Editing XTC (section)

===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"/>
| align = 
| width = 25em
}}

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
|pos=right
|filename=Wrapped in Grey.ogg
|title="Wrapped in Grey" (1992)
|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}}}}
}}

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>