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| Whatever Happened To... XTC was once one of Britain's premier pop/rock bands. Being There's Shel Desormeaux does her best to track them down! |
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Whatever Happened To XTC?
By Shel Desormeaux
Original members Andy Partridge and Colin Moulding came together in 1972, and in the few years that followed underwent band name and lineup changes before becoming XTC in the late seventies. In 1977, Barry Andrews and Terry Chambers rounded out the group, and the band was picked up by Virgin. After their first album, Andrews left and was replaced by Dave Gregory. The next album, Drums and Wires, offered up the band’s first hit, “Making Plans for Nigel.” The guys toured up until 1982, when, in France, Andy walked off the stage during a show. Since then, Chambers left the band and XTC has been primarily confined to the studio.
In 1986, the group found themselves in Todd Rundgren’s NYC studio, and it was there that they hatched Skylarking, their “breakthrough” album, and the one many consider their best. Ironically, Andy and Todd butted heads repeatedly during this process, leading to Andy’s unhappiness with the finished work. Years later, Andy would say that the album was indeed something to be proud of, and that it probably benefited from Todd’s intensive leadership.
Studio releases followed over the next few years, under both XTC and various cheesy pseudonyms, and Dave Gregory left the band. In 1994, XTC went on strike. It wasn’t until 1998 that Virgin released the band from their contract, resulting in XTC hatching Idea Records, a label of their very own. After the 1999 release of Apple Venus, Partridge and Moulding again found themselves floating once again on calm waters, and continue to record as XTC. Andy has released two volumes of his own demos, Fuzzy Warbles: The Demo Archives #1 and #2. Both men have loaned their talents to the works of many other artists over the past decade, such as Cathy Dennis, Thomas Dolby, Joan Armatrading and Harold Budd (Partridge), and Sam Phillips and Peter Blegvad (Moulding).
As for the former members of the band:
Ø Terry Chambers moved to Australia with his wife and played with the band Dragon.
Ø Barry Andrews worked with League of Gentlemen, then formed the band Shriekback, which was fairly successful. Shriekback recently released a mini-album, Having a Moment, with its original lineup, and Barry released his own album, Haunted Box of Switches
Ø Dave Gregory has always been busy as a session and touring musician, working with Jennifer Trynin, Peter Gabriel, Aimee Mann and The Big Dish.
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