Drums & Wires

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Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrateded.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p.344. ISBN 0-646-11917-6. Moulding scored the band a hit with “Making Plans for Nigel,” which peaked at number 17 on the UK singles chart. The song would become a kind of blueprint for Moulding’s songwriting style: pastoral, sweet and just a little cheeky. It was inspired by the plays of British writer-actor Alan Bennett, “who writes principally about home life and these guys who spent most of their time with their mothers,” Moulding says. Making Plans for Nigel” is a prime example of Moulding’s songwriting; the second song on Drums and Wires, “Helicopter,” is pure Partridge. While “Nigel” opens with the booming live drums made famous by Townhouse Recording Studio’s stone room (best known for birthing Phil Collin’s signature sound), “Helicopter” zips in on electric-sounding beats and a playful guitar line. Zippy, playful and futuristic, the song is perfect encapsulation of Partridge’s musical bugbears: novelty tunes heard courtesy of a junked record player his father nailed to a tea trolley. “I think he thought that was swish — that you could move it from one room to another and plug it in in another room,” Partridge says. “It was very perverse.”

Rathbone, Oregano (January 2015). "XTC – Drums And Wires". Record Collector. No.436 . Retrieved 19 March 2017. 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.” songwriting muscle (which is becoming delightfully erect).” Andy: “Suddenly we were a three piece. The songwriting was 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.Larkin, Colin (2011). "XTC". The Encyclopedia of Popular Music (5th conciseed.). Omnibus Press. ISBN 978-0-85712-595-8. XTC - Drums And Wires - Producer(s): Steve Lillywhite - Virgin VA13134 (Atlantic) - Genre: POP". Billboard. 1979.

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. Drums and Wires was released on 17 August, with lead single "Making Plans for Nigel" following on 5 September. [43] From 11 September to 5 October, XTC embarked on another underwhelming British tour. [44] Gregory remembered: "in Wolverhampton [there were] about 200 people in a place that holds about 1,500. It was really depressing." [8] On 8 October, the band performed four songs from the album for BBC Radio 1's John Peel show. [45] Performances of "Real by Real" and "Ten Feet Tall" recorded were later released for Drums and Wireless: BBC Radio Sessions 77–89 (1994). Amidst this splendid flowering of the post-punk community, replete with the sort of musical diversity that would have been unimaginable two years earlier and sadly unthinkable today, Swindon’s finest, XTC, also produced an early classic album with the Steve Lillywhite produced Drums And Wires. Andy Partridge recalls it as an optimistic time for the band. Dave Gregory’s arrival on guitar (replacing organist Barry Andrews who left following the release of Go2) marked a shift in style with the group now configured as a twin guitar/bass/drums line-up. Despite an endless touring schedule much time was spent honing new material. Both Partridge and Colin Moulding were growing in confidence as songwriters - this album did much to further their reputation for peerless post-punk pop tunes. But it was also Steve Lillywhite and engineer Hugh Padgham’s ability to give appropriate studio support and recording expertise to the more expansive pieces such as Roads Girdle The Globe and Complicated Game that helped to bring a new level of maturity to the overall feel of the release.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. 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. 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. I was fascinated with Chinese culture, and I started wearing Chinese clothes whenever I could get a hold of them,” Partridge recalls. “This fascination with China lasted until I saw the Tiananmen massacre on the TV. I thought, ‘Nope, don’t want to be fascinated by that no more.’”