''Drums and Wires'' is the third studio album by the English rock band

XTC XTC were an English rock band formed in Swindon in 1972. Fronted by songwriters Andy Partridge (guitars, vocals) and Colin Moulding (bass, vocals), the band gained popularity during the rise of punk and new wave in the 1970s, later playing in ...

, released in 1979 on

Virgin Records Virgin Records is a record label owned by Universal Music Group. It originally founded as a British independent record label in 1972 by entrepreneurs Richard Branson, Simon Draper, Nik Powell, and musician Tom Newman. It grew to be a worldwid ...

. It is a more pop-orientated affair than the band's previous, ''

Go 2 ''Go 2'' is the second studio album by the English band XTC, released 6 October 1978 on Virgin Records. The United Kingdom version contained no singles, but the American and Canadian versions included the single "Are You Receiving Me?" (release ...

'' (1978), and was named for its emphasis on guitars ("wires") and expansive-sounding drums. The album was their first issued in the United States and their first recorded with guitarist Dave Gregory, who had replaced keyboardist Barry Andrews earlier in 1979. It features a mix of pop,

art rock Art rock is a subgenre of rock music that generally reflects a challenging or avant-garde approach to rock, or which makes use of modernist, experimental, or unconventional elements. Art rock aspires to elevate rock from entertainment to an art ...

, new wave and

punk Punk or punks may refer to: Genres, subculture, and related aspects * Punk rock, a music genre originating in the 1970s associated with various subgenres * Punk subculture, a subculture associated with punk rock, or aspects of the subculture s ...

styles with much rhythmic interplay between XTC's two guitarists. Bassist

Colin Moulding Colin Ivor Moulding (born 17 August 1955) is an English bassist, singer, and songwriter who was one of the core members of the rock band XTC. Though he was less prolific a songwriter than his bandmate Andy Partridge, Moulding wrote their first th ...

's dissatisfaction with XTC's "quirky" reputation inspired the group to take a more accessible approach, starting with the non-album single " Life Begins at the Hop". ''Drums and Wires'' was recorded in four weeks at the newly built

Town House A townhouse, townhome, town house, or town home, is a type of terraced housing. A modern townhouse is often one with a small footprint on multiple floors. In a different British usage, the term originally referred to any type of city residence ...

studio in London with producer

Steve Lillywhite Stephen Alan Lillywhite, (born 15 March 1955) is a British record producer. Since he began his career in 1977, Lillywhite has been credited on over 500 records, and has collaborated with a variety of musicians including new wave acts XTC, Big ...

and engineer

Hugh Padgham Hugh Charles Padgham (born 15 February 1955) is an English record producer and audio engineer. He has won four Grammy Awards, for Producer of the Year and Album of the Year for 1985, Record of the Year for 1990, and Engineer of the Year for 1 ...

, who were beginning to develop their signature

gated reverb Gated reverb or gated ambience is an audio processing technique that combines strong reverb and a noise gate. The effect is often associated with the sound of 1980s British popular music. It was developed in 1979 by producer Steve Lillywhite and e ...

production technique, as demonstrated on the album opener and

lead single A lead single (also known as a debut single) is the first single to be released from a studio album by an artist or a band, usually before the album itself is released and also occasionally on the same day of the album's release date. Release s ...

Making Plans for Nigel "Making Plans for Nigel" is a song by the English rock band XTC that was released as the opening track and lead single from their 1979 album ''Drums and Wires'', by Virgin Records. It was written by Colin Moulding, the band's bassist. The lyrics a ...

". Lyrically, the album focuses on the trappings or titillations of the modern world, with several songs about submitting to external forces. Frontman and guitarist

Andy Partridge Andrew John Partridge (born 11 November 1953) is an English guitarist, singer, songwriter, and record producer who founded the rock music, rock band XTC. He and Colin Moulding each acted as a songwriter and frontman for XTC, with Partridge writi ...

designed the cover artwork, which depicts the band logo forming the outline of a face. ''Drums and Wires'' reached number 34 on the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts C ...

and number 176 on the US ''Billboard'' 200. "Making Plans for Nigel" reached number 17 on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

and marked the band's commercial breakthrough. In 1980, Partridge recorded ''

Take Away / The Lure of Salvage ''Take Away'' and ''The Lure of Salvage'' are sides one and two, respectively, of the debut record by English musician Andy Partridge (credited as "Mr. Partridge"). Co-produced with John Leckie, the LP was released in February 1980 by Virgin Rec ...

'', an LP consisting mostly of dub remixes of ''Drums and Wires'' tracks. In later years, ''Drums and Wires'' became the best-known of XTC's albums. In 2004 it was ranked number 38 on ''

Pitchfork A pitchfork (also a hay fork) is an agricultural tool with a long handle and two to five tines used to lift and pitch or throw loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. The term is also applied colloquially, but inaccurately, to th ...

''s list of "The Top Albums of the 1970s", and in 2019, it was ranked number 31 in a similar list by '' Paste''.

Background

In October 1978, XTC released their second studio album ''

'', a more experimental venture than their debut ''

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 ...

''. It was met with positive reviews and a number 21 chart peak. Keyboardist Barry Andrews left the band in December during their first American tour. Shortly prior, Andrews told journalists that he foresaw the band "explod ngpretty soon". Frontman and principal songwriter

commented: "He enjoyed undermining what little authority I had in the band. We were bickering quite a lot. But when he left I thought, Oh shit, that's the sound of the band gone, this space-cream over everything. And I did enjoy his brain power, the verbal and mental fencing." XTC proceeded to run through a "silly half-hearted" process of auditioning another keyboardist. Although

Thomas Dolby Thomas Morgan Robertson (born 14 October 1958), known by the stage name Thomas Dolby, is an English musician, producer, composer, entrepreneur and teacher. Dolby came to prominence in the 1980s, releasing hit singles including "She Blinded Me ...

was rumoured as a replacement, Partridge said that Dolby was never actually considered, but did write many letters asking to join the band. XTC live

Rather than hiring a replacement keyboardist, Dave Gregory of the

Swindon Swindon () is a town and unitary authority with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Wiltshire, England. As of the 2021 Census, the population of Swindon was 201,669, making it the largest town in the county. The Swindon un ...

covers band Dean Gabber and His Gaberdines was invited to join as a second guitarist. Partridge remembered holding a "pretend audition" where Gregory was asked to play the band's "

This Is Pop This may refer to: * ''This'', the singular proximal demonstrative pronoun Places * This, or ''Thinis'', an ancient city in Upper Egypt * This, Ardennes, a commune in France People with the surname * Hervé This, French culinary chemist Arts, ...

", only for Gregory to inquire whether they wanted the album version or the single version: "We thought, 'Bloody oh, a real musician.' But he was in the band before he even knew." Gregory was anxious of whether the fans would accept him as a member, characterising himself as "the archetypal pub-rocker in jeans and long hair. But the fans weren't bothered. Nobody was fashionable in XTC, ever." He grew more comfortable with the group after playing a few shows, he said, "and things got better and better".

Production and style

Impressed by the work of

, XTC contacted him to produce their third album with a drum sound that would "knock your head off". In the 1998 XTC biography ''Song Stories'', Partridge states that the band hired Lillywhite based on his work for

Siouxsie and the Banshees Siouxsie and the Banshees were a British rock band formed in London in 1976 by vocalist Siouxsie Sioux and bass guitarist Steven Severin. They have been widely influential, both over their contemporaries and with later acts. ''Q'' magazine in ...

' ''

The Scream ''The Scream'' is a composition created by Norwegian artist Edvard Munch in 1893. The agonized face in the painting has become one of the most iconic images of art, seen as symbolizing the anxiety of the human condition. Munch's work, including ...

'' (1978). Partridge explained in a 1999 interview: "Lillywhite mainly contributed to the drums' sound, very Siouxsie, more

voodoo Voodoo may refer to: Religions * African or West African Vodun, practiced by Gbe-speaking ethnic groups * African diaspora religions, a list of related religions sometimes called Vodou/Voodoo ** Candomblé Jejé, also known as Brazilian Vodu ...

". In 2019, he retracted his claim, saying that the Lillywhite record the band were impressed by was actually

Ultravox Ultravox (earlier styled as Ultravox!) were a British new wave band, formed in London in April 1974 as Tiger Lily. Between 1980 and 1986, they scored seven Top Ten albums and seventeen Top 40 singles in the UK, the most successful of which was ...

's 1977 debut. With Virgin staff engineer

, they embarked to the newly built

Townhouse Studios The Town House (also known as Townhouse Studios) was a recording studio located at 150 Goldhawk Road, Shepherd's Bush in London, built in 1978 under the direction of Richard Branson for Virgin Records. The studios changed ownership and eventuall ...

, "with its now world-famous stone room", as described by Gregory, who recalled that Padgham had "yet to develop his trade-mark ' gated ambience' sound". Gregory stated that, ultimately, "most of the ideas were Andy's but we were all contributing and Lillywhite was there as some sort of mediator more than anything. He's credited with producing it but really I think it was about 50/50. Most of the ideas were there in the first place before we got into the studio."

Nick Lowe Nicholas Drain Lowe (born 24 March 1949) is an English singer-songwriter, musician and producer. A noted figure in power pop and new wave, Coinciding with Gregory's arrival, in April 1979, the band recorded " Life Begins at the Hop", written by bassist

, and their first record with Lillywhite producing. After the band went on tour for the single, sessions for ''Drums and Wires'' resumed from 25 June to July. By this time, Moulding "wanted to ditch urquirky nonsense and do more straight-ahead pop." He said that when Andrews was in the band, Partridge had "no kind of foil" to work with, as he "used to like the real kind of angular, spiky, upward-thrusting guitar ... if one is angular, the other has to kind of straighten him out, you know? It was just going too far the other way, I felt. So when Dave came in, and was a much straighter player, it seemed to make more sense, I think." Partridge opined that, before then, Moulding's songs "came out as weird imitations of what I was doing, 'cause he thought that was the thing to do. ... On ''Go 2'' he was sort of getting his own style, and by ''Drums and Wires'' he really started to take off as a songwriter." Gregory remembered that XTC's songs "inspired a different approach to listening and playing from that which I'd grown up with. I simply couldn't continue grinding out old blues clichés and power chords, so I began to think more in terms of the songs as the masters and the instruments as the servants." The album was recorded in three weeks and mixed in two. ''Drums and Wires'' was named for its emphasis on the sounds of guitars and expansive drums. The title was inspired by an illustration from ''

The Beano ''The Beano'' (formerly ''The Beano Comic'', also known as ''Beano'') is a British anthology comic magazine created by Scottish publishing company DC Thomson. Its first issue was published on 30 July 1938, and it became the world's longest-runn ...

'' depicting the comic dog

Gnasher Gnasher () is a fictional comic strip character that appears in the British comic magazine ''The Beano''. He is the pet dog of Dennis the Menace, who meets him in 1968's issue 1362, and is also the star of three spin-off comic strips. Gnasher ...

playing drums and "BOOM DADA BOOM" written above him. Partrige considered using the illustration for the cover, "but it was a silly idea and 'Drums and Wires' seemed to suit the sound of the record. All drums and guitar strings." Lyrically, the album focuses on the trappings or titillations of the modern world, with several songs about submitting to external forces. Partridge's songs also centre on the impact of technology on human emotions. Musically, the album was described by '' Paste'' critic Lizzie Manno as featuring "a bold, drum-centric", "polychromatic", and "coltish" pop style, with "a skittish punk energy and fierce grooves". She went on to say its "off-kilter fusion of

and New Wave swells with Andy Partridge and Colin Moulding’s mercurial pop yelps and pointed guitars", and that the addition of Gregory to the band lent the music "space for their transfixing guitar interplay". In the words of Chris Dahlen from ''

'', the band pursued "pure pop disguised as jittery

post-punk Post-punk (originally called new musick) is a broad genre of punk music that emerged in the late 1970s as musicians departed from punk's traditional elements and raw simplicity, instead adopting a variety of avant-garde sensibilities and non-roc ...

, all played with teeth-chattering intensity", while ''

Milenio ''Milenio'' is a major national newspaper in Mexico, owned by Grupo Multimedios. It is published in 11 cities across Mexico, including Monterrey, Mexico City, Guadalajara, León, Pachuca, Puebla, Villahermosa, Tampico, Torreón, Toluca, and Xal ...

'' writer Ernesto Herrera called the album a representative record of new wave. Editors at ''

Trouser Press ''Trouser Press'' was a rock and roll magazine started in New York in 1974 as a mimeographed fanzine by editor/publisher Ira Robbins, fellow fan of the Who Dave Schulps and Karen Rose under the name "Trans-Oceanic Trouser Press" (a reference to ...

'' opined that it was a "spiky

art-pop Art pop (also typeset art-pop or artpop) is a loosely defined style of pop music influenced by art theories as well as ideas from other art mediums, such as fashion, fine art, cinema, and avant-garde literature. The genre draws on pop art's ...

gem". Writing for ''

Ultimate Classic Rock Townsquare Media, Inc. (formerly Regent Communications until 2010) is an American radio network and media company based in Purchase, New York. The company started in radio and expanded into digital media toward the end of the 2000s, starting wit ...

'' in 2019, critic Michael Galluci said the album is "45 or so minutes of art-rock" and argued that, "even today, ''Drums and Wires'' sounds like an unconventional work among the period's angular, arty and evolving New Wave."

Songs

Side one

8 of the album's 12 songs were written by Partridge, with the remaining 4 by Moulding. "

" is told from the point of view of parents who are certain that their son Nigel is "happy in his work", affirming that his future in British Steel "is as good as sealed", and that he "likes to speak and loves to be spoken to." The distinctive drum pattern was an attempt to invert drum tones and accents in the style of

Devo Devo (, originally ) is an American rock band from Akron, Ohio, formed in 1973. Their classic line-up consisted of two sets of brothers, the Mothersbaughs (Mark and Bob) and the Casales (Gerald and Bob), along with Alan Myers. The band had a ...

's 1977 rendition of

the Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for six decades, they are one of the most popular and enduring bands of the rock era. In the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones pioneered the gritty, rhythmically d ...

' " Satisfaction". Partridge remembered his discontent with the time devoted to the song's recording, remarking that " spent a week doing Nigel and three weeks doing the rest of the album." "Helicopter" was inspired by Partridge's childhood memory of a 1960s magazine advertisement for

Lego Lego ( , ; stylized as LEGO) is a line of plastic construction toys that are manufactured by The Lego Group, a privately held company based in Billund, Denmark. The company's flagship product, Lego, consists of variously colored interlocking ...

toys. "When You're Near Me I Have Difficulty" is about Vanessa Kearley, a girl that Partridge was infatuated with during his school years. It was briefly considered as a single, along with "Real by Reel". "Ten Feet Tall" was XTC's first acoustic song, inspired by Nick Lowe's "

Cruel to Be Kind "Cruel to Be Kind" is a song by Nick Lowe, co-written by Lowe and his former Brinsley Schwarz bandmate Ian Gomm. Written by Lowe and Gomm while the pair were in Brinsley Schwarz, the song was saved on a demo until Columbia Records convince ...

". Gregory thought it sounded so unlike the band that he suggested Moulding release it as a solo single.

Side two

"Real by Reel" is about Partridge's anxieties toward

government surveillance Surveillance is the monitoring of behavior, many activities, or information for the purpose of information gathering, influencing, managing or directing. This can include observation from a distance by means of electronic equipment, such as ...

. "That Is the Way" is about Moulding's concerns toward how parents relate to their children. Its recording marked the first time XTC hired a

session musician Session musicians, studio musicians, or backing musicians are musicians hired to perform in recording sessions or live performances. The term sideman is also used in the case of live performances, such as accompanying a recording artist on a ...

, flugelhorn player

Dick Cuthell Dick Cuthell is a British musician and record producer. He plays flugelhorn, cornet, and trumpet, amongst a range of other brass instruments, including tenor horn and valve trombone. Cuthell is best known for his work with The SpecialsStrong, Ma ...

. ”Outside World", a frenetic number built on manic riffing from Gregory and Partridge, and a muscular bass-line by Moulding was considered as a possible single early on during the recording process. In addition to it being a live favorite, it has been described by Partridge as "the last gasp of punky XTC." "Scissor Man" is Partridge's attempt at an adult

morality tale The morality play is a genre of medieval and early Tudor drama. The term is used by scholars of literary and dramatic history to refer to a genre of play texts from the fourteenth through sixteenth centuries that feature personified concepts ( ...

, based on "The Story of the Thumb-Sucker" from the German children's book ''

Struwwelpeter ''Der Struwwelpeter'' ("shock-headed Peter" or "Shaggy Peter") is an 1845 German children's book by Heinrich Hoffmann. It comprises ten illustrated and rhymed stories, mostly about children. Each has a clear moral that demonstrates the disastr ...

'', and features a dub-influenced coda. "Complicated Game", according to Partridge, is "one of those 'you get born and it doesn't matter and then you die' songs." He said that "at that time in my life, I was starting to feel a sense of futility. I think it had to do with being in the band, and being stuck on the touring trail, and seemingly not having any control in my career." The "Tom" and "Joe" in its lyric refer to

Tom Robinson Thomas Giles Robinson (born 1 June 1950) is a British singer, bassist, radio presenter and long-time LGBT rights activist, best known for the hits "Glad to Be Gay", "2-4-6-8 Motorway", and "Don't Take No for an Answer", with his Tom Robinson ...

and

Joe Strummer John Graham Mellor (21 August 1952 – 22 December 2002), known professionally as Joe Strummer, was a British singer, musician and songwriter. He was the co-founder, lyricist, rhythm guitarist and co-lead vocalist of punk rock band the Clash, ...

, names which Partridge found by opening a random page of the ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...

''. Moulding held an

electric razor An electric shaver (also known as the dry razor, electric razor, or simply shaver) is a razor with an electrically powered rotating or oscillating blade. The electric shaver usually does not require the use of shaving cream, soap, or water. The ...

against the microphone to provide the track's continuous buzzing sound. The song ends the LP with a crescendo of guitar sounds. Partridge overdubbed the

flange A flange is a protruded ridge, lip or rim (wheel), rim, either external or internal, that serves to increase shear strength, strength (as the flange of an iron beam (structure), beam such as an I-beam or a T-beam); for easy attachment/transfer of ...

-affected guitar solo without hearing the backing track using two

Marshall amplifier Marshall may refer to: Places Australia * Marshall, Victoria, a suburb of Geelong, Victoria Canada * Marshall, Saskatchewan * The Marshall, a mountain in British Columbia Liberia * Marshall, Liberia Marshall Islands * Marshall Islands, a ...

s at maximum volume. As with the vocals, it was performed in one take.

Packaging and leftover tracks

Partridge came up with the concept for the album's cover artwork. As he remembers: Included was an insert featuring lyrics to all the songs on as well as the songs on XTC's previous albums, ''Go 2'' and ''White Music''. Partridge said this was done due to fans requesting the lyrics of XTC's songs. Early UK copies also included a bonus single: Partridge's "Chain of Command" backed with Moulding's "Limelight". "Chain of Command" is about "wars" among microbes in the human body. It was left off the album due to the band's dissatisfaction with the song. "Limelight", as interpreted by Partridge, is about their perception of how the band was viewed in their hometown of

. The original US version of the album contained a 7" bonus EP featuring these two songs, along with "Day In Day Out," which had been removed from the LP's sequence to make room for "Life Begins at the Hop." "Life Begins at the Hop" was not included on the original UK LP due to industry convention in the 1960s and the 1970s, although the track appeared on some international variants, either as an addition or substitution. Other tracks were produced but left off the album: Partridge's "Homo Safari", "Pulsing, Pulsing" and "Bushman President". "Homo Safari" is an instrumental piece produced during the "Life Begins at the Hop" session. The "homo" simply refers to the Latin word for man, not a reference to homosexuality. "Pulsing, Pulsing" was recorded with an electric guitar that was not plugged in. "Bushman President" is another instrumental, and the second volume in Partridge's Homo Safari series. It was recorded entirely with a Korg monophonic synthesizer. Later, it was used as an introduction tape for the group's live performances.

Release

"Life Begins at the Hop" was released on 4 May 1979 and became the first charting single for the band, rising to number 54 on the

. They played a 23-date English tour, playing to half- or quarter-full concert halls. In July, music videos directed by

Russell Mulcahy Russell Mulcahy ( ; born 23 June 1953) is an Australian film director. Mulcahy's work is recognisable by the use of fast cuts, tracking shots and use of glowing lights, neo-noir lighting, windblown drapery, and fans. He directed music videos i ...

were filmed for "Making Plans for Nigel" and "Life Begins at the Hop". From 25 July to 17 August, they embarked on another tour of Australia, which was more successful. Immediately following the tour, the band arrived in Japan and played four dates in Osaka. Partridge recalled the band encountering much fan hysteria in Japan: "We could hardly go anywhere without being screamed at. You'd walk into a hotel lobby and there'd be a crowd of girls sitting around waiting for you." ''Drums and Wires'' was released on 17 August, with lead single "Making Plans for Nigel" following on 5 September. From 11 September to 5 October, XTC embarked on another underwhelming British tour. Gregory remembered: "in Wolverhampton

here were Here is an adverb that means "in, on, or at this place". It may also refer to: Software * Here Technologies, a mapping company * Here WeGo (formerly Here Maps), a mobile app and map website by Here Television * Here TV (formerly "here!"), a TV ...

about 200 people in a place that holds about 1,500. It was really depressing." On 8 October, the band performed four songs from the album for

BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including electronica, dance, ...

John Peel John Robert Parker Ravenscroft (30 August 1939 – 25 October 2004), known professionally as John Peel, was an English disc jockey (DJ) and radio presenter. He was the longest-serving of the original BBC Radio 1 DJs, broadcasting regularly fr ...

show. Performances of "Real by Real" and "Ten Feet Tall" recorded were later released for '' Drums and Wireless: BBC Radio Sessions 77–89'' (1994). "Making Plans for Nigel" later rose to number 17 and helped propel the album to number 37 in the UK. The album became their first to chart in the US, at number 176. Afterward, the single was playlisted at the BBC, which helped the band secure two appearances on ''

Top of the Pops ''Top of the Pops'' (''TOTP'') is a British Record chart, music chart television programme, made by the BBC and originally broadcast weekly between 1January 1964 and 30 July 2006. The programme was the world's longest-running weekly music show ...

''. When touring resumed on 23 November, every date was sold out. Elsewhere, A union of 100,000 steel workers went

on strike Strike action, also called labor strike, labour strike, or simply strike, is a work stoppage caused by the mass refusal of employees to work. A strike usually takes place in response to employee grievances. Strikes became common during the I ...

and contacted Moulding for a statement on their issues, but he offered no comment. British Steel also gathered four

Sheffield Sheffield is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is Historic counties o ...

employees named Nigel to discuss job satisfaction for the trade publication ''Steel News''. The LP sold particularly well in Canada, Europe and Australia. In Canada, the record hit number 2 and went

gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile met ...

, selling over 50,000 copies. The band still felt that they were not "fashionable" in England. In their homeland, sales were at a minimal improvement from their previous records. Virgin requested Lillywhite to remix "Real by Reel", "When You're Near Me I Have Difficulty", "Helicopter" and "Outside World" as potential follow-up singles, but the new mixes were rejected by the group. Instead, the band recorded "Wait Till Your Boat Goes Down", a

reggae Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, " Do the Reggay" was the first popular song to use ...

-influenced Partridge song with production by

Phil Wainman Philip Neil Wainman (born 7 June 1946, West London, England) is an English record producer and songwriter, primarily active in the 1970s. He is noted for his work with Sweet, XTC, Dollar, Mud, and the Bay City Rollers. His greatest chart succes ...

Bay City Rollers The Bay City Rollers are a Scottish pop rock band known for their worldwide teen idol popularity in the 1970s. They have been called the "tartan teen sensations from Edinburgh" and one of many acts heralded as the "biggest group since the Beat ...

fame. It was their lowest-selling single to date. They also rerecorded "Ten Feet Tall" to have electric guitar in its arrangement. It was released as their first US single to coincide with their first tour there, which lasted from 14 January to 14 March. Most of the gigs were small club dates, with three East Coast dates supporting

the Police The Police were an English rock band formed in London in 1977. For most of their history the line-up consisted of primary songwriter Sting (lead vocals, bass guitar), Andy Summers (guitar) and Stewart Copeland (drums, percussion). The Police ...

, and were not particularly significant. Exceptions included a house record-breaking six consecutive sold-out shows at the

Whisky a Go Go The Whisky a Go Go (informally nicknamed "the Whisky") is a historic nightclub in West Hollywood, California, United States. It is located at 8901 Sunset Boulevard on the Sunset Strip, corner North Clark Street, opposite North San Vicente Boul ...

West Hollywood, California West Hollywood is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Incorporated in 1984, it is home to the Sunset Strip. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 U.S. Census, its population was 35,757. It is considered one of the most ...

. In Canada, XTC played to theatres and universities before larger crowds.

Critical reception

Contemporary

''Drums and Wires'' received favourable reviews, and according to biographer Chris Twomey, was "widely acknowledged in the music business". ''

Paul Morley Paul Robert Morley is an English music journalist. He wrote for the ''New Musical Express'' from 1977 to 1983 and has since written for a wide range of publications as well as writing his own books. He was a co-founder of the record label ZTT Re ...

decreed that XTC were "doing all sorts of they've never done before and never hinted they would. ... They have moved many steps forward to making a rock classic." In ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'', the album was deemed "an interesting package from a label that's beginning to make headway in the U.S. It's fresh rock 'n' roll in a new wave vein with a dash of '60s English melody. Of particular note is the inventive mix as instruments sparkle in both left and right channels." ''

The Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, the ''Voice'' began as a platform for the crea ...

'' critic

Robert Christgau Robert Thomas Christgau ( ; born April 18, 1942) is an American music journalist and essayist. Among the most well-known and influential music critics, he began his career in the late 1960s as one of the earliest professional rock critics and ...

wrote: "My reservations about this tuneful but willfully eccentric pop are ideological. ... Partridge and Colin Moulding are moving toward a great art-pop mean that will set standards for the genre. Catchy, funny, interesting—and it rocks." ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...

''s

Jon Pareles Jon Pareles (born October 25, 1953) is an American journalist who is the chief popular music critic in the arts section of ''The New York Times''.Philip Glass Philip Glass (born January 31, 1937) is an American composer and pianist. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential composers of the late 20th century. Glass's work has been associated with minimal music, minimalism, being built up fr ...

Steve Reich Stephen Michael Reich ( ; born October 3, 1936) is an American composer known for his contribution to the development of minimal music in the mid to late 1960s. Reich's work is marked by its use of repetitive figures, slow harmonic rhythm, a ...

-style static harmony, and their favorite complicated game is to stalemate pop progressions with immobile arrangements." He criticised the group's "

Beatles The Beatles were an English rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the most influential band of all time and were integral to the developme ...

fixation", bemoaning when the band appears "to cop from outside sources", such as the melody of the Beatles' "

Please Please Me ''Please Please Me'' is the debut studio album by the English rock band the Beatles. Produced by George Martin, it was released on EMI's Parlophone label on 22 March 1963 in the United Kingdom, following the success of the band's first two s ...

" in "When You're Near Me I Have Difficulty". ''

Playboy ''Playboy'' is an American men's lifestyle and entertainment magazine, formerly in print and currently online. It was founded in Chicago in 1953, by Hugh Hefner and his associates, and funded in part by a $1,000 loan from Hefner's mother. K ...

'' published a single-sentence review: "

clones that sound more like the old

Maxwell House Maxwell House is an American brand of coffee manufactured by a like-named division of Kraft Heinz in North America and JDE Peet's in the rest of the world. Introduced in 1892 by wholesale grocer Joel Owsley Cheek, it was named in honor of the Ma ...

percolator than like a rock band."

Retrospective

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

reviewer Chris Woodstra reflected that the album signalled "a turning point ... with a more subdued set of songs that reflect an increasing songwriting proficiency. The aimless energy of the first two albums is focused into a cohesive statement with a distinctive voice that retains their clever humor, quirky wordplay, and decidedly British flavor. ... driven by the powerful rhythms and angular, mainly minimalistic arrangements."

Greg Kot Greg Kot (born March 3, 1957) is an American music journalist and author. From 1990 until 2020, Kot was the rock music critic at the ''Chicago Tribune'', where he covered popular music and reported on music-related social, political and busines ...

of the ''

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television ar ...

'' cited the album as "among the more accomplished records of its time-edgy, brisk and sarcastic, with pop gems such as 'Making Plans for Nigel' and 'Life Begins at the Hop.'" ''

''s Michael Galluci said it was XTC's "first great album" and the first in a "string of musically ambitious records". In 2004, ''Drums and Wires'' was ranked number 38 on ''

''s list of the 100 best albums of the 1970s. Contributor Chris Dahlen wrote: "Dozens of other contemporary bands were more extreme in every way—angrier, more danceable, more adventurous or primitive or whatever—but this triple-jointed sock hop out-charms them all." In 2016, "Making Plans for Nigel" was ranked number 143 on the website's list of the 200 best songs of the 1970s. In 2019, ''Drums and Wires'' was ranked number 31 in a similar list by '' Paste''.

Legacy

''Drums and Wires'' became the best-known album of XTC's discography. Partridge and Moulding reflected on the period as the point in which XTC's "career really started". Gregory did not think he would remain with the band. He remembered: "I don't think I took my role in XTC seriously right up to ''

English Settlement ''English Settlement'' is the fifth studio album and first double album by the English rock band XTC, released 12 February 1982 on Virgin Records. It marked a turn towards the more pastoral pop songs that would dominate later XTC releases, wit ...

''. ''Drums and Wires'' was just great fun to me. ... The next thing we knew we were getting four-star reviews in all the papers. How did that happen?" Lillywhite and Padgham returned for the band's follow-up album ''

Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal mediterranean sea of the Atlantic Ocean lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bounded by Bulgaria, Georgia, Roma ...

'' (1980). Only Padgham was recruited for the record after, ''English Settlement'' (1982), as Partridge felt "it was Hugh who was getting all the great sounds". In Moulding's recollection, "Up until that point, we were viewed as a poor man’s

Talking Heads Talking Heads were an American rock band formed in 1975 in New York City and active until 1991.Talkin ...

or something. People called us 'quirky.' But when we came out with ''Drums and Wires'' it was like a different band, really. Mainly, that was probably my fault." He was surprised when the label began choosing his songs, instead of Partridge's, as singles. Partridge felt that he was losing the band's leadership and attempted to exert more authority in the group, calling himself "a very benevolent dictator." In early 1980, Partridge recorded the side LP ''Take Away'' / ''The Lure of Salvage''; a one-off record consisting of dub remixes of XTC songs that appeared without much notice, except in Japan, where it was hailed as a work of "electronic genius" and outsold all other XTC albums. The majority of its tracks sampled material from ''Drums and Wires''. In 1982, music journalist Mark Fisher created the XTC

fanzine A fanzine (blend word, blend of ''fan (person), fan'' and ''magazine'' or ''-zine'') is a non-professional and non-official publication produced by fan (person), enthusiasts of a particular cultural phenomenon (such as a literary or musical genre) ...

''Limelight'', named after the B-side single. "Complicated Game" served as the title of a 2016 book by Partridge and journalist Todd Bernhardt, which contains discussions between the two on various XTC songs.

Track listing

Original UK release

* Some early vinyl copies erroneously credit Moulding for "Complicated Game". * At least one pressing, numbered 200.917, has "Life Begins at the Hop" — misspelled as "Life Begins at the Hoo" on the label — in place of "Day In Day Out".

Original US release

This album had a large number of sequencing variations worldwide in its first few years of release. This is only one of many combinations of tracks.

2001 CD bonus tracks

These tracks were also included on most 1990's international CD releases of this album, inserted between sides one and two of the UK track listing.

2014 expanded edition

''Drums and Wires'' was reissued on CD and

Blu-ray The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of sto ...

in October 2014, boasting a new stereo and 5.1 surround sound mix of the album from remixer

Steven Wilson Steven John Wilson (born 3 November 1967) is an English musician. He is the founder, guitarist, lead vocalist and songwriter of the rock band Porcupine Tree, as well as being a member of several other bands, including Blackfield, Storm Corrosio ...

, as well as new liner notes from Partridge, Moulding and Gregory, alternate mixes and nearly 40 demo and rehearsal tracks. Partridge said of the new mix: "It's so good it's upped my opinion of the album."

Personnel

Credits adapted from the album's liner notes, except where noted. XTC *

–

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

synthesizer A synthesizer (also spelled synthesiser) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis and ...

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Exc ...

, sleeve design *

– vocals, bass * Dave Gregory –

Electric guitar An electric guitar is a guitar that requires external amplification in order to be heard at typical performance volumes, unlike a standard acoustic guitar (however combinations of the two - a semi-acoustic guitar and an electric acoustic gui ...

background vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are used ...

Terry Chambers Terry Peter Chambers (born 18 July 1955) is an English drummer who was a member of the band XTC from 1972 to 1982 and the popular Australian-New Zealand group Dragon between 1983-5. He appears on all of XTC's albums between ''White Music'' (197 ...

–

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

Additional personnel *Andy Partridge, Colin Moulding, Dave Gregory, Terry Chambers, Steve Warren, Hugh Padgham, Al Clark, Laurie Dunn – Vernon Yard Male Voice Choir on "Roads Girdle the Globe" *

–

flugelhorn The flugelhorn (), also spelled fluegelhorn, flugel horn, or flügelhorn, is a brass instrument that resembles the trumpet and cornet but has a wider, more conical bore. Like trumpets and cornets, most flugelhorns are pitched in B, though some ...

on "That Is the Way" *

–

production Production may refer to: Economics and business * Production (economics) * Production, the act of manufacturing goods * Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services) * Production as a stati ...

–

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the l ...

*Georgie Chambers, Steve Prestage, Nick Cook –

tape op A tape operator or tape op, also known as a second engineer, is a person who performs menial operations in a recording studio in a similar manner to a tea boy or gopher. They may act as an apprentice or an assistant to a recording engineer and dut ...

erators *Jill Mumford – sleeve art

Charts

Year-end charts

References

Bibliography

* *

External links

* * {{Authority control XTC albums Virgin Records albums 1979 albums Albums produced by Steve Lillywhite Art pop albums