Song · XTC
“Respectable Street” by XTC
From the album Black Sea (1980)
“Respectable Street” by XTC appears on 1 radio countdown from 1 station in 2003. It was first released in 1980 on the album Black Sea. Its best result is #725 on the Fred XM Top 2044 Songs of All-Time (July 2003). In the combined RockLists rankings it is #4,901 alternative song of all time.
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"Respectable Street" throws open Black Sea, XTC's 1980 album, and Andy Partridge, who wrote it and sings it, aims it squarely at the neighbours. By his own account it's about English streets and the two-faced business of life in a supposedly respectable neighbourhood, all gossip behind the curtains; he summed the place up as Alan Bennett land. He modelled it on a real one, too: Bowood Road in Swindon, just across from his flat over a shop on Kingshill Road, where he lived at the time.
Steve Lillywhite produced, with Hugh Padgham engineering. Leave out "Love at First Sight", issued only in Canada, and this was the fourth and final single from the album; BBC radio banned it for mentioning abortion and dropping a Sony brand name.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
RockLists rankings
Alternative & Modern Rock
All Rock Formats
All-time and decade countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | 725 | Fred (XM 44) | Fred XM Top 2044 Songs of All-Time (July 2003) | 2044 |
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