The Wheel and the MayPOLL: The XTC Poll Results Thread

My ballot. For a time in my early-mid 20s, XTC were my favorite band, period. I cannot begin to describe the anticipation I felt before the release of Apple Venus. Still a big fan, although my top five albums have shifted since then (currently, in order: English Settlement, Skylarking, Black Sea, Nonsuch, Oranges and Lemons).

1 Towers of London
2 Wrapped In Grey
3 Life Begins At The Hop
4 Love At First Sight
5 Earn Enough For Us
6 No Thugs In Our House
7 Easter Theatre
8 One Of The Millions
9 The Wheel And The Maypole
10 The Mayor Of Simpleton
11 Senses Working Overtime
12 My Bird Performs
13 King For A Day
14 Stupidly Happy
15 Rook
16 Making Plans For Nigel
17 Vanishing Girl
18 English Roundabout
19 Then She Appeared
20 Jason And The Argonauts
21 Snowman
22 Harvest Festival
23 Playground
24 No Language In Our Lungs
25 You're A Good Man Albert Brown
26 Runaways
27 Beating Of Hearts
28 I Can't Own Her
29 Generals and Majors
30 Complicated Game
31 Rocket From A Bottle
32 The Ballad of Peter Pumpkinhead
33 Great Fire
34 The Man Who Sailed Around His Soul
35 Sacrificial Bonfire
36 Brainiac's Daughter
37 That Wave
38 Dear God
39 Real By Reel
40 Little Lighthouse
41 All Of A Sudden (It's Too Late)
42 Love On A Farmboy's Wages
43 Across This Antheap
44 Grass
45 Are You Receiving Me?
46 Scarecrow People
47 Dear Madam Barnum
48 She's So Square
49 You're The Wish You Are I Had
50 The World Is Full Of Angry Young Men

I gathered a ton of images before the final tallies were done--here's some of the runners up.

(Complete runners up gallery here, Top 60 gallery here.)

Alternate image for Sacrificial Bonfire:

http://i1086.photobucket.com/albums/j449/HideousLump/XTC%20ILM%20Top%2060%20Runners%20Up/47alternateSACRIFICIALBONFIRE.jpg

Alternate Peter Pumpkinhead from last week's news:

http://i1086.photobucket.com/albums/j449/HideousLump/XTC%20ILM%20Top%2060%20Runners%20Up/52alternateBALLADOFPETERPUMPKINHEAD-Alternate.jpg

I Bought Myself a Liarbird:

http://i1086.photobucket.com/albums/j449/HideousLump/XTC%20ILM%20Top%2060%20Runners%20Up/61IBOUGHTMYSELFALIARBIRD.jpg

The Man Who Sailed Around His Soul:

http://i1086.photobucket.com/albums/j449/HideousLump/XTC%20ILM%20Top%2060%20Runners%20Up/62MANWHOSAILEDAROUNDHISSOUL.jpg

Paper and Iron:

http://i1086.photobucket.com/albums/j449/HideousLump/XTC%20ILM%20Top%2060%20Runners%20Up/65PAPERANDIRON.jpg

This World Over:

http://i1086.photobucket.com/albums/j449/HideousLump/XTC%20ILM%20Top%2060%20Runners%20Up/72THISWORLDOVER.jpg

Poor Skeleton Steps Out:

http://i1086.photobucket.com/albums/j449/HideousLump/XTC%20ILM%20Top%2060%20Runners%20Up/76POORSKELETONSTEPSOUT.jpg

Bike Ride to the Moon:

http://i1086.photobucket.com/albums/j449/HideousLump/XTC%20ILM%20Top%2060%20Runners%20Up/78BIKERIDETOTHEMOON.jpg

That Wave:

http://i1086.photobucket.com/albums/j449/HideousLump/XTC%20ILM%20Top%2060%20Runners%20Up/86THATWAVE.jpg

Red Brick Dream:

http://i1086.photobucket.com/albums/j449/HideousLump/XTC%20ILM%20Top%2060%20Runners%20Up/93REDBRICKDREAM.jpg

Miniature Sun:

http://i1086.photobucket.com/albums/j449/HideousLump/XTC%20ILM%20Top%2060%20Runners%20Up/105MINIATURESUN.jpg

Your Dictionary:

http://i1086.photobucket.com/albums/j449/HideousLump/XTC%20ILM%20Top%2060%20Runners%20Up/120YOURDICTIONARY.jpg

The Affiliated:

http://i1086.photobucket.com/albums/j449/HideousLump/XTC%20ILM%20Top%2060%20Runners%20Up/123AFFILIATED.jpg

The Smartest Monkeys:

http://i1086.photobucket.com/albums/j449/HideousLump/XTC%20ILM%20Top%2060%20Runners%20Up/135SMARTESTMONKEYS.jpg

Thanks for Christmas (Shocker Claus!):

http://i1086.photobucket.com/albums/j449/HideousLump/XTC%20ILM%20Top%2060%20Runners%20Up/156THANKSFORCHRISTMAS.jpg

ahaha you did one for The Smartest Monkeys in case it placed XD

these are great obv

Pink Thing:

http://i1086.photobucket.com/albums/j449/HideousLump/XTC%20ILM%20Top%2060%20Runners%20Up/131PINKTHING.jpg

The original image of Nonsuch Palace:

http://i1086.photobucket.com/albums/j449/HideousLump/XTC%20ILM%20Top%2060%20Runners%20Up/NONSUCHPALACE.jpg

And finally, two bizarre images, but I couldn't figure out what song to pair them with:

http://i1086.photobucket.com/albums/j449/HideousLump/XTC%20ILM%20Top%2060%20Runners%20Up/Gargling_Oil_Almanac.jpg

http://i1086.photobucket.com/albums/j449/HideousLump/XTC%20ILM%20Top%2060%20Runners%20Up/How_to_Hold_Pets_-_2.jpg

First could be In Another Life

second could be New Town Animal

In answer to an earlier question, my exposure to XTC was in college in the 80s where an XTC obsessed DJ used to play them all the time and even run an annual 4 hour show dedicated to them.

played lots of XTC this past week inspired by this poll. Verdict: gf not impressed. AP voice "whiny", XTC music "not exciting, but maybe good for background", though slightly amused by lyrics for "Pink Thing". Kids today.

haa o dear

does she dig yr own stuff or are you blissfully unencumbered by fandom

xtc is perfect kids' music imo

does she dig yr own stuff or are you blissfully unencumbered by fandom

a question for every musician on this board, ever!

it was provocatively phrased as a binary, of course there's a happy medium of appreciation

"do you have to play that again?"

AP voice "whiny"

Not an adjective I would apply to AP. More "shouty" imo, but there's probably a better one I'm missing. I don't think I've ever played XTC in wife's presence, I'll have to see what she thinks.

she likes my stuff, but definitely more on the pop end of the spectrum (like most of the rest of anyone who's heard my music). However, there are plenty of things I listen to that she, if not hates, at least appreciates if I don't play so loud (Darkthrone, Magma, Steve Reich). Luckily she's an angel in every other way :)

re: whiny, it was more like "it's maybe too whiny, or something?" like she also couldn't quite place the right adjective. I think she's referring to his voice on "Senses Working Overtime", the "hey hey the clouds are away..the innocents can all sleep safely" stuff, I could see as whiny.

...which yields to glorious, full-throated joy! AP is a total thesp, his mood is a broad & copious palette

Glad 4u tho, even it this means nothing else like 'The Return' :P

I once played Senses Working Overtime to a teenage science class. They were "what the fuck is this?" during the first verse, but were hooked by the end.

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!