Aware Paints XTC
Aware, A Rock Music Research Journal
No. 9, Spring 1983
by Steve Kolanjian and David Dasch
X-plaining XTC (Part 2)
(. . . continued from part 1)
The following finished songs have been recorded with Steve Nye as engineer. All the songs, except "Jump (Love And Swimming Pools)", are to be included on the next XTC LP. Some of the working titles were to be FALLEN FROM THE GARDEN, later FRUIT. Andy's hopes were that the band would be able to package the album in four different sleeves that smell of different fruits. The latest LP title is MUMMER, and it was supposed to be released in the US 5-26-83 on Virgin/Epic BFE 38516, adding the UK 45 A-side, "Great Fire" to its roster. As that date has already passed, one would have to assume that something has gone awry. The (*) tracks have already been remixed by Alex Sadkin and Phil Thornalley with XTC. One of these, "Wonderland", gets a July release (VS 606) backed with "Jump" (dropping the subtitle once again), the remaining song of the session. Whether the LP gets released as originally planned or becomes another GET BACK LP is anyone's guess, but you can be sure you'll find out about it here. Let's hope you'll get to hear all of the following:
Beating of Hearts (A) Jump (Love And Swimming Pools) (A) Deliver Us From The Elements (C) Ladybird (A) Funk Pop A Roll (A)* Love On A Farmboy's Wages (A) Human Alchemy (A)* Me And The Wind (A) In Loving Memory Of A Name (C) Wonderland (C)*Andy on the two "Are You Receiving Me?" takes: "'Are You Receiving Me?' with wah-wah organ tone -- originally recorded at Abbey Road with Leckie in Go 2 sessions and was included in some foreign pressings -- song later restructured and rerecorded at the Manor with Martin Rushent as a single, may have been substitute on some albums?" The Virgin single credits John Leckie as the producer, and the same version appears on several non-UK pressings or Go 2. We have heard a tape of an alternate version of "Are You Receiving Me?" very much as Andy describes as the Go 2 Abbey Road piece. This means that the Virgin single is actually the Martin Rushent Manor version, and the Leckie take is the ghostly wah-wah incarnation. This theory is borne out by the Rushent producer credit on the Waxworks LP, the 1982 compilation of singles. In spite of Andy's claim that the Leckie version cropped up on some foreign pressings, we have not yet been able to locate it anywhere on vinyl.
What might have been: Pat Travers asked Andy to join the band in 1977 -- Barry Andrews nearly joined The Jam that same year -- Eno had expressed interest in joining XTC in 1978.
An alternate unreleased take of "Life Begins at the Hop" features the Police's Sting and his wife handclapping.
Al Clark, Virgin press officer, sings on "Roads Girdle the Globe", a tune recently recorded (but not yet released) by Dave Stewart and Barbara Gaskin. As we said in part one, "Millions" features the oriental guitar riffs Andy wrote for "Things Fall to Bits", an outtake from Go 2 written by Barry Andrews... During the Drums and Wires sessions, an Andy song called "Primitive Now", also titled "Drum and Wire", was rehearsed. Actually, the band had worked on it as early as the Go 2 sessions. In any event, it ultimately came to light on English Settlement as "It's Nearly Africa". Other outtakes include four Colin songs: "Cheap Perfume" (later recorded by Paul Jones, apparently unreleased), "Beautiful People", "Someone's Been in my Room", and "I Feel Blue", which later became "I Need Protection" and released as the B-side of "Too Many Cooks in the Kitchen" on the single Colin issued as "The Colonel". Andy wrote the lyrics to the English Settlement tune "Leisure" during the Drums and Wires sessions.
"The Somnambulist", a song based on a poem about a sleepwalker by Clodagh Simmons, was recorded in a BBC studio, perhaps at the time of the John Peel session (October 8, 1979) that produced re-recordings from Drums and Wires, of which "Scissor Man" has since been released. Incidentally, the other three songs are: "Real By Reel", "Ten Feet Tall", and "Roads Girdle the Globe".
"Wait Till Your Boat Goes Down": Produced by Phil Wainman. Andy told us in April of 1981 that "Wait..." was his favorite composition for XTC, and that he had had high hopes for it. Unforunately, the record followed the boat and went down fairly quickly. You can hear Colin sing a couple of lines in the bridge on this otherwise all-Andy vocal. "Wait..." found a slot on Waxworks in a different mix with a prominent synth part in the extended break... The band had planned to shoot a promo film for "Wait Till Your Boat Goes Down" in which they would be seen playing their instruments underwater (literally) in diving gear (surely the inspiration for the Black Sea sleeve). The BBC nixed the project for fear of encouraging the use of electrical instruments in water. Lloyd Bridges can rest easy.
Black Sea: Produced by Steve Lillywhite. Working titles for this LP included Tigers in Tuneworld; Quartermasters; Hook, Line and Sinker; Ship of Fools; Terry and the Love Men (up to the last day of recording -- trade ads even appears with this title); and many others. The album comes packaged inside a green paper bag inscribed with the group's name and the album title. The regular jacket bears a picture of the group in diving gear (shades of the cancelled "Wait Till Your Boat Goes Down" promo film), with a seagull, mast and balloon at the top spelling X-T-C. When the paper bag was eventually deleted in England, the group's name and the album title appeared in print on the cover. The disc features custom labels of white with brown print. To obtain the crackles hear on the intro of "Respectable Street", the group used a scratched copy of Peter Gabriel's third album (which features Dave Gregory on guitar, incidentally). The chatting deep in the mix of "No Language in Our Lungs" was taken from the British TV interview program, Wicker's World. The anvil sound in "Towers of London" was created by tapping a fire extinguisher with a microphone stand. Just before the session of "Paper and Iron (Note and Coins)" (a song pieced together from five older ones), Andy brought the studio occupants to order by commanding, "Okay, come on ghoul slaves", a term inspired by a recently viewed horror flick. A dumbfounded Terry replied, "What's he mean by that?". Up until the final hour, through all different mixes, this piece of dialogue remained the intro to this song. The banging of a Town House tea tray provided the snare drum sound. Andy recalls that a "slower, more melancholy version of 'Towers of London'" was recorded, as well as a different version of "Living Through Another Cuba". Outtakes include Colin's "Let's Ban the Bomb", written, according to Andy, "unknowing of my own anti-nuclear song 'Living Through Another Cuba'". The song had a "gentle skiffle feel" but was never finished. "Take This Town" was recorded during the Black Sea sessions. Andy's "She Broke the Circle" and "Pretty Pretty Two Face" were rehearsed but never recorded. Colin's "Looking for Footprints", a Go 2 outtake that showed up on a Flexipop magazine flexi-disc, was given a second go-round in a more aggressive disco style setting. Colin's "I Overheard" was demoed, as was Andy's "Monkeys in Human Skin Suits".
Towers of London b/w "Set Myself on Fire", also "Battery Brides" b/w "Scissor Man": A-side produced by Steve Lillywhite; "Scissor Man" by Tony Wilson; and the two remaining live tracks had their sound balanced by Steve Warren. Andy's "Towers of London" is an edit of the Black Sea track, but has an extended fade. This edit can be found on the Waxworks compilation [Ed: and also on The Compact XTC compilation]. "Set Myself on Fire" and "Battery Brides" are previously unissued live versions from a September 17, 1979 concert at the Rainbow Theatre. This version of "Scissor Man" is culled from the John Peel "Top Gear" session of October 8, 1979.
Too Many Cooks in the Kitchen: Produced by Mick Glossop. Colin's solo single under the nom de vinyl The Colonel. Terry Chambers is featured on drums with additional musicians: Rob Hendry and Bent (misprinted as Bert) Larson (guitars); Steve King (keyboards); Steve Warren, Bridgett Glossop, Philip Vinal, and Maz (uncredited) (backing vocals). Bridgett also added recorder to the festivities.
"Strange Tales, Strange Tails" is a Go 2 outtake; "Officer Blue" stems from the "Wait Till Your Boat Goes Down" session. The chatter that connects these two tracks is Terry questioning the tempo of "Officer Blue".
The Rhythm: This is a bootleg (and it sounds it) 2-LP set comprising most of XTC's concert at Hurrah's in New York City on January 16, 1980, and broadcast on WPIX-FM. Andy believes the second show of the evening was used for the broadcast.
"Egyptian Solution": The song's subtitle, "Thebes in a Box", does not appear on the label or jacket [of the Senses Working Overtime 12" single] as Andy had intended it. The personnel on this track (not given anywhere) is as follows: Dave played guitar and bass, and Andy drums and synths. Colin and Terry didn't contribute to this track.
English Settlement: In an early form, "Senses Working Overtime" was a song called "With Wonderment". "The end section of 'Jason'", explains Andy, "was recorded at half speed and then sped up to normality and edited on to the track proper, so everything sounded sparkly." "Yacht Dance" was at one stage called "Collecting Honey for the Queen". Outtakes include four songs rehearsed but never recorded: "My Brother Ralph", "Lazy Day Play", and "Still At War With the Japs", all by Colin, and Andy's "Snowflakes In a Mound". Also written for these sessions is a song called "Hangin' Around". There were also several hours of cover versions (Hendrix, Led Zeppelin) recorded during the English Settlement days. A tape of these covers is known to be in circulation.
[The Epic USA LP release of] English Settlement: Disappointing one-record consolidation of the UK two-record set. The group was quite unsatisfied with Epic's move for American audiences, as were US reviewers who consistently compared it to its English counterpart. Rumor has it that Epic wanted to obtain Virgin, for the most part, to get XTC. When the American tour was cancelled due to Andy's ill health, they were devastated. Little promotion was given after that.
"Heaven Is Paved With Broken Glass" [on UK Ball and Chain single]: ... is also featured on Beeswax, but the version there was remixed by Andy, so it sounds starkly different.
Waxworks and Beeswax: In most cases, the versions included here are the same as the 45's except for the following: "Making Plans for Nigel" is faded early, and "Wait Till Your Boat Goes Down" is graced with an extended break featuring a synth part not found on the 45. The cover is hand-drawn by Andy in crayon... "Hang On To The Night" hangs on a little longer, and "Heaven is Paved With Broken Glass" is an edit of the single rendition that has been remixed by Andy. The concluding passage here fades with Andy singing "heaven" before he decays into non-verbal [sic] chanting. At the end of the 45 track, a swelling synthesizer part overwhelms the vocal and then fades out. You do not hear the non-verbal chanting at all on the single.
Terry played the metal door of a microphone cupboard on "Science Friction".
Add to the outtakes of the White Music LP a dub version of "Fireball XL-5".
More trivial than trivia: When we met the band in April 1981 they told us the greenhouse that inspired "Life Is Good in the Greenhouse" was next to Abbey Road studios. Er, they were joking. Sorry. The gong sounds in the song, however, were made by two lampshades struck with a pen.
The following is a list of the tracks from Take Away / The Lure of Salvage and their origins; all original tracks are from Drums and Wires except where noted:
Signal Ad (Commerciality) - "Refrigeration Blues" (a White Music outtake)
The Day They Pulled the North Pole Down - "Heatwave" (B-side of "This is Pop?") slowed down
The Forgotten Language of Light - the percussion track from "Millions", the Japanese couldn't figure out what Andy's scat singing was all about, so assumed it was an ancient Indian language (explained in Japanese on the lyric sheet that was included in their edition)
Steam Fist Futurist - "Real by Reel", used as a prelude to this track in some live shows in 1980
Shore Leave Ornithology (Another 1950) - "Pulsing Pulsing" (UK B-side of "Making Plans for Nigel")
Cairo - "Homo Safari" (B-side of "Life Begins at the Hop") sped up, with Andy's wife Marianne handclapping
The Rotary - "Helicopter"
Madhattan - "That is the Way"
I Sit in the Snow - bridge from "Roads Girdle the Globe"
Work Away Tokyo Day - "Day In Day Out" sped up, plus Barry Andrews' saxophone track from all nine takes of "Red" (from Go 2) played simultaneously
New Broom - "Making Plans for Nigel" slowed down
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