ALBUMS: Skylarkin’ (1986); Waxworks — Some singles 1977-1982 and Beeswax — Some B-sides 1977-1982 (NOTE: B-sides album came with the purchase of Waxworks).
MVC Ratings: Skylarkin’ 4.5/$$$$; Waxworks/Beeswax 4.0/$$$$
XTC’s songs hold up well because of their songwriting craft. The band managed to inoculate themselves from the excesses of the synth pop vs. protopunk scene in 1970s and 1980s England.
A Rolling Stone critic called XTC alternative music for people who don’t like alternative music.
The Waxworks collection shows how their songwriting evolved to beat the stigmatization of being labeled ‘alternative music.’ By the time the band issued Skylarkin, it was being compared to the Kinks, the Who and the Beatles.
That’s heady company, and it wasn’t all happy times. The band was involved in a years-long contract dispute with its label due to an unfavorable contract signed in their youth which gave them no ownership of their music.
Though they didn’t ever really hit the big time, they did make the Top 40 chart a few times. The band also became hot on college radio stations following a song on Skylarkin’ called ‘Dear God,’ with provocative lyrics such as: I won’t believe in heaven or hell, no saints, no sinners, no devil as well, no pearly gates, no thorny crown, you’re always letting us humans down …. I don’t believe in you, dear God.
The song’s irony is that it’s framed as a prayer to God, invoking the phrase ‘Dear God’ throughout, something I would suppose required a certain level of belief. I think that was the writer, Andy Partridge’s intention.
The album produced byTodd Rundgren has a great sound and flow with Beatlesque sound production.