Early XTC: Pop with a punk patina

One of my favorite British bands from the post-punk era is XTC. The band’s formation actually predated punk. Three of the four original members — guitarist/songwriter/singer Andy Partridge, bassist/songwriter/singer Colin Moulding, and drummer Terry Chambers — got together in 1972, playing with a revolving door of bandmates and under other band names (Star Park, Helium Kidz).

The recruitment of keyboardist Barry Andrews in late 1976 completed the first commercially successful version of XTC. Andrews’ quirky, spiky style fit well with band frontman Partridge’s quirky, yelpy singing and spiky guitar style. If I had to describe XTC’s early sound, I’d call it pop with a punk patina.

Although the band’s greatest artistic achievements came after Andrews’ departure in late 1978 following XTC’s second album, this early incarnation of the band produced some frenetic punk-tinged music with catchy melodies and vibrant harmonies. (While guitarist Dave Gregory was a fantastic replacement for Andrews, I think an XTC with both Andrews and Gregory would have been awesome.)

On June 20, 1977, XTC recorded four live songs for broadcast on John Peel’s hugely influential BBC Radio 1 program. Peel had invited the band on his show after seeing them live at Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club in London (which appears to have been on April 19).

XTC recorded four songs for the program (which aired on Friday, June 24, 1977): She’s So Square, Cross Wires, Radios in Motion, and Science Friction. Oddly, there’s no YouTube video with all four songs; they’re on YouTube separately, and Science Friction not at all.

I’m not going to bury you with multiple videos, so I selected Radios in Motion from the June 24 show. It’s not the best of their early songs, but it’s a good representation of their sound back then and often was used as the opening song in their live act.

OK, here’s a bonus video if you want to see what early XTC looked like. This is Radios in Motion on the Old Grey Whistle Test in February 1978: