Album · XTC
Black Sea by XTC
Black Sea is an album by XTC, released in 1980. 6 songs from it have charted on rock radio countdowns, with 51 countdown appearances in total. The biggest is “Generals and Majors”, on 28 lists with a best position of #62.
Black Sea, XTC's fourth album, hit the racks on Virgin on 12 September 1980, and it's the Swindon band at their most wiry and wound-up. They went back to Virgin's Town House in London with producer Steve Lillywhite and engineer Hugh Padgham, kept the big, booming drums of Drums and Wires, and pared the arrangements down to what the four of them could play on stage: no overdubs unless they could pull them off live. Andy Partridge and Colin Moulding write and sing, Dave Gregory's guitar tangles with Partridge's, and Terry Chambers hits like a pile driver.
It was nearly called Work Under Pressure, until the manager objected and Partridge renamed it after his own frame of mind. "Generals and Majors" and "Towers of London" are sharp, jumpy pop, while "Respectable Street" got itself banned by the BBC for mentioning abortion and a Sony Entertainment Centre. Touring behind it as the Police's opening act wore Partridge down.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
Songs from Black Sea on radio countdowns
| # | Song | Strength | Lists | Best | #1s | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Generals and Majors | 28 | #62 | – | 1980–2026 | |
| 2 | Living Through Another Cuba | 16 | #965 | – | 1999–2014 | |
| 3 | Towers of London | 4 | #356 | – | 1989–2003 | |
| 4 | Respectable Street | 1 | #725 | – | 2003 | |
| 5 | Love at First Sight | 1 | #1627 | – | 2003 | |
| 6 | Travels in Nihilon | 1 | #1980 | – | 2003 |
Only songs that appear on at least one countdown are listed. Release data from MusicBrainz.