100 Albums that Matter: Skylarking by XTC
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- Опубліковано 24 чер 2023
- Vinyl Fetish #75 - Randall discusses XTC’s “pastoral” 1986 release, Skylarking, produced by Todd Rundgren and why the summer cycle requires a soundtrack.
XTC’s “Dear God” video: • XTC - Dear God
Skylarking on Spotify: open.spotify.com/album/3FVsJi...
100 Albums That Matter
1. Astral Weeks by Van Morrison
2. Tusk by Fleetwood Mac
3. Norman Fucking Rockwell by Lana Del Rey
4. Kind of Blue by Miles Davis
5. Sandinista! by The Clash
6. Aretha Live at Fillmore West by Aretha Franklin
7. Ambient 1: Music for Airports by Brian Eno
8. ...And Justice for All by Metallica
9. Nebraska by Bruce Springsteen
10. I Against I by Bad Brains
11. Station to Station by David Bowie
12. Double Nickels on the Dime by The Minutemen
13. Juju Music by King Sunny Ade and His African Beats
14. Tug of War by Paul McCartney
15. Parallel Lines by Blondie
16. Harry Styles by Harry Styles
17. The Day the Earth Caught Fire by City Boy
18. Skylarking by XTC
My favorite line about the making of this record--by far my favorite XTC album despite (or perhaps because of) the creative tension--is from Partridge, who compared his relationship with Rundgren thusly: "It was like one bunker with two Hitlers."
The first song I ever heard from XTC was Dear God. I was immediately smitten with it so I rushed to the record store to get Skylarking. That's when I realized it wasn't on the album. But the album became one of my all time favorite albums. I eventually got the Grass 12" single which had Dear God soon after anyways. But XTC are my favorite band. It's a shame that they don't get the recognition for all the wonderful music they put out...
One of my top 10 favorites (favourites, in the King’s realm)
XTC started the whole unplugged trend, as they just decided to do it on MTV. Todd Rundgren was in admiration of Dave Gregory’s arrangements, and the bands song writing skills are considered on the same level as Lennon & McCartney (listen to oranges & Lemons). They never really made a best album as that would make other albums in there catalogue lesser, but Drums and Wires is a great entry point with the emphasis on Complicated game.
Yep. XTC was one of my favorite bands back in the 80's. Skylarking is a real gem. I also love English Settlement.
Yup. Skylarking is beautiful. A must in any collection.
I've just watched an interview with Todd Rundgren about this album and he said that the Andy was afraid of protests about 'Dear God' and he also didn't like the voice of a child singing it and the band asked to keep it out of the album. It was released as a B side of the first single off the album with 'Grass' on side A, but the people kept flipping it and listening to 'Dear God'.
When I got my used 1st Pressing I delved into youtube as to why I did not have Dear God. There are a lot of interesting stories about the makeing of this LP. Like you can listen to Rundgrens side of the story.
I had the version without Dear God. It had Mermaid Smile on It. I have to say that I never really cared about Dear God whereas Mermaid has always been one of my favorite XTC tracks.
One of the best albums...by anyone!
The importance of a track is in its redaction, much like the Law.
Talking to God through record buyers? Cute and period specific.
I'll introduce some controversy in this comments section. I tend to think many american people sound often arrogant as they don't seem to credit other countries cultural legacy unless some american "influence" put their nose into their creation. You seem to think "Skylarking", often regarded as XTC's best album is so because of Todd Rundgren's production which I totally disagree with. Andy Partridge always dismissed that point of view (allthough he never denied Todd producer's qualities but considered it was probably irrelevant to XTC's creative vision) while saying XTC's best work was probably "Apple Venus" which is so blatant to me for every reason possible, one being it was a totally english record, partly produced by a brilliant english Abbey Road sound engineer: Haydn Bendall who also worked (only as a sound engineer) very often with another british genius who doesn't need to be "produced" (she proved from age 22 she could manage this herself): Kate Bush whose briilliant art have just been discovered (at last!) by most american people through a typical american series. Mind you, Europe and the rest of the world existed before America was even discovered, still do and America would be fair to recognize how much they benefit from that... In Europe, we never had any problem acknowledging american cultural qualities allthough we don't seem to really have the choice as it can sometimes be invasive. I'm not even british myself. Of course, "Skylarking" is a great album (but "Apple Venus" is a masterpiece), and Todd Rundgren's producer's skills are obvious, but did he really care how he could fulfill or serve some obscure english band's creativity (as he probably saw them)? I don't think so, which is why it's probably one of their less personal albums and can't possibly be considered as their best album.
Wow, I'm surprised you can even walk around with the size of that Euro-chip on your shoulder!
First, we didn't just 'find out' about the Goddess Kate. Remember that there are over 300 million Americans - and though a smaller percentage of US music lovers knew about her, it was likely about the same overall number as the Brits and other Euro-folk who worship her. I've been with her from the start... but most of us here didn't really latch on until Hounds of Love.
Second, no one here believes Skylarking's success was solely due to Todd... that's utterly ridiculous. Though my love for XTC started with Black Sea and ES and after, there was a focus on English pastoral and the band's incredible writing & musicianship in Skylarking that was often slipping under the radar. Todd was a big XTC fan as well, that has to be understood. So, yes I believe his foremanship of the process helped to create something ultra-special. The music world is full of examples where a great producer helped a great band absolutely hit the mark - don't take it as a personal, or continental affront to the wonderful-ness of XTC. I feel the ripples from this album carried on through Oranges&Lemons and Nonsuch.
Third, very few XTC fans I know really count AppleVenus as a true 'band' record, since it was pretty much all Andy except for 2 tracks - only 2 for Colin, and Gregory left in the middle - it could have been Andy's first solo record. Awesome? Yes, love that disc. I like Wasp Star as well.