Editing XTC

{{short description|English rock band (1972–2006)}}
{{about|the band|the drug|MDMA|other uses|XTC (disambiguation)}}
{{good article}}
{{Use British English|date=May 2023}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2024}}
{{Infobox musical artist 
| name                = XTC
| background          = group_or_band
| image               = XTC bandphoto.jpg
| alt = XTC standing in a row in a black-and-white photo
| landscape           = yes
| caption             = XTC backstage in Toronto, Canada (October 1978), from left: [[Andy Partridge]], [[Colin Moulding]], [[Terry Chambers]] and [[Barry Andrews (musician)|Barry Andrews]]
| alias               = 
* Star Park (1972–1974)
* The Helium Kidz (1974–1975)
| origin              = [[Swindon]], [[Wiltshire]], England
| genre               = {{flat list|
*[[Pop music|Pop]]<ref name="XTCAMbio"/>{{sfn|Partridge|Bernhardt|2016}}<ref name="Trakin1981"/>
*[[art rock]]<ref name="Trakin1981">{{cite magazine|last1=Trakin|first1=Roy|title=The New English Art Rock|magazine=[[Musician (magazine)|Musician]]|date=February 1981|issue=30}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine|last=McCormick|first=Moira|title=Continental drift|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EQoEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA13|date=22 August 1998|magazine=Billboard|page=13|issn=0006-2510}}</ref>
*{{nowrap|[[New wave music|new wave]]}}<ref name="XTCAMbio"/><ref name="PMSkylarking">{{cite web|last1=Mendehlson|first1=Jason|last2=Klinger|first2=Eric|title=XTC's 'Skylarking'|url=http://www.popmatters.com/post/192717-counterbalance-xtcs-skylarking/|website=PopMatters|date=24 April 2015|access-date=20 September 2017}}</ref>
*{{nowrap|[[post-punk]]}}<ref name="PMSkylarking"/><ref name="BennettStratton2013">{{cite book|last1=Bennett|first1=Andy|last2=Stratton|first2=Jon|title=Britpop and the English Music Tradition|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ts-hAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA81|year=2013|publisher=Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.|isbn=978-1-4094-9407-2|page=81}}</ref>
*{{nowrap|[[art punk]]}}<ref>{{cite magazine|last=Crandall|first=Bill|title=NO EXIT: XTC's Andy Partridge|magazine=Bam|date=8 August 1997}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine|last1=Klinge|first1=Steve|title=The Natural History – Beat Beat Heartbead|magazine=[[CMJ New Music Monthly]]|date=May 2003|issue=112|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wSoEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA53|issn=1074-6978}}</ref>
*[[progressive pop]]<ref>{{cite web|last1=Burdick|first1=John|title=The Best Guitarist in the World at Bearsville|url=http://www.hudsonvalleyalmanacweekly.com/2015/07/23/the-best-guitarist-in-the-world-at-bearsville/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150811110353/http://www.hudsonvalleyalmanacweekly.com/2015/07/23/the-best-guitarist-in-the-world-at-bearsville/|url-status=usurped|archive-date=11 August 2015|website=Hudsonvalleyalmanacweekly.com|date=23 July 2015|access-date=20 September 2017}}</ref><ref name="LeoneCoat">{{cite web|last1=Leone|first1=Dominique|title=Coat of Many Cupboards|author-link=Dominique Leone|url=http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/8834-coat-of-many-cupboards/|website=Pitchfork.com|date=3 April 2002|access-date=20 September 2017}}</ref>
}}
| years_active        = 1972–2006
| label               = {{hlist|[[Virgin Records|Virgin]]|[[Cooking Vinyl]]|[[Idea Records|Idea]]}}
| spinoffs            = {{hlist|[[The Dukes of Stratosphear]]|[[TC&I]]}}
| website             = {{URL|ape.uk.net}}
| past_members        = 
* [[Andy Partridge]]
* [[Colin Moulding]]
* [[Terry Chambers]]
* [[Barry Andrews (musician)|Barry Andrews]]
* [[Dave Gregory (musician)|Dave Gregory]]
* See [[#Members|members section]] for others
}}
'''XTC''' were<!-- Per WP:ENGVAR, UK English uses the plural form for bands, groups, etc. Do not change "were" to "was". --> an English [[rock music|rock]] band formed in [[Swindon]] in 1972. Fronted by songwriters [[Andy Partridge]] (vocals, guitars) and [[Colin Moulding]] (vocals, bass), the band gained popularity during the rise of [[punk rock|punk]] and [[New wave music|new wave]] in the 1970s, later playing in a variety of styles that ranged from angular [[guitar riff]]s to elaborately arranged [[pop music|pop]]. Partly because the group did not fit into contemporary trends, they achieved only sporadic commercial success in the UK and US, but attracted a considerable [[cult following]]. They have since been recognised for their influence on [[post-punk]], [[Britpop]] and later [[power pop]] acts.

Partridge and Moulding first met in the early 1970s and subsequently formed a [[glam punk|glam]] outfit with drummer [[Terry Chambers]]. The band's name and line-up changed frequently, and it was not until 1975 that the band was known as XTC. In 1977, the group debuted on [[Virgin Records]] and were subsequently noted for their energetic live performances and their refusal to play conventional punk rock, instead synthesising influences from [[ska]], 1960s pop, [[dub music]] and [[avant-garde music|avant-garde]]. The single "[[Making Plans for Nigel]]" (1979) marked their commercial breakthrough and heralded the [[gated reverb|reverberating drum sound]] associated with 1980s popular music.

Between 1979 and 1992, XTC had a total of 10 albums and 6 singles that reached the UK top 40, including "[[Sgt. Rock (Is Going to Help Me)]]" (1980) and "[[Senses Working Overtime]]" (1982). After 1982's ''[[English Settlement]]'', the band stopped [[concert tour]]ing and became a studio-based project centred on Partridge, Moulding and guitarist [[Dave Gregory (musician)|Dave Gregory]]. A spin-off group, [[the Dukes of Stratosphear]], was invented as a one-off excursion into 1960s-style [[psychedelic music|psychedelia]], but as XTC's music evolved, the distinctions between the two bands lessened. XTC continued to produce more [[progressive music|progressive]] records, including the albums ''[[Skylarking]]'' (1986), ''[[Oranges & Lemons (album)|Oranges & Lemons]]'' (1989) and ''[[Nonsuch (album)|Nonsuch]]'' (1992). In the US, "[[Mayor of Simpleton]]" (1989) was their highest-charting single, while "[[Dear God (XTC song)|Dear God]]" (1986) was controversial for its [[antireligion|anti-religious]] message.

Due to poor management, XTC never received a share of profits from record sales (of which there were millions), nor from touring revenue, forcing them into [[debt]] throughout the 1980s and 1990s. In 1993, they went on [[strike action|strike]] against Virgin, citing an unfair [[recording contract]], and soon extricated themselves from the label. Gregory left the band during the making of ''[[Apple Venus Volume 1]]'' (1999), after which the XTC name was used by the duo of Partridge and Moulding. In 2006, Partridge announced that his creative partnership with Moulding had disintegrated, leaving XTC "in the past tense". Moulding and Chambers briefly reunited as the duo [[TC&I (band)|TC&I]] in the late 2010s. Partridge and Gregory remain musically active. {{toclimit|3}}

==1972–1982: early years and touring==

===Formation===
[[File:David Murray John Tower, Swindon - geograph.org.uk - 281394.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|A view of [[Swindon]] in 2007]]

[[Andy Partridge]] and [[Colin Moulding]] grew up on Penhill [[council estate]] in [[Swindon]]. Partridge jokingly characterised the community as being populated almost entirely by people with physical, mental or emotional defects.<ref>{{cite magazine|title=XTC: Ninjas of the Mundane|date=20 April 1989|magazine=[[Rolling Stone]]}}</ref> In the 1960s, he was a fan of contemporary pop groups like [[the Beatles]], but was intimidated by the process of learning guitar. When [[the Monkees]] grew popular, he became interested in joining a music group. He recalled watching local guitarist [[Dave Gregory (musician)|Dave Gregory]] performing [[Jimi Hendrix]]-style songs at churches and youth clubs: "Sort of [[acid rock|acid]]-[[skiffle]]. I thought, 'Ah, one day I'll play guitar!' But I didn't think I would be in the same band as this kid on the stage."<ref name="Contrast1990" /> Partridge eventually obtained a guitar and taught himself how to play it with no formal training.<ref name="Contrast1990" /> At the age of 15, he wrote his first song, titled "Please Help Me",{{sfn|Rachel|2014|p=200}} and attracted the nickname "Rocky" for his early guitar mastery of the Beatles' "[[Rocky Raccoon]]" (1968).<ref name="Mojo1999">{{cite journal|last=Ingham|first=Chris|title=XTC – 'Til Death Do Us Part|journal=[[Mojo (magazine)|Mojo]]|date=March 1999}}</ref> By the early 1970s, his music tastes had transitioned "from the Monkees to having a big binge on this Euro-avant-garde stuff. I got really in deep."<ref name="Contrast1990" /> One of his first bands was called "Stiff Beach", formed in August 1970.{{sfn|Gimarc|2005|pp=1, 10}} In early 1972, Partridge's constantly evolving group settled into "Star Park", a four-piece that featured himself with guitarist Dave Cartner, drummer Paul Wilson, and a bassist nicknamed "Nervous Steve".{{sfn|Twomey|1992|pp=37–39}}

In 1972, Partridge became closer acquainted with Gregory, a [[diabetes|diabetic]] then suffering from a bout of [[Mood disorder|depression]],<ref name="Mojo1999"/> while working as an assistant at the Bon Marche record shop in Swindon.<ref>{{cite tweet |user=xtcfans |last=Partridge |first=Andy |author-link=Andy Partridge |number=1090237415409762304 |date=29 January 2019|title=WIKI CORRECTOR-"Gregory was playing the Mahavishnu Orchestra's album The Inner Mounting Flame (1971), which he later called "one of the watershed moments in my musical education." No, I played Dave G the album when he came into the record dept of Bon Marche, where I worked.}}</ref> Gregory was playing the [[Mahavishnu Orchestra]]'s album ''[[The Inner Mounting Flame]]'' (1971), which he later called "one of the watershed moments in my musical education."<ref name="Mojo1999"/> Partridge met Colin Moulding at the Stage Bar on Swindon's Old Town's Union Row, later known as Long's.<ref>{{cite tweet|user=xtcfans |last=Partridge |first=Andy |author-link=Andy Partridge |date=29 January 2019|number=1090232147896659970|title=THE WIKI CORRECTOR "Partridge (guitar, vocals) and Moulding (bass, vocals) met at a record store in the early 1970s" No, I recall we met in the Stage bar on Swindon Old Town's Union Row. (now Long's).}}</ref> Moulding had been playing bass since 1970 "because I liked music [and] I thought that playing a bass, with four strings, would be infinitely easier than playing a guitar, with six strings. That was a horrible misconception!"<ref name="brenda">{{cite journal |last1=Brenda |first1=Herrmann |title=Colin Moulding: The Agony and the XTC  |journal=Bass Player |pages=14–16 |date=September 1992}}</ref> At the end of 1972, Moulding and drummer [[Terry Chambers]] joined Partridge's band, replacing Nervous Steve and Paul Wilson, and the group was renamed "Star Park (Mark II)".{{sfn|Twomey|1992|pp=37–39}} Other members would frequently join and leave the group.<ref name="Contrast1990" />

===Local popularity, rise of punk and label signing===
After Star Park opened for [[Thin Lizzy]] in May 1973,{{sfn|Rachel|2014|p=203}} the band renamed themselves the Helium Kidz.<ref name="Contrast1990"/> Partridge's musical conceptions were "blown away" upon hearing the [[New York Dolls]]: "I suddenly just wanted to play three chords again and get out my mum's makeup and stuff."<ref name="Contrast1990" /> He subsequently wrote hundreds of songs for the Helium Kidz, and some demo tapes were sent to [[Decca Records]].<ref name="Contrast1990">{{cite magazine |last1=Bookasta |first1=Randy |last2=Howard |first2=David |title=Season Cyclers |magazine=Contrast |issue=7 |date=1990}}</ref> ''[[NME]]'' ran a small profile on the "up and coming" band, which consisted of Partridge, Moulding, Chambers and guitarist Dave Cartner: "They aspire to attain the impossible dream of being able to throw a TV or two out of the window of an American hotel and have no one complain."{{sfn|Gimarc|2005|p=17}} This version of the group lasted until 1975, when the Helium Kidz decided to rebrand themselves and change their music to "three-minute pop songs that were fast and inventive."<ref name="Contrast1990" /> Gregory auditioned for the band at this juncture, but did not end up joining.<ref name="Mojo1999"/> His musicianship was determined to be "too good".{{sfn|Farmer|1998|p=60}}

It was decided that the band have another name change. "The Dukes of Stratosphear" was considered, but Partridge thought it was too "flowery" and "psychedelic".<ref name="Contrast1990" /> He derived "XTC" from [[Jimmy Durante]]'s exclamation upon discovering [[The Lost Chord|the lost chord]]: "That's it! I'm in ecstasy!"{{sfn|Rachel|2014|p=203}} The name was chosen mainly for its emphatic appearance in print.<ref name="Milano84">{{cite news |last1=Milano |first1=Bret |title=An exclusive and revealing discussion with the band's eloquent frontman |newspaper=Fairfield County Advocate |date=7 November 1984}}</ref> Meanwhile, owing to creative differences with Partridge, synthesizer player Jonathan Perkins quit the band.<ref name="Chicago2000">{{cite news |last1=Jones |first1=J.R. |title=Too Much of a God Thing |url=https://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/too-much-of-a-god-thing/Content?oid=902571 |newspaper=[[Chicago Reader]] |date=12 June 2000}}</ref> In search of his replacement, Partridge found [[Barry Andrews (musician)|Barry Andrews]] through a "keyboard player seeks band" advertisement. Instead of a formal audition, the two went out drinking together.<ref name="Mojo1999"/> Andrews was immediately hired. During the first band rehearsal, Partridge recalled, "He sounded like [[Jon Lord]] from [[Deep Purple]]; fuzz box, wah wah pedal, bluesy runs. I said, You don't have to play like that, you can play like us if you want. The next rehearsal, he was like a maniac, like if [[Joan Miró|Miró]] had played electric organ. Fantastic."<ref name="Mojo1999"/> December 1976 officially marked the beginning of the Partridge–Moulding–Chambers–Andrews line-up.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Walley |first1=Chas de |title=XTC: 'Is there a place in rock'n'roll for a Princess Anne lookalike?' – a classic feature from the vaults |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2013/jan/23/xtc-classic-feature |newspaper=[[The Guardian]]|location=London |date=23 January 2013}}</ref> The members cut their long hair and, for a time, wore "[[kung-fu]] mechanic" outfits on stage.<ref name="spin89"/>

{{Quote box
 | quote = I really didn't like the phrase 'punk'—it just seemed kind of demeaning. I didn't like '[[new wave music|new wave]]' either, because that was already the phrase used for [[French New Wave|French cinema of a certain period]]. ... [Our music was] blatantly just [[pop music]]. We were a [[New Pop|''new'' pop]] group. That's all.
 | source = —Andy Partridge elaborating on XTC's song "[[This Is Pop]]", 2007{{sfn|Partridge|Bernhardt|2016}}
 | align = right
 | width = 25em
 |}}

[[Ian Reid (manager)|Ian Reid]], owner of a Swindon club named The Affair, was their third manager<ref>{{cite tweet |user=xtcfans |last=Partridge |first=Andy |author-link=Andy Partridge |date=29 January 2019|number=1090239988900470784|title=WC-"Ian Reid, owner of a Swindon club named The Affair, was their first manager..." No, actually he was our third manager. The previous two were firstly Dave Bennett, then Tony Gordon (later Culture Club manager).}}</ref> and brokered deals for the group to perform at more popular venues such as the Red Cow in [[Hammersmith]], The Nashville Rooms and [[Islington]]'s [[Hope and Anchor, Islington|Hope and Anchor]]. By this time, the [[punk rock]] movement had emerged, which opened an avenue for the group in terms of record label appeal, even though the band did not necessarily fit in the [[punk ideologies|punk dogma]].<ref name="Mojo1999"/> Partridge remembered hearing the [[Sex Pistols]]' "[[Anarchy in the U.K.]]" (1976) and feeling underwhelmed by its similarity to the Monkees or the Ramones: "That sort of spurred me on – watching this stuff that I thought was rather average."{{sfn|Partridge|Bernhardt|2016}} Soon, [[John Peel]] saw the band perform at Upstairs at Ronnie Scott's and asked them to appear on his [[BBC Radio 1]] block.<ref name="Mojo1999"/> Partridge credited him as "responsible for us getting a recording contract. ... As soon as we recorded that session for the BBC, suddenly three or four record labels wanted to sign us up."<ref>{{cite web |last1=Thodoris |first1=Από |title=Interview: Andy Partridge (XTC) |url=https://www.hit-channel.com/interview-andy-partridge-xtc/132778 |website=Hit Channel |date=23 November 2017|access-date=20 September 2017}}</ref> After declining [[CBS Records International|CBS]], [[Harvest Records|Harvest]] and [[Island Records|Island]], they signed with [[Virgin Records]].<ref name="Mojo1999"/>

===''White Music'' and ''Go 2''===
In August 1977, XTC made their first commercially released studio recordings with producer [[John Leckie]] at [[Abbey Road Studios|Abbey Road]], which appeared on their debut release ''[[3D EP]]'' in October.<ref name="Mojo1999"/> Their first full-length record, ''[[White Music]]'', was then recorded in less than two weeks, and released for January 1978. Partridge characterized the album as "[[Captain Beefheart]] meets [[the Archies]]" shrouded in 1950s-style [[retrofuturism]]. He reflected that the album was the sum of everything the band enjoyed, including the Beatles, [[Sun Ra]], and [[Atomic Rooster]],<ref name="Mojo1999"/> but dismissed the contents as premature songs "built around this electric wordplay stuff".<ref name="agony1992">{{cite journal |last1=Friedman |first1=Roger |title=The Agony of XTC |journal=Guitar |date=October 1992}}</ref> ''White Music'' reached number 38 on the [[UK Albums Chart]].<ref name="OCC" /> Although the album was well received by the press (''Melody Maker'', ''NME'', ''Sounds'', and ''Record Mirror'' all gave positive reviews{{sfn|Twomey|1992|p=74}}), none of its singles managed to chart.<ref name="Mojo1999"/><ref name="XTCAMbio"/> They rerecorded "[[This Is Pop]]" as a lead single. Its follow-up, "[[Statue of Liberty (song)|Statue of Liberty]]", was banned on [[BBC Radio]] due to the lyric "I sail beneath her skirt".<ref name="Mojo1999"/> With each member placed on a £25 weekly salary,<ref name="Mojo1999"/> the band toured for the next five years.<ref name="Dom2000">{{cite news |last1=Dominic |first1=Serene |title=XTC: Stupidly Happy Ever After |url=http://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/music/xtc-stupidly-happy-ever-after-6417095 |newspaper=[[Phoenix New Times]]|date=11 May 2000}}</ref> The group also made appearances on the children's television shows ''[[Tiswas]]'' and ''[[Magpie (TV series)|Magpie]]'',<ref name="Mojo1999"/> which meant they would occasionally play for under-16 crowds on these early tours.{{sfn|Twomey|1992|pp=75–76}} Partridge enjoyed these early shows, but would later resent touring as the band's audience numbers grew and the performing experience became more impersonal.<ref name="Milano84" />

By August 1978, XTC were prepared to record their next album.{{sfn|DeRogatis|2003|p=341}} The band had contacted [[Brian Eno]] to produce after they learned that he was a fan, but he declined, telling them that they were good enough to produce themselves.<ref name="Mojo1999"/> Virgin rejected Eno's advice, and the group instead returned to Abbey Road with Leckie. Andrews appeared at the sessions with several original songs, but Partridge did not feel they were right for the band. He began taking Moulding and Chambers out for drinks without inviting Partridge, allegedly in an attempt to take over the group. After most of Andrews' songs were dropped from the final track list, the keyboardist told journalists that he foresaw the band "explod[ing] pretty soon".<ref name="Mojo1999"/> ''[[Go 2]]'', a more experimental venture, was released in October to positive reviews and a number 21 chart peak.<ref name="Mojo1999"/> Like ''White Music'', it was given praise in ''Sounds'', ''Melody Maker'', and the ''NME''.{{sfn|Twomey|1992|p=79}} One of the tracks, "Battery Brides (Andy Paints Brian)", was written in tribute to Eno.{{sfn|DeRogatis|2003|p=341}} The album also included a bonus EP, ''Go+'', which consisted of five dub remixes of XTC songs.<ref name="Mojo1999"/>

Andrews left the band in December 1978, while they were on their first American tour,<ref name="Mojo1999"/> and went on to form [[The League of Gentlemen (band)|the League of Gentlemen]] with [[Robert Fripp]] of [[King Crimson]].<ref name="XTCAMbio"/> Partridge said: "He enjoyed undermining what little authority I had in the band. We were bickering quite a lot. But when he left I thought, Oh shit, that's the sound of the band gone, this space-cream over everything. And I did enjoy his brain power, the verbal and mental fencing."<ref name="Mojo1999"/> XTC went through a "silly half-hearted" process of auditioning another keyboardist.<ref name="Contrast1990" /> Although [[Thomas Dolby]] was rumoured as a replacement, Partridge said that Dolby was never actually considered.<ref>{{cite tweet |user=xtcfans |last=Partridge |first=Andy |author-link=Andy Partridge |number=1090243249112076288|title=WC- Regarding auditioning others after Barry's departure..."Thomas Dolby was in the running, but he was rejected" No, this is a myth, Thomas was not considered. He had his own future to look after.|date=29 January 2019}}</ref>

[[File:XTC live.jpg|thumb|left|XTC performing live (pictured from left: Gregory and Partridge)]]

Rather than hiring a replacement keyboardist, Dave Gregory of the covers band Dean Gabber and His Gaberdines was invited to join as a second guitarist. Partridge remembered holding a "pretend audition" where Gregory was asked to play "This Is Pop", only for Gregory to inquire whether they wanted the album version or the single version: "We thought, 'Bloody oh, a real musician.' But he was in the band before he even knew."<ref name="Contrast1990" /> Gregory was anxious of whether the fans would accept him as a member, characterizing himself as "the archetypal [[Pub rock (United Kingdom)|pub-rocker]] in jeans and long hair. But the fans weren't bothered. Nobody was fashionable in XTC, ever."<ref name="Mojo1999"/> He grew more comfortable with the group after playing a few shows, he said, "and things got better and better".<ref name="Mojo1999"/>

===''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>

===''English Settlement'' and Partridge's breakdown===
[[File:Uffington-White-Horse-sat.jpg|thumb|left|The [[Uffington White Horse]] served as the inspiration for ''[[English Settlement]]''{{'}}s cover artwork. Partridge "wanted to move in a more pastoral, more acoustic direction."<ref name="QuietusSettlement"/>]]

From 1980 to 1981, XTC toured Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the US in support of ''Black Sea'' as the opening act for [[the Police]]. At this point, they were playing in arena stadiums while Partridge's mental state was beginning to deteriorate, and he requested to cease touring, but was opposed by Virgin, his bandmates, and the band's management.<ref name="Mojo1999"/> He would occasionally experience moments of memory lapse to the extent that he would forget who he was.{{sfn|Twomey|1992|p=3}} His then-wife Marianne blamed his illness on his longtime dependency on [[Valium]],<ref name="Sailed2006" /> which he had been prescribed since the age of 12.{{sfn|Partridge|Bernhardt|2016}} She threw away the tablets,<ref name="Sailed2006" /> and over the next year, he experienced intense withdrawal effects that he later described as "brain melt".<ref name="teamrock16"/>

XTC became their own producers for their next album project.<ref name="RB2002">{{cite journal|title=XTatiCally Yours |journal=Record Buyer |date=April 2002}}</ref> Until this point, Partridge had insisted that every part of the band's arrangements on record could be replicated live.{{sfn|Twomey|1992|pp=110, 124}} He believed that "if I wrote an album with a sound less geared towards touring then maybe there would be less pressure to tour."<ref name="QuietusSettlement">{{cite news|last1=Keoghan|first1=Jim|title=A Watershed Moment: XTC's Andy Partridge on English Settlement|url=http://thequietus.com/articles/07896-xtc-andy-partridge-english-settlement|work=[[The Quietus]]|date=6 February 2012}}</ref> As such, the new music showcased more complex and intricate arrangements,<ref name="XTCAMbio"/><ref name="AMES">{{cite web |last1=Woodstra |first1=Chris |title=English Settlement |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/english-settlement-mw0000652650 |publisher=AllMusic|access-date=20 September 2017}}</ref> song lengths were longer, and subject matter covered broader social issues.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/1992/05/03/the-xtc-legacy-an-appraisal/ |title=The XTC Legacy: An Appraisal |newspaper=Chicago Tribune |date=3 May 1992 |access-date=22 June 2016 |last=Kot |first=Greg |author-link=Greg Kot}}</ref> Much of the new material also featured acoustic instruments.<ref name="AMES"/> Gregory bought a [[Rickenbacker]] 12-string and began contributing to the records as a keyboardist.<ref name="Mojo1999"/> In February 1982, ''[[English Settlement]]'' was released as the group's first double album.<ref name="Mojo1999"/> The hook of its lead single, "[[Senses Working Overtime]]", was based on [[Manfred Mann]]'s "[[5-4-3-2-1]]" (1964),{{sfn|Partridge|Bernhardt|2016}} Both the album and single became the highest-charting records they would ever have in the UK, peaking at number five and number 10, respectively.<ref name="XTCAMbio"/><ref name="Mojo1999"/> In several territories outside the UK, the album was released as only a single LP.<ref name="Ramon"/>

The group scheduled television appearances and an international tour in support of ''English Settlement''. During a live-broadcast gig in Paris on 18 March, Partridge stopped playing and ran off the stage during the opening song 'Respectable Street', and afterward, took a flight back to Swindon for treatment, which amounted to [[hypnotherapy]]. He described feeling nausea and stomach pains while on stage: "My body and brain said, You're hating this experience I'm going to make it bad for you. When you go on stage I'm going to give you panic attacks and stomach cramps. You're not enjoying this and you haven't got the heart to tell anyone you can't carry on so I'm gonna mess you up."<ref name="Mojo1999"/> The band's remaining tour dates in England were cancelled.<ref name="Sailed2006" /> After recovering from the episode, Partridge rejoined the group for their first tour of the US as a headlining act.<ref name="Sailed2006" /> The band played the first date in San Diego. Gregory said that they were "totally unrehearsed" during the performance because "we'd not played together for two weeks. ... It was obvious that he was ill, but exactly what it was, no-one knew."<ref name="Ramon"/>

On 4 April 1982, XTC were scheduled to headline a sold-out show at the [[Hollywood Palladium]] in Los Angeles.<ref>Kristine McKenna, "XTC and the ABC's of Topical Pop", ''Los Angeles Times'', 4 April 1982. Retrieved via Newspapers.com.</ref> Partridge woke up that morning, he said, and "couldn't get off the bed. My legs wouldn't function. Walked to [[Ben Frank's]] coffee shop, where we'd all agreed to meet, in slow motion like I had both legs in plaster, trying not to throw up. I got in there, they knew what I was going to say."<ref name="Mojo1999"/> The tour ceased. He continued his hypnotherapy treatment, fearing that he was turning into the archetypal rock burn-out (such as [[Syd Barrett]]). "It got to the point where if I touched the front door knob, I wanted to throw up."<ref name="Mojo1999"/> For a period afterward, it was rumoured among fans and industry insiders that the group stopped performing because Partridge had died, and some American bands put on XTC tribute shows in his remembrance.<ref name="Milano84" />

==1982–1992: studio years==

===Financial issues and start of managerial litigation ===

{{Quote box
 | quote = [Because of our] bad record deal and a corrupt manager, life was a bit of a nightmare ... When I said we don't want to play live anymore, they [Virgin] completely stopped [promoting us] ... We ran on negative equity for 20 years. 
 | source = —Andy Partridge, 2000<ref name="Dom2000" />
 | align = right
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 |}}

The cancelled American tour saddled XTC with a £20,000 debt, and since it left them unable to record new material, they decided to reexamine their financial affairs.{{sfn|Twomey|1992|p=127}} Confused as to where their earnings had gone, the group requested that manager Ian Reid help pay for the debts, but he refused, saying that they had owed him money. They tried distancing themselves from Reid by renegotiating their contract with Virgin. Six more albums were promised to the label in exchange for covering their debts, as well as a guarantee that subsequent royalty and advancement cheques be redirected into the band's own deposit account. Royalty rates were still kept relatively low, as the group's A&R man Paul Kinder explained, they had "appalling management for a number of years. Usually if a manager has got any kind of business acumen he will renegotiate the contract to get a better royalty. A record company expects this, which is why they keep royalties low initially. It's just business really. Nobody addressed the contract for XTC."<ref name="Mojo1999"/>

Reid remained XTC's manager until January 1983 (according to the book ''Chalkhills and Children''){{sfn|Twomey|1992|p=131}} or a couple years afterward (according to Partridge).<ref name="TrainPar">{{cite web |last1=Bernhardt |first1=Todd |last2=Partridge |first2=Andy |author-link2=Andy Partridge |url=http://chalkhills.org/articles/XTCFans20090614.html |title=Andy discusses "Train Running Low on Soul Coal"|website=Chalkhills |date=14 June 2009}}</ref> He legally retained the title of XTC's manager until near the end of the decade.<ref>{{cite tweet |user=xtcfans |last=Partridge |first=Andy |author-link=Andy Partridge |date=29 January 2019|number=1090251077918908416|title=WC-"Reid was no longer the band's manager, but legally retained the title until around 1985[.]" No, we finally parted ways in 88–89 I think. Colin and I came back from ORANGES mixes in LA to try and sort the legal mess over management.}}</ref> In April 1984, the group learned that he had incurred them an outstanding [[Value-added tax in the United Kingdom|value-added taxes]] [VAT] bill{{sfn|Twomey|1992|p=137}} and that he had significantly mishandled their revenue stream.<ref name="Contrast1990"/> A lawsuit was filed by the band, while he counter-sued for "unpaid commission on royalties". Virgin were then "legally required to freeze royalty and advance payments and divert publishing income into a frozen deposit account."<ref name="Mojo1999"/> For the next decade, the entirety of the band's earnings would be invested in the continued litigation.<ref name="HuntPhaze" /> The group supported themselves mostly through short-term loans from Virgin and royalty payments derived from airplay.<ref name="Mojo1999"/> At one point, Moulding and Gregory were working at a car rental service for additional income.<ref name="O&LQuietus" /> Partridge was eventually left with "about £300 in the bank", he said, "which is really heavy when you've got a family and everyone thinks you're 'Mr Rich and Famous'."<ref name="HuntPhaze" /> A court-enforced [[gag order]] restricts the band from speaking publicly on the alleged improprieties.<ref name="Sailed2006" /> According to Partridge, Reid was "very naughty" and left the band with roughly £300,000 in unpaid VAT.<ref name="HuntPhaze" /> Music journalist Patrick Schabe elaborates:

{{blockquote|... what is known is that [Reid] signed a deal with Virgin that wound up working out primarily for Reid, secondarily for Virgin, and not at all for XTC. Throughout their first five years of existence, XTC never saw a penny of profits from either album sales or touring revenue. Reid, on the other hand, took out large loans from Virgin, borrowing against XTC's royalties, to the tune of millions of pounds by some estimates. Even after the band settled out of court with Reid, because of the terms of the contract, Virgin was able to hold XTC liable for the sum. Because of XTC's failure to tour, the likelihood of ever repaying Virgin dwindled further and further away. Over the course of a 20-year contract with Virgin Records, and after achieving gold and platinum status in album sales on a number of discs, XTC never saw any publishing royalties.<ref name="Sailed2006" />}}

===''Mummer'' and faltered popularity===
[[File:Andy Partridge comic book.jpg|thumb|Partridge in the studio, 1988. His refusal to tour caused long-standing tensions with the label.<ref name="XTCAMbio"/>]]

During the middle months of 1982, Partridge spent his time in convalescence and writing songs.<ref name="Mojo1999"/> He later surmised that relinquishing Valium inadvertently gave him a new sense of creative direction: "I was thinking clearer and wanted to know stuff. Life's big questions."<ref name="MagnetSkylarking">{{cite magazine |url=http://www.magnetmagazine.com/2016/03/28/magnet-classics-xtcs-skylarking/ |title=The Making of XTC's "Skylarking" |last=Amorosi |first=A.D. |date=28 March 2016 |magazine=[[Magnet (magazine)|Magnet]]|access-date=13 March 2017}}</ref> In the interim, Chambers moved to Australia and started a family. Feeling dismayed by Partridge's decision not to tour, he had to be persuaded to return to Swindon for the next album's rehearsals in September. At one rehearsal, Partridge recalled asking Chambers for "tiny, cyclical, nattering clay pots", which he replied sounded "a bit fucking nancified".<ref name="Mojo1999"/> The newly-wed Chambers soon left the band to be with his wife in Australia.<ref name="Mojo1999"/>

Drummer [[Pete Phipps]], formerly of [[the Glitter Band]], was quickly hired as a session musician to continue the recording sessions—XTC would never again employ a permanent drummer after Chambers' departure. In the meantime, Virgin released a greatest hits compilation, ''[[Waxworks: Some Singles 1977–1982]]'', to underwhelming sales. The group's new material was rejected by Virgin executive Jeremy Lascelles, who suggested that they write something more commercial. Partridge remembered, "He asked me to write something a bit more like The Police, with more international flavour, more basic appeal."<ref name="Mojo1999"/> Lascelles said that he had actually named [[Talking Heads]], not the Police: "Andy likes to portray us as the strict, stern schoolmasters, but we never wanted him to compromise at anything we thought he was good at. Here were very talented songwriters – surely, surely, surely they can come up with that elusive thing that is a hit single. That was our psyche."<ref name="Mojo1999"/>

After some remixing and additional songs at Virgin's behest, ''[[Mummer (album)|Mummer]]'', the first product of the studio-bound XTC, appeared in August 1983.<ref name="Mojo1999"/> Virgin did little to promote the album and delayed its release by several months.<ref name="Mojo1999"/> At number 58, it was their lowest-charting album to date.<ref name="OCC" /> The one single that did chart, "[[Love on a Farmboy's Wages]]", did find significant airplay on BBC Radio 1.<ref>{{cite magazine |last1=Stafford |first1=Bob |title=Oranges & Lemons |magazine=[[Melody Maker]] |date=1989 }}</ref> It was the first of a handful of XTC songs written over the years that reflected their poor financial state.<ref name="Dom2000" />

Virtually every contemporary review of ''Mummer'' accused the band of falling out of touch with the contemporary music climate.{{sfn|Twomey|1992|p=134}} Journalist Serene Dominic retrospectively wrote that the album was seen as "something of a disappointment at the time of release ... [It was] devoid of silly songs like 'Sgt. Rock' that had heretofore been the band's stock-in-trade and didn't rock out until the last song, 'Funk Pop a Roll.' ... ''Mummer'' signaled a strange rebirth for XTC."<ref name="Dom2000" /> Moulding thought that "when we came back from America after our aborted tour of 1982 ... people like [[Spandau Ballet]] had moved onto the scene; new groups were coming up and there was no place for us."<ref name="RB2002"/>{{refn|group=nb|When asked for a favourite song by Spandau Ballet, Partridge responded: "I used to see them on TV and I wanted to kick in the set. How dare the TV force such crap on me?! They had appalling lyrics! Appalling music! Least favorite band in the history of foreverness! They were a bunch of bankers, for God's sake!"<ref name="Lexicon99">{{cite magazine |title=XTC: Take Another Bite... |magazine=Lexicon |date=1999 |issue=11}}</ref>}} ''[[Mojo (magazine)|Mojo]]'' journalist Chris Ingham summed up the period: "In 18 months, XTC had gone from Top 10 hits and critical superlatives to being ignorable, arcane eccentrics. Partridge later said "Your average English person probably thinks we split up in 1982".<ref name="Mojo1999"/>

===''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>

===''Skylarking'' and ''Psonic Psunspot''===
[[File:Todd Rundgren 1978 (cropped).jpg|thumb|left|upright|''[[Skylarking]]'' producer [[Todd Rundgren]] performing with [[Utopia (American band)|Utopia]] in 1978]]

During a routine meeting in early 1986, Virgin executives threatened to drop the band from the label if their next album failed to sell more than 70,000 units.<ref name="Mojo1999"/> One reason why the group was not selling enough records, Virgin reportedly concluded, was that they sounded "too English".<ref name="Keyboard87">{{cite journal |last1=Greenwald |first1=Ted |title=XTC's Reluctant Keyboardist Reveals Rundgren's Production Style |journal=[[Keyboard (magazine)|Keyboard]] |date=November 1987 }}</ref> The label forced the group to work with one of their selected American producers. When shown a list of their names, they recognised none except for [[Todd Rundgren]].<ref name="Albumism">{{cite web |last1=Nelson |first1=Terry |title=TRIBUTE: Celebrating 30 Years of XTC's 'Skylarking' |url=http://www.albumism.com/features/tribute-celebrating-30-years-of-xtc-skylarking |website=Albumism.com|date=26 October 2016|access-date=20 September 2017}}</ref> Gregory was a fan of Rundgren's music, particularly since hearing the 1978 album ''[[Hermit of Mink Hollow]]''. His bandmates were not as familiar with Rundgren, but Gregory urged the group to work with him: "I reminded Andy that Todd had produced one of his favourite New York Dolls records [''[[New York Dolls (album)|New York Dolls]]'', 1973]. In the absence of any better alternatives, he agreed."{{sfn|Myers|2010|p=256}} Once contacted, Rundgren offered to handle the album's entire recording for a lump sum of $150,000, and the band agreed.<ref name="Skylarking diffuser">{{cite web |last1=Zaleski |first1=Annie |title=30 Years Ago: XTC Finds Pop Perfection with 'Skylarking' |url=http://diffuser.fm/xtc-skylarking/ |website=Diffuser.fm |date=27 October 2016|access-date=20 September 2017}}</ref>

In January 1986, Partridge and Moulding mailed Rundgren a collection of more than 20 demo tapes they had stockpiled in advance.{{sfn|Myers|2010|p=257}} Compared to previous XTC albums, much of the material contrasted significantly with its mellower feel, lush arrangements, and "flowery" aesthetic.<ref name="MagnetSkylarking" /> Rundgren responded with the idea of a [[concept album]] to bridge "Colin's 'pastoral' tunes and subject matter and Andy's 'pop anthems' and sly poetry. ... The album could be about a day, a year, or a lifetime.&nbsp;... Using this framework, I [Rundgren] came up with a sequence of songs and a justification for their placement and brought it to the band."{{sfn|Myers|2010|pp=257–258}}

After the group arrived at Utopia Sound recording studio in upstate [[New York (state)|New York]], Rundgren played a large role in the album's sound design and drum programming, providing them with string and brass arrangements, as well as an assortment of gear.<ref name="MagnetSkylarking" /> However, the sessions were fraught with tension, especially between him and Partridge, and disagreements arose over drum patterns, song selections, and other details.<ref name="rundbang">{{cite news|last1=Parker|first1=Adam|title=Rundgren still bangs the drum all day Rock and roll titan to play at Music Hall|url=http://www.postandcourier.com/features/arts_and_travel/rundgren-still-bangs-the-drum-all-day-rock-and-roll/article_7b358388-63b5-5e1d-bdbc-02afdcdee8a2.html|newspaper=[[The Post and Courier]]|date=6 February 2016}}</ref> Partridge likened the power struggle to "two [[Hitler]]s in the same bunker".<ref name="Chicago2000" /> He expressed resentment toward Rundgren's contributions when sessions concluded, but later softened his view and praised the result.<ref name="Mojo1999"/> Rundgren said that in spite of all the difficulties, the album "ultimately ... sounds like we were having a great time doing it. And at times we ''were'' having a good time."<ref name="rundbang"/>

{{Quote box|quote=On ''[[Skylarking]]'' ... the band has accomplished the remarkable feat of pulling the kinks out of its music without sacrificing its peerless originality. The band members have become the deans of a group of artists who make what can only be described as unpopular pop music, placing a high premium on melody and solid if idiosyncratic songcraft.
|align = right
|width = 25em
|source = —Writer [[Michael Azzerad]], 1989<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/artists/xtc/albums/album/260407/rid/6211360/ |title=XTC: ''Oranges & Lemons'' |magazine=[[Rolling Stone]] |date=23 March 1989 |access-date=18 June 2011 |last=Azerrad |first=Michael |author-link=Michael Azerrad |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080203204606/http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/xtc/albums/album/260407/review/6211360 |archive-date=3 February 2008}}</ref>
}}

''Skylarking'' spent one week on the UK album charts, reaching number 90 in November 1986, two weeks after its release.<ref name="OCC"/> Moulding's "[[Grass (XTC song)|Grass]]" was chosen as lead single. It was issued exclusively in the UK with the B-side "[[Dear God (XTC song)|Dear God]]", an outtake. "Dear God" became so popular with American [[college radio]] stations who imported the record that [[Geffen Records]] (XTC's US distributor) recalled and re-pressed ''Skylarking'' with the track included.<ref name="Mojo1999"/> Controversy also broke out over the song's anti-religious lyrics, which inspired some violent incidents. In Florida, a radio station received a bomb threat, and in New York, a student forced their school to play the song over its public-address system by holding a faculty member at knife-point. Nonetheless, the commercial success of "Dear God" propelled ''Skylarking'' to sell more than 250,000 units, and it raised the band's profile among American college youth.<ref name="Mojo1999"/> In the US, the album spent 29 weeks on the ''Billboard 200'' and reached its peak position of number 70 in June 1987.<ref name="Billboard200">{{cite magazine |url=http://www.billboard.com/artist/277881/xtc/chart?f=305 |title=Billboard 200: XTC |date=2017 |magazine=Billboard |access-date=27 February 2017 }}</ref> The music video for "Dear God" received the 1987 ''Billboard'' Best Video award and was also nominated for three categories at the [[MTV Video Music Awards]].<ref name="Schabe">{{cite web|last1=Schabe|first1=Patrick|title=XTC: A Coat of Many Cupboards|url=https://www.popmatters.com/xtc-coat-2496118960.html|website=PopMatters|date=5 May 2002}}</ref> ''Skylarking'' ultimately became XTC's best-known album<ref name="DahlenFuzzy">{{cite web|last1=Dahlen|first1=Chris|title=Andy Partridge – Fuzzy Warbles Collector's Album|url=http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/9785-fuzzy-warbles-collectors-album/|website=Pitchfork|date=19 January 2007|access-date=20 September 2017}}</ref> and is generally regarded as their finest work.<ref name="Skylarking diffuser"/>

Partridge was reluctant to make another Dukes album, but to appease requests from his bandmates and Virgin Records, ''[[Psonic Psunspot]]'' (1987) was recorded. This time, 10 songs and a £10,000 budget was supplied, while John Leckie returned as producer.<ref name="Mojo1999"/> Once again, the Dukes' record outsold XTC's previous album in the UK (''Skylarking'' in this case). Partridge felt it was "a bit upsetting to think that people preferred these pretend personalities to our own personalities ... But I don't mind because we have turned into the Dukes slowly over the years."<ref name="HuntPhaze"/> Likewise, Moulding felt that the "psychedelic element was being more ingratiated into the pie" since ''25 O'Clock''.<ref name="MagnetSkylarking" /> When issued on CD, ''Psonic Psunspot'' was combined with ''25 O'Clock'' and given the title ''[[Chips from the Chocolate Fireball]]'' (1987).<ref name="XTCAMbio"/>

===''Oranges & Lemons'' and ''Nonsuch''===
{{Listen
|pos=right
|filename=Mayor of Simpleton - XTC.ogg
|title="Mayor of Simpleton" (1989)
|description= "[[Mayor of Simpleton]]", lead single from ''[[Oranges & Lemons (album)|Oranges & Lemons]]'', adopts a [[jangle pop]] style.<ref>{{cite magazine|title=Oranges & Lemons – Geffon|magazine=CMJ New Music Report|date=24 February 1989|volume=164}}</ref> It became their highest charting single in the US.
}}

For their next album ''[[Oranges & Lemons (album)|Oranges & Lemons]]'', XTC traveled to Los Angeles to make use of a cheap studio rate arranged by [[Paul Fox (record producer)|Paul Fox]], who was recruited by the band for his first production gig.<ref name="Contrast1990" /> Another reason for recording in the US with an American producer, said Gregory, was that "America was our biggest market".<ref name="Filter2007"/> [[Mr. Mister]] (and later longtime [[King Crimson]]) member [[Pat Mastelotto]] was the drummer for the entire album. The album was released in February 1989 with music that was in a similar psychedelic vein as the Dukes.<ref name="XTCAMbio"/> In a retrospective review, ''[[The Quietus]]''{{'}} Nick Reed notes: "Nearly every instrument is mixed to the forefront; it's too well-arranged to be cacophonous, but there's a degree of sensory overload, especially given the band's newfound tendency to blast synthesizers in our faces. ... whether or not this album holds up for you depends on how much you like the band's boisterous side."<ref name="O&LQuietus"/> It became the highest album they had in the charts since 1982's ''English Settlement'', rising to number 28 in the UK<ref name="OCC" /> and number 44 in the US.<ref name="Billboard200" /> Additionally, it combined with ''Skylarking'' for the group's best-selling albums to date.<ref name="agony1992"/>  "[[Mayor of Simpleton]]" reached number 46 in the UK<ref name="O&LQuietus"/> and number 72 in the US, making it their only American single to chart.<ref name="XTCAMbio"/>

To support the album, XTC embarked on an acoustic-guitar American radio tour that lasted for two weeks in May.<ref name="Mojo1999" /> The shows were carried out without financial compensation for the band.<ref>{{cite tweet |user=xtcfans |last=Partridge |first=Andy |author-link=Andy Partridge |date=29 January 2019|number=1090257969634103296|title=WC-Re acoustic EU tour...|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190507134004/https://twitter.com/xtcfans/status/1090257969634103296|archive-date=7 May 2019}}</ref> Gregory commented that it was an "interesting" style of promotion, but "incredibly hard work", as the band performed at about four radio stations a day for three weeks: "We also did a live acoustic set for MTV in front of an audience which worried Andy a bit but he got through it."<ref name="Ramon"/> This inspired the network to invite more artists to perform stripped-down sets, calling the series "[[MTV Unplugged|unplugged]]".<ref name="Mojo1999" /> XTC's performance of "[[King for a Day (XTC song)|King for a Day]]" on ''[[Late Night with David Letterman]]'' marked the first time the group played in front of a live audience in seven years.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Gibbs|first1=Ryan|title=Favorite Letterman Music Moments|url=https://www.theyoungfolks.com/music/56185/favorite-letterman-music-moments/|website=[[The Young Folks]]|date=19 May 2015|access-date=20 September 2017}}</ref> A similar acoustic tour was planned for Europe, but cancelled when Partridge discovered that the Paris date would be broadcast from a sold-out 5,000 seater venue.<ref name="RB2002"/> After an unsuccessful attempt was made to coax Partridge back into regular touring,<ref name="Mojo1999" /> they took a short break. Partridge produced ''And Love for All'' (1990), the third album by [[the Lilac Time]], and compered for an unbroadcast children's [[game show]] named ''Matchmakers''.{{sfn|Farmer|1998|p=55}} Gregory played for [[Johnny Hates Jazz]], [[Marc Almond]] and [[Francesco Messina]] whilst producing for [[Cud (band)|Cud]]. Moulding performed a special event concert with David Marx and the Refugees, a Swindon-based band that reunited him with Barry Andrews.{{sfn|Farmer|1998|p=54}}

[[File:Nonsuch Palace - Speed's Map 1610 bigger.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|A 17th-century map of [[Nonsuch Palace]] illustrated by cartographer [[John Speed]], which served as the basis of the album cover<ref>{{cite AV media notes| title = Nonsuch| others= XTC| year = 1992| type = liner| publisher = Virgin}}</ref>]]

[[Tarquin Gotch]], who served as XTC's manager for a short time, helped the band reach a legal settlement with Ian Reid in 1989.<ref name="Mojo1999" /> However, they were again left with a six-figure debt. Virgin Records advanced the group enough money to cover their debt in exchange for the promise of four additional albums.<ref name="Filter2007"/> Having written more than two dozen songs by 1991, some difficulties prolonged the start of recording sessions for the next album. Initially, the band had issue with the musical director of Virgin, who, after seeing the songs, was convinced the band "could do better" and asked them to write more material.<ref name="Fevret">{{cite journal|last1=Fevret|first1=Christian|title=XTC – Quality Sweet|journal=Les Inrockuptibles|date=1992}}</ref>{{refn|group=nb|Jeremy Lascelles: "I said, Andy, you've written this song before, it's another Beach Boys song, another Beatles song ... He wasn't really stretching himself – it was good but a bit comfortable. He didn't like me saying that and I didn't play them to anyone else, which he took to be a great slight."<ref name="Mojo1999" /> In Partridge's recollection, the director threatened that Virgin would drop the band if the band don't write an album "of twelve Top Ten guaranteed singles," and noted that this attitude held the band up in recording the album, which they refused to rewrite, believing its songs to be among the greatest they had written.<ref name="Skene"/>}} With the band sitting on the material, the director left the label a year later, and his replacement liked the band's content, hurrying them to record the album.<ref name="Skene">{{cite web|last1=Skene|first1=Gordon|title=A Chat With Andy Partridge Of XTC – 1992 – Past Daily Weekend Pop Chronicles|url=http://pastdaily.com/2016/08/21/chat-andy-partridge-xtc-1992/|website=Past Daily|access-date=25 September 2017|date=21 August 2016}}</ref> [[Gus Dudgeon]] produced, even though Partridge felt he was the wrong choice, and [[Fairport Convention]]'s [[Dave Mattacks]] was brought in as drummer.{{sfn|Farmer|1998|pp=58–59}}

''[[Nonsuch (album)|Nonsuch]]'' was received with critical acclaim when released in April 1992,<ref name="Orch99">{{cite magazine|last1=Swenson|first1=Kyle|title=Orchestral XTC|date=April 1999|magazine=[[Guitar Player]]}}</ref><ref name="O&LQuietus">{{cite web|last1=Reed|first1=Nick|title=25 Years On: XTC's Oranges & Lemons Revisited|url=http://thequietus.com/articles/14404-xtc-oranges-and-lemons|website=The Quietus|access-date=25 September 2017|date=11 February 2014}}</ref> and like ''Oranges & Lemons'', peaked at number 28 in the UK, becoming their second consecutive and final Top 40 album.<ref name="OCC" /> ''Rolling Stone''{{'}}s [[Michael Azerrad]] reviewed: "Emphasizing wonder and wit in opposition to the rage of most [[college rock]], XTC makes alternative music for people who don't like '[[Alternative rock|alternative music]]'."<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/artists/xtc/albums/album/174538/rid/5943455/ |title=XTC: ''Nonsuch'' |magazine=Rolling Stone |date=28 May 1992 |access-date=18 June 2011 |last=Azerrad |first=Michael |author-link=Michael Azerrad |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070817201411/http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/xtc/albums/album/174538/review/5943455 |archive-date=17 August 2007}}</ref> Lead single "[[The Disappointed]]" reached number 33 in the UK<ref name="OCC">{{cite web|title=XTC|url=http://www.officialcharts.com/artist/17667/xtc/|website=Official Charts|access-date=25 September 2017}}</ref> and was nominated for an [[Ivor Novello Awards|Ivor Novello Award]].{{sfn|Rachel|2014|p=203}} Its follow-up "[[The Ballad of Peter Pumpkinhead]]" reached number 71.<ref name="OCC" /> "[[Wrapped in Grey]]" was intended as the third single, and about 5,000 copies were pressed before being withdrawn from sale. Partridge remembered thinking, "that's it, they've suffocated one of our kids in the cot, they've murdered the album, basically through ignorance."<ref name="Mojo1999" /> In 1993, the album was nominated for a [[Grammy Award for Best Alternative Music Album]], but lost to [[Tom Waits]]' ''[[Bone Machine]]''.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=zt4RAAAAIBAJ&pg=4985,6642121&dq|title=One critic handicaps tonight's Grammys|date=23 February 1993|access-date=29 April 2010|newspaper=[[The Gainesville Sun]]|first=Bill|last=DeYoung}}{{Dead link|date=August 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

==1993–present: legal entanglement, return and breakup==

===Strike period===
In 1993, Partridge conceived XTC's next project to be an album of [[bubblegum pop]] songs disguising itself as a retrospective compilation featuring 12 different groups from the early 1970s. The lyrics were also heavily sexual, with song titles such as "Lolly (Suck It and See)" and "Visit to the Doctor". Partridge recalled playing some demos for Virgin agents, and compared their reaction to the "[[Springtime for Hitler]]" scene from the 1967 film ''[[The Producers (1967 film)|The Producers]]''. The label rejected his idea.<ref name="Dom2000" /> Virgin denied Partridge's requests to renegotiate or revoke XTC's contract.<ref name="Mojo1999" /> Paul Kinder believed that the label and the group were "poles apart" and that "the contract was so old it got to the point where Andy wanted the moon and Virgin weren't prepared to give it him."<ref name="Mojo1999" />

Whatever new music the band recorded would have been automatically owned by Virgin, and so the band enacted [[strike action]] against the label.<ref name="Dom2000" /> [[Prince (musician)|Prince]] and [[George Michael]] also went on a strike against their respective labels that was heavily publicized at about the same time. XTC's strike, however, received little press.<ref name="Sailed2006" /><ref>{{cite web|url =https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/4707495/And-the-band-did-not-play-on.html|archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20160226074010/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/4707495/And-the-band-did-not-play-on.html|url-status =dead|archive-date =26 February 2016|title =And the band did not play on|website =The Daily Telegraph|location=London|first =David|last =Gritten|date =8 February 1997}}</ref> In the meantime, Partridge produced [[Martin Newell (musician)|Martin Newell]]'s 1993 album ''[[The Greatest Living Englishman]]''<ref>{{cite web|last1=Unterberger|first1=Richie|author-link1=Richie Unterberger|title=The Greatest Living Englishman|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/the-greatest-living-englishman-mw0000535804|publisher=AllMusic|access-date=20 September 2017}}</ref> and early sessions for [[Blur (band)|Blur's]] [[Modern Life Is Rubbish|second album]]. "I thought I did sterling work. ... Next day, <nowiki>[</nowiki>[[David Balfe]] from [[the Teardrop Explodes]] said], 'Quite frankly, Andy, this is shit.{{'"}}<ref name="Mojo1999" /> Other complications arose; he developed some health issues, and his wife divorced him.<ref name="Mojo1999" />

In 1997 (also reported as in late 1994<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Bookman |first1=Dave |title=Virgins No More |journal=Eye Weekly|date=15 December 1994 |quote=After a 17-year association, pop perfectionists XTC have ended their relationship with Virgin Records.}}</ref>), XTC found themselves freed from financial debt and from Virgin after "making some heavy concessions". Partridge fantasised that people from the label "met in the dark and thought, 'These blokes are not making a living. We've had 'em all these years and we've got their catalogue and the copyright to their songs for evermore and we've stitched 'em up real good with a rotten deal so, erm, maybe we should let them go.' I like to think that it was a guilt thing."<ref name="Mojo1999" /> One of the group's first new recordings since the strike was released for the tribute album ''[[A Testimonial Dinner: The Songs of XTC]]'' (1995).<ref name="OBrian1998"/> "The Good Things", a Moulding song originally demoed for ''Oranges & Lemons'',<ref name="Contrast1990" /> was credited under the pseudonym Terry and the Lovemen.<ref name="OBrian1998">{{cite web|last1=O'Brien|first1=Karen|title=Quintessential Englishman Andy Partridge, front man of Eighties band, XTC, talks to Karen O'Brien about rebirth, recording contracts and the value of hindsight|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/interview-andy-partridge-andys-plans-work-out-but-theres-no-room-for-nigel-1196333.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220507/https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/interview-andy-partridge-andys-plans-work-out-but-theres-no-room-for-nigel-1196333.html |archive-date=7 May 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|website=The Independent|access-date=25 September 2017|date=5 September 1998}}{{cbignore}}</ref> In 1998, ''Song Stories'', an authorized overview of the band's catalog by journalist and longtime friend [[Neville Farmer]] was published. Partridge said the book was badly edited and "used the crappiest quotes".<ref name="Dom2000" />

===''Apple Venus'' and ''Wasp Star''===
{{Quote box
| quote = For the orchestral ''[[Apple Venus]]'', the budget allowed a day of recording at Abbey Road [with] a 40-piece band [that failed to] match the mathematical precision of [the arrangements] [...] The [recordings had to be sampled], cut and pasted together to achieve the "[[Vaughan Williams]] with a hard-on" sound required.
| source = —Paul Morrish of ''[[The Independent]]'', 1999<ref name="Morrish1999">{{cite news|last1=Morrish|first1=John|title=Arts: The agony and the XTC|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/arts-the-agony-and-the-xtc-1071947.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220507/https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/arts-the-agony-and-the-xtc-1071947.html |archive-date=7 May 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|newspaper=[[The Independent]]|location=London|date=20 February 1999}}{{cbignore}}</ref> 
| align = right
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}}

By late 1997, Partridge and Moulding had amassed a large stockpile of material.<ref name="muzik2000"/> The former's songs were an elaboration on the more orchestral style he developed with ''Nonsuch'' tracks "Omnibus", "[[Wrapped in Grey]]", and "Rook".<ref name="RB2002"/> Moulding felt that "something a bit different" was appropriate for the band at this juncture, and shared Partridge's desire for a cohesive LP similar to soundtracks such as ''[[My Fair Lady]]'' and "stuff that Burt Bacharach wrote for various [films]".<ref name="muzik2000">{{cite web|last1=Tobin|first1=Alex|title=XTC Interview with Colin Moulding|url=http://www.kindamuzik.net/achtergrond/xtc/xtc/496/|website=Kinda Muzik|date=29 May 2000|access-date=20 September 2017}}</ref> Partridge thought the new songs were "some of the best stuff, if not the best stuff, ever. It's even more intensely passionate than before."<ref name="Mojo1999" />

The group elected to divide the album into two parts: one of rock songs, and the other of orchestral/acoustic songs augmented by a 40-piece symphony.<ref name="Chicago2000" /> They found a label, [[Cooking Vinyl]], and a producer, [[Haydn Bendall]], who had engineered XTC's debut EP back in 1977 and had significant experience in recording orchestras. [[Prairie Prince]], who drummed on ''Skylarking'', returned for the sessions. It soon became apparent that the band did not have the funds to record all the material they had.<ref name="Mojo1999" /> Gregory, Moulding, and Bendall wanted to reduce the project to one disc, but Partridge insisted on spreading it over two LPs.<ref name="Chicago2000" /> It was decided that they release one album with the orchestral portions ("volume 1") and leave the rock songs for its follow-up ("volume 2").<ref name="Mojo1999" /> A session was booked at Abbey Road, but the recording was rushed, lasting one day, and had to be edited over a three-month period.<ref name="Dom2000" />

Gregory quit the band whilst in the middle of sessions due to personal issues and discord with his bandmates.<ref name="Chicago2000" /><!---  Moulding was not present for what he called an "enormous row" between Gregory and Partridge.<ref name="RundgrenRadio-Colin"/> ---> Partridge told journalists that Gregory left because he grew impatient with the recording of the orchestral material and wanted to quickly move on to the second project, which would have consisted of rock songs.<ref name="Chicago2000" /> He attributed Gregory's frustration to diabetic mood swings,<ref name="Mojo1999" /> as did Moulding.<ref>{{cite magazine|last1=Randall|first1=Mac|title=XTC: The Masters Return|magazine=Launch|date=4 March 1999}}</ref> Gregory denied that his leaving pertained to "musical differences", and that it was moreso "personal problems" related to Partridge.<ref name="RundgrenRadio-Gregory"/>

{{Listen
|pos=left
|filename=River of Orchids XTC.ogg
|title="River of Orchids" (1999)
|description= ''[[Apple Venus Volume 1]]'' relied almost entirely on orchestral or acoustic instruments.<ref name="Zupko">{{cite web|last1=Zupko|first1=Sarah|date=1999|title=XTC, Apple Venus Volume 1 / Transistor Blast|url=http://www.popmatters.com/review/xtc-transistor-apple/|website=PopMatters|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110604162328/http://www.popmatters.com/pm/review/xtc-transistor-apple/|archive-date=4 June 2011|url-status=dead}}</ref>
}}

Released in February 1999, ''[[Apple Venus Volume 1]]'' was met with critical acclaim and moderate sales.<ref name="Sailed2006" /> It had minimal promotion.<ref name="Mojo1999" /> Comparing the album to the group's earlier work, ''Pitchfork'' reviewer Zach Hooker wrote: "''Apple Venus'' finds them picking up pretty much where they left off. Or maybe even a little bit before they left off: this record bridges the gap between the ambitiously poppy ''Oranges and Lemons'' and the pastoral ''Skylarking''. ... The music is built on simple phrases, but the relationships between those phrases becomes tremendously complex."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/8835-apple-venus-volume-one/ |title=XTC: ''Apple Venus, Volume One'' |website=Pitchfork.com |date=23 February 1999 |access-date=16 June 2011 |last=Hooker |first=Zach}}</ref> In contrast, the companion album ''[[Wasp Star (Apple Venus Volume 2)]]'' (2000), consisting of more guitar-based material, was assumed as one of the band's "weakest" albums.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Dahlen|first1=Chris|title=Apple Box|url=https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/9231-apple-box/|website=Pitchfork|date=21 July 2006|access-date=20 September 2017}}</ref> Upon release, its British chart peak was higher than ''Volume 1'', at number 40 in the UK,<ref name="OCC" /> while in the US it was lower, at number 108.<ref name="Billboard200" /> Partridge believed that some parts of the album was when "the [artistic] slope started to go down".<ref name="Machine09"/> {{clear left}}

===''Fuzzy Warbles'' and disintegrated partnership===
After ''Wasp Star'', newly recorded XTC material was released sporadically. The four-disc hits and rarities boxed set ''[[Coat of Many Cupboards]]'' (2002) included "Didn't Hurt a Bit", a rerecording of a ''Nonsuch'' outtake. The Dukes of Stratosphear—with Dave and Ian Gregory<ref name="Machine09">{{cite news|author1=Pop Machine|title=Andy Partridge hails the Dukes, buries XTC, chides Robyn Hitchcock and considers himself done|url=http://featuresblogs.chicagotribune.com/entertainment_popmachine/2009/05/the-ever-melodic-adventurous-underappreciated-british-band-xtc-had-just-come-off-1984s-coolly-digital-low-selling-th.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090613014431/http://featuresblogs.chicagotribune.com/entertainment_popmachine/2009/05/the-ever-melodic-adventurous-underappreciated-british-band-xtc-had-just-come-off-1984s-coolly-digital-low-selling-th.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=13 June 2009|newspaper=[[Chicago Tribune]]|date=29 May 2009|quote=PM09}}</ref>—were reunited for the charity single "Open a Can (of Human Beans)" (2003).<ref>{{cite web|last1=Dahlen|first1=Chris|title=25 O'Clock / Psonic Psunspot|url=https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/12893-25-oclock-psonic-psunspot/|website=Pitchfork|date=2 April 2009|access-date=20 September 2017}}</ref> Another set, ''[[Apple Box]]'' (2005), included two new tracks: "Spiral", written by Partridge and "Say It", by Moulding. These songs were available to purchasers of the box set in digital format only, with the use of a special download code. This followed with a digital-exclusive track, Moulding's "Where Did the Ordinary People Go?", released in December 2005.{{citation needed|date=October 2021}}

From 2002 to 2006, Partridge simultaneously released volumes in the multi-album ''[[Fuzzy Warbles]]'' series, a set dedicated to unreleased solo demos and other material.<ref name="DahlenFuzzy"/> Moulding was initially attached to the project, but opted out because "I just wouldn't have found it very inspiring. Maybe a couple of volumes would've been okay, or just one. But he [Andy] wanted to do twelve, which kind of put the wind up me a little bit. We had a bit of an argument about it."<ref name="OF03">{{cite web|author1=wesLONG|title=Didn't Hurt a Bit|url=http://www.optimismsflames.com/Interview1Colin.htm|website=Optimism Flames|date=June 2003|access-date=20 September 2017}}</ref> He felt that such "petty" arguments about XTC's finances precipitated the band's unofficial break-up, as he said in reference to the ''Fuzzy Warbles'' collection, "I got the impression he was going for broke ..."<ref name="mojo2021"/> Partridge said that the impetus for the project was the proliferation of bootleggers who were selling low-quality copies of the material<ref name="Sailed2006" /> and that the ''Fuzzy Warbles'' set earned him more money than XTC's back catalog on Virgin.<ref name="DahlenFuzzy"/> He also did not feel that XTC were a band anymore: "It's more of a brand. It's more [[HP Sauce]] than ever. [Colin and I are] two selfish middle-aged gits who make the music we make."<ref name="Morrish1999" />

{{Quote box
| quote = He [Colin] told me some months back that he's not interested in music anymore, and doesn't want to write, and basically said, "Our paths will cross again or they'll be involved in some way." And then he proceeded to move away from his house.
| source = —Andy Partridge, 2007<ref name="fridge"/>
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In 2006, Partridge recorded an album, ''Monstrance'', with Barry Andrews and drummer Martyn Barker. During one of the sessions, some of his hearing was destroyed following a studio mishap, which caused him to develop severe and permanent [[tinnitus]].<ref>{{cite web|last1=Gallo|first1=Phil|title=XTC's Partridge discusses boxset, Monstrance|url=https://variety.com/2006/music/news/xtc-s-partridge-discusses-boxset-monstrance-1117955044/|website=Variety|date=4 December 2006|access-date=20 September 2017}}</ref> Near the end of the year, he told an interviewer that Moulding recently ("a couple of months back") lost interest in writing, performing or even listening to music. He remained hopeful that the situation was temporary and assured that they had "not killed off the XTC head. I mean, we still have the head cryogenically frozen. ... It's no good making a record and calling it XTC, certainly, if Colin isn't involved."<ref name="Sailed2006">{{cite news|last1=Schabe|first1=Patrick|title=The Man Who Sailed Around His Soul|url=https://www.popmatters.com/the-man-who-sailed-around-his-soul-2495729988.html|website=PopMatters|date=27 October 2006|access-date=20 September 2017}}</ref> In November, he stated that he had been forced to regard the group "in the past tense," with no likelihood of a new project unless Moulding should have a change of heart.<ref>{{cite magazine|title=Countdowns to XTC|magazine=[[Mojo (magazine)|Mojo]]|date=December 2006|page=22}}</ref> Months later, Partridge intimated that Moulding had moved and changed his phone number,<ref name="fridge">{{cite web|last1=Maher|first1=Dave|title=Andy Partridge: XTC "Well and Truly in the Fridge"|url=http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/news/41069/Andy_Partridge_XTC_Well_and_Truly_in_the_Fridge|website=Pitchfork|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090114055305/http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/news/41069/Andy_Partridge_XTC_Well_and_Truly_in_the_Fridge|archive-date=14 January 2009|date=2 February 2007}}</ref> effectively ending all contact between the two and reducing their correspondence to emails exchanged via their manager to discuss the division of the band's assets. Partridge also said he and Gregory—their differences now resolved—had considered working together again.<ref name="RundgrenRadio-Andy">{{cite web|author1=Doug|title=Andy Partridge interview|url=http://www.blogtalkradio.com/runt/2008/02/17/rundgren-radio/|website=Rundgren Radio|access-date=5 January 2018|time=57:00–58:50, 1:45:00–1:46:25 |date=17 February 2008|type=Audio}}</ref>

{{Quote box
| quote = There was no official announcement that we'd finished. I just got wind that Andy didn't really want to make another record, but he didn't tell me and maybe he didn't know himself. ... I just think we were two old men who didn't really talk much.
| source = —Colin Moulding, 2018<ref>{{cite web|last1=Catchpole|first1=Matt|title=MAKING PLANS – XTC's Colin Moulding And Terry Chambers Ponder Live Shows After DIY Great Aspirations EP|url=https://essentiallypop.com/epop/2018/02/making-plans-xtcs-colin-moulding-and-terry-chambers-ponder-live-shows-after-diy-great-aspirations-ep/|website=Essentially Pop|date=22 February 2018|access-date=20 September 2017}}</ref>
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In July 2008, Partridge wrote in the ''[[Swindon Advertiser]]'' that he believed his "musical partnership with Colin Moulding has come to an end. For reasons too personal and varied to go into here, but we had a good run as they say and produced some real good work. No, I won't be working with him in the future."<ref>{{cite web | title = What's happening with Colin? | author = Andy Partridge | url = http://www.swindonadvertiser.co.uk/leisure/music/andysanswers/3558640.What_s_happening_with_Colin_/ | publisher = The Swindon Advertiser | date = 30 July 2008 | access-date = 12 October 2008 | author-link = Andy Partridge | url-status=dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110929104107/http://www.swindonadvertiser.co.uk/leisure/music/andysanswers/3558640.What_s_happening_with_Colin_/ | archive-date = 29 September 2011 }}</ref> In December, Moulding resurfaced for a live radio interview where he confirmed his recent disillusionment with music, but revealed that he was thinking of working on solo material. His given reasons for the break-up were financial discord, disagreement over the extent of the ''Fuzzy Warbles'' project, and a "change in mindset" between him and Partridge. He also stated that he and Partridge were once again communicating directly by email.<ref name="RundgrenRadio-Colin">{{cite web|author=Dave|url=http://www.blogtalkradio.com/runt/2008/12/07/Rundgren-Radio|title=Interview of Colin Moulding|website=Rundgren Radio|date=7 December 2008|access-date=9 December 2008|type=Audio|time=12:24–16:00|archive-date=25 February 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090225073541/http://www.blogtalkradio.com/runt/2008/12/07/Rundgren-Radio|url-status=dead}}</ref>

===Reissue programme and TC&I ===
XTC did not technically break up in a legal sense. As of 2014, the group still existed as a trademark controlled by Partridge and Moulding.<ref>{{cite tweet|user=xtcfans|last=Partridge|first=Andy|author-link=Andy Partridge|number=501119551971815424|date=17 August 2014|title=THE CORRECTOR- XTC has never split,legally it still exists,as Colin and myself}}</ref> Throughout the 2010s, selected albums from the band's catalog were reissued as deluxe packages centred on new stereo and [[surround sound]] mixes by [[Steven Wilson]].<ref name="teamrock16">{{cite web|last1=Hughes|first1=Rob|title=Andy Partridge: The Big Interview|url=http://teamrock.com/feature/2016-08-18/andy-partridge-discusses-the-pitfalls-of-fame-in-the-prog-interview|website=Team Rock|date=18 August 2016|access-date=20 September 2017}}</ref> Partridge said that he did not "insist on any mastering or messing with XTC 5.1" and that his involvement with Wilson's mixes goes only as far as authorizing them.<ref>{{cite tweet|user=xtcfans|last=Partridge|first=Andy|author-link=Andy Partridge|number=944611842193838080|date=23 December 2017|title=Sadly, I have to be the CHRISTMAS CORRECTOR.-I do not add or insist on any mastering or messing with XTC 5.1 as people are saying on 5.1 fora. They are not later 'mastered' either. Steven just mixes them and I let him.That's it. Be cool yulesters.}}</ref> The official XTC [[Twitter]] account @xtcfans was originally managed by writer Todd Bernhardt. According to Partridge, after some time, "I sort of took it over, because I thought it was weird that there was another person in the way." In 2016, Partridge and Bernhardt released a book, ''Complicated Game: Inside the Songs of XTC'', that contains discussions between the two about 29 XTC songs, one Partridge solo track, and an overview of his approach to songwriting. It was published by Jawbone Press.<ref name="Zaleski2016">{{cite web |last1=Zaleski |first1=Annie |title="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 |url=http://www.salon.com/2016/03/20/music_is_so_abused_these_days_xtcs_andy_partridge_opens_up_about_songwriting_painting_and_developing_the_cruel_parent_gene_toward_your_own_art/ |website=[[Salon magazine|Salon]] |date=20 March 2016|access-date=20 September 2017}}</ref>

Until 2016, Moulding remained largely inactive as a musician. In October 2017, he and Terry Chambers issued a four-song EP, ''[[Great Aspirations]]'' (credited to "TC&I").<ref name="TCI2017">{{cite magazine|last1=Ham|first1=Robert|title=Colin Moulding on Reteaming With Terry Chambers for 'DIY' New Project & Possibility of XTC Reunion|url=https://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/rock/8046313/colin-moulding-xtc-tci-interview|magazine=Billboard|date=26 November 2017|access-date=20 September 2017}}</ref> Its release coincided with a televised documentary film of the band's career, ''[[XTC: This Is Pop]]'', which premiered on Sky Arts on 7 October.<ref>{{cite tweet|user=xtcfans|last=Partridge|first=Andy|author-link=Andy Partridge|number=903314641497063424|date=31 August 2017|title=XTC TV doc THIS IS POP will be broadcast on Sky Arts on Saturday Oct. 7th at 9pm GMT. Date for your diary.}}</ref> The documentary featured new interviews with Partridge, Gregory, Moulding and Chambers.<ref>{{cite tweet|user=xtcfans|last=Partridge|first=Andy|author-link=Andy Partridge|number=807296972675760129|date=9 December 2016|title=@SongIsKing Being made now.Interviews with all band,bar Barry, HOPE HOPE it's going to be good.Same fella did 10cc one, see that?}}</ref> Moulding praised the film and commented on the possibility of a full-fledged XTC reunion: "They say never say never, don't they? It would seem unlikely, put it that way."<ref name="TCI2017"/> As of January 2018, Partridge maintained that the group would "not be recording together again."<ref>{{cite tweet|user=xtcfans|last=Partridge|first=Andy|author-link=Andy Partridge|number=952303691637370882|date=13 January 2018|title=I've been away for a bit, back now, to try and answer all your questions...there is no XTC these days, we will not be recording together again. Ummm....is that all?}}</ref> From 29 October to 1 November, TC&I performed four sold-out shows at Swindon's Art's Centre, in Old Town. It was the first time Moulding and Chambers had played a live gig in decades.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Peacock |first1=Tim |title=XTC's Colin Moulding And Terry Chambers Announce First Live Gigs Since 1982 |url=https://www.udiscovermusic.com/news/xtc-colin-moulding-terry-chambers-gigs/ |website=Udiscovermusic.com |access-date=31 October 2018 |date=31 July 2018}}</ref>

In 2021, Moulding told ''Mojo'' that he and Partridge had recently become on good terms with each other. "[Andy and I] didn't speak for a long time, except about business, and then it was quite terse. But we're quite cordial with each other now, it's probably as good as it's been for quite some time. Would we do XTC again? (''laughs'') I don't think we would, because I'm not sure whether I could put up with his dictatorial ways any more, or whether he could put up with me."<ref name="mojo2021">Mojo 2021 issue{{full citation needed|date=October 2021}}</ref>

On 13 April 2024, it was announced that original keyboardist Jon Perkins had died at the age of 66.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Ponting |first1=Noel |title=Tributes paid to XTC's first keyboardist Jonathan Perkins |url=https://www.swindonadvertiser.co.uk/leisure/24345492.tributes-paid-xtcs-first-keyboardist-jonathan-perkins/ |access-date=29 May 2024 |publisher=Swindon Advertiser |date=29 May 2024}}</ref>

==Musical style and development==

===Group dynamic===

====Partridge and Moulding====
{{Quote box
| quote = Andy had a sort of unwritten rule that everything we did had to be completely original ... any [[rockism|rock clichés]], any imitation of our fashionable peers meant the part—and in some cases the song—would be dumped!
| source = —Dave Gregory, 2007<ref name="Filter2007"/><ref>{{cite tweet |user=xtcfans |last=Partridge |first=Andy |author-link=Andy Partridge |date=29 January 2019|number=1090266549489811456|title=WC- Misquote, "Andy had a sort of unwritten rule that everything we did had to be completely original; any hint of chop-ism, any rock clichés,..." I think Dave said 'ROCKISM', not chop-ism.}}</ref>
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XTC's principal songwriters were guitarist Andy Partridge and bassist Colin Moulding. Partridge, who wrote the majority of XTC's songs, was the group's frontman and de facto leader. He drove the band's image, designed many of their record sleeves, and handled most of their interviews.<ref name="Word04">{{cite magazine|last1=Paphides |first1=Peter |title=Senses Working Overtime |url=http://chalkhills.org/articles/Word200404.html |website=Word |date=April 2004|issue=14}}</ref>{{refn|group=nb|He described himself as the band's "battery"<ref name="Word04"/> and expressed resentment "that the other three, inevitably, would go off sightseeing while muggins here would be needed for radio, TV and magazine interviews."<ref name="teamrock16" /> Moulding said he was "happy for him to do the talking."<ref name="Moulding00">{{cite web |last1=Bernhardt |first1=Todd |title=Working from the Inside: A conversation with Colin Moulding |url=http://chalkhills.org/articles/TBColin20000523.html |website=Chalkihlls |access-date=24 August 2019 |date=23 May 2000}}</ref>}} His involvement with XTC's record sleeves stemmed from his disappointment with the sleeve for the "Statue of Liberty" single, which depicted a poorly cropped photo of the statue and the XTC logo in red.{{sfn|Farmer|1998|p=88}} He was less successful in his attempts to involve himself in the band's music videos, as he said, the woman in charge of Virgin's video department rebuked all his ideas, some of which other groups later adopted in award-winning videos.{{sfn|Partridge|Bernhardt|2016}}

Partridge and Moulding did not write together. Of their partnership, Moulding stated in 1992: "There's a lot of freedom to do what each of us likes with the other's songs, however. ... Each person puts his little prints on them."<ref name="brenda"/> They did collaborate on arrangements, with "horn lines and harmonies, that sort of thing."<ref name="OF03"/> He also lent praise to Partridge as "a real ideas man, and I love good ideas. It's not hard contributing bass parts when you have such good songs to contribute to."<ref name="brenda"/>{{refn|group=nb|Occasionally, Partridge also took to recording the bass parts, such as on Moulding's "What in the World??..." and "Vanishing Girl",<ref>{{cite web|last1=Bernhardt|first1=Todd|title=Andy discusses 'Mayor of Simpleton'|url=http://chalkhills.org/articles/XTCFans20070107.html|website=Chalkhills|date=7 January 2007|access-date=20 September 2017}}</ref> however, it was out of necessity in those cases due to recording logistics.<ref>{{cite tweet |user=xtcfans |last=Partridge |first=Andy |author-link=Andy Partridge |date=29 January 2019|number=1090265166019682311|title=WC-"Partridge even took to recording the bass parts himself, such as on Moulding's "What in the World??..." and "Vanishing Girl" Purely out of necessity, as Colin was playing rhythm guitar and the Dukes cut as live as they could. Not megalomania.}}</ref>}}

Discussing Moulding's songs, Partridge said that few were included on XTC albums because Moulding was not a prolific writer.<ref name="RundgrenRadio-Andy"/> Gregory said that all of Moulding's proposed songs would be recorded to preserve democracy in the band, and "occasionally at the expense of some of Andy's often superior offerings. This didn't always go down well, either with Andy or the band, but Colin did have some killer melodies and a sweeter sound to his voice that made a welcome diversion when listening to an album as a whole."<ref name="Filter2007"/> Partridge opined that Moulding's songs initially "came out as weird imitations of what I was doing", but by the time of ''Drums and Wires'', "he really started to take off as a songwriter."<ref name="Contrast1990" /> He was more effused with Moulding's offerings for ''Skylarking'', which included the highest ratio of Moulding songs for any XTC album.{{sfn|Myers|2010|p=258}}  On Moulding's bass-playing, Partridge praised his "old-fashioned" tendency to match notes to the bass drum.<ref name="oversight"/>

In ''Song Stories'', Neville Farmer comments that Partridge "is the boss—erratic but willful [and] runs the band on instinct", while Moulding "is the voice of calm ... a foil to Andy's radical side."{{sfn|Farmer|1998|p=309}} Music journalist Peter Paphides felt that the songwriters' personalities "couldn't seem more different," with Moulding "phlegmatic, shy, and heartbreakingly pretty" and Partridge an "art-school dropout ... uptight, dominating and extrovert."<ref name="Word04" /> In Moulding's view, Partridge also typically acted as an "executive producer" for albums while frequently undermining the authority of the actual credited producer.{{sfn|Myers|2010|p=255}}{{refn|group=nb|Partridge commented: "There's a lot of, 'Andy must be awful in the studio' [written on the Internet]. I'm not, I'm mister fucking nice!"<ref name="teamrock16" /> He said that the only producers he ever had trouble with were Todd Rundgren on ''Skylarking'' and Gus Dudgeon on ''Nonsuch''.<ref name="RundgrenRadio-Andy" />}}  Their recording approaches differed in that Moulding sometimes preferred spontaneous or imperfect performances, whereas Partridge working method was to refine a song through repeated [[take]]s.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Bernhardt |first1=Todd |last2=Moulding |first2=Colin |author-link2=Colin Moulding|title=Colin discusses 'The Meeting Place' |url=http://chalkhills.org/articles/XTCFans20090125.html |website=Chalkhills |date=26 January 2009}}</ref> The band occasionally took to the term "Andy-ness" to describe Partridge's studio indulgences.{{sfn|Twomey|1992|p=162}}{{refn|group=nb|Partridge thought of the band's producers as "a funnel through which I can talk to other members of the band ... They'll accept it coming from another person, but they won't accept it from a contemporary."<ref name="Chicago2000" /> }}  Despite this, they rarely found themselves encumbered by serious creative differences. In 1997, Moulding called one dispute over a ''Skylarking'' bass part the "only real argument" between him and Partridge in the band's history.{{sfn|Farmer|1998|p=194}}

====Andrews, Gregory and drummers====

Barry Andrews, XTC's keyboard player for their first two albums, emerged as a third solo songwriter on the group's second album ''Go 2'', and left the band shortly thereafter.<ref name="Mojo1999" /> His replacement, guitarist Dave Gregory, did not contribute songs, but was the only one in the band who could [[full score|score]] music, and frequently contributed orchestral arrangements.{{sfn|Farmer|1998|p=61}} Moulding said that when Andrews was in the band, Partridge had "no kind of foil" to work with, as both musicians were drawn to dissonant harmonies: "[Andy] 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 ... So when Dave came in, and was a much straighter player, it seemed to make more sense, I think."<ref name="LBAT09"/> Starting in 1982, Gregory extended his talents to keyboards as well,<ref name="Mojo1999" /> since Partridge and Moulding were not adept with the instrument.{{sfn|Farmer|1998|p=309}}

Gregory never presented a completed idea for a song to the band partly because he felt intimidated by Partridge's scrutiny.{{sfn|Farmer|1998|p=309}}{{refn|group=nb|During the sessions for ''Drums and Wires'' or ''Black Sea'', Gregory did present an original song, but it was rejected on the grounds that it was too derivative of [[Steely Dan]].<ref>{{cite tweet |user=xtcfans |last=Partridge |first=Andy |author-link=Andy Partridge |date=29 January 2019|number=1090264471774232581|title=WC-Re Dave songwriting, "He never presented a completed idea for a song to the band, partly because he felt intimidated by Partridge's scrutiny." He did bring up a song, either at DRUMS or SEA sessions. The rest of the band thought it too derivative of Steely Dan,so didn't pursue}}</ref>}} Since he "couldn't continue grinding out old blues clichés and [[power chord]]s," he decided to "think more in terms of the songs as the masters and the instruments as the servants."<ref name="Filter2007" /> Discussing Gregory's contributions to the group, Farmer writes of "a precision and correctness that carries through from his prerehearsal of guitar solos to ... his encyclopedic knowledge of guitars and who-played-what-on-which-instrument-with-which-amplifier-in-which-studio-on-which-record-under-the-influence-of-what-star-sign-or-guru-or-drug."{{sfn|Farmer|1998|p=309}}

Terry Chambers was the band's original drummer. He was described by Partridge as "the [drummer] that's been the most primitive, but probably the most thrilling for inventiveness, because he would blunder into [different ideas]."<ref name="oversight">{{cite web |last1=Bernhardt |first1=Todd |title=Andy Partridge: Providing XTC's Rhythmic Oversight |url=http://chalkhills.org/articles/TBAndy19980517.html |website=Chalkhills |access-date=25 August 2019 |date=17 May 1998}}</ref> One of his characteristic techniques was the use of [[cymbal choke|hi-hat chokes]].<ref name="LBAT09" /> After he left in 1983, the group employed a succession of session drummers for their studio recordings.<ref name="brenda"/> This included [[Pete Phipps]] (''Mummer'' and ''The Big Express''), [[Prairie Prince]] (''Skylarking'' and ''Apple Venus''), [[Pat Mastelotto]] (''Oranges & Lemons''), and [[Dave Mattacks]] (''Nonsuch'').{{sfn|Farmer|1998}} [[Drum machine]]s also began to be incorporated into the group's sound.<ref name="oversight"/> None of the studio drummers were accepted as official members of the band. Partridge explained that this was because the group did not tour and because "There's lots of local, interpersonal language that means nothing to anybody outside the band and is very difficult to bring people into."<ref name="George83"/>

===Genres and influences===
{{Quote box
| quote = I'd like to be considered in the tradition of bands like [[the Kinks]] and [[Small Faces]], when bands weren't quite naive, but they had a sort of group feeling about them and were gently [[experimental pop|experimental]] and [[psychedelic pop|psychedelic]] within pop song formats.
| source = —Andy Partridge, 1981<ref name="Trakin1981"/>
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In the mid 1970s, XTC played in London punk scenes and were consistent with music of the new wave, albeit with a heavy [[ska]] influence.<ref name="Singer02">{{cite news|last1=Singer|first1=Barry|title=MUSIC; Adventurous Punk of a Troubled Past|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2002/06/09/arts/music-adventurous-punk-of-a-troubled-past.html|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|date=9 June 2002}}</ref> Partridge felt that their music was pop from the beginning, not punk or new wave as is often suggested, and that the terms in themselves are redundant of "pop".{{sfn|Partridge|Bernhardt|2016}} As they became more of a studio band, their material grew progressively more complex.{{sfn|Myers|2010|p=255}} Later, XTC were sometimes suggested as being a [[progressive rock|prog]] band.<ref name="heavyload"/> Partridge did not feel the band were prog<ref name="heavyload">{{cite web |last1=Fortnam |first1=Ian |title=Heavy Load: Andy Partridge |url=https://www.loudersound.com/features/heavy-load-andy-partridge |website=[[Louder Sound]] |access-date=17 November 2018 |date=19 February 2016}}</ref> and expressed hesitancy with the word "[[progressive music|progressive]]", saying that he preferred to call the band "exploratory pop" in the same vein as the Beatles or the Kinks.<ref name="spex"/> In his words, "Prog is just longer pop songs."<ref name="teamrock16"/>

[[File:New York Dolls - TopPop 1973 11.png|thumb|upright|left|XTC initially modeled themselves after [[New York Dolls]] (pictured 1973).]]

The band's early influences included [[disco]], dub reggae, [[music hall]], the Beatles, Free, the Kinks, Captain Beefheart, [[the Stooges]], the New York Dolls, [[Cockney Rebel]], Motown, [[Can (band)|Can]], [[David Bowie]], [[the Groundhogs]], [[Black Sabbath]],{{sfn|Farmer|1998|p=7}} and the organ-dominated records of [[Johnny and the Hurricanes]].<ref>{{cite tweet |user=xtcfans |last=Partridge |first=Andy |author-link=Andy Partridge |date=29 January 2019|number=1090266021171056640 |title=WC-"The band's early influences included disco, dub reggae, circus tunes," What? Circus fucking tunes? What are they? Someone's twisted up the organ dominated 45's by Johnny and the Hurricanes, frequently played at fairgrounds in the late 1950s/early 1960s. A sound I liked.}}</ref> The New York Dolls' single "[[Jet Boy]]" was a particular favorite for XTC.<ref name="RundgrenRadio-Colin"/> Partridge denied in 2019 that [[the Velvet Underground]] were an influence,<ref>{{cite tweet |user=xtcfans |last=Partridge |first=Andy |author-link=Andy Partridge |date=29 January 2019|number=1090266742440349696|title=WC-Vervet Underground were NOT an influence on XTC.}}</ref> but in 1984 expressed a fondness for "things with pounding piano, everything from Velvet Underground's '[[I'm Waiting for My Man]]', to things that people like the Beatles or [[the Rolling Stones]] did at any time I just love banana-fingers piano."<ref name="OneTwo">{{cite journal |last1=Gregory |first1=Dave |last2=Moulding |first2=Colin |last3=Partridge |first3=Andy |author-link1=Dave Gregory (musician) |author-link2=Colin Moulding |author-link3=Andy Partridge |title=Recording The Big Express |journal=One Two Testing |date=November 1984 |issue=16 |url=http://chalkhills.org/articles/OneTwoTesting198411.html}}</ref> Moreso than Partridge, Moulding was fond of [[heavy metal music|heavy metal]] groups such as Black Sabbath and [[Uriah Heep (band)|Uriah Heep]],<ref name="CH25" /> as well as Deep Purple, [[Cream (band)|Cream]], and Free.<ref name="spin89">{{cite journal |last1=Passantino |first1=Rosemary |title=XTC at Last |journal=[[Spin (magazine)|Spin]] |date=April 1989 |volume=5 |issue=1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=h-bxxO5B-xsC&pg=PA92 |issn=0886-3032}}</ref>

XTC were not initially public with their influences due to the punk scene's anathema toward stating one's influences.{{sfn|Farmer|1998|p=7}} ''Pitchfork'' writer Chris Dahlen characterised the band's original sound as punk meets "[[Buddy Holly]]-on-amphetamines ... danceable enough for the crowds at the clubs, and suspiciously poppy thanks to the catchy hooks and their trademark verse-chorus-verse-chorus-''explode'' pattern."<ref>{{cite web|last1=Dahlen|first1=Chris|title=Go 2 / English Settlement / Black Sea|url=https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/8833-go-2-black-sea-english-settlement/|website=Pitchfork.com|date=9 July 2002|access-date=20 September 2017}}</ref> Partridge said that he adopted a vocal style out of "fear that we weren't going to make another record ... and people weren't going to be left with any impression of the singer". He described it as a "walrus" or "seal bark" that amalgamated Buddy Holly's "hiccup", [[Elvis Presley]]'s vibrato, and "the howled mannerisms of [[Steve Harley]]."{{sfn|Farmer|1998|p=22}}  In reference to the energy of the band's performances (which drew comparisons with [[Talking Heads]]{{sfn|DeRogatis|2003|p=341}}), Partridge remembered how they "used to fucking kill ourselves. I think it was fear. It was fear manifested in ludicrously high energy music. It was like 1000% whaaahh! All of the songs were run together and it was really uptempo stuff."<ref name="Contrast1990" /> According to Moulding, "any kinship [XTC had] with punk" was gone after 1979's [[Motown]]-influenced "Life Begins at the Hop".{{sfn|Farmer|1998|p=68}}

Of his guitar technique, Partridge said that it evolved from his desire to be a drummer, to "chop and slash and try to work between what the drums were doing, a) so I could be heard, and b) because I liked the funk and I liked working the holes that the drums left."<ref name="oversight"/> He was particularly influenced by [[John French (musician)|John French]], the drummer for Captain Beefheart's Magic Band, although he disliked that the drummer's [[groove (music)|groove]] would change every few bars.<ref name="oversight"/> Gregory attributed XTC's unorthodox drum patterns to Partridge's affinity for dub and reggae; "He's got a great innate sense of rhythm. He'll say 'No, don't put that beat there, why don't you come down on 3 instead of 2 on this part here?' ... He never put [cymbal crashes] where you'd expect to find them."<ref name="RundgrenRadio-Gregory">{{cite web|author=Dave|url=http://www.blogtalkradio.com/runt/2008/03/09/rundgren-radio|title=Interview of Dave Gregory|website=Rundgren Radio|date=9 March 2008|access-date=14 January 2018|type=Audio|time=19:32–26:00}}</ref> Producer [[Chris Hughes (musician)|Chris Hughes]] likened the band's fashion of playing guitar to an automated [[music sequencer]].<ref name="Filter2007"/>

{{Listen
|pos=right
|filename=Wrapped in Grey.ogg
|title="Wrapped in Grey" (1992)
|description= "Wrapped in Grey" was one of numerous XTC songs influenced by the Beach Boys.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Bernhardt|first1=Todd|title=Andy discusses 'Wrapped in Grey'|url=http://chalkhills.org/articles/XTCFans20070318.html|website=Chalkhills|access-date=25 September 2017|date=18 March 2017}}</ref>{{refn|group=nb|Other songs inspired by the Beach Boys included "Season Cycle", "Chalkhills and Children", "Humble Daisy", and "Books Are Burning".{{sfn|Farmer|1998|pp=198, 249, 265, 274}}}}
}}

Over the next few years, XTC began showcasing their vintage psychedelic influences through the use of [[Mellotron]] and backwards tape recordings on the albums ''Mummer'' and ''The Big Express''.<ref name="CH25">{{cite web|last1=Bernhardt|first1=Todd|last2=Partridge|first2=Andy|author-link2=Andy Partridge|title=Sir John Johns discusses "25 O'Clock" |url=http://chalkhills.org/articles/XTCFans20090412.html |website=Chalkhills |date=12 April 2009|access-date=20 September 2017}}</ref> In 1987, he acknowledged that the group had "really changed personality. We didn't notice it bit by bit but over 10 years, suddenly it seems, wow, we're different."<ref>{{cite news|last1=Pareles |first1=Jon |title=The Pop Life|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1987/07/15/arts/the-pop-life-380387.html|access-date=18 January 2018|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|date=18 July 1987}}</ref>

[[The Beach Boys]]' 1968 rendition of "[[Bluebirds Over the Mountain]]" was one of the first records Partridge bought with his own money.<ref name="Contrast1990" /> Although it is widely assumed that the Beach Boys influenced XTC throughout their career,<ref name="spirited">{{cite magazine|last1=Houghton|first1=Mick|title=Spirited away|magazine=[[Uncut (magazine)|Uncut]]|page=116|date=April 1995}}</ref> Partridge stated that he was originally only familiar with singles such as "[[I Get Around]]" (1964) and "[[Good Vibrations]]" (1967) which were an enormous influence for him.<ref name="Contrast1990" /> It was not until 1986 that he discovered that the Beach Boys had an album career, when he first heard ''[[Smiley Smile]]'' (1967) in its entirety.<ref name="Contrast1990" /> Moulding credited the arrival of Dave Gregory with reviving Partridge's interest in 1960s bands like the Kinks.{{sfn|Farmer|1998|p=95}} However, Partridge similarly only knew of the Kinks through the group's 1960s singles, and did not listen to any of their albums until the late 1980s.<ref name="TrainPar"/> Partridge also claimed that "the Beatles were the farthest thing from my mind" until 1982; at another time he stated that the opening F chord on XTC's 1978 single "This Is Pop" was directly based on the opening chord from the Beatles' "[[A Hard Day's Night (song)|A Hard Day's Night]]" (1964).{{sfn|Partridge|Bernhardt|2016}}{{refn|group=nb|Of the Beatles' influence, Partridge also drew comparisons to his "No Language in Our Lungs", "Senses Working Overtime", "You're the Wish You Are I Had", "The Mole from the Ministry", and "Here Comes President Kill Again".{{sfn|Farmer|1998|pp=99, 119, 172, 217, 242}}  The night after John Lennon was [[Murder of John Lennon|killed]], XTC played a gig at Liverpool, where they performed both "Towers of London" and "[[Rain (The Beatles song)|Rain]]" in tribute to the Beatle.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Bernhardt|first1=Todd|title=Andy and Dave discuss 'Towers of London'|url=http://chalkhills.org/articles/XTCFans20071209.html|website=Chalkhills|date=16 December 2007|access-date=20 September 2017}}</ref>}}

Discussing the recording of the ''Mummer'' track "Ladybird", Partridge recalled that he told producer Steve Nye that he was afraid people would think he was copying the Beatles, to which Nye's response was "Who gives a fuck?" Partridge said that "from that moment onward, I started to recognise that those songwriters—the [[Ray Davies]]es, the [[John Lennon|Lennons]] and McCartneys, the [[Brian Wilson]]s—had gone into my head really deeply.{{sfn|Partridge|Bernhardt|2016}} He later considered "Rook" (1992), "[[Wrapped in Grey]]" (1992) and "[[Easter Theatre]]" (1999) to be the "perfect songs" of his career, feeling that he had "exorcized a lot of those kind of Lennon-and-McCartney, Bacharach-and-David, Brian Wilson type ghosts out of my system by doing all that."<ref>{{cite web|last1=Bernhardt|first1=Todd|title=Andy answers fans' questions about guitar playing and players – Part I|url=http://chalkhills.org/articles/XTCFans20100627.html|website=Chalkhills|date=27 June 2010|access-date=20 September 2017}}</ref> Reportedly, when Brian Wilson was played the Dukes' "Pale and Precious", a pastiche of the Beach Boys, he thought it was styled after [[Paul McCartney]].<ref>{{citation |last1=Price|first1=Jim|title=Jim Price speaks to Andy Partridge [radio interview]|work=[[WFMU]]|date=29 June 1991}}</ref>

==Lyricism and English culture==
{{Quote box
| quote =Among the scores of songs Partridge wrote for XTC are perfect examples of a very English genre: rock music uprooted from the glamour and dazzle of the city, and recast as the soundtrack to life in suburbs, small towns, and the kind of places – like Swindon – that may be more sizeable, but are still held up as bywords for broken hopes and limited horizons.
| source = —[[John Harris (critic)|John Harris]], 2010<ref name="Harris2010">{{cite news|last1=Harris|first1=John|author-link1=John Harris (critic)|title=The sound of the suburbs and literary tradition|url=https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2010/apr/03/suburbia-pop-betjeman-john-harris|newspaper=[[The Guardian]]|location=London|date=2 April 2010}}</ref>
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XTC are noted for their "Englishness". Partridge denied that this was conscious on his part: "I don't try to be English. I guess because I am English, it comes out English. But I don't sit down and think, "Cor blimey, can I put a union jack and a beefeater's outfit on, Mary?"<ref name="Lyrical">{{cite web |last1=Bernhardt |first1=Todd |last2=Partridge |first2=Andy |title=The Lyrical Andy Partridge |url=http://chalkhills.org/articles/XTCFans20060324.html |website=Chalkhills |access-date=18 October 2018 |date=24 March 2006}}</ref> British music critic [[John Harris (critic)|John Harris]] identified Partridge's XTC compositions as within the same "lineage" of small town English songwriting invented by Ray Davies of the Kinks, and followed by [[the Jam]], [[the Specials]], "scores of half-forgotten punk and new wave bands," [[the Smiths]] and mid 1990s [[Britpop]].<ref name="Harris2010"/> In Partridge's opinion, the band "never got beyond Swindon."{{sfn|Farmer|1998|pp=164–165}}{{refn|group=nb|Songs inspired by the town or its people included "Life Begins at the Hop", "Wait Till Your Boat Goes Down", "[[Ball and Chain (XTC song)|Ball and Chain]]", "The Everyday Story of Smalltown", "I Remember the Sun", "Red Brick Dream", "Grass", "[[The Meeting Place (song)|The Meeting Place]]", and "Boarded Up".{{sfn|Farmer|1998|pp=67, 127, 164–165, 170, 172, 174, 188–189, 292}}}} He also felt that XTC being described as "pastoral" was a compliment: "'Pastoral' to me means being more in touch with the country than the city, which I think we are. London gives me the willies."<ref name="George83"/> Lyrically, he cited Ray Davies, John Lennon, and Paul McCartney as his biggest influences.<ref name="Lyrical"/>

According to biographer Neville Farmer, Partridge and Moulding tended to write about "more general aspects of their lives and their attitudes".{{sfn|Farmer|1998|p=306}} Farmer added that "Colin nor Andy handle political or religious matters with subtlety. If they have an idea about something, they say it straightforwardly. They are no more embarrassed about their view on the world than Andy is about his sex life. That makes them easy targets for criticism."{{sfn|Farmer|1998|p=307}} For Partridge, other popular subject matter included financial shortage, factory work, [[comic book]] characters, seafaring, war, and ancient rituals.{{sfn|Farmer|1998|pp=106, 122}} He described himself as an [[atheist]] and said he did not become interested in politics until circa 1979, when he voted for [[Margaret Thatcher]] "purely because she was a woman. I was that naive. Now I'm very [[leftism|left]]."<ref name="heavyload"/>

==Recognition and influence==
Writing for AllMusic, music critic [[Stephen Thomas Erlewine]] recognised the group thusly:
{{blockquote|XTC was one of the smartest – and catchiest – British pop bands to emerge from the punk and new wave explosion of the late '70s. ... While popular success has eluded them in both Britain and America, the group has developed a devoted cult following in both countries that remains loyal over two decades after their first records. ... XTC's lack of commercial success isn't because their music isn't accessible – their bright, occasionally melancholy, melodies flow with more grace than most bands – it has more to do with the group constantly being out of step with the times. However, the band has left behind a remarkably rich and varied series of albums that make a convincing argument that XTC is the great lost pop band.<ref name="XTCAMbio">{{cite web|first=Stephen Thomas|last=Erlewine|author-link=Stephen Thomas Erlewine|url=http://www.allmusic.com/artist/xtc-mn0000678339/biography |title=XTC |publisher=AllMusic |access-date=27 December 2017}}</ref>
}}

XTC were one of the progenitors of Britpop,<ref name="Sailed2006" /><ref>{{cite web|last1=D.|first1=Spence|title=Top 25 Britpop Albums|url=http://www.ign.com/articles/2007/04/20/top-25-britpop-albums|website=[[IGN]]|date=20 April 2007|access-date=20 September 2017}}</ref><ref name="Timesblur">{{cite news |last1=Lee|first1=Stewart |title=Andy Partridge has called off XTC's six-year strike, Caitlin Moran reports |newspaper=[[The Times]] |date=5 March 1999 |quote=Having inspired a whole generation of Britpop artists ...}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine|last1=Harrison |first1=Andrew |title=XTC: Britpop's Spiritual Granddads |magazine=[[Q (magazine)|Q]] |date=July 2001 }}</ref> were influential to later [[power pop]] acts such as [[Jellyfish (band)|Jellyfish]] and [[the Apples in Stereo]],<ref name="Sailed2006" /> and anticipated the [[indie pop|indie]]/[[art pop]] bands of the 2000s.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Jones |first1=Tim |title=The Godfather of New New Wave |url=https://recordcollectormag.com/articles/the-godfather-of-new-new-wave |website=Record Collector Mag |access-date=28 September 2018 |date=2007}} {{subscription required}}</ref> They also inspired tribute bands, tribute albums, fan conventions, and fansites.{{sfn|Farmer|1998|p=9}}{{refn|group=nb|The unofficial site Chalkhills.org has been described as an "exhaustive" resource for XTC information.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Ham |first1=Robert |title=XTC Albums From Worst To Best |url=https://www.stereogum.com/1701312/xtc-albums-from-worst-to-best/franchises/counting-down/ |website=[[Stereogum]] |access-date=15 November 2018 |date=15 September 2014}}</ref> Chalkhills began as a [[mailing list]] in 1989 and later expanded to a website devoted to the group's songs and history, including pictures, lyrics and chord charts.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Relph |first1=John |title=Answers to Frequently Asked Questions about Chalkhills and XTC |url=http://chalkhills.org/FAQ.html#q3 |website=Chalkhills |access-date=15 November 2018 |date=7 December 2014}}</ref>}} Dave Gregory said that he became aware of XTC's "huge" influence on American acts through his interactions with musicians in the late 1980s.<ref name="Filter2007"/> [[They Might Be Giants]] paid tribute to them in their song, "[[XTC vs. Adam Ant]]".<ref name="Zaleski 2016 a346">{{cite web | last=Zaleski | first=Annie | title=In They Might Be Giants' "XTC Vs. Adam Ant," everybody wins | website=The A.V. Club | date=21 March 2016 | url=https://www.avclub.com/in-they-might-be-giants-xtc-vs-adam-ant-everybody-1798245394 | access-date=13 March 2024}}</ref> XTC also had a significant influence and cult following in Japan.<ref name="japanpop"/> By the late 1980s, they were supported by three dedicated fanzines in as many countries.<ref name="Isler89">{{cite journal |last1=Isler |first1=Scott |title=The Dukes of Swindon |journal=[[Musician (magazine)|Musician]] |date=May 1989}}</ref> Between 1979 and 1992, they had a total of 10 albums and 6 singles that reached the UK top 40.<ref name="OCC" />

[[File:Blur Concert Hyde Park 3 July 2009 (03).jpg|thumb|Among 1990s [[Britpop]] bands, XTC were particularly influential on [[Blur (band)|Blur]] (pictured 2009).<ref name="Timesblur"/> ]]

The band are often compared reverentially to 1960s acts such as [[the Who]], [[the Kinks]], and most frequently, [[the Beatles]].<ref name="Sailed2006" /> In a 1991 article that focused on a resurgence of power pop groups, members of Jellyfish and [[the Posies]] reflected that they were drawn to 1960s artists because of the 1980s music they influenced. As the Posies' [[Jon Auer]] said: "our '60s-ish-ness is actually early-'80s-ish-ness, a pop sensibility that came from listening to Squeeze and XTC".<ref name="Willman">{{cite news |last1=Willman |first1=Chris |title=POP MUSIC : Rediscovering the Beatles (Sort of) |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1991-08-18-ca-1425-story.html |access-date=5 October 2018 |newspaper=[[Los Angeles Times]] |date=18 August 1991}}</ref> According to Chris Ingham, acts such as [[Kula Shaker]], [[the Shamen]] and [[the Stone Roses]] recruited engineer John Leckie chiefly because of his productions for the retro-psychedelic Dukes of Stratosphear records.<ref name="Mojo1999"/> According to Neville Farmer, the name XTC inspired the names of [[U2]], [[R.E.M.]], and [[INXS]].{{sfn|Farmer|1998|p=9}} Japanese band [[Seagull Screaming Kiss Her Kiss Her]] was named after [[Seagulls Screaming Kiss Her Kiss Her|the XTC song of similar title]].<ref name="japanpop">{{cite news |last1=Brasor |first1=Phillip |title=XTC colors songs with earthy palette |url=https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/1999/03/16/national/media-national/xtc-colors-songs-with-earthy-palette/#.W6W9lXtKhvw |access-date=22 September 2018 |newspaper=[[The Japan Times]] |date=16 March 1999 |archive-date=22 September 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180922101847/https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/1999/03/16/national/media-national/xtc-colors-songs-with-earthy-palette/#.W6W9lXtKhvw |url-status=dead }}</ref> [[Peter Gabriel]] is quoted: "I've always looked to XTC for inventive songwriting, innovative production, and a sense of humor. It's their strong blend of personalities that make them one of the ''great'' British bands."{{sfn|Farmer|1998|p=310}} [[Kurt Cobain]] of [[Nirvana (band)|Nirvana]] said in 1991: "There's a lot of good pop music. I've always liked it…bands like the Beatles, XTC, stuff like that."<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.garthmullins.com/2016/02/my-interview--kurt-cobain.html|title=My 1991 Interview with Kurt Cobain & Nirvana|website=Garthmullins.com|access-date=21 June 2021}}</ref> [[Minor Threat]], [[Dag Nasty]], and [[Bad Religion]] veteran [[Brian Baker (musician)|Brian Baker]] has also cited XTC as an influence.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2021 |title=Dag Nasty |url=https://threateningsociety.com/dag-nasty |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240714195845/https://threateningsociety.com/dag-nasty |archive-date=July 14, 2024 |access-date=December 2, 2024 |website=Threatening Society zine}}</ref>

Discussing the band's relative obscurity and lack of financial success, Schabe said that "it's difficult to justify claims of greatness without trying to understand exactly why they never managed to rise above the status of cult band. Respect and recognition are the real validation of such claims, not financial success".<ref name="Sailed2006" /> Andy Partridge characterized the band as "quietly influential"<ref name="Sailed2006" /> and thought that the decision to quit touring "definitely affected our popularity later on".<ref name="QuietusSettlement"/> Schabe disagreed that the lack of touring had an effect and wrote that "XTC suffered more from the hands of industry forces than they did from failure to find an audience."<ref name="Sailed2006" /> Partridge also estimated that XTC's fan demographic had a male/female ratio of about 60–40, which was "reassuring" to him, as he thought the band only appealed to "computer nerds".<ref>{{cite magazine|last1=Marshall |first1=Tracy |title=An Interview with XTC's Andy Partridge |magazine=Manifesto |date=March 1999}}</ref> In the 1981 edition of ''Rolling Stone's Book of Rock Lists'', XTC were ranked number 15 for its list of the "17 Loudest Bands in the World", ahead of [[Queen (band)|Queen]] and [[Kiss (band)|Kiss]].<ref name="Sailed2006" />

XTC were the only group besides [[the Stranglers]] to emerge from the punk scene with a keyboardist.{{sfn|Farmer|1998|p=15}} Journalist Steven Hyden of [[The A.V. Club]] wrote that their style of "[[post-punk]] [[guitar pop]]" became popular in the early 2000s among bands such as [[Kaiser Chiefs]], [[Franz Ferdinand (band)|Franz Ferdinand]], [[Hot Hot Heat]], and [[Bloc Party]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Hyden |first1=Steven |title=Andy Partridge |url=https://www.avclub.com/andy-partridge-1798210667 |website=[[The A.V. Club]] |access-date=18 October 2018 |date=8 February 2007 |archive-date=19 October 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181019121814/https://music.avclub.com/andy-partridge-1798210667 |url-status=live }}</ref> During the decade, there was a reevaluation of post-punk: Shabe wrote that it "led to XTC being revered in association with the groundbreakers of that era."<ref name="Sailed2006" /> Musicologist Alex Ogg listed XTC as one of several "unheralded" events in the history of post-punk,<ref>{{cite web|last1=Ogg|first1=Alex|title=Beyond Rip It Up: Towards A New Definition of Post Punk?|url=http://thequietus.com/articles/02854-looking-beyond-simon-reynolds-rip-it-up-towards-a-new-definition-of-post-punk |website=The Quietus|date=October 2009 |access-date=20 February 2016}}</ref> while Eric Klinger of ''PopMatters'' posited: "You might not hear of bands talking about XTC as a big influence the way they talk about, say, [[Gang of Four (band)|Gang of Four]], but they were certainly in the mix that became the music that was to come."<ref>{{cite web|last1=Klinger|first1=Eric|title=Counterbalance: XTC's 'Skylarking'|url=https://www.popmatters.com/192717-counterbalance-xtcs-skylarking-2495538109.html|website=PopMatters|date=24 April 2015|access-date=20 September 2017}}</ref>{{refn|group=nb|Partridge commented in 2006 that virtually "every [English] band that comes up gets compared to us, whether it's the Kaiser Chiefs, or Franz Ferdinand, or [[the Futureheads]]."<ref name="Sailed2006" />}}

===British reception===
Despite their "Englishness", the group's fanbase has been more concentrated in the US than the UK.<ref name="Harris2010"/><ref name="Staunton92">{{cite magazine|title=XTC: ''Nonsuch'' |magazine=[[NME]] |date=16 May 1992 |last=Staunton |first=Terry}}</ref>{{refn|group=nb|As early as 1983, the vast majority of their fanmail was from the US.<ref name="George83"/>}} They refused to conform to punk's simplicity, a point that the British press initially criticised. Partridge believed "we were trying to push music into a new area. And so we had to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous name calling because we refused to just play stupid."<ref name="Filter2007" /> He recalled that when he played at a jam session with punk bands in the late 1970s, the drummer from [[X-Ray Spex]] shouted "Oh, you can fucking ''play'', can you? Oh, listen to ''him'', he can ''play''."<ref name="spex">{{cite web |last1=Nelson |first1=Sean |title=Failure Is Your Best Friend: Part Two of a Serialized Interview with Andy Partridge of XTC |url=https://www.thestranger.com/music/2016/04/20/23979872/failure-is-your-best-friend-part-two-of-a-serialized-interview-with-andy-partridge-of-xtc |website=The Stranger |access-date=16 November 2018 |date=20 April 2016}}</ref> In 1988, writer Chris Hunt observed that "XTC have largely not found favour in their homeland. To a nation that judges success in terms of tabloid coverage and appearances on ''[[Top of the Pops]]'', the retiring bards of [[Merry England|rural olde England]] didn't really strike too loud a chord with the record buying public. XTC had just become 'too weird' for their own good."<ref name="HuntPhaze" /> Musician and journalist [[Dominique Leone]] argued that they "deserved more than they ever got. From the press, the public, their label, and various managers, XTC have been a tragically under-appreciated band in every sense."<ref name="LeoneCoat"/>

Swindon did not have a respected music scene as other places in Britain.{{sfn|Farmer|1998|p=6}} Partridge cited the group's origins as the main reason for their ill-repute: "if we came from a big city like London or [[Manchester]], we would have probably have been heralded as more godlike."<ref>{{cite web|last1=Nelson|first1=Sean|title=Artistic Crap: Part One of a Serialized Interview with Andy Partridge of XTC|url=https://www.thestranger.com/music/2016/04/13/23950754/artistic-crap-part-one-of-a-serialized-interview-with-andy-partridge-of-xtc|website=The Stranger|date=13 April 2016|access-date=20 September 2017}}</ref> In another interview, he suggested that both their small-town origins and the [[Social class in the United Kingdom|British class system]] were reasons for a lack of appreciation in their native country: "XTC were clever and came from Swindon, so therefore we were crap ... I was always jealous of bands like [[Talking Heads]], who were doing similar things to us but were from New York, and therefore cool. But the English don't like normal people doing intelligent things."<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2004/apr/02/xtc|title=Above average Andy |last=Hodgkinson |first=Will|author-link=Will Hodgkinson |date=2 April 2004 |website=[[The Guardian]]|location=London|access-date=31 October 2018}}</ref> He remembered the group being advised by their early management to change their accents and deny their Swindon origins, but "we thought it was a badge of honour, coming from the comedy town."<ref name="teamrock16"/>

==Awards and nominations==
{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders"
|-
! scope="col" | Award
! scope="col" | Year
! scope="col" | Nominee(s)
! scope="col" | Category
! scope="col" | Result
! scope="col" class="unsortable"| {{Abbr|Ref.|References}}
|-
!scope="row"|[[Grammy Awards]]
| [[1993 Grammy Awards|1993]]
| ''[[Nonsuch (album)|Nonsuch]]''
| [[Best Alternative Music Album]]
| {{nom}}
| <ref>{{Cite web|url=https://grammy.com/artists/xtc/8071|title=XTC|website=Grammy.com}}</ref>
|-
! scope="row"|[[Ivor Novello Awards]]
| [[List of Ivor Novello Award winners and nominees (1990s–2000s)|1993]]
| "[[The Disappointed]]"
| Best Song Musically and Lyrically
| {{nom}}
| <ref>{{cite web | url=http://theivors.com/archive/1990-1999/the-ivors-1993/ | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160910053239/http://theivors.com/archive/1990-1999/the-ivors-1993/ | archive-date=10 September 2016 | title=The Ivors 1993 – the Ivors }}</ref>
|-
!scope="row" rowspan=3|[[MTV Video Music Awards]]
| rowspan=3|[[1988 MTV Video Music Awards|1988]]
| rowspan=3|"[[Dear God (XTC song)|Dear God]]"
| [[MTV Video Music Award for Best Concept Video|Best Concept Video]]
| {{nom}}
| rowspan=3|<ref>{{cite web | url=https://m.imdb.com/title/tt6905482/awards/ | title=XTC: Dear God (Music Video 1987) – Awards | publisher=[[IMDb]] }}</ref>
|-
| [[MTV Video Music Award – Breakthrough Video|Breakthrough Video]]
| {{nom}}
|-
| [[MTV Video Music Award for Best Direction|Best Direction]]
| {{nom}}
|-
!scope="row"|[[Q Awards]]
| 2014
| [[Andy Partridge]]
| Classic Songwriter 
| {{won}}
|<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.qthemusic.com/6168/xperia-access-q-awards-all-the-2014-winners/ | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150101052037/http://www.qthemusic.com/6168/xperia-access-q-awards-all-the-2014-winners/ | archive-date=1 January 2015 | title=Xperia Access Q Awards – all the 2014 winners – Q MagazineQ Magazine }}</ref>
{{end}}

==Members==
{{col-begin}}
{{col-break}}
'''Principal members'''
* [[Andy Partridge]] – vocals, guitar {{small|(1972–2006)}}
* [[Colin Moulding]] – vocals, bass guitar {{small|(1972–2006)}}
* [[Terry Chambers]] – drums, backing vocals {{small|(1972–1982)}}
* [[Barry Andrews (musician)|Barry Andrews]] – keyboards, vocals {{small|(1976–1978)}}
* [[Dave Gregory (musician)|Dave Gregory]] – guitar, keyboards, backing vocals {{small|(1979–1998)}}

{{col-break}}
'''Early members (pre-1975 Star Park and Helium Kidz era)'''
* Dave Cartner – guitar {{small|(1972–1974)}}
* Nervous Steve – bass guitar {{small|(1972)}}
* Paul Wilson – drums {{small|(1972)}}
* Steve Hutchins – vocals {{small|(1974–1975)}}
* Jon Perkins – keyboards {{small|(1975–1976; died 2024)}}
{{col-end}}

'''Timeline'''
{{#tag:timeline|
ImageSize = width:900 height:auto barincrement:18
PlotArea = left:90 bottom:60 top:15 right:10
Alignbars = justify
DateFormat  = mm/dd/yyyy
Period = from:03/01/1972 till:06/01/2006
TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal format:yyyy
Legend = orientation:horizontal position:bottom
ScaleMajor = increment:2 start:1973
ScaleMinor = increment:1 start:1973

Colors =
  id:vocals  value:red          legend:Vocals
  id:guitar  value:green       legend:Guitars
  id:keys    value:purple      legend:Keyboards
  id:bass    value:blue         legend:Bass
  id:drums value:orange     legend:Drums
  id:bvoc    value:pink         legend:Backing_vocals
  id:lines1  value:black       legend:Studio_album

BarData =

  bar:Steve      text:Steve Hutchins
  bar:Andy       text:Andy Partridge
  bar:Cartner    text:Dave Cartner
  bar:Dave       text:Dave Gregory
  bar:Nervous    text:Nervous Steve
  bar:Colin      text:Colin Moulding
  bar:Jon        text:Jon Perkins
  bar:Barry      text:Barry Andrews
  bar:Paul       text:Paul Wilson
  bar:Terry      text:Terry Chambers

PlotData=

  width:11 textcolor:black align:left anchor:from shift:(10,-4)

  bar:Andy       from:03/01/1972 till:end        color:guitar
  bar:Cartner    from:03/01/1972 till:01/01/1974 color:guitar
  bar:Nervous    from:03/01/1972 till:12/01/1972 color:bass
  bar:Paul       from:03/01/1972 till:12/01/1972 color:drums

  bar:Colin      from:12/01/1972 till:end        color:bass
  bar:Terry      from:12/01/1972 till:11/01/1982 color:drums
  bar:Steve      from:02/03/1974 till:06/01/1976 color:vocals
  bar:Jon        from:07/07/1975 till:11/30/1976 color:keys
  bar:Barry      from:12/25/1976 till:12/01/1978 color:keys
  bar:Dave       from:04/01/1979 till:03/01/1998 color:guitar

  width:3 textcolor:black align:left anchor:from shift:(10,-4)

  bar:Andy       from:03/01/1972 till:end        color:vocals
  bar:Colin      from:12/01/1972 till:end        color:vocals
  bar:Terry      from:12/01/1972 till:11/01/1982 color:bvoc
  bar:Dave       from:04/01/1979 till:03/01/1998 color:bvoc
  bar:Dave       from:04/01/1979 till:03/01/1998 color:keys width:7
  bar:Barry      from:08/01/1978 till:12/01/1978 color:vocals

LineData =

  at:01/20/1978 color:lines1 layer:back
  at:10/06/1978 color:lines1 layer:back
  at:08/17/1979 color:lines1 layer:back
  at:09/12/1980 color:lines1 layer:back
  at:02/12/1982 color:lines1 layer:back
  at:08/30/1983 color:lines1 layer:back
  at:10/15/1984 color:lines1 layer:back
  at:04/01/1985 color:lines1 layer:back
  at:10/27/1986 color:lines1 layer:back
  at:08/01/1987 color:lines1 layer:back
  at:02/27/1989 color:lines1 layer:back
  at:04/27/1992 color:lines1 layer:back
  at:02/17/1999 color:lines1 layer:back
  at:05/23/2000 color:lines1 layer:back

}}

==Discography==
{{main|XTC discography}}
'''Studio albums'''
{{columns-list|colwidth=30em|
*''[[White Music]]'' (1978)
*''[[Go 2]]'' (1978)
*''[[Drums and Wires]]'' (1979)
*''[[Black Sea (XTC album)|Black Sea]]'' (1980)
*''[[English Settlement]]'' (1982)
*''[[Mummer (album)|Mummer]]'' (1983)
*''[[The Big Express]]'' (1984)
*''[[25 O'Clock]]'' (1985, [[The Dukes of Stratosphear]])
*''[[Skylarking]]'' (1986)
*''[[Psonic Psunspot]]'' (1987, The Dukes of Stratosphear)
*''[[Oranges & Lemons (album)|Oranges & Lemons]]'' (1989)
*''[[Nonsuch (album)|Nonsuch]]'' (1992)
*''[[Apple Venus Volume 1]]'' (1999)
*''[[Wasp Star (Apple Venus Volume 2)]]'' (2000)
}}
'''See also'''
* [[Take Away / The Lure of Salvage|''Take Away'' / ''The Lure of Salvage'']] (1980, XTC [[dub music|dub]] remixes credited to "Mr. Partridge")
* ''[[Rag and Bone Buffet: Rare Cuts and Leftovers]]'' (1990)
* ''[[Transistor Blast: The Best of the BBC Sessions]]'' (1998)
* ''[[Coat of Many Cupboards]]'' (2002)
* ''[[The Official Fuzzy Warbles Collector's Album|Fuzzy Warbles]]'' (2002–2006, Andy Partridge demos of solo and XTC tracks)
* ''[[Great Aspirations]]'' (2017, Colin Moulding and Terry Chambers reunion EP)

==Filmography==
'''Documentary films'''
* ''XTC at the Manor'' (1980, staged studio recording of "Towers of London" and interviews)
* ''[[Urgh! A Music War]]'' (1982, contains live performance of "Respectable Street")
* ''XTC Play at Home'' (1984, interviews and promotional videos)
* ''[[XTC: This Is Pop]]'' (2017, interviews, archival footage and animations)

'''Music videos'''
{{div col}}
* "[[Science Friction (song)|Science Friction]]" (1977)
* "[[Statue of Liberty (song)|Statue of Liberty]]" (1978)
* "[[This is Pop?]]" (1978)
* "Heatwave" (1978)
* "Are You Receiving Me?" (1978)
* "[[Making Plans For Nigel]]" (1979)
* "[[Life Begins at the Hop]]" (1979)
* "[[Towers of London (song)|Towers of London]]" (1980)
* "[[Generals and Majors]]" (1980)
* "[[Respectable Street]]" (1981)
* "[[Ball and Chain (XTC song)|Ball and Chain]]" (1982)
* "All of A Sudden (It's Too Late) (1982)
* "[[Senses Working Overtime]]" (1982)
* "[[Beating of Hearts]]" (1983)
* "Funk Pop A Roll" (1983)
* "[[Love on a Farmboy's Wages]]" (1983)
* "[[Wonderland (XTC song)|Wonderland]]" (1983)
* "[[Human Alchemy]]" (1983)
* "[[In Loving Memory of a Name]]" (1983)
* "[[All You Pretty Girls]]" (1984)
* "[[This World Over]]" (1984)
* "The Mole from the Ministry" (1985, The Dukes of Stratosphear)
* "[[Grass (XTC song)|Grass]]" (1986)
* "[[Dear God (XTC song)|Dear God]]" (1987)
* "[[The Meeting Place (song)|The Meeting Place]]" (1987)
* "You're a Good Man Albert Brown (Curse You Red Barrel)" (1987, The Dukes of Stratosphear)
* "Spirit of the Forest" (1989) {{small|(featured guest)}}
* "[[Mayor of Simpleton]]" (1989)
* "[[King for a Day (XTC song)|King for a Day]]" (1989)
* "[[The Ballad of Peter Pumpkinhead]]" (1992)
* "[[The Disappointed]]" (1992)
{{div col end}}

The band were not allowed creative input for their music videos, except for "The Mole from the Ministry".<ref name="Ramon"/>

== Notes ==
{{reflist|group=nb}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Bibliography==
* {{cite book |first=Jim |last=DeRogatis |author-link=Jim DeRogatis |title=Turn on Your Mind: Four Decades of Great Psychedelic Rock |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=U7cQmRsLgN8C |year=2003 |publisher=Hal Leonard Corporation |isbn=978-0-634-05548-5 }}
* {{cite book|last1=Farmer|first1=Neville|title=XTC: Song Stories: The Exclusive Authorized Story Behind the Music|date=1998|publisher=Helter Skelter Publishing|location=London|isbn=190092403X|author-link=Neville Farmer}}
* {{cite book|last=Gimarc|first=George|title=Punk Diary: The Ultimate Trainspotter's Guide to Underground Rock, 1970-1982|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4WM6Cb1z-PwC|year=2005|publisher=Backbeat Books|isbn=978-0-87930-848-3}}
* {{cite book|last=Myers|first=Paul|title=A Wizard, a True Star: Todd Rundgren in the Studio|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=K1WFL1CgvDIC&pg=PA212|year=2010|publisher=Jawbone Press|isbn=978-1-906002-33-6}}
* {{cite book|last1=Partridge|first1=Andy|last2=Bernhardt|first2=Todd|author-link1=Andy Partridge|title=Complicated Game: Inside the Songs of XTC|date=2016|publisher=Jawbone Press|isbn=978-1-908279-78-1}}
* {{cite book|last=Rachel|first=Daniel|year=2014|title=The Art of Noise: Conversations with Great Songwriters|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hL1zAwAAQBAJ|publisher=St. Martin's Press|isbn=9781466865211}}
* {{cite book|last1=Twomey|first1=Chris|title=XTC: Chalkhills and Children|date=1992|publisher=Omnibus Press|location=London|isbn=9780711927582|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/xtcchalkhillschi00twom}}

==External links==
* [http://chalkhills.org Chalkhills] – XTC fan site with comprehensive band history
* {{youTube|1xlH9eyyZ0M|X is for... XTC}} at John Peel Archive
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tqo0CPGGC68 Neville Farmer XTC Song Stories Interview] XTC Convention 2021, 27:36 min
* {{IMDb name|nm5421983}}

{{XTC|state=expanded}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Xtc}}
[[Category:XTC| ]]
[[Category:1972 establishments in England]]
[[Category:Caroline Records artists]]
[[Category:English art rock groups]]
[[Category:English new wave musical groups]]
[[Category:English pop music groups]]
[[Category:English post-punk music groups]]
[[Category:English power pop groups]]
[[Category:Geffen Records artists]]
[[Category:Musical groups established in 1972]]
[[Category:Musical groups disestablished in 2006]]
[[Category:English musical quartets]]
[[Category:Musical groups from Wiltshire]]
[[Category:Progressive pop groups]]
[[Category:RSO Records artists]]
[[Category:Virgin Records artists]]
[[Category:Second British Invasion artists]]