— Deanne Pearson
What I previously said:
Old Farters Parters may not have had great taste in records but he and his chums knew a little about pumping out ace stuff of their own. Seemingly as much attracted to this due to its value-for-money two record set as for its infectious synthesized whistling and all-around jauntiness, it's interesting to note just how much emphasis reviewers placed on B-sides and extra tracks in making their evaluations. It's commendable of them to do so but in the case of "Generals & Majors" they needn't have bothered as it fizzles with energy and is a perfect launch pad for their sublime album Black Sea — and a taster for what a live powerhouse they were supposed to be at the time.
It was the early part of 1979 and Swindon's XTC were struggling to break through in a big way. While their sound of "Roxy Music's Editions of You on diet of a cheap white powder" proved popular on the live scene and their first two albums from a year earlier sold well, they had yet to land on the singles chart, a trend that would continue to blight them for much of the next twenty years. Records like "This Is Pop" and "Statue of Liberty" are still top notch and they don't seem out of place alongside other new wave/post-punk 45's of the time but for whatever reason they failed to make an impact. Well schooled in Beatles-Beach Boys-Kinks recordings, Andy Partridge nevertheless lacked strong commercial pop instincts, especially around this time. What they need was for their less productive songwriter — a young man with a penchant for Uriah Heep and prog rock — to step up.
"Life Begins at the Hop" introduced the second phase of XTC, in which the wild organ bits of Barry Andrews were jettisoned in favour of the stellar fret work of Dave Gregory. It also launch Colin Moulding as a formidable songwriter to rival the much more prolific Partridge. Less ragged and stuttering than their earlier work, it has a classic, clean sound and told the tale of young kids spending time at this local joint where they could enjoy nuts and crisps and "co-co-co-cola on tap". The lyrics seem naive but the single got them on Top of the Pops for the first time and it delighted enough buyers to give them a modest chart entry of 54. Progress was being made. Confident, Moulding delivered another single that would also open their third album Drums & Wires. "Making Plans for Nigel" is still the number they are best remembered for in the UK as it tapped into Thatcherism and ludicrous Tory job placement schemes. It also happens to be utterly brilliant and it took them all the way into the Top 20. Not bad for a secondary, George Harrison-esque songwriter.
For his part, Partridge was beginning to feel the heat. A third Moulding-composed single on the bounce ("Ten Feet Tall") came and went while his mostly excellent Drums & Wires contributions were destined to become deep cuts. He did pen the non-album single "Wait Till Your Boat Goes Down" but it quickly disappeared. Stressed but far from discouraged, Partridge offered up nine outstanding pieces for follow-up album Black Sea but Moulding once again got the ball rolling with "Generals and Majors", their breakthrough smash that never was.
XTC's fourth album was all about power. They now had a pair of ace guitarists who would were both adept at lead and rhythm parts and in Terry Chambers they had perhaps the hardest hitting drummer of his generation. Unsurprisingly, this resulted in a period in which they were receiving rave reviews for their concerts. North Americans started paying attention and this resulted in fans across the Atlantic thinking of them as a power pop group and they ever began to get lumped in with British groups who otherwise didn't want to have anything to do with them. (Elvis Costello had to keep their influence on his composition "White Knuckles" from the Trust album a secret from his bandmates or he "risked a rebellion") Critical praise, a growing reputation, some chart momentum: this ought to have been their chance.
I don't know if I'd go so far to say that "Generals and Majors" was a failure. Sure, it underperformed but this was already nothing new for them. It didn't help that they didn't perform the single on Top of the Pops and the promo that was made was naff and was described by Partridge as "the worst video ever made by man". All things considered, 32 isn't bad and it kick started a modest run of three Top 40 hits on the bounce, a feat they never came close to replicating. (Amazingly, it is the highest charting single of the twenty-one new releases reviewed this fortnight by Deanne Pearson; the crop being a collection of has-beens, and no-names)
Yet, it wasn't the hit it deserved to be. The public may have been turned off by the material and probably didn't understand the satire involved. Britain was still a couple years away from the Falklands War when there may have been more of an audience for making fun of hawks and blind patriotism. Quite why the outstanding tune and band performance didn't wow more people is a bigger mystery. While Pearson is delighted by extra tracks "Don't Lose Your Temper" (one of thebetter b-sides by a group that didn't typically excel in this particular area), "Smokeless Zone" and "The Somnambulist", it's a iron-clad rule that XTC never did themselves any favours with the punters when they tried stretching out a little. So much for value for money.
Partridge ended up penning the next three hit singles for his band (more on this in a few weeks) yet his insecurities proved difficult to shake. Record label Virgin considered the more photogenic Moulding to be their cash cow and they entered sessions for fifth album English Settlement (yet another one that would be tipped as their breakthrough) with both a hit maker and a challenging visionary behind their material. It was only when the reserved bassist put together the effects-heavy anti-hit "Fly on the Wall" that his star began to fade. And that would be XTC's unenviable path forward: breakthroughs that failed to materialise, expectations dashed, paltry sales and all from a band that was among the best in the world.
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Also Reviewed This Fortnight
Leo Sayer: "Once in a While"
The "Old Sailor" doesn't impress Deanne Pearson much but he sounds in top form to these ears. 1980 may not have been a time for middle-of-the-road heartbroken balladeers to connect with music critics but things are a lot different forty years on. Sounding like a bit like a country singer, Leo is remarkably irony-free for a British vocalist but even that seems like a breath of fresh air considering the cynical pop world of the time being loaded with the likes of Elvis Costello, Nick Lowe and Paul Weller. But were the record buyers buying it? Were they 'eck! People didn't bother with XTC when they got more and more progressive while turning their backs on his nibs here because he was doing the same old thing. There's just no pleasing some people, is there?
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