Editing XTC (section)

===''Drums and Wires'' and ''Black Sea''===

XTC were impressed by [[Steve Lillywhite]]'s work on [[Ultravox]]'s [[Ultravox! (album)|1977 debut]],<ref>{{cite tweet |user=xtcfans |last=Partridge |first=Andy |author-link=Andy Partridge |number=1090243973887725568|title=WC- "XTC were impressed by Steve Lillywhite's work on Siouxsie and the Banshees' The Scream" No, he was hired because we liked the sound of the 1st Ultravox album he was involved with.|date=29 January 2019}}</ref> and [[Siouxsie and the Banshees]]' ''[[The Scream (album)|The Scream]]'',<ref>{{cite journal|first=Jérôme |last=Soligny |title=Discorama XTC [an interview with Partridge] |journal=[[Rock & Folk]] |date=May 1999 |pages=62–67 |quote=Rock&Folk : L'album sonne donc très arrangé pour guitares. Est-ce également dû à la présence de Steve Lillywhite à la console ? Andy Partridge : Il a surtout contribué au son de batterie, très Siouxsie, plus vaudou.}}</ref> and he was contacted to produce their third album with a drum sound that would "knock your head off".<ref name="Mojo1999" /> With engineer [[Hugh Padgham]], the band embarked to the newly built [[Townhouse Studios]], "with its now world-famous stone room"; Gregory later recalled that Padgham had "yet to develop his trade-mark '[[gated reverb|gated ambience]]' sound".<ref name="gregnigel">{{cite web |last1=Bernhardt |first1=Todd |title=Dave remembers 'Making Plans for Nigel' |url=http://chalkhills.org/articles/XTCFans20081214.html |website=Chalkhills|date=15 December 2008|access-date=20 September 2017}}</ref> Coinciding with Gregory's arrival, the band recorded "[[Life Begins at the Hop]]" (1979), a Moulding composition.<ref name="XTCAMbio"/> By this time, Moulding "wanted to ditch [our] quirky nonsense and do more straight-ahead pop."<ref name="Mojo1999"/> He was surprised to learn that the label chose his song as a single over Partridge's.<ref name="LBAT09">{{cite web |last1=Bernhardt |first1=Todd |title=Colin discusses 'Life Begins at the Hop' |url=http://chalkhills.org/articles/XTCFans20090510.html |website=Chalkhills |date=11 May 2009|access-date=20 September 2017}}</ref> Upon release, it was the first charting single for the band,<ref name="XTCAMbio"/> rising to number 54 on the [[UK Singles Chart]].<ref name="OCC" /> For a period, most of the group's singles were not placed on their albums. Moulding explained that this was because of an industry convention in the 1960s and the 1970s, and that when "we wanted to shift albums later on, that approach got blown out of the water."<ref name="nigel08">{{cite web |last1=Bernhardt |first1=Todd |title=Colin discusses 'Making Plans for Nigel' |url=http://chalkhills.org/articles/XTCFans20081123.html |website=Chalkhills |date=24 November 2008|access-date=20 September 2017}}</ref>

{{Listen
|pos=right
|filename=Making Plans for Nigel.ogg
|title="Making Plans for Nigel" (1979)
|description= In 2016, "[[Making Plans for Nigel]]" was ranked number 143 on ''[[Pitchfork (website)|Pitchfork]]''{{'}}s list of the 200 best songs of the 1970s, where it was described as "more tender and complex than a straightforward anti-establishment tirade."<ref name="P4kSongs2016">{{cite web |author1=Pitchfork Staff |title=The 200 Best Songs of the 1970s |url=http://pitchfork.com/features/lists-and-guides/9935-the-200-best-songs-of-the-1970s/?page=3 |website=Pitchfork |date=22 August 2016|access-date=20 September 2017}}</ref>
}}

''[[Drums and Wires]]'', released in August 1979, was named for its emphasis on guitars and expansive drums.<ref name="AMDrums"/> [[AllMusic]] reviewer Chris Woodstra wrote that it signalled "a turning point ... with a more subdued set of songs that reflect an increasing songwriting proficiency. The aimless energy of the first two albums is focused into a cohesive statement with a distinctive voice that retains their clever humor, quirky wordplay, and decidedly British flavor. ... driven by the powerful rhythms and angular, mainly minimalistic arrangements."<ref name="AMDrums">{{cite web |last1=Woodstra |first1=Chris |title=Drums and Wires |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/drums-and-wires-mw0000691295 |publisher=AllMusic|access-date=20 September 2017}}</ref> The distinctive drum pattern of its lead single, Moulding's "[[Making Plans for Nigel]]", was an attempt to invert drum tones and accents in the style of [[Devo]]'s cover of [[the Rolling Stones]]' "[[(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction|Satisfaction]]".<ref>{{cite tweet |user=xtcfans |last=Partridge |first=Andy |author-link=Andy Partridge |date=29 January 2019|number=1090245601617502209|title=WC-Re NIGEL..."distinctive drum pattern of its lead single, Moulding's "Making Plans for Nigel", was discovered by accident after a miscommunication between Partridge and Chambers" No, it was planned like that. We liked DEVO putting the wrong drums in right place on SATISFACTION}}</ref> The song became a number 17 hit<ref name="OCC"/> and helped propel the album to number 37 in the UK.<ref name="XTCAMbio"/> Before "Nigel", XTC had struggled to fill more than half the seats of the small club circuits they played.{{sfn|Twomey|1992|p=102}} Afterward, the single was playlisted at the BBC, which helped the band secure two appearances on ''[[Top of the Pops]]''. When touring resumed in November, every date was sold out.<ref name="gregnigel"/> In later years, the album became the best-known of XTC's discography<ref>{{cite tweet |user=xtcfans |last=Partridge |first=Andy |author-link=Andy Partridge |date=29 January 2019|number=1090235447207477248|title=WIKI CORRECTOR-"XTC's best-known album, Skylarking, is generally regarded as their finest." No, I would contend that our best known album is DRUMS AND WIRES. I would also disagree that SKYLARKING is the finest.}}</ref> and Moulding and Partridge would look back on this point as the symbolic start of the band's career.<ref name="Mojo1999"/>

[[File:XTC UK.jpg|thumb|right|XTC photographed with Canadian fans, 1980. From left: Moulding (holding cup), Partridge (in the background, wearing glasses), Gregory, and Chambers.|upright=1.3]]

To follow up "Nigel", the band released "Wait Till Your Boat Goes Down" (1980), a [[reggae]]-influenced Partridge song with production by [[Phil Wainman]] of [[Bay City Rollers]] fame. It was their lowest-selling single to date. Concurrently, Virgin issued Moulding's "Ten Feet Tall" as the band's first US single.<ref name="Mojo1999"/> According to Gregory, "Colin began to fancy himself as the 'writer of the singles'".<ref name="Filter2007"/> In response to "the fuss made over Colin's songs", Partridge attempted to exert more authority in the group: "I thought I was a very benevolent dictator." Gregory disagreed, recalling that the band was "pretty tired" and that Partridge "could be a little bit of a bully".<ref name="Mojo1999"/> Partridge at this point released a side project with [[Take Away / The Lure of Salvage|''Take Away'' / ''The Lure of Salvage'']] in early 1980; a one-off record that appeared without much notice,<ref name="XTCAMbio"/> except in Japan, where it was hailed as a work of "electronic genius" and outsold all other XTC albums.<ref name="George83">{{cite magazine|last1=George |first1=Harry |title=The Case of the Missing Andy Boy |magazine=[[Trouser Press]] |date=October 1983 |pages=26–29 }}</ref>{{refn|group=nb|Although it was credited to "Mr Partridge", he does not personally consider it a solo album.<ref>{{cite tweet |user=xtcfans |last=Partridge |first=Andy |author-link=Andy Partridge |number=446222514034053120|date=19 March 2014|title=THE CORRECTOR-TAKEAWAY/LURE OF SALVAGE was not a solo album, merely a dub record of XTC tracks, the band never attended}}</ref> Virgin rejected his request to issue it as XTC as it would have counted toward their record contract.<ref>{{cite tweet |user=xtcfans |last=Partridge |first=Andy |author-link=Andy Partridge |number=1090247437124595712|title=WC-"Partridge made his solo debut with Take Away / The Lure of Salvage" Careful, it wasn't a 'solo album', it was a continuation of more dub experiments. Virgin didn't want it out as XTC, as it would have counted as a contractual album.|date= 29 January 2019}}</ref>}}

''[[Black Sea (XTC album)|Black Sea]]'', released in September 1980, reunited the group with Lillywhite and Padgham and was well-received critically.<ref name="Mojo1999"/> Singles "[[Generals and Majors]]", "[[Towers of London (song)|Towers of London]]" and "[[Sgt. Rock (Is Going to Help Me)]]" returned them to the charts at numbers 32, 31 and 16, respectively.<ref name="OCC" /> "Sgt. Rock" provoked feminist hate-mail for the lyric "keep her stood in line". Partridge regretted the song, calling it "crass but not enjoyably crass".<ref name="Mojo1999"/> "[[Respectable Street]]" was banned from BBC radio due to its references to abortion and a "[[Sony|Sony Entertainment Centre]]".<ref>{{cite web |last1=Bernhardt |first1=Todd |title=Andy discusses 'Respectable Street' |url=http://chalkhills.org/articles/XTCFans20070226.html |website=Chalkhills |date=26 February 2007|access-date=20 September 2017}}</ref> Partridge believed ''Black Sea'' was the closest the group had come to representing their live sound in the studio.{{sfn|Twomey|1992|pp=113–114}} It remains XTC's second-highest charting British album, placing at number 16,<ref name="OCC" /> and the most successful album in the U.S. of their career, peaking at number 41 on the [[Billboard 200|''Billboard'' 200]].<ref name="XTCAMbio"/> That October, the documentary ''XTC at the Manor'', which featured the band faking a studio session for "Towers of London",<ref>{{cite tweet |user=xtcfans |last=Partridge |first=Andy |author-link=Andy Partridge |date=29 January 2019|number=1090248450640408576|title=WC-".. documentary XTC at the Manor, which highlighted the studio recording of "Towers of London" Because BBC couldn't get it together to come to ACTUAL recording session in Townhouse, this was all faked later for the cameras. The recording was never used. Illegal I think now ?}}</ref> was broadcast on [[BBC Two|BBC2]].<ref name="Ramon">{{cite magazine |last=Ramon |first=Gary  |title=XTC Recording History |magazine=[[Record Collector]] |date=November 1990 |issue=130}}</ref>