White Music

White Music is the first studio album by the English band XTC, released on 20 January 1978. It was the follow-up to their debut, 3D EP, released three months earlier. White Music reached No. 38 in the UK Albums Chart and spawned the single "Statue of Liberty", which was banned by the BBC for the lyric "In my fantasy I sail beneath your skirt". In April 1978, the group rerecorded "This Is Pop" as their third single.

This article is about the XTC album. For other uses, see White Music (disambiguation).

White Music
Studio album by
XTC
Released20 January 1978
Recorded28 April – 7 October 1977
StudioThe Manor, Oxfordshire, England
GenrePost-punk, new wave
Length36:28
LabelVirgin
ProducerJohn Leckie
XTC chronology
3D EP
(1977)		 White Music
(1978)		 Go 2
(1978)
Singles from White Music
  1. "Statue of Liberty"
    Released: January 1978

Music and lyrics

The track "Radios in Motion" has become one of the band's better-known songs. In a 2009 interview, Andy Partridge stated, "We couldn't think of any better way to start off our first album than with the ‘kick the door in’, breezy opener we used in our live set... the lyrics are very silly, picked for their sonic effect rather than meaning. The first refuge of an inexperienced songwriter, forgive me, but they do have a youthful scattergun energy."[1] The song is considered representative of the band's "agitated amphetamine rock" style of their earlier works, though others would call it "relatively tame mod-pop".[2][3] The song mentions Milwaukee in the lyrics because Partridge's aunt lived in that city.[4]

Critical reception
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[5]
Chicago Tribune[6]
Christgau's Record GuideB+[4]
Q[7]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide[8]
Spin Alternative Record Guide6/10[9]

Village Voice critic Robert Christgau wrote in his review of the album: "Although it took a year and a half for this debut album by the premier English art-pop band to get released in the States, two Andy Partridge songs on side one aim directly at the American market—'Radios in Motion,' which mentions Milwaukee, surely isn't about the BBC, and the avowed purpose of 'Statute of Liberty' is to get a look up her skirts. The third, 'This Is Pop,' is why he missed—radio programmers resent anyone telling them their business, especially subversives who favor herky-jerk rhythms, jerky-herk harmonies, Lene Lovich radar noises, and depressing subject matter. Colin Moulding's songs, on the other hand, are aimed at bored Yes fans, which is why he missed—the lad doesn't know that Yes fans like being bored."[4]

The band performed "Radios in Motion", "I'll Set Myself on Fire", "Statue of Liberty" on BBC Two's The Old Grey Whistle Test on 14 February 1978.[10]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Andy Partridge, except where noted.

Side one
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Radios in Motion" 2:54
2."Cross Wires"Colin Moulding2:06
3."This Is Pop" 2:41
4."Do What You Do"Moulding1:16
5."Statue of Liberty" 2:55
6."All Along the Watchtower"Bob Dylan5:43
Side two
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Into the Atom Age" 2:32
2."I'll Set Myself on Fire"Moulding3:04
3."I'm Bugged" 3:59
4."New Town Animal" 1:53
5."Spinning Top" 2:40
6."Neon Shuffle" 4:37
2001 CD bonus tracks
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
13."Science Friction" (3D EP, 1977) 3:13
14."She's So Square" (3D EP) 3:06
15."Dance Band" (3D EP)Moulding2:41
16."Hang on to the Night" (B-side to "Statue of Liberty", 1978) 2:09
17."Heatwave" (B-side to "This Is Pop?", 1978)Moulding2:12
18."Traffic Light Rock" (White Music outtake; from Guillotine, various artists compilation album, 1978[11]) 1:40
19."Instant Tunes" (B-side to "Are You Receiving Me?", 1978)Moulding2:34

Personnel

XTC

Technical

References
  1. Bernhardt, Todd (25 January 2009). "Andy's Take: "Radios in Motion"". Chalkhills. Retrieved 30 June 2018.
  2. Maiuri, Ken (27 February 2014). "Ken Maiuri's Tuned In". Daily Hampshire Gazette. Retrieved 11 August 2018.
  3. Zaleski, Annie (21 January 2018). "This is pop: XTC's giddy, incomparable "White Music" turns 40". Salon. Retrieved 11 August 2018.
  4. Christgau, Robert (1981). "X". Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies. Ticknor and Fields. ISBN 0-89919-026-X. Retrieved 23 March 2019 – via robertchristgau.com.
  5. Woodstra, Chris. "White Music – XTC". AllMusic. Retrieved 26 October 2020.
  6. Kot, Greg (3 May 1992). "The XTC Legacy: An Appraisal". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 26 October 2020.
  7. Harrison, Andrew (July 2001). "XTC: Britpop's Spiritual Granddads". Q. No. 178. p. 139.
  8. Frere-Jones, Sasha (2004). "XTC". In Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian (eds.). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (4th ed.). Simon & Schuster. pp. 890–92. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8.
  9. Bernstein, Jonathan (1995). "XTC". In Weisbard, Eric; Marks, Craig (eds.). Spin Alternative Record Guide. Vintage Books. pp. 441–43. ISBN 0-679-75574-8.
  10. "TV Pop Diaries: Pop Music on British Television 1955 - 1999 - 1978". tvpopdiaries.co.uk. Retrieved 20 July 2019.
  11. "Guillotine". Chalkhills. Retrieved 26 November 2019.
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