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XTC is an innovative new wave band from Swindon, UK. They are considered the forefathers of the Britpop movement of the 1980s. They are one of the most influential bands still working today.
XTC is also a slang term for Ecstasy, a drug. The name of the band predates this slang term.
XTC is also a brand of energy drink.
First coming together in 1972, the core duo of Andy Partridge (guitars, vocals) and Colin Moulding (bass, vocals) went through various band names and personnel changes over the next five years as they built up their unique brand of hyperactive pop spiked with funk, punk, ska, reggae, and art rock.
By the time of the punk explosion in 1977, the group's lineup had been filled out by Barry Andrews (keyboards) and Terry Chambers (drums), and the band got picked up by Virgin. They recorded the 3D EP later that year, and followed it up with White Music in January 1978.
After their sophomore effort, Go2, Andrews left and was replaced by guitarist Dave Gregory. Andrews went on to work with Shriekback and Robert Fripp's League of Gentlemen.
The loss of Andrews' keyboard madness started the band on a path towards more traditional guitar pop, although Gregory also contributed occasional keyboards (and later, string arrangements.) The resulting album, Drums and Wires, produced the band's first big hit, "Making Plans for Nigel". Other hits from this era include "Senses Working Overtime", "Sgt. Rock (Is Going to Help Me)", "Life Begins at the Hop", and "Generals & Majors". By 1982, at the peak of their popularity, the demands of touring had become too much for Partridge. Partridge suffered a breakdown on stage during a Paris concert on March 18, 1982. Since then, XTC has been almost exclusively a studio band.
Chambers left the band shortly thereafter, not happy with the confines of the studio and unimpressed with the band's more pastoral, eccentric direction. Rather than finding a replacement, XTC has used a series of session drummers over the years, including Peter Phipps, Prairie Prince, Dave Mattacks, Pat Mastelotto, Chuck Sabo and Dave Gregory's brother, Ian Gregory (as "E.I.E.I. Owen").
In 1986, the band travelled to Todd Rundgren's studio-in-the-woods in Woodstock, NY to record what many consider to be the best album of their career, Skylarking. Rundgren had insisted that the band send him, in advance, demos of all the songs that they thought they might tackle for the record. When the band got to Woodstock, Rundgren had already worked out a running order for both the recording and sequence of the album itself. True to his "hands-on" studio production style, Rundgren insisted that everyone adhere to his scheme. This did not sit well with the band, Partridge in particular. The two egos of Rundgren and Partridge clashed frequently during the recording of Skylarking and when it was finished Partridge said that he was not at all happy with the resulting product. Partridge has since softened his view, describing the album as "a summer's day baked into one cake".
Skylarking revived the band's commercial fortunes, earning critical accolades and spawning the controversial hit b-side "Dear God". The band's followup, Oranges & Lemons, was their biggest seller yet, with "Mayor of Simpleton" and "King for a Day" getting heavy airplay on MTV.
As a result of a contract dispute with Virgin Records, XTC was "on strike" from 1992 through 1998, resulting finally in the termination of their contract; they released no material during this time. The final straw for the band was Virgin's sinking of their 1992 single "Wrapped in Grey", which was pressed up in the tens of thousands, and then recalled and destroyed by the label.
XTC has released material under pseudonyms, including two albums of psychedelic parodies as "The Dukes of Stratosphear" (compiled on a single CD, Chips from the Chocolate Fireball, simultaneous with the second album's vinyl release), a Viz comics promotional single as "Johnny Japes and his Jesticles", a Christmas-themed single as "The Three Wise Men" and a guest appearance on their own tribute album Testimonial Dinner as "Terry and the Lovemen".
Finally released from Virgin, they formed their own label, Idea Records. Dave Gregory left the band during the recording of the 1999 album Apple Venus Volume 1 after contributing to a few tracks, leaving just Partridge and Moulding in the group. Now in control of their own work, XTC have built their own small studio and have released instrumental and demo versions of their first two albums on Idea, Apple Venus and Wasp Star (Apple Venus Volume 2). Having left Virgin, relations have improved and Andy Partridge is releasing a series of albums of "demos" of his songs (mainly from the Virgin years) under the title of Fuzzy Warbles, on a new label imprint APE (Andy Partridge Experiments). Colin Moulding declined to contribute his demos to the series. A box set, Coat of Many Cupboards, was released in 2002.
They were mentioned in "XTC vs. Adam Ant", an ironic tribute by They Might Be Giants but did not appear on the track.
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