White Music is the debut studio album by the English rock band XTC, released on 20 January 1978. It was the follow-up to their debut, 3D EP, released three months earlier. White Music reached No. 38 in the UK Albums Chart and spawned the single "Statue of Liberty", which was banned by BBC Radio 1 for the lyric "In my fantasy I sail beneath your skirt". In April 1978, the group rerecorded "This Is Pop" as their third single.
| White Music | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 20 January 1978 | |||
| Recorded | 28 April–7 October 1977 | |||
| Studio | The Manor (Oxfordshire) | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 35:44 | |||
| Label | Virgin | |||
| Producer | John Leckie | |||
| XTC chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Singles from White Music | ||||
| ||||
Originally titled Black Music, referring to black comedy, the title was changed at the suggestion of both Virgin Records and the band's manager. The resultant title, White Music, refers to white noise.[2]
Background
editIn 2014, Stereogum described the album as a "collection of scratchy, hyperactive post-punk".[3] The track "Radios in Motion" has become one of the band's better-known songs. In a 2009 interview, Andy Partridge stated, "We couldn't think of any better way to start off our first album than with the 'kick the door in', breezy opener we used in our live set... the lyrics are very silly, picked for their sonic effect rather than meaning. The first refuge of an inexperienced songwriter, forgive me, but they do have a youthful scattergun energy."[4] The song is considered representative of the band's "agitated amphetamine rock" style of their earlier works, though others would call it "relatively tame mod-pop".[5][6] The song mentions Milwaukee in the lyrics because Partridge's aunt lived in that city.[7]
Critical reception
edit| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [8] |
| Chicago Tribune | [9] |
| Christgau's Record Guide | B+[7] |
| Q | [10] |
| The Rolling Stone Album Guide |  [11] |
| Sounds | [12] |
| Spin Alternative Record Guide | 6/10[13] |
Village Voice critic Robert Christgau felt "Radios in Motion", "Statue of Liberty" and "This Is Pop" were aimed squarely at the American market, and that Partridge failed on the latter because "radio programmers resent anyone telling them their business." Conversely, he opined that Colin Moulding's songs were "aimed at bored Yes fans, which is why he missed—the lad doesn't know that Yes fans like being bored."[7]
In a retrospective review for AllMusic, Chris Woodstra said, "More dissonant than their latter period, the young band shines with directionless energy and a good sense of humor."[8] Greg Kot of the Chicago Tribune later called the album "quirky" and "pithy",[9] while Annie Zaleski of Salon later deemed it "a giddy and (yes) impossible-to-pigeonhole debut" that's "exhilarating and, truth be told, almost exhausting to absorb, simply because it's so relentless and energetic."[14]
White Music achieved modest success, charting in the Top 40 on the UK album charts, although its singles failed to chart.[14] The band performed "Radios in Motion", "I'll Set Myself on Fire" and "Statue of Liberty" on BBC Two's The Old Grey Whistle Test on 14 February 1978.[15]
Track listing
editAll tracks are written by Andy Partridge, except where noted
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Radios in Motion" | 2:52 | |
| 2. | "Cross Wires" | Colin Moulding | 2:03 |
| 3. | "This Is Pop" | 2:38 | |
| 4. | "Do What You Do" | Moulding | 1:14 |
| 5. | "Statue of Liberty" | 2:52 | |
| 6. | "All Along the Watchtower" | Bob Dylan | 5:40 |
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Into the Atom Age" | 2:32 | |
| 2. | "I'll Set Myself on Fire" | Moulding | 3:00 |
| 3. | "I'm Bugged" | 3:59 | |
| 4. | "New Town Animal in a Furnished Cage" | 1:51 | |
| 5. | "Spinning Top" | 2:38 | |
| 6. | "Neon Shuffle" | 4:25 |
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Original release | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 13. | "Science Friction" | 3D EP, 1977 | 3:13 | |
| 14. | "She's So Square" | 3D EP | 3:06 | |
| 15. | "Dance Band" | Moulding | 3D EP | 2:41 |
| 16. | "Hang on to the Night" | B-side of "Statue of Liberty", 1978 | 2:09 | |
| 17. | "Heatwave" | Moulding | B-side of "This Is Pop?", 1978 | 2:12 |
| 18. | "Traffic Light Rock" | White Music outtake; from Guillotine, various artists compilation album, 1978[16] | 1:40 | |
| 19. | "Instant Tunes" | Moulding | B-side of "Are You Receiving Me?", 1978 | 2:34 |
- CD issues prior to 2001 placed the bonus tracks between the original sides one and two of the album.
- Original release information for bonus tracks sourced from Chalkhills and Children (1992), by Chris Twomey,[17] except where noted.
Personnel
editXTC
- Andy Partridge – guitar, harmonica, vocals
- Colin Moulding – bass guitar, vocals
- Barry Andrews – piano, organ
- Terry Chambers – drums
Technical
- John Leckie – producer, engineer
- Alan "Jaffa" Douglas – tape operator
- Dennis Morris – photography
References
edit- ^ a b Mulholland, Garry (1 November 2006). "1978". Fear of Music: The 261 Greatest Albums Since Punk and Disco. Orion Publishing Group. pp. 34–35. ISBN 0752868314.
- ^ XTC; Farmer, Neville (1998). XTC: Song Stories. London: Helter Skelter Publishing. p. 15. ISBN 1-900924-03-X.
- ^ Ham, Robert (15 September 2014). "XTC Albums From Worst To Best". Stereogum. Retrieved 8 December 2021.
- ^ Bernhardt, Todd (25 January 2009). "Andy's Take: "Radios in Motion"". Chalkhills. Retrieved 30 June 2018.
- ^ Maiuri, Ken (27 February 2014). "Ken Maiuri's Tuned In". Daily Hampshire Gazette. Retrieved 11 August 2018.
- ^ Zaleski, Annie (21 January 2018). "This is pop: XTC's giddy, incomparable "White Music" turns 40". Salon. Retrieved 11 August 2018.
- ^ a b c Christgau, Robert (1981). "X". Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies. Ticknor and Fields. ISBN 0-89919-026-X. Retrieved 23 March 2019 – via robertchristgau.com.
- ^ a b Woodstra, Chris. "White Music – XTC". AllMusic. Retrieved 26 October 2020.
- ^ a b Kot, Greg (3 May 1992). "The XTC Legacy: An Appraisal". Chicago Tribune. Archived from the original on 16 November 2018. Retrieved 26 October 2020.
- ^ Harrison, Andrew (July 2001). "XTC: Britpop's Spiritual Granddads". Q. No. 178. p. 139.
- ^ Frere-Jones, Sasha (2004). "XTC". In Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian (eds.). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (4th ed.). Simon & Schuster. pp. 890–92. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8.
- ^ Mitchell, Tony (21 January 1978). "Power pop perfection". Sounds.
- ^ Bernstein, Jonathan (1995). "XTC". In Weisbard, Eric; Marks, Craig (eds.). Spin Alternative Record Guide. Vintage Books. pp. 441–43. ISBN 0-679-75574-8.
- ^ a b Zaleski, Annie. "This is pop: XTC's giddy, incomparable "White Music" turns 40". Salon. Retrieved 2 March 2022.
- ^ "TV Pop Diaries: Pop Music on British Television 1955 - 1999 - 1978". tvpopdiaries.co.uk. Retrieved 20 July 2019.
- ^ "Guillotine". Chalkhills. Retrieved 26 November 2019.
- ^ Twomey, Chris (1992). Chalkhills and Children. London: Omnibus Press. p. 183. ISBN 0-7119-2758-8.