XTC - Skylarking
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XTC was under the gun with this album. They were pressured by their record company to produce an album that would sell 70,000 units or they would be dropped. The cure? Sound less British. So, they brought in studio wiz, multi-instrumentalist, veteran producer Todd Rundgren, whom the band was only somewhat familiar with. The result? An album steeped in dreamy lyrics and atmosphere that evoked the English country side and working life. It is also is a continuous body of work that takes you through a day or a lifetime, depending on your perspective. And Tony introduces an album by a band that, surprisingly, had an influence XTC's front man, Andy Partridge: The Monkees' Good Times!
THINGS WE DISCUSSED ON THIS EPISODE
Dukes of Stratosphere was under consideration for a band name before the guys settled on XTC. They later resurrected it and used it as their nom de guerre to record a fantastic psychedelically-inspired EP called 25 O’clock. It was the beginning of a sea change for the band in they began to openly infuse their music with elements of 60’s pop, starting with Skylarking. The Dukes followed up the EP with a full album of 60’s inspired tunes cleverly called Psonic Psunspot. Here’s a video for “The Mole From the Ministry” for the EP.
A moment of peaceful collaboration.
Dave Gregory, Andy Partridge, and Todd Rundgern lay down some Beatlesque harmonies.
Cover art for the “Dear God” single.
Along with the song, this image stirred lots of controversy.
XTC’s Yellow Submarine inspired cover art for Oranges and Lemons.
Thise double album was the follow up to Skylarking and contained the band’s biggest hit “Mayor of Simpleton.”
