Tag: XTC

Vintage Video: XTC performs for ‘Rockpalast’ on German TV in 1982 — full 70-minute gig

Vintage Video: XTC performs for ‘Rockpalast’ on German TV in 1982 — full 70-minute gig

For this week’s installment of Vintage Video, we bring you another classic performance filmed for the German TV show ‘Rockpalast’ — this time a full 70-minute concert by XTC filmed in 1982, just two months before the band would play its last-ever tour date before retiring as a live act due to Andy Partridge’s stage fright.

Linkage: Joy Division/New Order master tapes — plus Talking Heads, XTC, The Smiths comic book

This week’s link round-up includes celeb chef Jamie Oliver finding old Joy Division and New Order master tapes in a Manchester basement, plus XTC’s Andy Partridge on ‘English Settlement,’ Jerry Harrison pining for a Talking Heads reunion and a Kickstarter campaign to fund a second volume of Smiths-inspired comics.

New Peel Sessions compilation features Joy Division, PiL, Simple Minds, XTC from ’77-’79

New Peel Sessions compilation features Joy Division, PiL, Simple Minds, XTC from ’77-’79

EMI this week released the first in a new series of Peel Sessions compilations, a 2CD set called ‘Movement: BBC Radio 1 Peel Sessions 1977–1979’ that compiles recordings by 41 different punk, post-punk, reggae and 2 Tone acts including Joy Division, XTC, The Jam, Simple Minds, The Specials, Public Image Ltd. and Siouxsie and the Banshees.

Shriekback’s ‘Oil and Gold’ to receive 2CD reissue with B-sides, mixes, live tracks

Shriekback’s ‘Oil and Gold’ to receive 2CD reissue with B-sides, mixes, live tracks

The celebrated third album from dancefloor-ready post-punk act Shriekback — 1985’s ‘Oil and Gold,’ featuring signature song ‘Nemesis’ — will be reissued next week in the band’s native U.K. as a 2CD set featuring a remastered edition of the original album and a bonus disc with 10 B-sides and live tracks,

Andy Partridge prepping ‘nice new vinyl cut’ of XTC’s ‘Drums and Wires’ for reissue

Andy Partridge prepping ‘nice new vinyl cut’ of XTC’s ‘Drums and Wires’ for reissue

The classic third album from XTC — 1979’s ‘Drums and Wires’ — appears to be next in line to receive an audiophile vinyl pressing following last year’s ‘Skylarking’ reissue, which was ‘corrected’ and re-released ‘as it was intended to sound, but never has.’

Martin Rushent, producer of Human League, Buzzcocks and Stranglers, 1948-2011

Martin Rushent, producer of Human League, Buzzcocks and Stranglers, 1948-2011

British record producer Martin Rushent — who helmed The Human League’s genre-defining 1981 album ‘Dare,’ as well as beloved post-punk/New Wave-era records and singles by The Stranglers, Buzzcocks, XTC, The Go-Go’s and more — died Saturday. He was 63.

New releases: Orange Juice, XTC, Nine Inch Nails, Heaven 17, U2, Robyn Hitchcock

New releases: Orange Juice, XTC, Nine Inch Nails, Heaven 17, U2, Robyn Hitchcock

This week’s new CDs include a huge new box set from Orange Juice, plus reissues from XTC, Nine Inch Nails, Heaven 17, Robyn Hitchcock and The Fall, as well as the U.S. release of Killing Joke’s new album and a special U2 EP tied to Record Store Day.

Milestones: Andy Partridge is 57 today; watch XTC perform 3 songs live on MTV in 1989

To commemorate XTC frontman Andy Partridge’s 57th birthday today, we present this three-song live session — recorded May 16, 1989, at MTV in New York — that finds the rarely touring trio playing two songs off the just-released ‘Oranges & Lemons,’ plus “Blue Beret,” a then-unreleased outtake.

XTC reveals ‘banned’ pubic-hair cover art for upcoming ‘Skylarking’ double-vinyl reissue

XTC reveals ‘banned’ pubic-hair cover art for upcoming ‘Skylarking’ double-vinyl reissue

Andy Partridge this week unveiled the restored cover art — featuring close-up photos of men’s and women’s flower-adorned pubic hair — planned for the forthcoming double-vinyl reissue of XTC’s 1986 album ‘Skylarking.’

Update: XTC’s ‘Skylarking’ vinyl reissue ‘30% better sounding,’ will restore original artwork

This afternoon, the Andy Partridge-run Ape House Records offered an update on the forthcoming double-vinyl reissue of XTC’s 1986 album ‘Skylarking,’ declaring the new corrected edition of the album ‘is about 30 percent better sounding than any previously heard.’

Midge Ure reissuing ‘The Gift,’ ‘Answers to Nothing’ with B-sides, unreleased tracks

Midge Ure reissuing ‘The Gift,’ ‘Answers to Nothing’ with B-sides, unreleased tracks

The first two solo albums by former Ultravox frontman Midge Ure — 1985’s ‘The Gift’ and 1988’s ‘Answers to Nothing’ — are set to be reissued next month in expanded 2CD editions, each featuring digitally remastered versions of the original albums and a full contingent of B-sides, mixes and live tracks, some of which are previously unreleased.

Vintage Video: ‘XTC at the Manor,’ 1980 BBC doc about recording ‘Towers of London’

On Aug. 24, 1980, the members of XTC set up at Richard Branson’s Manor Studio to record another version of ‘Towers of London,’ a track destined to be the second single off the band’s just-completed, but not-yet-released album ‘Black Sea’— a weekend session captured for posterity in the hour-long documentary ‘XTC at the Manor.’

Audio: XTC’s Andy Partridge debuts ‘Powers,’ ‘aural sculptures’ inspired by sci-fi artist

Audio: XTC’s Andy Partridge debuts ‘Powers,’ ‘aural sculptures’ inspired by sci-fi artist

Former XTC figurehead Andy Partridge this week releases ‘Powers,’ a 12-track, limited-edition album featuring ‘aural sculptures’ inspired by the late sci-fi book-jacket artist Richard M. Powers. Hear audio samples from the album.