Waxworks: Some Singles 1977-1982
	previously released material
	Released on November 1982
	no chart information
	Find it at GEMM
GHS 4037 cover [high resolution photo]

T he Master Compiler creeps into the crevices of history like waffle batter in the eternal night, testing edges, tasting undiscovered corners. “Singles, 45s and Under” he sniffs and slips back into his black hole. That’s what Waxworks mostly is: a near identical journey to Squeeze’s greatest hits. Both follow their bands from precocious pranksters to pop prodigies, tossing a neat new single into the mix for good measure. Waxworks is truthfully rough going in the beginning, though rarely stranger than Friction. The good stuff really begins with Hop and from there it skips along quickly, one pre-mature masterwork after another. Waxworks does a lot right: chronological order (check), a new track (check), hard-to-find singles (check, check). But, of course, the Master Compiler would do things differently. In a batter world, a compilation could have waited. English Settlement, Black Sea and Drums And Wires might have formed the bulk of a great compilation (three tracks from each, “Yacht Dance” or “Snowman” from Settlement since No Thugs mugs up too much to Senses), add the early non-album singles (“Science Friction,” “Are You Receiving Me”), the obscure “Wait Till Your Boat Goes Down” (the most compelling reason to own Waxworks in the first place) and toss in “Take This Town” from Times Square for good measure. There’s your dozen candles for a self-respecting XTC shrine, says the MC. Similar to what you have here, but two years later (when the world needed reminding). Taken in toto with Beeswax (as it was in the UK), it’s a different story altogether, but there’s no “free” in Geffen, only “fee,” and what we got was Waxworks. Five years later, Waxworks was reconstituted as The Compact XTC with five new tracks at the end, the first in a fleet of filler to follow. Honestly, my favorite XTC tracks were seldom the singles, so I’d tell you to buzz off and onward to Black Sea, Drums and Wire or English Settlement first.

GHS 4037 back cover

TRACK LISTING

1. SCIENCE FRICTION    (Andy Partridge)    3:12
2. STATUE OF LIBERTY    (Andy Partrtidge)    2:24
3. THIS IS POP    (Andy Partridge)    2:39
4. ARE YOU RECEIVING ME    (Andy Partridge)    3:03
5. LIFE BEGINS AT THE HOP    (Colin Moulding)    3:45
6. MAKING PLANS FOR NIGEL    (Colin Moulding)    3:53
7. WAIT TILL YOUR BOAT GOES DOWN    (Andy Partridge)    4:34
8. GENERALS AND MAJORS    (Colin Moulding)    3:42
9. TOWERS OF LONDON    (Andy Partridge)    4:38
10. SGT. ROCK (IS GOING TO HELP ME)    (Andy Partridge)    3:36
11. SENSES WORKING OEVRTIME    (Andy Partridge)    4:33
12. BALL AND CHAIN    (Colin Moulding)    4:30

CREDITS

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