Drums & Wires

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Andy Partridge, Colin Moulding, Dave Gregory, Terry Chambers, Steve Warren, Hugh Padgham, Al Clark, Laurie Dunn – Vernon Yard Male Voice Choir on "Roads Girdle the Globe" [26] 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.

Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrateded.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p.344. ISBN 0-646-11917-6. You’re influenced by other people around you when you’re not sure of yourself,” Moulding says, referring to the band’s high-energy former keyboard player, Barry Andrews, who left after Go 2. Guitarist Dave Gregory joined soon after. “Up until that point, we were viewed as a poor man’s Talking Heads or something,” Moulding adds. “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.” XTC - Drums And Wires - Producer(s): Steve Lillywhite - Virgin VA13134 (Atlantic) - Genre: POP". Billboard. 1979.

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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] Xu9O9O.QxU35LYCz5Qnd_Ow9X28sMiwb6MGFXLot0dAu2FE4vYUW3JJ8IzZh2uPBWNiDFdRk5rmpOtn6IMQwxYlYI8flXC5XbuloMpm Coinciding with Gregory's arrival, in April 1979, the band recorded " Life Begins at the Hop", written by bassist Colin Moulding, and their first record with Lillywhite producing. [9] After the band went on tour for the single, sessions for Drums and Wires resumed from 25 June to July. [10] By this time, Moulding "wanted to ditch [our] quirky nonsense and do more straight-ahead pop." [1] He said that when Andrews was in the band, Partridge had "no kind of foil" to work with, as he "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, you know? It was just going too far the other way, I felt. So when Dave came in, and was a much straighter player, it seemed to make more sense, I think." [11] Partridge opined that, before then, Moulding's songs "came out as weird imitations of what I was doing, 'cause he thought that was the thing to do. ... On Go 2 he was sort of getting his own style, and by Drums and Wires he really started to take off as a songwriter." [2] Gregory remembered that XTC's songs "inspired a different approach to listening and playing from that which I'd grown up with. I simply couldn't continue grinding out old blues clichés and power chords, so I began to think more in terms of the songs as the masters and the instruments as the servants." [12] The album was recorded in three weeks and mixed in two. [10] Herrera, Ernesto (12 April 2019). " 'Drums and Wires': 40 años de un emblema de la 'new wave' ". Milenio (in Spanish) . Retrieved 27 May 2019.

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. 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. 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. a b Kot, Greg (3 May 1992). "The XTC Legacy: An Appraisal". Chicago Tribune . Retrieved 1 November 2020.Drums and Wires (liner notes). XTC. Ape House. 2014. {{ cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) ( link) Between Go 2 and Drums And Wires the band had undergone a personnel change. Out of the door went keyboard player Barry Andrews and into his shoes stepped Dave Gregory – not a straight swap because Gregory was more of a guitarist who could, if need be, play the keyboards. The result is a more stable, rounded sound providing songwriters Partridge and Moulding the foundation on which to build their weird and wonderful creations. Drums and Wires (US edition) (liner notes). XTC. Virgin Records. 1979. {{ cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) ( link) 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. That was where Moulding came in; the bassist evened out some of Partridge’s more esoteric impulses, creating that balance between batty and boppy that defines XTC. The result is a record that boasts both poppy tunes (Moulding’s “Life Begins at the Hop,” which made it to Top of the Pops) and the very Beefheartian “Roads Girdle the Globe,” Partridge’s hymn to the religiosity of car enthusiasts.

a b Bernhardt, Todd (11 May 2009). "Colin discusses 'Life Begins at the Hop' ". Chalkhills . Retrieved 20 September 2017. Moulding started actively writing songs on Drums and Wires, somewhat due to pressure from Partridge. Although he was the frontman, Partridge did not feel comfortable on stage; he wanted to share that time in the spotlight — or escape it all together. This I believe is one of my favorite top 3 XTC albums. Very underrated, but most XTC fans agree that this one has some amazing songs. This is the first of their albums that is really enjoyable all the way through, or is way more than just a curiosity at least. I do enjoy White Music and Go 2, but I'm not sure how many people would care about their existence if they weren't released by this band. Drums & Wires takes their quirky new wave or "post punk" type of sound from their last 2 records and uses it for some of the catchiest, most fun, clever, original and groundbreaking type of songs this band had yet to put out at this point.

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. In an interesting U-turn, the band opted to hire a second guitarist rather than a replacement keyboardist. The man they chose was Dave Gregory of the Swindon based covers band, Dean Gabber and His Gabberdines. XTC held a “pretend audition” for Gregory, where he was asked to play their 1978 song ‘This Is Pop’. Gregory then asked the band which version they wanted to hear, album or single. To which Partridge remembers that they thought, “‘Bloody oh, a real musician.’ But he was in the band before he even knew.” a b c Bernhardt, Todd; Partridge, Andy (6 January 2008). "Andy discusses 'Complicated Game' ". Chalkhills . Retrieved 30 August 2019. 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…” All the new Steven Wilson mixes have been created with the input of founder band member Andy Partridge and the full approval of the band. Andy Partridge, Colin Moulding and Dave Gregory all contribute sleeve notes to the booklet.