Drums & Wires

Product Information

Partridge formed what would become XTC with fellow Swindon, England, pub mates Colin Moulding and Terry Chambers in the mid ‘70s. For a while, they rode the new wave train with a changing lineup of members, releasing White Music in 1978 and Go 2 that same year. Their punk origins are very apparent on those records, which rip along at an expedient pace — far more jagged and confrontational than subsequent releases. The band chafed under the confines of leather and crew cuts, though, and soon broke free into uncharted pop territory. 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. a b c d Bernhardt, Todd (15 December 2008). "Dave remembers 'Making Plans for Nigel' ". Chalkhills . Retrieved 20 September 2017. 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.” of the album's 12 songs were written by Partridge, with the remaining 4 by Moulding. " Making Plans for Nigel" is told from the point of view of parents who are certain that their son Nigel is "happy in his work", affirming that his future in British Steel "is as good as sealed", and that he "likes to speak and loves to be spoken to." [21] The distinctive drum pattern was an attempt to invert drum tones and accents in the style of Devo's 1977 rendition of the Rolling Stones' " Satisfaction". [22] Partridge remembered his discontent with the time devoted to the song's recording, remarking that "[w]e spent a week doing Nigel and three weeks doing the rest of the album." [1] "Helicopter" was inspired by Partridge's childhood memory of a 1960s magazine advertisement for Lego toys. [23]

Life Begins at the Hop" was released on 4 May 1979 [10] and became the first charting single for the band, [39] rising to number 54 on the UK Singles Chart. [40] They played a 23-date English tour, playing to half- or quarter-full concert halls. [8] In July, music videos directed by Russell Mulcahy were filmed for "Making Plans for Nigel" and "Life Begins at the Hop". [7] From 25 July to 17 August, they embarked on another tour of Australia, which was more successful. [8] [41] Immediately following the tour, the band arrived in Japan and played four dates in Osaka. Partridge recalled the band encountering much fan hysteria in Japan: "We could hardly go anywhere without being screamed at. You'd walk into a hotel lobby and there'd be a crowd of girls sitting around waiting for you." [42]

Track listing

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. Drums and Wires (US edition) (liner notes). XTC. Virgin Records. 1979. {{ cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) ( link)

Xu9O9O.QxU35LYCz5Qnd_Ow9X28sMiwb6MGFXLot0dAu2FE4vYUW3JJ8IzZh2uPBWNiDFdRk5rmpOtn6IMQwxYlYI8flXC5XbuloMpm Bernhardt, Todd (24 November 2008). "Colin discusses 'Making Plans for Nigel' ". Chalkhills . Retrieved 20 September 2017. 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.Herrera, Ernesto (12 April 2019). " 'Drums and Wires': 40 años de un emblema de la 'new wave' ". Milenio (in Spanish) . Retrieved 27 May 2019. The other point of note about Drums And Wires is the way Moulding has stepped up to the plate in terms of songwriting. No longer is his work secondary to Partridge. "Ten Feet Tall", "Day In Day Out", "Complicated Love" and, of course, "Making Plans For Nigel" are all memorable. As a result - more so than on their earlier work - XTC are now more of a band. The thing I love about this band the most is the way they play with the English language; manufacturing words to suit the occasion; using alliteration to emphasise their point; choosing their words as much for their sound as their meaning. Take "Helicopter" – the story of a girl let loose on the world after a sheltered upbringing (I think) – the line "she a laughing giggly whirlybird. She got to be obscene to be obheard" shouldn't work but just seems to capture the mood perfectly. a b Manno, Lizzie (13 February 2019). "21. XTC, Drums and Wires". Paste . Retrieved 30 August 2019.

a b Kot, Greg (3 May 1992). "The XTC Legacy: An Appraisal". Chicago Tribune . Retrieved 1 November 2020. 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). songwriting muscle (which is becoming delightfully erect).” Andy: “Suddenly we were a three piece. The songwriting was No discussion of Drums and Wires would be complete without mentioning the album’s droning closer, ‘Complicated Game’. Sounding like they were taking off from where The Sensation Alex Harvey Band left on 1973’s ‘Faith Healer’, the song grows to a sinister crescendo that sounds like an embodiment of insanity. It also represents the band at the most visceral point they would reach in their career.

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] a b c Pareles, Jon (6 March 1980). "XTC: Drums And Wires". Rolling Stone. No.312. Archived from the original on 12 April 2009 . Retrieved 20 June 2011. Bernstein, Jonathan (1995). "XTC". In Weisbard, Eric; Marks, Craig (eds.). Spin Alternative Record Guide. Vintage Books. pp.441–43. ISBN 0-679-75574-8. Moulding agrees. “I started writing more in my own self; I think in the first two albums I was trying to find my niche, what was me and what wasn’t,” he tells TIDAL. “ Drums and Wires was a new start for me and I was writing in the vein that I wanted to write in. And we had a hit! That was a surprise…” 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.

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. XTC - Drums And Wires - Producer(s): Steve Lillywhite - Virgin VA13134 (Atlantic) - Genre: POP". Billboard. 1979.

Contributors

Drums and Wires (liner notes). XTC. Ape House. 2014. {{ cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) ( link)