"Season Cycle"

XTC
Because it's the vernal, or spring, equinox...

"Wonderland"

From dereck von's photostream
Wikipedia entry:

"Wonderland" is a single by XTC released in June 1983, written by Colin Moulding and taken from the album Mummer.

Although they had shifted in a more acoustic direction on their previous album English Settlement, it was with "Wonderland" that their sound could first be described as pastoral, which became their hallmark for the next several years.

This is one of the few songs from the Mummer sessions to feature drummer Terry Chambers prior to his sudden departure from XTC.

Leader Andy Partridge has subsequently described "Wonderland" as one of Moulding's "most beautiful melodies."

And amen to that. This is one of those XTC songs that early on established Moulding as an occasional McCartney to Andy Partridge's Lennon:

"King for a Day"

From the album (Oranges & Lemons, 1989) which would turn out to be one of XTC's last, great attempts at reaching an audience beyond its cult status, "King for a Day" is a Colin Moudling song.

This is what Andy Partridge said about it:

This is one of the three songs Colin wrote (for Oranges & Lemons). All of them are rather down and dark but put to jolly music, which makes them even more poignant. The song's about ass-licking and making a fool of yourself just to get fame and riches and success (sounds a lot like blogging). The song's a commando knife, dark and cutting. (source)

Here is XTC on David Letterman in 1989. As Letterman points out, this live performance marks the first one the group had done anywhere in seven years. Like Brian Wilson, Andy Partridge basically had somewhat of a complete breakdown due to the pressures of live performance. And much like with the Beach Boys, this caused XTC to funnel all their creative energies into studio experimentation:

Musing on Todd Rundgren

Several things come to mind when Todd Rundgren crosses my....mind, and he does cross it...err, my mind, from time to time, when I hear his music, etc.

MUSING #1: I think about the surprisingly nasty little war of words exchanged between Rundgren and John Lennon in the early seventies, which I found out about through reading Ray Coleman's Lennon.

Here's one quote from an interview Rundgren did with Melody Maker back in November of '73:

John Lennon ain't no revolutionary. He's a f------- idiot, man. Shouting about revolution and acting like an a__. It just makes people feel uncomfortable.

Them's fightin' words. And it didn't end there. Here are some of my favorite parts of Lennon's response, delivered (to Rundgren) via letter:

AN OPENED LETTUCE TO SODD RUNTLESTUNTLE. (from dr. winston o'boogie)

Couldn't resist adding a few "islands of truth" of my own, in answer to Turd Runtgreen's howl of hate (pain.)

Dear Todd,

I like you, and some of your work, including "I Saw The Light," which is not unlike "There's A Place" (Beatles), melody wise.

1) I have never claimed to be a revolutionary. But I am allowed to sing about anything I want! Right?

4) I don't represent anyone but my SELF. It sounds like I represented something to you, or you wouldn't be so violent towards me. (Your dad perhaps?) (ooh!)

7) Which gets me to the Beatles, "who had no other style than being the Beatles"!! That covers a lot of style man, including your own, TO DATE.....

Anyway, However much you hurt me darling; I'll always love you,

J. L.

That's just ugliness, however you want to look at it. Neither of them could have felt good about that later on.


MUSING #2: Other times, when it comes to Todd Rundgren, I think about my favorite XTC record, Skylarking. Rundgren was the producer/slave driver on that one, and things were reportedly contentious between him and the band. Whatever the situation in the studio was, it seems to have been the catalyst responsible for enabling the creation of what became arguably XTC's greatest album.


Liv Tyler's mom
MUSING #3: Sometimes, whilst contemplating that which is Todd Rundgren, I remember "reading" (in one of my father's extensive collection of Playboy mags going back to the earliest issues, many of which somehow ended up, hidden in my room...) about how he had one of the centerfolds as a girlfriend. And I knew exactly (link nsfw) what she looked like. Naked even. That seemed like the pinnacle of success to me as I entered my teen years - to know a Playboy centerfold, intimately. Like, knowing what her favorite color is and stuff such as. There are worse goals.


Rundgren on far right, with original Cars Easton and Hawkes, 2nd and 3rd from left
MUSING #4: I have actually spent time thinking about the bizarre melding of Rundgren and The Cars. I say bizarre, because I'm not quite sure why he did it, except for maybe being bored, needing the money, or wallowing in the throes of a mid-life crises. I must admit, as is visible in this video, they do in fact rock (and do in fact sound like The Cars), but it just ends up seeming kind of sad, really:



MUSING #5: And finally, and more typically, just as the harsh realities and responsibilities of real life push him far, far from my mind, when I think about Todd Rundgren, I think about what most people who have heard of him think about, which is his 1972 solo album, Something/Anything?. It's his best, commercially and critically. It's #173 on "The Rolling Stone 500 Greatest Albums of All Time" list, and it featured Rundgren's only major pop hit, "Hello It's Me." Here he is, rockin' the butterfly eyelashes, doing it live on a Four Tops-hosted edition of The Midnight Special (sigh) in 1973:


Dude's talented!

The Dukes of Stratosphear

1989
From the Wikipedia entry:

The Dukes of Stratosphear was a pseudonym used by the British rock band XTC in the mid to late 1980s, in parallel with XTC's continued musical activities. The project was intended as a homage to 1960s pop and psychedelic music by groups such as the Beatles, The Byrds, The Kinks, The Beach Boys, Pink Floyd and the Pretty Things.

The band only released two records, the EP 25 O'Clock (1985), and the full-length album Psonic Psunspot (1987). The two releases were compiled onto a single CD under the title Chips from the Chocolate Fireball. The Dukes were also mentioned in the credits of XTC's 1986 album Skylarking, where they were thanked for the loan of their guitars.

I bought a copy of this album in a London record shop during the summer of 1985 (at the same time Live Aid was occurring). It's a cherished possession.

I've seen the Dukes' music described as Syd Barrett-era Floyd. That's pretty accurate. One of the really cool things about them was that at least on the first album (25 O'Clock), they recorded using only the technology available to groups in the 1960s. And some critics argue that the members of XTC, free from the pressures of writing "serious" songs, turned in tunes superior to those on official XTC albums of the period. It shouldn't be too much of a surprise, but they even did some videos as The Dukes(!).

This first one is for a great track off of 25 O'Clock called "The Mole from the Ministry." It's the Dukes "rewrite" of "I Am the Walrus." The promotional film appears to be outtakes from Magical Mystery Tour (appropriately enough):


And here is one from Psonic Psunspot titled "You're a Good Man Albert Brown":