052: XTC - The Big Express (1984)
“The Big Express is a loco derailing itself in the rusty goods yard. … Slashing electric guitars, sheets of steel bass and diesel oil drums. An iron opera, steam powered and brick encased.”
—Andy Partridge
We tried, we honestly tried to feature XTC as one of Discord & Rhyme’s earliest episodes, but technical issues derailed this podcasting train. Two years later, we’ve rebuilt our reserves of soul coal and dream steam, and Rich is ready to take John, Ben, and Dan aboard The Big Express, a relatively unknown but quintessential album from the Swindon trio. In 1984, the band was newly confined to the studio after eccentric frontman and lead songwriter Andy Partridge permanently swore off touring. Resultantly, the album finds him and bandmates Colin Moulding and Dave Gregory at their most kitchen-sink creative, as well as their most frustrating, which is a fundamental part of the proper XTC experience. So put your cleanest dirty shirt on, shake you donkey up, and get ready for some truly idiosyncratic songcraft.
Miscellany
If you plan to dive into the complete XTC back catalogue (and you should), we recommend that you opt for the Steven Wilson remixes we mentioned throughout the episode when available. As of July 2020, he’s done his magic on Drums & Wires, Black Sea, Skylarking, Oranges & Lemons, Nonsuch, and the Dukes of Stratosphear albums (newly re-released as Psurroundabout Ride).
“All You Pretty Girls” has a music video. We neglected to mention it because the band doesn’t really have any music videos worth mentioning, as Andy Partridge readily admits, though he expresses affection for “The Mole from the Ministry.”
Correction: Rich referred to the print What Do You Call That Noise? as a zine, but it’s actually Mark Fisher’s 2019 “XTC discovery book” about the band, available at BurningShed.com.
Lifelong XTC fan Andrew Stafford recently released a memoir of his experience sitting in on this album’s sessions, if you’re interested in a unique fly on the wall (couldn’t resist) perspective.
The COLD OPEN is a reference to the CLASSIC COVER of XTC’s second album, Go 2. Producer Mike’s PRODUCTION is an HOMAGE to “Speak to Me” by PINK FLOYD.
Rich reviewed XTC in the late ‘90s as a guest page on Mark Prindle’s Record Reviews, and the only reason he’s telling you this is because the exhaustive XTC fan site Chalkhills preserved it for posterity. Please do not treat any of the content on this page as representative of Rich in 2020.
John reviewed XTC much more recently, and gave Skylarking his second-highest rating: an F.
After the episode was recorded, Amanda observed that “Wake Up” in many ways is the XTC take on “A Day in the Life,” and John badly wishes he’d thought of this himself. Alas, Amanda is smarter than all of us.
Other links
Ape House, the official online home of XTC (apehouse.co.uk)
Chalkhills: The XTC Resource (chalkhills.org)
What Do You Call That Noise? podcast (transistor.fm)
The Big Express by XTC – A Thirtieth Anniversary Celebration (Dave Jennings, Louder Than War)
Todd Bernhardt's Complicated Game: Inside the Songs of XTC (Jawbone Press)
Neville Farmer's XTC: Song Stories (out of print, used on Amazon)
IT’S THE SUN WOT WON IT (Wikipedia)
Discord & Rhyme Roll Call
Rich Bunnell (host)
John McFerrin (moderator)
Ben Marlin
Dan Watkins
Mike DeFabio (special guest conducticator)
The Big Express tracklist
Wake Up
All You Pretty Girls
Shake You Donkey Up
Seagulls Screaming Kiss Her Kiss Her
This World Over
The Everyday Story of Smalltown
I Bought Myself a Liarbird
Reign of Blows (Vote No to Violence!)
You’re the Wish You Are I Had
I Remember the Sun
Train Running Low on Soul Coal
Other clips used
XTC:
25 O’Clock (as the Dukes of Stratosphear)
The Meeting Place
Travels in Nihilon
Complicated Game
This Is Pop (single version)
That’s Really Super, Supergirl
Towers of London
Statue of Liberty
Making Plans for Nigel
Senses Working Overtime
The Ballad of Peter Pumpkinhead
Wake Up (Colin Moulding demo)
Seagulls Screaming Kiss Her Kiss Her (Colin Moulding demo)
I Bought Myself a Liarbird (Andy Partridge demo)
Helicopter
Scissor Man
Fly on the Wall
Train Running Low on Soul Coal (acoustic version)
No Language in Our Lungs
Easter Theatre
Stupidly Happy
Yacht Dance
Summer’s Cauldron
Pale and Precious (as the Dukes of Stratosphear)
Others:
They Might Be Giants - XTC vs. Adam Ant
The Moody Blues - Om
Mandy Moore - Senses Working Overtime
Johnny Cash - Sunday Morning Coming Down
Milt Buckner - The Late, Late Show
Captain Beefheart and His Magic Band - Sure ‘Nuff ‘N Yes I Do
The Police - Tea in the Sahara
The Kinks - Autumn Almanac
The Mighty Mighty Bosstones - The Impression That I Get
Rush - Between the Wheels
Band/album personnel
Andy Partridge – vocals, guitar, LinnDrum, harmonica, sleeve design, production, mixing
Colin Moulding – vocals, bass, production, mixing
Dave Gregory – guitar, piano, Mellotron, synthesizer, production, mixing
Peter Phipps – drums
Stuart Gordon – violin, viola
Annie Huchrak – choir voice (track 1)
Steve Saunders – euphonium (track 4)
David Lord – production, engineering, mixing, choir arrangement (track 1)
Glenn Tommey – additional engineering
Phil Thornalley – mixing
Matt Barry – mixing assistant
Gavin Cochrane – sleeve photography
Ken Ansell – sleeve design
The Design Clinic – sleeve assembly
Credits
“Discord & Rhyme (theme),” composed by the Other Leading Brand, contains elements of:
Duran Duran - Hungry Like the Wolf
Amon Düül II - Dehypnotized Toothpaste
The Dukes of Stratosphear - What in the World?? ...
Faith No More - Midlife Crisis
Herbie Hancock - Hornets
Kraftwerk - Autobahn
Talking Heads - Seen and Not Seen
XTC - Wake Up (this episode only)
You can buy or stream The Big Express and other albums by XTC at apehouse.co.uk, your local record store, or the usual suspects such as Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube, and Amazon. Follow Discord & Rhyme on Twitter @DiscordPod for news, updates, and other random stuff. Editing is by Rich, and special thanks to our own Mike DeFabio, the Other Leading Brand, for production and original music. See you next album, and be ever wonderful.