man I'm looking at that top 50 and its just classic classic classic

the XTC binge hasn't exhausted itself: one or another XTC thread gets revived every couple days

No Language In Our Lungs is a masterpiece

― imago, Thursday, September 28, 2017 6:22 PM (two minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Too fucking right it is! One of Andy's best ever songs.

ilarly, Senses Working Overtime suffers from great verse/okay chorus syndrome.

― Shat Parp (dog latin), Thursday, September 28, 2017 3:37 PM (two hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

^ WTF?

*-ilarly,

yeah he said as much the other day. obviously he's doing one of the greatest songs ever written a loveably mad disservice and we should probably leave him to it

oh no! those images were so cool. i only became a fan last year after a friend turned me onto them. he wrote this long, almost essay-length post on FB about how "after two and a half decades of nearly constant music consumption, i've come to the conclusion that XTC is my favorite band and no one else even comes close." he posted "Earn Enough for Us" along with it - "my favorite XTC song - at the moment." my 15:

1. That's Really Super, Supergirl
2. All You Pretty Girls
3. I Bought Myself a Liarbird
4. Beating of Hearts
5. Red Brick Dream
6. Are You Receiving Me?
7. Love on a Farmboy's Wages
8. Science Friction
9. Ballet for a Rainy Day
10. Senses Working Overtime
11. Garden of Earthly Delights
12. Melt the Guns
13. Mayor of Simpleton
14. Making Plans for Nigel
15. Fly on the Wall

I'm halfway through this compilation book of the LImelight fanzine, it's a decent read, some nice interview material particularly from the Mummer era, Human Alchemy (which I have always liked and don't really understand the hating) was mooted for a single at one stage.

it just sounds ugly to my ears, which granted complements the lyrical sentiment but it's just not much of a melody and it's plodding and gurgly and just blech

their weakest moments are consistently their most politically hamfisted imo (Books are Burning, Wardance, Human Alchemy, etc.) Generals and Majors is great though.

gurgly and just blech

Andy Partridge halitosis

I get all those negative qualities in evidence sure, it's not an amazing track by any stretch. I still feel the bad outweighs the good, great drums, the backing vocals are lovely and plaintive, I like the little squirly keyboard decorations at the mention of the song's title (can't really call it much of a chorus)

*good outweighs the bad - haha what a clod

Yeah, 'Human Alchemy' and 'War Dance' are both horrid.

'Blue Overall' is down there with the worst of Andy Partridge, alongside 'Human Alchemy', side three of English Settlement etc.

War Dance always makes me think of Partridge's comment about the sampled clarinet sounding like a 'singing penis'.

Heh! That's a very Andy Partridge thing to say...

Haha as if that song needed to be worse

WTF THE IMAGES ARE GONE

Phucking Photobucket now charges to let you post images on 3rd party websites, to the tune of $400 a year for phuck's sake!

I've got all the images in 2 albums--here's the links:

XTC ILM Top 60

XTC ILM Top 60 Runners Up

Good to see dog latin and flappy bird with "Beating of Hearts" in their top 10--it was my #1.

On many days it's mine, too.

I love the video so much:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MT4zz2b50kg

It's all about the gorgeous guitar sound, repeating drum pattern and the way "bombers in flight" is emphasised.

Thanks, Turrican and many others, for insisting I return to the well. Now I love Murmur. I revised my favorites list.

I think I'll dig Mummer out for a listen today too. 'Great Fire' doesn't seem to be a track that gets talked about much, but it was a big favourite of mine when I first heard the album.

Great Fire was the only song from Mummer that caught me when I first heard it as a teen who came on board with O&L, but now it sounds like "O shit, I need another Senses Working Overtime" while most of the rest of the album just slays me.

And yeah, that bomber synth under "fliiiiight", damn

The middle 8 on it is fucking superb - yet another one of Partridge's awesome middle 8's...

Great song

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=buENneEy4bc

Great Fire is so jarring. I love it. Mummer remains my favourite of their albums

Check out the demo:

http://youtu.be/8DkjwCn5bqs

'Happy Families' was originally demoed for Mummer wasn't it?

That demo with the tuneless saxophone wailing, so mad when you consider that Great Fire was written to order after Virgin were asking for more single material.

XP - Yeppers

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9p0fA0KBfuU

Americans: how can we watch THIS IS POP when it airs this weekend on Sky?

I was trying to figure that out too but it looks like we can't afaict :(

Sky not available as a streaming channel through Roku

Alfred you have Jason & the Argonauts twice on your list.

Damn I have a Roku too & I get Sky News for free, thought that might be an in. i'll keep looking

Sky News is actually something different, I think?

There are a couple other random channels w Sky in their name but they are unrelated

I don't think we'll be seeing XTC on Sky News any time soon, unless they decide to cover the 1st anniversary of this story:

http://www.swindonadvertiser.co.uk/news/14906850.XTC_frontman_recovering_after_varnish_accident/

yes, it is different

ohh yeah I forgot about the varnish incident, that had me worried for a bit, reminded me of Paul Westerberg fucking up his hand with candle wax

Alfred you have Jason & the Argonauts twice on your list.

― campreverb,

Circular guitar hook, circular list, see.

Wasp and the Maypole eh

Which Sky channel is it on?