"Senses Working Overtime" is a song written by

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 ...

of the English

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

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 as the lead single from their 1982 album ''

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 ...

''. He based the song on

Manfred Mann Manfred Mann were an English rock band, formed in London and active between 1962 and 1969. The group were named after their keyboardist Manfred Mann, who later led the successful 1970s group Manfred Mann's Earth Band. The band had two differen ...

's "

5-4-3-2-1 "5-4-3-2-1" is a 1964 song by British band Manfred Mann. It was written by Mann, Mike Hugg and Paul Jones, and peaked at #5 on the UK Singles Chart thanks to weekly television exposure from being the theme tune for the ITV pop music television ...

" (1964). The album and single became the highest-charting records XTC would ever have in the UK, peaking at number five and number 10, respectively. At the suggestion of its director, the song's music video was filmed at double-speed and then slowed down, to make the musicians appear "more graceful". Partridge recalled: "That one was done really quickly, in

Shepperton Studios Shepperton Studios is a film studio located in Shepperton, Surrey, England, with a history dating back to 1931. It is now part of the Pinewood Studios Group. During its early existence, the studio was branded as Sound City (not to be confused w ...

while we were rehearsing for the ''English Settlement'' tour. And so that's us rehearsing. ... he half-speed idea hasbeen used a hell of a lot since then, but I think we were the first ones to do it."

Track listing

#"Senses Working Overtime" (

) #"Blame the Weather" (

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 ...

) #"Tissue Tigers (The Arguers)" (Partridge) On the 12" release, "Egyptian Solution (Thebes in a Box) (Homo Safari #3)" (Partridge) was added to the A-side as track 2; the B-side comprised "Blame the Weather" and "Tissue Tigers" on both 7" and 12".

Personnel

XTC *

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 ...

, drum synthesiser * Dave Gregory – electric 12–string guitar,

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 ...

–

fretless bass A fretless bass is a bass guitar whose neck does not have any frets. While the instrument is played in all styles of music, it is most common in pop, rock, and jazz. It first saw widespread use during the 1970s, although some players used them befo ...

backing 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 use ...

–

lead Lead is a chemical element with the symbol Pb (from the Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a heavy metal that is denser than most common materials. Lead is soft and malleable, and also has a relatively low melting point. When freshly cu ...

and

acoustic guitar An acoustic guitar is a musical instrument in the string family. When a string is plucked its vibration is transmitted from the bridge, resonating throughout the top of the guitar. It is also transmitted to the side and back of the instrument, ...

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Mandy Moore version

"Senses Working Overtime" was the third single released from Moore's third studio album ''

Coverage Coverage may refer to: Filmmaking * Coverage (lens), the size of the image a lens can produce * Camera coverage, the amount of footage shot and different camera setups used in filming a scene * Script coverage, a short summary of a script, wri ...

'' (2003). It was written by Andy Partridge and produced by John Fields. The song was included on Moore’s first greatest hits album '' The Best of Mandy Moore'' (2004).

Other versions

* 1995:

Spacehog Spacehog are an English rock band formed in 1994 in New York City. Their music is heavily influenced by David Bowie, Queen (band), Queen, and T.Rex (band), T. Rex. The band's best known single is In the Meantime (Spacehog song), "In the Meantim ...

, '' A Testimonial Dinner: The Songs of XTC''

References

External links

* {{authority control 1982 singles 2004 singles XTC songs Mandy Moore songs Songs written by Andy Partridge 1982 songs Song recordings produced by Hugh Padgham Epic Records singles Virgin Records singles Progressive pop songs