XTC: Beeswax (Some B-sides) LP

When I went on an XTC vinyl-buying tear back in '88 this was one purchase that I adored. It seemed odd to me for a band whose every album contains some filler (at least by many people's standards) could have such a rock-solid collection of B-sides. Of course, when I bought all the CD re-issues on Virgin, I expected to find "Tissue Tigers" and "Heaven is Paved With Broken Glass" restored to their proper place but NOOOOO - you have to buy Rag and Bone Buffet just to get those tracks and others you can't find anywhere! Fuck! Virgin needs to do double XTC re-issues that work like the new Buzzcocks (B-sides, Peel sessions, demos, radio concerts) ones do.

A1         She's So Square        
A2         Dance Band        
A3         Hang Onto The Night        
A4         Heatwave        
A5         Instant Tunes    
A6         Pulsing Pulsing        
A7         Don't Lose Your Temper        
B1         Smokeless Zone        
B2         The Somnambulist        
B3         Blame The Weather        
B4         Tissue Tigers        
B5         Punch And Judy        
B6         Heaven Is Paved With Broken Glass

So do all XTC albums have filler on them? Let us know what you think in the COMMENTS section, which is where you'll find the Waxworks link.)

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XTC: BBC Radio Live Concert (1980)

The bounty of out-of-print XTC rarities will run dry but not at any time soon - enjoy this BBC concert from 1980 and keep your great COMMENTS coming!





Recorded 22nd December 1980 at the Hammersmith Palais, London

Tracklist
1         Life Begins At The Hop     3:55    
2         Burning With Optimism's Flame     4:24    
3         Love At First Sight     3:10    
4         Respectable Street     3:51    
5         No Language In Our Lungs     4:59    
6         This Is Pop     2:49    
7         Scissors Man     4:49    
8         Towers Of London     5:23    
9         Battery Brides     7:18    
10         Living Through Another Cuba     3:29    
11         Generals And Majors     4:28    
12         Making Plans For Nigel     4:29    
13         Are You Receiving Me?

So do you want to hear more rare XTC, MRML readers?  If so, let us know in the COMMENTS section (where you'll find the BBC Live link).

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Graham Parker & The Rumour Reunion OFFICIAL! (Plus Live in SF '76!!)

So the Graham Parker has officially re-joined forces with The Rumour and they have an album and two films on the go for 2012. The first film is the oft-delayed documentary "Don't Ask Me Questions" by Michael Gramaglia and the second is a Judd Aptow comedy, "This is Forty" in which the GP and the band figure prominently in the story line. The whole story (well worth the read by the way) is here and for LOTS more Parker on MRML go HERE.




To celebrate what is a fantastic thing for music fans and everybody involved in the aforementioned projects here is a crisp-as-hell-sounding GP + R show from back in the day:

GRAHAM PARKER & THE RUMOUR
THE SAVOY, SAN FRANCISCO, CA, USA
NOVEMBER 7, 1976
KSAN-FM PRE-FM PRODUCTION TAPE

01. white honey
02. that's what they all say
03. fool's gold
04. turned up too late
05. something you're goin' through
06. pour it all out
07. back to schooldays
08. hotel chambermaid
09. heat treatment
10. don't ask me questions
11. not if it pleases me
12. help me shake it
13. soul shoes
14. kansas city
15. hold back the night

Let us know what you think of the Graham Parker and the Rumour reunion in the COMMENTS section (which is where you'll find the San Francisco, 1976 link).

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XTC: All Along the Watchtower

(To see my list of Ten Amazing XTC Videos please visit the The Big Takeover.)

For a band who are notorious for being almost too English for their own good, XTC's early work has strong American influences. You can hear the art-funk sound of  NYC's Talking Heads, the herky-jerky rock-deconstruction of Akron's Devo plus of the very few artists XTC ever covered one would be Californian Captain Beefheart (on the B-side of "The Mayor of Simpleton" single) and of course America's most towering song-writer, Bob Dylan*.

The band's version of the oft-butchered, "All Along the Watchtower" employs some of  the electric fury of Hendrix's version and some the harmonica wail of Dylan's original acoustic one but to it all they bring an incredible nervous energy and a love of odd dynamics that makes it sound like no one else's version of the song.





For more on XTC go HERE.

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*(And yes, their cover "All Along the Watchtower" on their debut album is preceded by a paean to the "Statute of Liberty".)

The Kik: My Eyes Are Still Dry 7" (2011)

The Kik are a retro-minded Dutch power pop band, albeit one who, befitting their name, bring the necessary kickage to make sure their songs don't float away on a cloud of jangle.






Excelsior Recordings


P.S. Much more XTC to come...