Editing XTC (section)

==Recognition and influence==
Writing for AllMusic, music critic [[Stephen Thomas Erlewine]] recognised the group thusly:
{{blockquote|XTC was one of the smartest – and catchiest – British pop bands to emerge from the punk and new wave explosion of the late '70s. ... While popular success has eluded them in both Britain and America, the group has developed a devoted cult following in both countries that remains loyal over two decades after their first records. ... XTC's lack of commercial success isn't because their music isn't accessible – their bright, occasionally melancholy, melodies flow with more grace than most bands – it has more to do with the group constantly being out of step with the times. However, the band has left behind a remarkably rich and varied series of albums that make a convincing argument that XTC is the great lost pop band.<ref name="XTCAMbio">{{cite web|first=Stephen Thomas|last=Erlewine|author-link=Stephen Thomas Erlewine|url=http://www.allmusic.com/artist/xtc-mn0000678339/biography |title=XTC |publisher=AllMusic |access-date=27 December 2017}}</ref>
}}

XTC were one of the progenitors of Britpop,<ref name="Sailed2006" /><ref>{{cite web|last1=D.|first1=Spence|title=Top 25 Britpop Albums|url=http://www.ign.com/articles/2007/04/20/top-25-britpop-albums|website=[[IGN]]|date=20 April 2007|access-date=20 September 2017}}</ref><ref name="Timesblur">{{cite news |last1=Lee|first1=Stewart |title=Andy Partridge has called off XTC's six-year strike, Caitlin Moran reports |newspaper=[[The Times]] |date=5 March 1999 |quote=Having inspired a whole generation of Britpop artists ...}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine|last1=Harrison |first1=Andrew |title=XTC: Britpop's Spiritual Granddads |magazine=[[Q (magazine)|Q]] |date=July 2001 }}</ref> were influential to later [[power pop]] acts such as [[Jellyfish (band)|Jellyfish]] and [[the Apples in Stereo]],<ref name="Sailed2006" /> and anticipated the [[indie pop|indie]]/[[art pop]] bands of the 2000s.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Jones |first1=Tim |title=The Godfather of New New Wave |url=https://recordcollectormag.com/articles/the-godfather-of-new-new-wave |website=Record Collector Mag |access-date=28 September 2018 |date=2007}} {{subscription required}}</ref> They also inspired tribute bands, tribute albums, fan conventions, and fansites.{{sfn|Farmer|1998|p=9}}{{refn|group=nb|The unofficial site Chalkhills.org has been described as an "exhaustive" resource for XTC information.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Ham |first1=Robert |title=XTC Albums From Worst To Best |url=https://www.stereogum.com/1701312/xtc-albums-from-worst-to-best/franchises/counting-down/ |website=[[Stereogum]] |access-date=15 November 2018 |date=15 September 2014}}</ref> Chalkhills began as a [[mailing list]] in 1989 and later expanded to a website devoted to the group's songs and history, including pictures, lyrics and chord charts.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Relph |first1=John |title=Answers to Frequently Asked Questions about Chalkhills and XTC |url=http://chalkhills.org/FAQ.html#q3 |website=Chalkhills |access-date=15 November 2018 |date=7 December 2014}}</ref>}} Dave Gregory said that he became aware of XTC's "huge" influence on American acts through his interactions with musicians in the late 1980s.<ref name="Filter2007"/> [[They Might Be Giants]] paid tribute to them in their song, "[[XTC vs. Adam Ant]]".<ref name="Zaleski 2016 a346">{{cite web | last=Zaleski | first=Annie | title=In They Might Be Giants' "XTC Vs. Adam Ant," everybody wins | website=The A.V. Club | date=21 March 2016 | url=https://www.avclub.com/in-they-might-be-giants-xtc-vs-adam-ant-everybody-1798245394 | access-date=13 March 2024}}</ref> XTC also had a significant influence and cult following in Japan.<ref name="japanpop"/> By the late 1980s, they were supported by three dedicated fanzines in as many countries.<ref name="Isler89">{{cite journal |last1=Isler |first1=Scott |title=The Dukes of Swindon |journal=[[Musician (magazine)|Musician]] |date=May 1989}}</ref> Between 1979 and 1992, they had a total of 10 albums and 6 singles that reached the UK top 40.<ref name="OCC" />

[[File:Blur Concert Hyde Park 3 July 2009 (03).jpg|thumb|Among 1990s [[Britpop]] bands, XTC were particularly influential on [[Blur (band)|Blur]] (pictured 2009).<ref name="Timesblur"/> ]]

The band are often compared reverentially to 1960s acts such as [[the Who]], [[the Kinks]], and most frequently, [[the Beatles]].<ref name="Sailed2006" /> In a 1991 article that focused on a resurgence of power pop groups, members of Jellyfish and [[the Posies]] reflected that they were drawn to 1960s artists because of the 1980s music they influenced. As the Posies' [[Jon Auer]] said: "our '60s-ish-ness is actually early-'80s-ish-ness, a pop sensibility that came from listening to Squeeze and XTC".<ref name="Willman">{{cite news |last1=Willman |first1=Chris |title=POP MUSIC : Rediscovering the Beatles (Sort of) |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1991-08-18-ca-1425-story.html |access-date=5 October 2018 |newspaper=[[Los Angeles Times]] |date=18 August 1991}}</ref> According to Chris Ingham, acts such as [[Kula Shaker]], [[the Shamen]] and [[the Stone Roses]] recruited engineer John Leckie chiefly because of his productions for the retro-psychedelic Dukes of Stratosphear records.<ref name="Mojo1999"/> According to Neville Farmer, the name XTC inspired the names of [[U2]], [[R.E.M.]], and [[INXS]].{{sfn|Farmer|1998|p=9}} Japanese band [[Seagull Screaming Kiss Her Kiss Her]] was named after [[Seagulls Screaming Kiss Her Kiss Her|the XTC song of similar title]].<ref name="japanpop">{{cite news |last1=Brasor |first1=Phillip |title=XTC colors songs with earthy palette |url=https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/1999/03/16/national/media-national/xtc-colors-songs-with-earthy-palette/#.W6W9lXtKhvw |access-date=22 September 2018 |newspaper=[[The Japan Times]] |date=16 March 1999 |archive-date=22 September 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180922101847/https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/1999/03/16/national/media-national/xtc-colors-songs-with-earthy-palette/#.W6W9lXtKhvw |url-status=dead }}</ref> [[Peter Gabriel]] is quoted: "I've always looked to XTC for inventive songwriting, innovative production, and a sense of humor. It's their strong blend of personalities that make them one of the ''great'' British bands."{{sfn|Farmer|1998|p=310}} [[Kurt Cobain]] of [[Nirvana (band)|Nirvana]] said in 1991: "There's a lot of good pop music. I've always liked it…bands like the Beatles, XTC, stuff like that."<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.garthmullins.com/2016/02/my-interview--kurt-cobain.html|title=My 1991 Interview with Kurt Cobain & Nirvana|website=Garthmullins.com|access-date=21 June 2021}}</ref> [[Minor Threat]], [[Dag Nasty]], and [[Bad Religion]] veteran [[Brian Baker (musician)|Brian Baker]] has also cited XTC as an influence.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2021 |title=Dag Nasty |url=https://threateningsociety.com/dag-nasty |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240714195845/https://threateningsociety.com/dag-nasty |archive-date=July 14, 2024 |access-date=December 2, 2024 |website=Threatening Society zine}}</ref>

Discussing the band's relative obscurity and lack of financial success, Schabe said that "it's difficult to justify claims of greatness without trying to understand exactly why they never managed to rise above the status of cult band. Respect and recognition are the real validation of such claims, not financial success".<ref name="Sailed2006" /> Andy Partridge characterized the band as "quietly influential"<ref name="Sailed2006" /> and thought that the decision to quit touring "definitely affected our popularity later on".<ref name="QuietusSettlement"/> Schabe disagreed that the lack of touring had an effect and wrote that "XTC suffered more from the hands of industry forces than they did from failure to find an audience."<ref name="Sailed2006" /> Partridge also estimated that XTC's fan demographic had a male/female ratio of about 60–40, which was "reassuring" to him, as he thought the band only appealed to "computer nerds".<ref>{{cite magazine|last1=Marshall |first1=Tracy |title=An Interview with XTC's Andy Partridge |magazine=Manifesto |date=March 1999}}</ref> In the 1981 edition of ''Rolling Stone's Book of Rock Lists'', XTC were ranked number 15 for its list of the "17 Loudest Bands in the World", ahead of [[Queen (band)|Queen]] and [[Kiss (band)|Kiss]].<ref name="Sailed2006" />

XTC were the only group besides [[the Stranglers]] to emerge from the punk scene with a keyboardist.{{sfn|Farmer|1998|p=15}} Journalist Steven Hyden of [[The A.V. Club]] wrote that their style of "[[post-punk]] [[guitar pop]]" became popular in the early 2000s among bands such as [[Kaiser Chiefs]], [[Franz Ferdinand (band)|Franz Ferdinand]], [[Hot Hot Heat]], and [[Bloc Party]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Hyden |first1=Steven |title=Andy Partridge |url=https://www.avclub.com/andy-partridge-1798210667 |website=[[The A.V. Club]] |access-date=18 October 2018 |date=8 February 2007 |archive-date=19 October 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181019121814/https://music.avclub.com/andy-partridge-1798210667 |url-status=live }}</ref> During the decade, there was a reevaluation of post-punk: Shabe wrote that it "led to XTC being revered in association with the groundbreakers of that era."<ref name="Sailed2006" /> Musicologist Alex Ogg listed XTC as one of several "unheralded" events in the history of post-punk,<ref>{{cite web|last1=Ogg|first1=Alex|title=Beyond Rip It Up: Towards A New Definition of Post Punk?|url=http://thequietus.com/articles/02854-looking-beyond-simon-reynolds-rip-it-up-towards-a-new-definition-of-post-punk |website=The Quietus|date=October 2009 |access-date=20 February 2016}}</ref> while Eric Klinger of ''PopMatters'' posited: "You might not hear of bands talking about XTC as a big influence the way they talk about, say, [[Gang of Four (band)|Gang of Four]], but they were certainly in the mix that became the music that was to come."<ref>{{cite web|last1=Klinger|first1=Eric|title=Counterbalance: XTC's 'Skylarking'|url=https://www.popmatters.com/192717-counterbalance-xtcs-skylarking-2495538109.html|website=PopMatters|date=24 April 2015|access-date=20 September 2017}}</ref>{{refn|group=nb|Partridge commented in 2006 that virtually "every [English] band that comes up gets compared to us, whether it's the Kaiser Chiefs, or Franz Ferdinand, or [[the Futureheads]]."<ref name="Sailed2006" />}}

===British reception===
Despite their "Englishness", the group's fanbase has been more concentrated in the US than the UK.<ref name="Harris2010"/><ref name="Staunton92">{{cite magazine|title=XTC: ''Nonsuch'' |magazine=[[NME]] |date=16 May 1992 |last=Staunton |first=Terry}}</ref>{{refn|group=nb|As early as 1983, the vast majority of their fanmail was from the US.<ref name="George83"/>}} They refused to conform to punk's simplicity, a point that the British press initially criticised. Partridge believed "we were trying to push music into a new area. And so we had to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous name calling because we refused to just play stupid."<ref name="Filter2007" /> He recalled that when he played at a jam session with punk bands in the late 1970s, the drummer from [[X-Ray Spex]] shouted "Oh, you can fucking ''play'', can you? Oh, listen to ''him'', he can ''play''."<ref name="spex">{{cite web |last1=Nelson |first1=Sean |title=Failure Is Your Best Friend: Part Two of a Serialized Interview with Andy Partridge of XTC |url=https://www.thestranger.com/music/2016/04/20/23979872/failure-is-your-best-friend-part-two-of-a-serialized-interview-with-andy-partridge-of-xtc |website=The Stranger |access-date=16 November 2018 |date=20 April 2016}}</ref> In 1988, writer Chris Hunt observed that "XTC have largely not found favour in their homeland. To a nation that judges success in terms of tabloid coverage and appearances on ''[[Top of the Pops]]'', the retiring bards of [[Merry England|rural olde England]] didn't really strike too loud a chord with the record buying public. XTC had just become 'too weird' for their own good."<ref name="HuntPhaze" /> Musician and journalist [[Dominique Leone]] argued that they "deserved more than they ever got. From the press, the public, their label, and various managers, XTC have been a tragically under-appreciated band in every sense."<ref name="LeoneCoat"/>

Swindon did not have a respected music scene as other places in Britain.{{sfn|Farmer|1998|p=6}} Partridge cited the group's origins as the main reason for their ill-repute: "if we came from a big city like London or [[Manchester]], we would have probably have been heralded as more godlike."<ref>{{cite web|last1=Nelson|first1=Sean|title=Artistic Crap: Part One of a Serialized Interview with Andy Partridge of XTC|url=https://www.thestranger.com/music/2016/04/13/23950754/artistic-crap-part-one-of-a-serialized-interview-with-andy-partridge-of-xtc|website=The Stranger|date=13 April 2016|access-date=20 September 2017}}</ref> In another interview, he suggested that both their small-town origins and the [[Social class in the United Kingdom|British class system]] were reasons for a lack of appreciation in their native country: "XTC were clever and came from Swindon, so therefore we were crap ... I was always jealous of bands like [[Talking Heads]], who were doing similar things to us but were from New York, and therefore cool. But the English don't like normal people doing intelligent things."<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2004/apr/02/xtc|title=Above average Andy |last=Hodgkinson |first=Will|author-link=Will Hodgkinson |date=2 April 2004 |website=[[The Guardian]]|location=London|access-date=31 October 2018}}</ref> He remembered the group being advised by their early management to change their accents and deny their Swindon origins, but "we thought it was a badge of honour, coming from the comedy town."<ref name="teamrock16"/>