XTC

XTC came out of Swindon, England, and they never quite fit anywhere, which is exactly why they matter. Andy Partridge and Colin Moulding met in the early '70s and started out in a glam outfit with drummer Terry Chambers; the name and lineup kept shifting until 1975, when they became XTC. Partridge sang and played guitar, Moulding sang and played bass, and both wrote the songs.

They signed to Virgin in 1977 in the thick of punk and refused to play by its rules, mixing ska, '60s pop, dub and avant-garde oddness into twitchy, angular new wave. Barry Andrews added keyboards on White Music, and when he left, guitarist Dave Gregory arrived for Drums and Wires in 1979. "Making Plans for Nigel" was the breakthrough, all clipped guitars and a booming, echoing drum sound the rest of the decade would soon copy. Black Sea in 1980 brought "Generals and Majors", and English Settlement in 1982 opened up into bright, jangling pop with "Senses Working Overtime".

Then the band stopped touring, and XTC became a studio band built around him, Moulding and Gregory, with Chambers gone by 1983. Mummer and The Big Express got more pastoral and more elaborate, and on the side they invented the Dukes of Stratosphear to play dress-up in '60s psychedelia. Skylarking in 1986 was lush and summery, and the song that stirred up the most trouble was "Dear God", which caused a real controversy for its anti-religious message. Oranges & Lemons in 1989 gave them "Mayor of Simpleton", their biggest American hit, and Nonsuch in 1992 had "The Ballad of Peter Pumpkinhead" and "Dear Madam Barnum".

Bad management meant they never saw a fair share of the money, and they went on strike against Virgin in 1993 before breaking free of the label. Gregory left during the making of Apple Venus Volume 1 in 1999, and in 2006 Partridge declared that his partnership with Moulding was over. Their influence on Britpop and power pop has kept their name alive.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.