Drums And Wires
	Produced by Steve Lillywhite
	Released on August 17, 1979
	UK CHART POSITION #34 . . . US CHART POSITION #176
	Find it at GEMM
GHS 40334 cover [high resolution scan]

N ow, THIS is pop. Drums And Wires sounded like nothing before it in the XTC catalog and everything after, kicking off a series of brilliant postmodern pop albums: Black Sea, English Settlement and Mummer. The transformation actually started with the single “Life Begins At The Hop” three months earlier. Before the names Steve Lillywhite and Hugh Padgham were synonymous with the new wave of pop stars, they took on the troublesome XTC, helping to shape them into one of the most preeminent English pop bands since The Beatles. With Barry Andrews and his angry organ out of the picture, XTC settled into making quirky rather then cacophonous music. Guitar solos escaped in tiny tantrums, rhythm guitars scratched and meshed with one another like gears in a machine, Andy Partridge sang like a pouting child, but mostly it was about those irresistibly catchy melodies. You can take all of the sweet stuff that went before (“Statue of Liberty,” “Crowded Room”) and toss it out like sour candy. The real treats were here: “Scissor Man,” “Ten Feet Tall,” “When You’re Near Me I Have Difficulty” and, of course, “Making Plans For Nigel.” The songs came sputtering out of the speakers like the second English coming of Talking Heads, herky-jerky and heroic in their pop iconoclasm. Love songs, for example, were played with heart palpably in throat; elsewhere, Andy shook his tiny fists against an unfeeling establishment and made heroes of us all (Nigel, “Complicated Game”). As the first great XTC pop album, Drums And Wires has a special place in my collection. Definitely desert island material, this is the template for nearly every miracle that came after (“Snowman,” “Rocket From A Bottle,” etc.).

TRACK LISTING

1. MAKING PLANS FOR NIGEL    (Colin Moulding)    4:13
2. HELICOPTER    (Andy Partridge)    3:54
3. DAY IN DAY OUT    (Colin Moulding)    3:05
4. WHEN YOU'RE NEAR ME I HAVE DIFFICULTY    (Andy Partridge)    3:20
5. TEN FEET TALL    (Colin Moulding)    3:12
6. ROADS GIRDLE THE GLOBE    (Andy Partridge)    5:11
7. REAL BY REEL    (Andy Partridge)    3:46
8. MILLIONS    (Andy Partridge)    5:37
9. THAT IS THE WAY    (Colin Moulding)    2:56
10. OUTSIDE WORLD    (Andy Partridge)    2:40
11. SCISSOR MAN    (Andy Partridge)    3:59
12. COMPLICATED GAME    (Andy Partridge)    4:53
    
    UK bonus 7-inch single
    
1. LIMELIGHT
2. CHAIN OF COMMAND
   
   CD reissue bonus tracks
   
13. LIFE BEGINS AT THE HOP
14. CHAIN OF COMMAND
15. LIMELIGHT
    
    US original Virgin elpee track listing
    
1. LIFE BEGINS AT THE HOP
2. HELICOPTER
3. MAKING PLANS FOR NIGEL
4. TEN FEET TALL
5. WHEN YOU'RE NEAR ME I HAVE DIFFICULTY
6. THAT IS THE WAY
7. REAL BY REEL
8. MILLIONS
9. OUTSIDE WORLD
10. ROADS GIRDLE THE GLOBE
11. SCISSOR MAN
12. COMPLICATED GAME
    
    US bonus 7-inch single
    
1. LIMELIGHT
2. DAY IN DAY OUT
3. CHAIN OF COMMAND

CREDITS

TERRY CHAMBERS --
DAVE GREGORY --
COLIN MOULDING --
ANDY PARTRIDGE --
Hugh Padgham -- engineer

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