I will never not be upset over this band's demise. When they were firing on all cylinders, there wasn't a band on the planet that could touch them. They were so ridiculously talented and together, the magic they made is undeniable. I've often wondered who was XTC's XTC? I won't ever hold my breath for a reunion - those days are dead. But I'm thankful to have the days from them that we do.
Just saw EXTC in Seattle and it was awesome to see Terry Chambers live! He really is a fantastic drummer. Considering I wasn't born yet when they stopped touring, I will take what I can get.
It is no wonder he was for years Big Big Train's guitarist, a band full of correctly rated musicians :) Whoever had "drafted" him for BBT knew what he did!
Dave Gregory, is the nicest musician that I’ve ever met and indeed, one of the finest human beings. A truly gentle soul and fabulous musician. A wise man listens when Dave Gregory speaks.
Yes, he is a lovely bloke. He's played in my friend's band for a time too on and off over the last 10 years or so. Interestingly, he talks about being in Chipping Norton Studios in '98. I think that's when I first bumped into him. Sadly, the studios are no longer there as they've been turned into flats I think.
Dave Gregory is famously one of the rock world's most modest and affable gentlemen, and the type of chap who'll get embarrassed if you refer to him as a phenomenal guitarist, which is exactly what he is. Despite the fact that he wasn't a songwriter, his contribution to the XTC sound was immense and can never be overstated. XTCs final album, Wasp Star, as brilliant as it was, just sounded a bit hollow and incomplete without Dave. XTC were quite simply the only band that could be compared to The Beatles, and Dave can feel immensely proud of the big part he played in that. XTC never made much money, which was criminal (and thanks mainly to the criminally shit deal they got from Richard Branson), but music history will remember XTC very fondly indeed, and that's something money can't buy.
All problems they had were due to Andy's megalomaniac attitude. The guy is a brilliant musician and songwriter, but his ego got the in the way sometimes.
What Andy wanted XTC were stuck with & as much as i love the guy & the band the day Dave left XTC were finished as he was just so important to the band & sticking with it all through the strike years & to be treated so badly was just unforgivable & i for one am so happy for Dave now as he's still doing it with a couple of fantastic bands ? Sad sad end to friendship......
Yeah & as was put to him on Twitter recently, XTC are definitely NOT just Andy Partridge (as he's said so himself) yet he tweets as 'XTC' which I don't really agree with and seemed to make him incandescent with rage (and the usual Twitter sheeple mob) when it was put to him. Most people I know discovered XTC through Colin's early chart hits like 'Life Begins at the Hop', 'Making Plans for Nigel' & 'Generals & Majors' and without them, may well have been dropped from the label years before the 'strike'. Andy claims he 'wrote 75% of it' which may well be true but without the chart success of Colin's songs, a lot of his stuff may very well never have seen the light of day.
It's also notable that Dave says when Andy was away they recorded, mixed & finished all of Colin's songs with no apparent fuss. Todd Rundgren reckons because they don't tour, the band only exist when they're recording so Andy likes to try and prolong this process as long as possible. However, when you're skint - you obviously can't do this!
I agree. It's hard 2 imagine that without touring they could even exist in todays music industry. Bands don't make money off records anymore, mostly on touring.
Well said. Dave is such a modest and unassuming guy, but he contributed a huge amount to the XTC sound. I suppose what made Andy great also made him a pain in the arse at times, and sad (but right) for Dave to leave. Andy is of course the biggest reason for XTC being a great band, but they wouldn't have been great without Colin and Dave. Hope that time can calm the waters a bit between Andy and Dave, because they have each other to thank for making XTC great.
For anyone who's ever been in a band, even shitty ones (as I have), egos, conflicts, resentments, petty competitions, and more are an inevitable part of the very emotional process. Things can happen in a moment that change everything and nothing is the same again. Bands can be emotional entanglements very much like romantic relationships. I don't think breakups are ever NOT ugly.
Hopefully things can be patched and they can at least all be friends again. There is a marked difference in Apple Venus to Wasp Star. Dave's loss is huge.
I saw XTC twice in the eighties. I loved them live, loved them on record, still love them. I could tell by Dave Gregory's body language on stage that he was a gentle soul. Sorry to hear about these problems. I have been vaguely aware of Andy Partridge 's mental hang ups and I tend to go easy on the whole lot of them. Their songs were so important. Let's not forget either about the creativity of Shriekback...
I'd heard that Dave and Andy had patched things up. On Fuzzy Warbles 3 there's a recording of 'Strawberry Fields Forever' on which Dave plays everything and Andy provides the vocals. I remember reading in an interview with Andy that recreating Beatles tracks was Dave's hobby, and they'd got together to do this one.
It makes me sad and mad that XTC eventually dwindled down to Andy after he drove out everyone else. It's unforgiveable. I appreciate Dave Gregory walking us through the entire set of issues that led to him leaving.
Dave Gregory's work on every album of XTC is so outstanding good, he was the important, eguivalent third of the triangle Partrige-Moulding-Gregory. Always love in each song, when I hear him playing.
Dave seems like a nice guy and a disrespectful egomaniac has basically dismissed him like an old rag. I would love to have nice people like Dave to work with. What a privilege that would be.
Wow! Do you think I could potentially hire him to play on a record I'm producing for a singer/songwriter in New York City? How would I get in touch with him? Thanks in advance for replying.
Andy’s da man! But it ain’t possible to be ‘da man’ in utter isolation, with no one to at least say ‘You’re da man!’ And there’s plenty of us XTC fans queuing up to say that! Things change, people evolve, one minute magic, next minute war. If we XTC fans are only sad/greedy/impatient for more more more of the same, then the whole point and simple joy and love and positive passions of Andy Partridge’s Musical Genie are wasted on us. Now how about we all find our best headphones and a few of our favourite XTC songs and love ‘em all over again, not least the jangly guitars, bass, drums and backing vocals. Fresh as Daisies, I say. And if Dave, Prairie, Colin, Andy or Terry are reading this, then we love you and your good work, on repeat, for all time. And no, you can’t have your records, tapes and CDs back. Keep in touch, ya silly West Country wastrels, you. x!
WHAT a nightmare.....and a crystal clear cut depiction of the REALITY of working in music. Poor Dave. Much as we (the listeners) marvel at the genius of Andy, he must've been a monumental pain in the f**kin arse to deal with and what's more he had no right to be that shitty. I would've walked out on him too, even if it was the great AppleVenus project. When it's impossible to resolve, people don't listen and compromise is too great a price, you have to go.
This is one of the few things that are good about the modern process of making music - not sweating bullets over lost studio time. It's simply nothing like it used to be. I don't care how good particular rooms sound or how good real analog tape or decks sound, fact is, you can get a shit ton out of digital recording these days just about anywhere. Yes, you need the experience, and good musicians and some good analog gear (amps, keys) as well as decent software and a budget for plug ins, but it's nothing like the restrictions of the old days. Those studio clocks ticking would send amateurs into orbit, and the pressure was so antithetical to the creative process, especially if you were trying something new and weren't totally on top of it yet. I suppose the pressure did force people to get better and play better, despite the serious downsides, since it was assumed you had to get your take right, so players focussed. Today, the flipside is the problem, no pressure, too many choices, too little dependence on solid performances, too easy to do it another time, and paste a million edits together. Obviously, the music today is suffering, in the past, musicians and bands were suffering to the point of melting down under pressure and often, breaking up entirely.
everything sounds bad now and people like taylor swift with 72,000 people at her concerts proves people are both stupid and starved for any kind of musical experience and that the media can mass market the lowest trash out there.
Terribly sad to hear that Andy really was the problem. Not a surprise, but...still sad. So few people have the gifts that the members of this band had. It can't be XTC without Andy but, geez, it happens every time in every band.
It's most likely to occur with creative people in any case. Usually highly strung and very often single minded. Dave Gregory, a thoughtful soul, is quite unusual (Dave Greenfield of The Stranglers being another example) in that he was quite obviously the most accomplished musician in the band but had little or no input into the actual songwriting, although perhaps some on the arranging, but all in all a peripheral figure when it came to the royalties. I can almost see this quiet dignified man stood there sighing with polite disbelief as XTC's future was thrown away in front of him.
For no reason, I felt like mentioning that I used to be shocked bands would break up, because look at the wonderful work they created. But then I found myself in a (non-musical) creative team where the work we did together was better than the both of us combined, but personality, approach and style towards those goals meant that we just found great excuses to work on other things away from each other. We came together for a project years later and yes, it was great! But again, we knew it was just for a couple weeks and we weren't in the same town. It took going through that for me to understand it, and I'm glad Dave Gregory saw how much it wasn't about the quality of the music, just the facts of the band.
Yes, a band is basically a multi-party marriage. And, especially when you’re young, the mix of ego alongside confidence and insecurity can make things messy. Then add in the fact that some or all of the band members will feel that the music contains bits of their souls and therefore need to be beyond perfect and it can really get complicated.
So sad to hear the details of how an amazing band falls apart, it must be tough to have something wonderful at your fingertips and yet find yourselves unable to pull it all together. Enormous respect for the work you managed to achieve, thank you.
Todd Rundgren has nothing but nice things to say about Dave Gregory as a musician, singer and person. Both Gregory and Rundgren have shown much more grace towards Andy then he did with respect to them, albeit he obviously has faced many challenges that contributed to his hostility towards them ( not slagging him but one hopes that he has a better apprectiation for them)
i love dave so so much, i really think xtc wouldnt be xtc without him. i love apple venus volumes 1 and 2 a lot, i always will, but it often drives me crazy imagining how Better they wouldve been with his touch.
It's always fascinating to get this insight into band dynamics. From everything I know, watching the music scene for more than 50 years, if it's a band then all members have to be writers, or at least credited as such. Anyone who is "in the band" and not getting a writing credit will inevitably be sidelined creatively, and even worse financially. So many bands end because of these tensions.
“Yes, everything decays Forest tumbles down to make the soil Planets fall apart Just to feed the stars and stuff their larders And what made me think “we're any better And what made me think we'd last forever Was I so naive? Of course it all unweaves”
Mr P has legit problems. This may not/may have something to do with the eclipse. It’s difficult to deal with anyone with problems, i’ve got them myself, you lose friends relatives. They were all casualties of that and other catalysts. Such a shame to break up such a lovely talented band. I wish them all well in future endeavours
XTC for me we're on a par with the Beatles for great songwriting and Dave Gregory is one of the great guitarists that embellishes every track he plays on. If you haven't heard them, listen to Big Big Train. Dave guitar work for them was superb between 2009 - 2019.
@@delphinazizumbo8674 It's always a matter of opinion where any form of art is concerned. I am 66 and grew up with the Beatles. My dad had all their singles as they were released and I have every album on CD and Vinyl, so I am well versed on the band. I also have every XTC album and until you have heard all their output it's difficult to draw any accurate conclusion or draw any worthwhile and objective comparisons.
It's appalling how individuals belonging to this group became an exploited cash-cow for selfish, callous and ruthless actions of others. A record deal/contract evidentially does not always end with happy a happy ending for some musicians. Sometimes there is no mansion and Rolls Royce etc to show for all that talent and song writing ability. Badfinger was another group that had little to show for all that was absolutely fantastic.
It's a shame that Andy didn't listen to what Dave Gregory was saying about that US studio with a bad rep. After all that they'd been through with Virgin Records (Nonsuch being the last XTC album under that label until Apple Venus under the Cooking Vinyl) you'd think he'd have at least considered Dave's compromise on the subject about approaching a different studio in the US. However, it's clear Andy was getting agitated regards limited moneys and tight schedule. He's a talented singer/songwriter, but sadly didn't have the business acumen to time/load manage, and often lacked patience with his fellow bandmates. As with all geniuses, there was often a downside to his personality. Nik Kershaw once stated: "I'd sooner enjoy working alongside a musician and happily receive half the share profits owed, rather than go through a nightmare collaboration to get full profits." Even though he was a brilliant interviewee despite the stage fright, and could be a fun person to be around. Seven years is too long a period when it comes to producing another album.
Bruce foxton once said he thought xtc was there biggest rivals and were a great band very true always loved the jam and then xtc we're my next favourite band excellent
He has written some great songs (but so has Colin!) But Andy Partridge is an overly-egotistical pain the arse in lots of things I have read and heard in inteviews from Dave, Colin, Rubdgren, Pagham.
Slightly like New Order when Hook left for the last time .Sumner rerecorded the music the band had recorded earlier in the morning, while waiting for the master to come to work .Hooks bass parts had been down played by Sumner telling him to turn the bass down, Dave should have gapped it earlier but you hope for the best often it never comes
dang, man! yeah, well, i ain't even gonna tell ya about my band, haha! they were gonnabe great! but they're takin' forever, to learn how to listen! haha!
Love Andy, but he seems to be a difficult, fussy guy - stage fright, addiction, and bitterness about success and label issues - disregarding how much the fans love him and their music.
I would even go so far to say that XTC were the unrecognized "new Beatles." Not just SKYLARKING, but songs like "Shiny Cage" sound like Lennon and McCartney could have written them, and I would LOVE to know what Paul thinks of their music. The fact that the SHOWTIME network produced a documentary about XTC is more evidence of how great they were (thousands upon thousands of bands, few honored in this way.)
Yeah well Shiny Cage is the Dukes and they're deliberately ripping off 60s psychedelia - Shiny Cage is clearly a rip off of 'I'm Only Sleeping' by the Beatles 😄
Todd Rundgren has said that because of Andy’s stage fright issues, that XTC became exclusively a studio band. With no touring, Andy was never in a rush to finish anything. Always finding a flaw in something. Always tweaking, always changing.
Partridge seems like he's got a personality disorder they way he seems to disenfranchise people, musicians, producers, partners, friends whatever. Great musician, maybe not so great human.
Probably all that valium they prescribed him as a kid had a lot to do with that. Highly creative person, obviously sensitive, given a highly addictive substance with little care or concern about the effects it has on a pubescent / still developing human being. I don't necessarily blame Andy for Andy. I don't blame anyone for being who they are, or who they end up being. There's always a great degree of something or somebody else, helped get them there.
When you think of all the crap boybands who had everything handed to them, while real musicians like XTC got shafted left, right and centre and discarded like bad rubbish, it really is a sad indictment of the music industry.
Never liked Andys demeanour. Much preferred Colin's tune. Andy wrote a few good tunes but way more that were very ordinary. Dave comes across as a gentleman. Andy seems like a bully and a smartarse
I loved this band - LOVED them - from the mid-80s until the early 90s. But, unfortunately, Oranges and Lemons was a very commercial and over-produced double album, it never quite worked for me. It wasn't edgy. I started to tune out, but I do remember buying the 1992 album, although that wasn't too good either. Surprised they lasted as long as they did. I randomly read an article on the Swindon Advertiser website about 10 years ago saying Andy and Colin were very much done.
