XTC : Classic or Dud.

AH thanks!

Unfortunately Eric Idle got in first with, "Abie, You're a Rich Man".

As a Jew who more or less hates the current state of Israel, cant say i find this latest flap as evidence of antisemitism

I think it was him "wink"-ing in response to a post that Israel controls the world/banking. And, ugh, some of his other stuff is truly nagl. Like telling a Jewish poster just not to be Jewish, problem solved. Or seemingly downplaying the number of Jews killed in the Holocaust:

@xtcfans with some wonderful holocaust revisionism here. Quoting myths that have been debunked to argue his point. Holocaust revisionism is antisemitism, whether he likes it or not! pic.twitter.com/1wrco1juEf

— s_h_e (@4manynottheJew) May 17, 2019

It looks like he may have deleted his Twitter amount.

Andy is such a bummer on twitter. he's single right? it's always "oh, nothing in my recording shed works, I drank too much tonight, I'm not in a good place, fuck Dave and Colin," etc. So sad

No, he's not.

Just dropping in to say that the 5.1 mixes by Steven Wilson of Black Sea, Skylarking and Oranges & Lemons are terrific.

So there's a TC&I live record coming out, there's a teaser of Wonderland here -

https://jammerzine.com/first-listen-tci-wonderland-live/

This is kinda neat, I always wonder where he gets the stems from -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TntNxv8wFR4

Oh the band sent it to them! No way

Not very good tbh:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YoK489YeetQ

Some background for our non-UK readers:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Top_of_the_Pops_(record_series)

lol that's terrible

Sounds like they spent about 15 minutes recording it before moving on to *consults record sleeve* "The Model" or "Arthur's Theme".

I like that the singer is trying out about six different accents there, none of which sound like Andy Partridge.

I have an uncle who finds XTC really obnoxious for some reason and I would guess this is what they always sound like to him

(xp) LOL. I just listened to the Top of the Pops album version of "Pretty Vacant", which is surprisingly good and is actually enhanced by the singer occasionally going a bit Norman Wisdom "Mr. Grimsdaaayyyyle".

What are they singing instead of "I can see, hear, smell, touch, taste"? "I can see his swell turned taste"?

The five senses, sight, hissing, swelling, gyration and taste.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NWfaMTk4o9I

Someone needs to compile them "punk" "Top of the pops" versions.

Their version of "Automatic lover" sounds like The Vibrators. All well and good, but it's supposed to be the Dee D Jackson song.

Record store dude was blasting Apple Venus Volume 1 in store the other day. Sounded great. Wish it was streaming.

https://vimeo.com/318598567

Great doc

Coulda been, but no indication that Colin even existed until 8 minutes in is not the way to tell that band's story.

Yeah that's understandable. They focus on Colin for a while soon after that, but the whole doc is from the perspective that Andy is the de facto leader of the band. Which IMO he was, so I guess it didn't bother me much

One small thing I liked: using "Dear Madam Barnum" to soundtrack the moment when Andy had his breakdown and made the decision to stop touring. I never made the connection but it seems possible the song was inspired by that time

The Chalkhills interview with Andy about 'Dear Madam Barnum' doesn't mention the connection with XTC stopping touring, but I'm sure there's a link, conscious or otherwise.

TB: I was going to ask about the lyrics, because it's another of your "my marriage is in trouble" foreshadowing songs, along with "Crocodile" and "The Disappointed."

AP: Oh yeah, sure. My marriage was going off the rails -- I can see that. I think I was part blind to it, and partly it was coming out subconsciously that I could see it.

http://chalkhills.org/articles/XTCFans20090222.html

Makes more sense for it to be about his marriage, given the timeframe. It maps remarkably well onto the touring thing though

So yesterday there was a 6 or 7 hour plus stream of videos in place of the annual XTC convention, usually held in Swindon, which I thought would be quite good in places but it transpired to be a bit special overall. The actual highlight wasn't the exclusive interview with Andy, nor the discussion/quid feat. the likes of Stewart Lee, Paul Putner, Kevin Eldon and others, but this incredibly joyous cover of Desert Island which got a couple of airings.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mziIBHDv1As

my god, that guy's Partridge impression is incredible

XP - Oh nice! Are the streams available or easy to find?

yes would love to see those! great video

I saw them say they were going to post them once they've tidied up technical faults and whatnot

starting to relisten to my XTC albums and can anyone explain why Partridge keeps slipping into pidgin English on like a third of his songs?

He thinks it's funny?

Like Ray Davies?

I don't think of it as pidgin, more like a depiction of infantile enthusiasm.

how about "Shake You Donkey Up", what exactly is that

He's sort of singing in a hee-haw braying donkey style. It's fun.

i get the impression he was just listening to a fuckload of rocksteady at the time.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NdHpM0zMZT8

Am I misremembering, or did Andy say somewhere that his infamous stage fright was attributable, at least in part, to overindulgence in cannabis during those years? I don't want to be reductive, but as an ex-pothead myself, I feel this explains a lot about those records which would otherwise remain inexplicable.

Andy Partridge and any kind of drug does not sound like a good idea.

If I remember from the XTC documentary correctly Partridge started taking Valium at a young age (something to do with his Mum?). I think he said that while on tour his then wife dumped all his stash of it down the toilet. The withdrawal from it caused his existing anxieties to explode to the point where he couldn't face being on stage any more.

Yes, I'd heard about the Valium addiction.

Kind of amazing that it going cold turkey overnight after a decade didn't kill him

Jesus, I didn't know anything about the valium! Benzos are scary stuff.

The moment he walked offstage for good:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ZrCL1aF_Zg

the valium was straight up child abuse, absolutely fucked to sedate a child for years and years

I can't imagine how bad the withdrawal must have been but he easily could have died

couldn't believe that part of the doc

because he's in a rock band it gets referred to as "addiction" but call it what it is

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uJktzmj_mk0

I have a daughter who's turning 4 in two weeks. the song "I Can't Own Her" made me cry the other day. god, this lockdown needs to end