Songs of artist: XTC

XTC were an English rock band formed in Swindon in 1972 and active until 2006. Led by songwriters Andy Partridge and Colin Moulding, the band gained popularity during the rise of punk and new wave in the 1970s, later playing in a variety of styles that ranged from angular guitar riffs to elaborately arranged pop. Partly because the group did not fit into contemporary trends and refused touring for most of their career, they only achieved sporadic commercial success in the UK and US, but attracted a considerable cult following. They have since been recognised for their influence on Britpop and later power pop acts. Partridge (guitar, vocals) and Moulding (bass, vocals) met at a record store in the early 1970s and subsequently formed a glitter rock outfit with drummer Terry Chambers. The band’s name and line-up changed frequently, and it was not until 1975 that they were known as XTC. In 1977, the group debuted on Virgin Records and, for the next five years, were noted for their ironic punk rock and energetic live performances. They aspired to be "completely original" and refused to conform to punk doctrine, instead synthesising influences from 1960s pop, dub music and the avant-garde. Partridge, XTC’s frontman and primary songwriter, insisted that the band was "blatantly just pop music. We were a new pop group. That’s all." After 1982, the band stopped concert touring and became a studio-based project centred on Partridge, Moulding, and guitarist Dave Gregory. They produced increasingly idiosyncratic recordings, including The Big Express (1984), Skylarking (1986), Oranges & Lemons (1989), Nonsuch (1992) and Apple Venus Volume 1 (1999). A spin-off group, the Dukes of Stratosphear, was invented as a one-off excursion into 1960s-style psychedelia, but as XTC’s music evolved, the distinctions between the two bands lessened. From 1993 to 1997, the group were mired in legal difficulties and refused to record music for Virgin, citing a poor recording contract. In 2006, Partridge announced that his creative partnership with Moulding had disintegrated, leaving XTC "in the past tense." In 2017, Moulding and Chambers reunited as the duo TC&I. Partridge and Gregory remain musically active. XTC’s best-known album, Skylarking, is generally regarded as their finest. They had a total of 18 records in the UK top 40, including the singles "Making Plans for Nigel" (1979), "Sgt. Rock (Is Going to Help Me)" (1980) and "Senses Working Overtime" (1982), as well as the albums Black Sea (1980) and English Settlement (1982). In the US, they are also known for the songs "Dear God" (1986) and "The Ballad of Peter Pumpkinhead" (1992), while "Mayor of Simpleton" (1989) was their highest charting US single.