Editing XTC (section)

==Musical style and development==

===Group dynamic===

====Partridge and Moulding====
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| quote = Andy had a sort of unwritten rule that everything we did had to be completely original ... any [[rockism|rock clichés]], any imitation of our fashionable peers meant the part—and in some cases the song—would be dumped!
| source = —Dave Gregory, 2007<ref name="Filter2007"/><ref>{{cite tweet |user=xtcfans |last=Partridge |first=Andy |author-link=Andy Partridge |date=29 January 2019|number=1090266549489811456|title=WC- Misquote, "Andy had a sort of unwritten rule that everything we did had to be completely original; any hint of chop-ism, any rock clichés,..." I think Dave said 'ROCKISM', not chop-ism.}}</ref>
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XTC's principal songwriters were guitarist Andy Partridge and bassist Colin Moulding. Partridge, who wrote the majority of XTC's songs, was the group's frontman and de facto leader. He drove the band's image, designed many of their record sleeves, and handled most of their interviews.<ref name="Word04">{{cite magazine|last1=Paphides |first1=Peter |title=Senses Working Overtime |url=http://chalkhills.org/articles/Word200404.html |website=Word |date=April 2004|issue=14}}</ref>{{refn|group=nb|He described himself as the band's "battery"<ref name="Word04"/> and expressed resentment "that the other three, inevitably, would go off sightseeing while muggins here would be needed for radio, TV and magazine interviews."<ref name="teamrock16" /> Moulding said he was "happy for him to do the talking."<ref name="Moulding00">{{cite web |last1=Bernhardt |first1=Todd |title=Working from the Inside: A conversation with Colin Moulding |url=http://chalkhills.org/articles/TBColin20000523.html |website=Chalkihlls |access-date=24 August 2019 |date=23 May 2000}}</ref>}} His involvement with XTC's record sleeves stemmed from his disappointment with the sleeve for the "Statue of Liberty" single, which depicted a poorly cropped photo of the statue and the XTC logo in red.{{sfn|Farmer|1998|p=88}} He was less successful in his attempts to involve himself in the band's music videos, as he said, the woman in charge of Virgin's video department rebuked all his ideas, some of which other groups later adopted in award-winning videos.{{sfn|Partridge|Bernhardt|2016}}

Partridge and Moulding did not write together. Of their partnership, Moulding stated in 1992: "There's a lot of freedom to do what each of us likes with the other's songs, however. ... Each person puts his little prints on them."<ref name="brenda"/> They did collaborate on arrangements, with "horn lines and harmonies, that sort of thing."<ref name="OF03"/> He also lent praise to Partridge as "a real ideas man, and I love good ideas. It's not hard contributing bass parts when you have such good songs to contribute to."<ref name="brenda"/>{{refn|group=nb|Occasionally, Partridge also took to recording the bass parts, such as on Moulding's "What in the World??..." and "Vanishing Girl",<ref>{{cite web|last1=Bernhardt|first1=Todd|title=Andy discusses 'Mayor of Simpleton'|url=http://chalkhills.org/articles/XTCFans20070107.html|website=Chalkhills|date=7 January 2007|access-date=20 September 2017}}</ref> however, it was out of necessity in those cases due to recording logistics.<ref>{{cite tweet |user=xtcfans |last=Partridge |first=Andy |author-link=Andy Partridge |date=29 January 2019|number=1090265166019682311|title=WC-"Partridge even took to recording the bass parts himself, such as on Moulding's "What in the World??..." and "Vanishing Girl" Purely out of necessity, as Colin was playing rhythm guitar and the Dukes cut as live as they could. Not megalomania.}}</ref>}}

Discussing Moulding's songs, Partridge said that few were included on XTC albums because Moulding was not a prolific writer.<ref name="RundgrenRadio-Andy"/> Gregory said that all of Moulding's proposed songs would be recorded to preserve democracy in the band, and "occasionally at the expense of some of Andy's often superior offerings. This didn't always go down well, either with Andy or the band, but Colin did have some killer melodies and a sweeter sound to his voice that made a welcome diversion when listening to an album as a whole."<ref name="Filter2007"/> Partridge opined that Moulding's songs initially "came out as weird imitations of what I was doing", but by the time of ''Drums and Wires'', "he really started to take off as a songwriter."<ref name="Contrast1990" /> He was more effused with Moulding's offerings for ''Skylarking'', which included the highest ratio of Moulding songs for any XTC album.{{sfn|Myers|2010|p=258}}  On Moulding's bass-playing, Partridge praised his "old-fashioned" tendency to match notes to the bass drum.<ref name="oversight"/>

In ''Song Stories'', Neville Farmer comments that Partridge "is the boss—erratic but willful [and] runs the band on instinct", while Moulding "is the voice of calm ... a foil to Andy's radical side."{{sfn|Farmer|1998|p=309}} Music journalist Peter Paphides felt that the songwriters' personalities "couldn't seem more different," with Moulding "phlegmatic, shy, and heartbreakingly pretty" and Partridge an "art-school dropout ... uptight, dominating and extrovert."<ref name="Word04" /> In Moulding's view, Partridge also typically acted as an "executive producer" for albums while frequently undermining the authority of the actual credited producer.{{sfn|Myers|2010|p=255}}{{refn|group=nb|Partridge commented: "There's a lot of, 'Andy must be awful in the studio' [written on the Internet]. I'm not, I'm mister fucking nice!"<ref name="teamrock16" /> He said that the only producers he ever had trouble with were Todd Rundgren on ''Skylarking'' and Gus Dudgeon on ''Nonsuch''.<ref name="RundgrenRadio-Andy" />}}  Their recording approaches differed in that Moulding sometimes preferred spontaneous or imperfect performances, whereas Partridge working method was to refine a song through repeated [[take]]s.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Bernhardt |first1=Todd |last2=Moulding |first2=Colin |author-link2=Colin Moulding|title=Colin discusses 'The Meeting Place' |url=http://chalkhills.org/articles/XTCFans20090125.html |website=Chalkhills |date=26 January 2009}}</ref> The band occasionally took to the term "Andy-ness" to describe Partridge's studio indulgences.{{sfn|Twomey|1992|p=162}}{{refn|group=nb|Partridge thought of the band's producers as "a funnel through which I can talk to other members of the band ... They'll accept it coming from another person, but they won't accept it from a contemporary."<ref name="Chicago2000" /> }}  Despite this, they rarely found themselves encumbered by serious creative differences. In 1997, Moulding called one dispute over a ''Skylarking'' bass part the "only real argument" between him and Partridge in the band's history.{{sfn|Farmer|1998|p=194}}

====Andrews, Gregory and drummers====

Barry Andrews, XTC's keyboard player for their first two albums, emerged as a third solo songwriter on the group's second album ''Go 2'', and left the band shortly thereafter.<ref name="Mojo1999" /> His replacement, guitarist Dave Gregory, did not contribute songs, but was the only one in the band who could [[full score|score]] music, and frequently contributed orchestral arrangements.{{sfn|Farmer|1998|p=61}} Moulding said that when Andrews was in the band, Partridge had "no kind of foil" to work with, as both musicians were drawn to dissonant harmonies: "[Andy] used to like the real kind of angular, spiky, upward-thrusting guitar ... if one is angular, the other has to kind of straighten him out ... So when Dave came in, and was a much straighter player, it seemed to make more sense, I think."<ref name="LBAT09"/> Starting in 1982, Gregory extended his talents to keyboards as well,<ref name="Mojo1999" /> since Partridge and Moulding were not adept with the instrument.{{sfn|Farmer|1998|p=309}}

Gregory never presented a completed idea for a song to the band partly because he felt intimidated by Partridge's scrutiny.{{sfn|Farmer|1998|p=309}}{{refn|group=nb|During the sessions for ''Drums and Wires'' or ''Black Sea'', Gregory did present an original song, but it was rejected on the grounds that it was too derivative of [[Steely Dan]].<ref>{{cite tweet |user=xtcfans |last=Partridge |first=Andy |author-link=Andy Partridge |date=29 January 2019|number=1090264471774232581|title=WC-Re Dave songwriting, "He never presented a completed idea for a song to the band, partly because he felt intimidated by Partridge's scrutiny." He did bring up a song, either at DRUMS or SEA sessions. The rest of the band thought it too derivative of Steely Dan,so didn't pursue}}</ref>}} Since he "couldn't continue grinding out old blues clichés and [[power chord]]s," he decided to "think more in terms of the songs as the masters and the instruments as the servants."<ref name="Filter2007" /> Discussing Gregory's contributions to the group, Farmer writes of "a precision and correctness that carries through from his prerehearsal of guitar solos to ... his encyclopedic knowledge of guitars and who-played-what-on-which-instrument-with-which-amplifier-in-which-studio-on-which-record-under-the-influence-of-what-star-sign-or-guru-or-drug."{{sfn|Farmer|1998|p=309}}

Terry Chambers was the band's original drummer. He was described by Partridge as "the [drummer] that's been the most primitive, but probably the most thrilling for inventiveness, because he would blunder into [different ideas]."<ref name="oversight">{{cite web |last1=Bernhardt |first1=Todd |title=Andy Partridge: Providing XTC's Rhythmic Oversight |url=http://chalkhills.org/articles/TBAndy19980517.html |website=Chalkhills |access-date=25 August 2019 |date=17 May 1998}}</ref> One of his characteristic techniques was the use of [[cymbal choke|hi-hat chokes]].<ref name="LBAT09" /> After he left in 1983, the group employed a succession of session drummers for their studio recordings.<ref name="brenda"/> This included [[Pete Phipps]] (''Mummer'' and ''The Big Express''), [[Prairie Prince]] (''Skylarking'' and ''Apple Venus''), [[Pat Mastelotto]] (''Oranges & Lemons''), and [[Dave Mattacks]] (''Nonsuch'').{{sfn|Farmer|1998}} [[Drum machine]]s also began to be incorporated into the group's sound.<ref name="oversight"/> None of the studio drummers were accepted as official members of the band. Partridge explained that this was because the group did not tour and because "There's lots of local, interpersonal language that means nothing to anybody outside the band and is very difficult to bring people into."<ref name="George83"/>

===Genres and influences===
{{Quote box
| quote = I'd like to be considered in the tradition of bands like [[the Kinks]] and [[Small Faces]], when bands weren't quite naive, but they had a sort of group feeling about them and were gently [[experimental pop|experimental]] and [[psychedelic pop|psychedelic]] within pop song formats.
| source = —Andy Partridge, 1981<ref name="Trakin1981"/>
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In the mid 1970s, XTC played in London punk scenes and were consistent with music of the new wave, albeit with a heavy [[ska]] influence.<ref name="Singer02">{{cite news|last1=Singer|first1=Barry|title=MUSIC; Adventurous Punk of a Troubled Past|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2002/06/09/arts/music-adventurous-punk-of-a-troubled-past.html|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|date=9 June 2002}}</ref> Partridge felt that their music was pop from the beginning, not punk or new wave as is often suggested, and that the terms in themselves are redundant of "pop".{{sfn|Partridge|Bernhardt|2016}} As they became more of a studio band, their material grew progressively more complex.{{sfn|Myers|2010|p=255}} Later, XTC were sometimes suggested as being a [[progressive rock|prog]] band.<ref name="heavyload"/> Partridge did not feel the band were prog<ref name="heavyload">{{cite web |last1=Fortnam |first1=Ian |title=Heavy Load: Andy Partridge |url=https://www.loudersound.com/features/heavy-load-andy-partridge |website=[[Louder Sound]] |access-date=17 November 2018 |date=19 February 2016}}</ref> and expressed hesitancy with the word "[[progressive music|progressive]]", saying that he preferred to call the band "exploratory pop" in the same vein as the Beatles or the Kinks.<ref name="spex"/> In his words, "Prog is just longer pop songs."<ref name="teamrock16"/>

[[File:New York Dolls - TopPop 1973 11.png|thumb|upright|left|XTC initially modeled themselves after [[New York Dolls]] (pictured 1973).]]

The band's early influences included [[disco]], dub reggae, [[music hall]], the Beatles, Free, the Kinks, Captain Beefheart, [[the Stooges]], the New York Dolls, [[Cockney Rebel]], Motown, [[Can (band)|Can]], [[David Bowie]], [[the Groundhogs]], [[Black Sabbath]],{{sfn|Farmer|1998|p=7}} and the organ-dominated records of [[Johnny and the Hurricanes]].<ref>{{cite tweet |user=xtcfans |last=Partridge |first=Andy |author-link=Andy Partridge |date=29 January 2019|number=1090266021171056640 |title=WC-"The band's early influences included disco, dub reggae, circus tunes," What? Circus fucking tunes? What are they? Someone's twisted up the organ dominated 45's by Johnny and the Hurricanes, frequently played at fairgrounds in the late 1950s/early 1960s. A sound I liked.}}</ref> The New York Dolls' single "[[Jet Boy]]" was a particular favorite for XTC.<ref name="RundgrenRadio-Colin"/> Partridge denied in 2019 that [[the Velvet Underground]] were an influence,<ref>{{cite tweet |user=xtcfans |last=Partridge |first=Andy |author-link=Andy Partridge |date=29 January 2019|number=1090266742440349696|title=WC-Vervet Underground were NOT an influence on XTC.}}</ref> but in 1984 expressed a fondness for "things with pounding piano, everything from Velvet Underground's '[[I'm Waiting for My Man]]', to things that people like the Beatles or [[the Rolling Stones]] did at any time I just love banana-fingers piano."<ref name="OneTwo">{{cite journal |last1=Gregory |first1=Dave |last2=Moulding |first2=Colin |last3=Partridge |first3=Andy |author-link1=Dave Gregory (musician) |author-link2=Colin Moulding |author-link3=Andy Partridge |title=Recording The Big Express |journal=One Two Testing |date=November 1984 |issue=16 |url=http://chalkhills.org/articles/OneTwoTesting198411.html}}</ref> Moreso than Partridge, Moulding was fond of [[heavy metal music|heavy metal]] groups such as Black Sabbath and [[Uriah Heep (band)|Uriah Heep]],<ref name="CH25" /> as well as Deep Purple, [[Cream (band)|Cream]], and Free.<ref name="spin89">{{cite journal |last1=Passantino |first1=Rosemary |title=XTC at Last |journal=[[Spin (magazine)|Spin]] |date=April 1989 |volume=5 |issue=1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=h-bxxO5B-xsC&pg=PA92 |issn=0886-3032}}</ref>

XTC were not initially public with their influences due to the punk scene's anathema toward stating one's influences.{{sfn|Farmer|1998|p=7}} ''Pitchfork'' writer Chris Dahlen characterised the band's original sound as punk meets "[[Buddy Holly]]-on-amphetamines ... danceable enough for the crowds at the clubs, and suspiciously poppy thanks to the catchy hooks and their trademark verse-chorus-verse-chorus-''explode'' pattern."<ref>{{cite web|last1=Dahlen|first1=Chris|title=Go 2 / English Settlement / Black Sea|url=https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/8833-go-2-black-sea-english-settlement/|website=Pitchfork.com|date=9 July 2002|access-date=20 September 2017}}</ref> Partridge said that he adopted a vocal style out of "fear that we weren't going to make another record ... and people weren't going to be left with any impression of the singer". He described it as a "walrus" or "seal bark" that amalgamated Buddy Holly's "hiccup", [[Elvis Presley]]'s vibrato, and "the howled mannerisms of [[Steve Harley]]."{{sfn|Farmer|1998|p=22}}  In reference to the energy of the band's performances (which drew comparisons with [[Talking Heads]]{{sfn|DeRogatis|2003|p=341}}), Partridge remembered how they "used to fucking kill ourselves. I think it was fear. It was fear manifested in ludicrously high energy music. It was like 1000% whaaahh! All of the songs were run together and it was really uptempo stuff."<ref name="Contrast1990" /> According to Moulding, "any kinship [XTC had] with punk" was gone after 1979's [[Motown]]-influenced "Life Begins at the Hop".{{sfn|Farmer|1998|p=68}}

Of his guitar technique, Partridge said that it evolved from his desire to be a drummer, to "chop and slash and try to work between what the drums were doing, a) so I could be heard, and b) because I liked the funk and I liked working the holes that the drums left."<ref name="oversight"/> He was particularly influenced by [[John French (musician)|John French]], the drummer for Captain Beefheart's Magic Band, although he disliked that the drummer's [[groove (music)|groove]] would change every few bars.<ref name="oversight"/> Gregory attributed XTC's unorthodox drum patterns to Partridge's affinity for dub and reggae; "He's got a great innate sense of rhythm. He'll say 'No, don't put that beat there, why don't you come down on 3 instead of 2 on this part here?' ... He never put [cymbal crashes] where you'd expect to find them."<ref name="RundgrenRadio-Gregory">{{cite web|author=Dave|url=http://www.blogtalkradio.com/runt/2008/03/09/rundgren-radio|title=Interview of Dave Gregory|website=Rundgren Radio|date=9 March 2008|access-date=14 January 2018|type=Audio|time=19:32–26:00}}</ref> Producer [[Chris Hughes (musician)|Chris Hughes]] likened the band's fashion of playing guitar to an automated [[music sequencer]].<ref name="Filter2007"/>

{{Listen
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|description= "Wrapped in Grey" was one of numerous XTC songs influenced by the Beach Boys.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Bernhardt|first1=Todd|title=Andy discusses 'Wrapped in Grey'|url=http://chalkhills.org/articles/XTCFans20070318.html|website=Chalkhills|access-date=25 September 2017|date=18 March 2017}}</ref>{{refn|group=nb|Other songs inspired by the Beach Boys included "Season Cycle", "Chalkhills and Children", "Humble Daisy", and "Books Are Burning".{{sfn|Farmer|1998|pp=198, 249, 265, 274}}}}
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Over the next few years, XTC began showcasing their vintage psychedelic influences through the use of [[Mellotron]] and backwards tape recordings on the albums ''Mummer'' and ''The Big Express''.<ref name="CH25">{{cite web|last1=Bernhardt|first1=Todd|last2=Partridge|first2=Andy|author-link2=Andy Partridge|title=Sir John Johns discusses "25 O'Clock" |url=http://chalkhills.org/articles/XTCFans20090412.html |website=Chalkhills |date=12 April 2009|access-date=20 September 2017}}</ref> In 1987, he acknowledged that the group had "really changed personality. We didn't notice it bit by bit but over 10 years, suddenly it seems, wow, we're different."<ref>{{cite news|last1=Pareles |first1=Jon |title=The Pop Life|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1987/07/15/arts/the-pop-life-380387.html|access-date=18 January 2018|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|date=18 July 1987}}</ref>

[[The Beach Boys]]' 1968 rendition of "[[Bluebirds Over the Mountain]]" was one of the first records Partridge bought with his own money.<ref name="Contrast1990" /> Although it is widely assumed that the Beach Boys influenced XTC throughout their career,<ref name="spirited">{{cite magazine|last1=Houghton|first1=Mick|title=Spirited away|magazine=[[Uncut (magazine)|Uncut]]|page=116|date=April 1995}}</ref> Partridge stated that he was originally only familiar with singles such as "[[I Get Around]]" (1964) and "[[Good Vibrations]]" (1967) which were an enormous influence for him.<ref name="Contrast1990" /> It was not until 1986 that he discovered that the Beach Boys had an album career, when he first heard ''[[Smiley Smile]]'' (1967) in its entirety.<ref name="Contrast1990" /> Moulding credited the arrival of Dave Gregory with reviving Partridge's interest in 1960s bands like the Kinks.{{sfn|Farmer|1998|p=95}} However, Partridge similarly only knew of the Kinks through the group's 1960s singles, and did not listen to any of their albums until the late 1980s.<ref name="TrainPar"/> Partridge also claimed that "the Beatles were the farthest thing from my mind" until 1982; at another time he stated that the opening F chord on XTC's 1978 single "This Is Pop" was directly based on the opening chord from the Beatles' "[[A Hard Day's Night (song)|A Hard Day's Night]]" (1964).{{sfn|Partridge|Bernhardt|2016}}{{refn|group=nb|Of the Beatles' influence, Partridge also drew comparisons to his "No Language in Our Lungs", "Senses Working Overtime", "You're the Wish You Are I Had", "The Mole from the Ministry", and "Here Comes President Kill Again".{{sfn|Farmer|1998|pp=99, 119, 172, 217, 242}}  The night after John Lennon was [[Murder of John Lennon|killed]], XTC played a gig at Liverpool, where they performed both "Towers of London" and "[[Rain (The Beatles song)|Rain]]" in tribute to the Beatle.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Bernhardt|first1=Todd|title=Andy and Dave discuss 'Towers of London'|url=http://chalkhills.org/articles/XTCFans20071209.html|website=Chalkhills|date=16 December 2007|access-date=20 September 2017}}</ref>}}

Discussing the recording of the ''Mummer'' track "Ladybird", Partridge recalled that he told producer Steve Nye that he was afraid people would think he was copying the Beatles, to which Nye's response was "Who gives a fuck?" Partridge said that "from that moment onward, I started to recognise that those songwriters—the [[Ray Davies]]es, the [[John Lennon|Lennons]] and McCartneys, the [[Brian Wilson]]s—had gone into my head really deeply.{{sfn|Partridge|Bernhardt|2016}} He later considered "Rook" (1992), "[[Wrapped in Grey]]" (1992) and "[[Easter Theatre]]" (1999) to be the "perfect songs" of his career, feeling that he had "exorcized a lot of those kind of Lennon-and-McCartney, Bacharach-and-David, Brian Wilson type ghosts out of my system by doing all that."<ref>{{cite web|last1=Bernhardt|first1=Todd|title=Andy answers fans' questions about guitar playing and players – Part I|url=http://chalkhills.org/articles/XTCFans20100627.html|website=Chalkhills|date=27 June 2010|access-date=20 September 2017}}</ref> Reportedly, when Brian Wilson was played the Dukes' "Pale and Precious", a pastiche of the Beach Boys, he thought it was styled after [[Paul McCartney]].<ref>{{citation |last1=Price|first1=Jim|title=Jim Price speaks to Andy Partridge [radio interview]|work=[[WFMU]]|date=29 June 1991}}</ref>