Published on Nov 24, 1997
A few months ago, I wrote about how criminal it is that the
British band XTC has been ignored in the United States. At the
time, I offered the album
Oranges And Lemons as an example of their great work.
So far as I have seen, it doesn’t look like there has been an
increase in sales of their albums… that, and I’m still waiting
for the telegrams of eternal thanks from Virgin and Geffen Records,
so we’ll try again. This time, we’ll take a look at a collection of
their early singles,
Waxworks.
In one sense, it’s amazing to hear how quickly Andy Partridge
and crew changed in just five short years. In 1977, XTC was
definitely a new-wave band who just happened to have a pop bend to
their music. (On some songs, like their first hit “This Is Pop?”
it’s sometimes hard to hear the pop aspect – which, at the time,
was fine with the band.) But by 1982, XTC’s musical style was well
on its way to the sound we’re used to today – though the cynicism
of Partridge (as heard on the classic hit “Dear God” – not on this
album – was still a few years away.)
What is amazing when you listen to
Waxworks is that many of these songs you rarely – if
ever – hear on the radio today. “Are You Receiving Me” from
1978 is a slab of power pop that rivals anything that bands like
Blondie and Talking Heads were cranking out around the same time.
One year later, “Life Begins At The Hop” proved that Partridge et
al. were quickly mastering the genus of pop music. (In the defense
of some radio stations, you occasionally hear this one played – one
such station is Chicago’s legendary WXRT-FM.)
Of course, once you master a genre, it’s not much fun if you
don’t get to push the envelope a tad – which is just what XTC has
spent almost the rest of their career doing. Prime examples of this
are 1979’s “Making Plans For Nigel,” 1980’s “Sgt. Rock Is Going To
Help Me” (which I will admit is not one of my favorites on this
album) and 1981’s “Senses Working Overtime.” Each time, XTC manages
to stray out of the pop vein just enough to be cutting edge – but
always finds their way back to make a song that would have fit on
the radio.
Too bad that radio, for the most part, has been unwilling to
give this band a chance. And what is ironic is that you could take
even one of the songs from 1977 and put it on the radio today, and
it would
still sound fresh! A challenge to anyone in rock radio who
happens onto this review: Have some courage, and program at least
one of these songs! “Generals And Majors” would fit nicely into the
lineup next to Pearl Jam – or what about the closer “Ball And
Chain”?
Maybe the fact that XTC has constantly been rewriting the rules
of pop radio is why they’ve never found the commercial success that
is long overdue to them. Two words, kids:
not fair
. I rarely get passionate about any artist, but XTC is an
exception. They have been slugging it out for 20 years now, with I
think one Grammy nomination to their name, but they’re hardly a
household name that other bands have become (Talking Heads, INXS,
New Order).
At the same time
Waxworks came out, a sister album,
Beeswax, was released – though this one was made up of
B-sides to the singles, and had one more track than
Waxworks. I was fortunate enough to find an import tape that
had both albums on one cassette… but we’ll talk about
Beeswax at a later date.
Waxworks is chock full of songs that coulda, woulda, shoulda
been blockbuster hits – and to the fans, they are. Fortunately,
it’s not too late to pay this band the respect they’re owed. Pick
up a dozen copies and mail them out like you would Christmas cards.
Flood your radio station of your choice with requests for any of
the twelve songs on this album. And, don’t forget to save a copy
for yourself while you’re at it. Best money you’ll spend on
yourself in a long time.