Editing XTC (section)

===''The Big Express'' and ''25 O'Clock''===
[[File:Swindon 3 Loco Works 2088334 f3fad217.jpg|thumb|The impending closure of the [[Swindon Works]] formed a backdrop to ''[[The Big Express]]''.<ref name="Jennings">{{cite web |last1=Jennings |first1=Dave |title=XTC: The Big Express – A Thirtieth Anniversary Celebration – album reappraisal |url=https://louderthanwar.com/the-big-express-by-xtc-a-thirtieth-anniversary-celebration/ |website=Louder Than War |access-date=24 October 2018 |date=18 October 2014}}</ref>]]

XTC released the 1983 holiday single "[[Thanks for Christmas]]" under the pseudonym Three Wise Men. It was produced by [[David Lord (producer)|David Lord]], owner of Crescent Studios in Bath, and they subsequently negotiated a deal that allowed them to work as much as they wanted on their next album at his studio. Some of the album was recorded using a [[Linn LM-1|Linn LM-1 Drum Computer]], and extensive time was spent on its programming.<ref name="Mojo1999"/> Partridge envisioned the work as "industrial pop" inspired by Swindon, a "railway town".<ref name="Filter2007"/> The result, ''[[The Big Express]]'', returned the group to a brighter and uptempo sound marked by [[studio experimentation]] and denser arrangements, setting a template that they would develop on subsequent albums.<ref name="AMbigexp">{{cite web|last1=Woodstra|first1=Chris|title=The Big Express|publisher=AllMusic|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/the-big-express-mw0000201518|access-date=20 September 2017}}</ref> He jokingly referred to some parts of the album as the only time the group were befallen with stereotypical 1980s-style production.<ref name="Filter2007">{{cite journal |last1=Pierson |first1=Pat |title=Permanent Bliss: The Immutable Pleasures of XTC |journal=[[Filter (magazine)|Filter]]|date=September 2007 }}</ref> It was released in October 1984, reaching a higher chart position than ''Mummer'',<ref name="XTCAMbio"/> but was "virtually ignored" by critics.<ref name="AMbigexp"/> Virgin invested £33,000 into the music video for "[[All You Pretty Girls]]" to little effect.<ref name="Mojo1999"/> The band were charged for the sum.<ref>{{cite tweet |user=xtcfans |last=Partridge |first=Andy |author-link=Andy Partridge |date=29 January 2019|number=1090255526066176001|title=WC-"Virgin invested £33,000 into the music video for "All You Pretty Girls" to little effect." A sum XTC would be charged for.}}</ref>

When Gregory joined the band in 1979, Partridge learned that they both shared a longtime enthusiasm for 1960s [[psychedelic music]]. An album of songs in that style was immediately put to consideration, but the group could not go through with it due to their commercial obligations to Virgin.<ref name="Gibron">{{cite web |last1=Gibron |first1=Bill |title=Parcels from a Patchouli Past: An Interview with Andrew Partridge |url=https://www.popmatters.com/119477-parcels-from-a-patchouli-past-an-interview-with-andrew-partridge-2496154616.html |website=PopMatters |date=14 February 2010|access-date=20 September 2017}}</ref>{{refn|group=nb|Another consideration Partridge had was the punk movement's antipathy toward pop music of the past: "A real [[Year Zero (political notion)|Pol Pot kind of thing]], which is ludicrous, and rather nasty."{{sfn|Partridge|Bernhardt|2016}}}} In November 1984, one month after ''The Big Express''{{'}}s release, Partridge and John Leckie traveled to [[Monmouth]] to produce the album ''[[Miss America (Mary Margaret O'Hara album)|Miss America]]'' by singer-songwriter [[Mary Margaret O'Hara]], who had recently signed with Virgin. Partridge and Leckie were dismissed due to conflicts related to their religious affiliations or lack thereof (O'Hara was a devout Catholic). Partridge was feeling inspired by [[Nick Nicely]]'s 1982 psychedelic single "Hilly Fields 1892", and devised a recording project to fill the newfound gap in his schedule.<ref name="Mojo1999" /> The rules were as follows: songs must follow the conventions of 1967 and 1968 psychedelia; no more than two takes allowed; use vintage equipment wherever possible. After receiving a £5,000 advance from a skeptical Virgin Records, the group devoted two weeks to the sessions.{{sfn|Rachel|2014|p=203}}

Calling themselves "[[the Dukes of Stratosphear]]", the spin-off group consisted of Partridge and Moulding with Dave and his drummer brother Ian. Each adopted a pseudonym: Sir John Johns, The Red Curtain, Lord Cornelius Plum and E.I.E.I. Owen. At the sessions, the band dressed themselves in [[Paisley (design)|Paisley]] outfits and lit scented candles.<ref name="Mojo1999"/> With "nothing to live up to" as the Dukes, Partridge looked back on the project as the "most fun we ever had in the studio ... We never knew if it would sell ... We could never [subvert everybody's expectations] with XTC, as there was too much money involved and we were expected to be mentally honest and 'real.' Too much financial pressure."<ref name="MagnetSkylarking" /> Released on [[April Fools' Day]] 1985, the album was presented as a long-lost collection of recordings by a late 1960s group.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Erlewine |first1=Stephen Thomas |author-link1=Stephen Thomas Erlewine |title=25 O'Clock |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/25-oclock-mw0000811566 |publisher=AllMusic|access-date=20 September 2017}}</ref> When asked about the album in interviews, XTC initially denied having any involvement.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Brelhan |first1=Tom |title=XTC to Reissue Dukes of Stratosphear Side Project |url=https://pitchfork.com/news/34690-xtc-to-reissue-dukes-of-stratosphear-side-project/ |website=Pitchfork |date=25 February 2009|access-date=20 September 2017}}</ref> In England, the six-track [[mini-album]] sold twice as many copies as ''The Big Express'', even before the Dukes' identity was made public. The album also achieved considerable sales in the US.<ref name="HuntPhaze">{{cite magazine |last1=Hunt |first1=Chris |title=Andy Partridge Interview |magazine=Phaze 1 |date=1989 |url=http://www.chrishunt.biz/features16.html}}</ref>