Drums and Wires

In October 1978, XTC released their second studio album Go 2, a more experimental venture than their debut White Music. It was met with positive reviews and a number 21 chart peak.[1] Keyboardist Barry Andrews left the band in December during their first American tour.[1] Shortly prior, Andrews told journalists that he foresaw the band "explod[ing] pretty soon".[1] Frontman and principal songwriter Andy Partridge commented: "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."[1] XTC proceeded to run through a "silly half-hearted" process of auditioning another keyboardist.[2] Although Thomas Dolby was rumoured as a replacement, Partridge said that Dolby was never actually considered,[3] but did write many letters asking to join the band.[2]

XTC performing in 1980 (pictured from left: Gregory and Partridge)

Rather than hiring a replacement keyboardist, Dave Gregory of the Swindon 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 the band's "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."[2] Gregory was anxious of whether the fans would accept him as a member, characterising himself as "the archetypal pub-rocker in jeans and long hair. But the fans weren't bothered. Nobody was fashionable in XTC, ever."[1] He grew more comfortable with the group after playing a few shows, he said, "and things got better and better".[1]

Impressed by the work of Steve Lillywhite, XTC contacted him to produce their third album with a drum sound that would "knock your head off".[1] In the 1998 XTC biography Song Stories, Partridge states that the band hired Lillywhite based on his work for Siouxsie and the Banshees' The Scream (1978).[4] Partridge explained in a 1999 interview: "Lillywhite mainly contributed to the drums' sound, very Siouxsie, more voodoo".[5] In 2019, he retracted his claim, saying that the Lillywhite record the band were impressed by was actually Ultravox's 1977 debut.[6] With Virgin staff engineer Hugh Padgham, they embarked to the newly built Townhouse Studios, "with its now world-famous stone room", as described by Gregory, who recalled that Padgham had "yet to develop his trade-mark 'gated ambience' sound".[7] Gregory stated that, ultimately, "most of the ideas were Andy's but we were all contributing and Lillywhite was there as some sort of mediator more than anything. He's credited with producing it but really I think it was about 50/50. Most of the ideas were there in the first place before we got into the studio."[8] Nick Lowe was also considered to produce Drums and Wires.[4] He was contacted but declined the offer, citing scheduling conflicts.[8]

Coinciding with Gregory's arrival, in April 1979, the band recorded "Life Begins at the Hop", written by bassist Colin Moulding, and their first record with Lillywhite producing.[9] After the band went on tour for the single, sessions for Drums and Wires resumed from 25 June to July.[10] By this time, Moulding "wanted to ditch [our] quirky nonsense and do more straight-ahead pop."[1] He said that when Andrews was in the band, Partridge had "no kind of foil" to work with, as he "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, you know? It was just going too far the other way, I felt. So when Dave came in, and was a much straighter player, it seemed to make more sense, I think."[11] Partridge opined that, before then, Moulding's songs "came out as weird imitations of what I was doing, 'cause he thought that was the thing to do. ... On Go 2 he was sort of getting his own style, and by Drums and Wires he really started to take off as a songwriter."[2] Gregory remembered that XTC's songs "inspired a different approach to listening and playing from that which I'd grown up with. I simply couldn't continue grinding out old blues clichés and power chords, so I began to think more in terms of the songs as the masters and the instruments as the servants."[12] The album was recorded in three weeks and mixed in two.[10]

Drums and Wires was named for its emphasis on the sounds of guitars and expansive drums.[13] The title was inspired by an illustration from The Beano depicting the comic dog Gnasher playing drums and "BOOM DADA BOOM" written above him. Partrige considered using the illustration for the cover, "but it was a silly idea and 'Drums and Wires' seemed to suit the sound of the record. All drums and guitar strings."[14] Lyrically, the album focuses on the trappings or titillations of the modern world, with several songs about submitting to external forces. Partridge's songs also centre on the impact of technology on human emotions.[15]

Musically, the album was described by Paste critic Lizzie Manno as featuring "a bold, drum-centric", "polychromatic", and "coltish" pop style, with "a skittish punk energy and fierce grooves". She went on to say its "off-kilter fusion of art rock and New Wave swells with Andy Partridge and Colin Moulding’s mercurial pop yelps and pointed guitars", and that the addition of Gregory to the band lent the music "space for their transfixing guitar interplay".[16] In the words of Chris Dahlen from Pitchfork, the band pursued "pure pop disguised as jittery post-punk, all played with teeth-chattering intensity",[17] while Milenio writer Ernesto Herrera called the album a representative record of new wave.[18] Editors at Trouser Press opined that it was a "spiky art-pop gem".[19] Writing for Ultimate Classic Rock in 2019, critic Michael Galluci said the album is "45 or so minutes of art-rock" and argued that, "even today, Drums and Wires sounds like an unconventional work among the period's angular, arty and evolving New Wave."[20]

Partridge came up with the concept for the album's cover artwork. As he remembers:

... I quite liked the idea of the letters, the X - T and C, and the little underline there actually making the features of [a] face. And I did a rough version, and we were in the studio and I didn't have time to do any finished artwork. And we got together with a girl, I think she was working at Design Clinic [Virgin's art department] at the time, who did a lot of our sleeves. And I ... said, "Okay - here's the sketch. I want it done in real primary colors. And then the back I want done in more muted kind of khakis and browns. But on the front I want really, really bright primaries." And she took away this sketch and I think she just cut it out of colored paper or something, originally. And reproduced this little sketch in terms of just these big bright flashes.[33]

Included was an insert featuring lyrics to all the songs on as well as the songs on XTC's previous albums, Go 2 and White Music. Partridge said this was done due to fans requesting the lyrics of XTC's songs.[33] Early copies also included a bonus single: Partridge's "Chain of Command" backed with Moulding's "Limelight".[34] "Chain of Command" is about "wars" among microbes in the human body. It was left off the album due to the band's dissatisfaction with the song.[32] "Limelight", as interpreted by Partridge, is about their perception of how the band was viewed in their hometown of Swindon.[35]

"Life Begins at the Hop" was not included on the album due to industry convention in the 1960s and the 1970s,[36] although the track appeared on some international variants, either as an addition or substitution.[14] Other tracks were produced but left off the album: Partridge's "Homo Safari", "Pulsing, Pulsing" and "Bushman President".[37] "Homo Safari" is an instrumental piece produced during the "Life Begins at the Hop" session. The "homo" simply refers to the Latin word for man, not a reference to homosexuality.[32] "Pulsing, Pulsing" was recorded with an electric guitar that was not plugged in.[38] "Bushman President" is another instrumental, and the second volume in Partridge's Homo Safari series. It was recorded entirely with a Korg monophonic synthesizer. Later, it was used as an introduction tape for the group's live performances.[38]

XTC photographed with Canadian fans, 1980. From left: Moulding (holding cup), Partridge (slightly obscured), Gregory, and drummer Terry Chambers.

"Life Begins at the Hop" was released on 4 May 1979[10] and became the first charting single for the band,[39] rising to number 54 on the UK Singles Chart.[40] They played a 23-date English tour, playing to half- or quarter-full concert halls.[8] In July, music videos directed by Russell Mulcahy were filmed for "Making Plans for Nigel" and "Life Begins at the Hop".[7] From 25 July to 17 August, they embarked on another tour of Australia, which was more successful.[8][41] Immediately following the tour, the band arrived in Japan and played four dates in Osaka. Partridge recalled the band encountering much fan hysteria in Japan: "We could hardly go anywhere without being screamed at. You'd walk into a hotel lobby and there'd be a crowd of girls sitting around waiting for you."[42]

Drums and Wires was released on 17 August, with lead single "Making Plans for Nigel" following on 5 September.[43] From 11 September to 5 October, XTC embarked on another underwhelming British tour.[44] Gregory remembered: "in Wolverhampton [there were] about 200 people in a place that holds about 1,500. It was really depressing."[8] On 8 October, the band performed four songs from the album for BBC Radio 1's John Peel show.[45] Performances of "Real by Real" and "Ten Feet Tall" recorded were later released for Drums and Wireless: BBC Radio Sessions 77–89 (1994).

"Making Plans for Nigel" later rose to number 17[40] and helped propel the album to number 37 in the UK.[39] The album became their first to chart in the US, at number 176.[46] Afterward, the single was playlisted at the BBC, which helped the band secure two appearances on Top of the Pops.[7] When touring resumed on 23 November,[44] every date was sold out.[7] Elsewhere, A union of 100,000 steel workers went on strike and contacted Moulding for a statement on their issues, but he offered no comment.[47] British Steel also gathered four Sheffield employees named Nigel to discuss job satisfaction for the trade publication Steel News.[21][48]

The LP sold particularly well in Canada, Europe and Australia.[8] In Canada, the record hit number 2[49] and went gold, selling over 50,000 copies.[8] The band still felt that they were not "fashionable" in England.[50] In their homeland, sales were at a minimal improvement from their previous records.[8] Virgin requested Lillywhite to remix "Real by Real", "When You're Near Me I Have Difficulty", "Helicopter" and "Outside World" as potential follow-up singles, but the new mixes were rejected by the group.[51] Instead, the band recorded "Wait Till Your Boat Goes Down", a reggae-influenced Partridge song with production by Phil Wainman of Bay City Rollers fame. It was their lowest-selling single to date.[1] They also rerecorded "Ten Feet Tall" to have electric guitar in its arrangement. It was released as their first US single to coincide with their first tour there, which lasted from 14 January to 14 March. Most of the gigs were small club dates, with three East Coast dates supporting the Police, and were not particularly significant. Exceptions included a house record-breaking six consecutive sold-out shows at the Whisky a Go Go in West Hollywood, California. In Canada, XTC played to theatres and universities before larger crowds.[52]

Drums and Wires became the best-known album of XTC's discography.[63] Partridge and Moulding reflected on the period as the point in which XTC's "career really started".[1] Gregory did not think he would remain with the band. He remembered: "I don't think I took my role in XTC seriously right up to English Settlement. Drums and Wires was just great fun to me. ... The next thing we knew we were getting four-star reviews in all the papers. How did that happen?"[14] Lillywhite and Padgham returned for the band's follow-up album Black Sea (1980). Only Padgham was recruited for the record after, English Settlement (1982), as Partridge felt "it was Hugh who was getting all the great sounds".[64]

In Moulding's recollection, "Up until that point, we were viewed as a poor man’s Talking Heads or something. People called us 'quirky.' But when we came out with Drums and Wires it was like a different band, really. Mainly, that was probably my fault."[65] He was surprised when the label began choosing his songs, instead of Partridge's, as singles.[11] Partridge felt that he was losing the band's leadership and attempted to exert more authority in the group, calling himself "a very benevolent dictator."[1]

In early 1980, Partridge recorded the side LP Take Away / The Lure of Salvage; a one-off record consisting of dub remixes of XTC songs that appeared without much notice,[39] except in Japan, where it was hailed as a work of "electronic genius" and outsold all other XTC albums.[66] The majority of its tracks sampled material from Drums and Wires.[8] [67] In 1982, music journalist Mark Fisher created the XTC fanzine Limelight, named after the B-side single.[38] "Complicated Game" served as the title of a 2016 book by Partridge and journalist Todd Bernhardt, which contains discussions between the two on various XTC songs.[68]

Credits adapted from the album's liner notes,[70][71] except where noted.

XTC

• Andy Partridge – vocals, guitar, synthesizer, percussion, sleeve design
• Colin Moulding – vocals, bass
• Dave Gregory – guitar, background vocals
• Terry Chambers – drums

Additional personnel

• Andy Partridge, Colin Moulding, Dave Gregory, Terry Chambers, Steve Warren, Hugh Padgham, Al Clark, Laurie Dunn – Vernon Yard Male Voice Choir on "Roads Girdle the Globe[26]
• Dick Cuthell – flugelhorn on "That Is the Way"[72]
• Steve Lillywhite – production
• Hugh Padgham – engineer
• Georgie Chambers, Steve Prestage, Nick Cook – tape operators
• Jill Mumford – sleeve art[73]

Citations

Bibliography

• Drums and Wires on Chalkhills