XTC

XTC were a new wave rock band from Swindon, England, led by songwriters Andy Partridge and Colin Moulding and active between 1976 and 2005. The band enjoyed some chart success, including the UK and Canadian hits "Making Plans for Nigel" (1979) and "Senses Working Overtime" (1982).

XTC were a performing and touring band up until 1982. For the remaining twenty-three years of XTC's existence they were a studio-based project involving session players around a nucleus of Partridge, Moulding and Dave Gregory.

History

Early days: 1972–1976

First coming together in 1972, Colin Moulding (bass & vocals) and Terry Chambers (drums) asked Andy Partridge (guitars & vocals) to join their new band and went through many band names (including The Helium Kidz and Star Park) over the next five years. As the Helium Kidz, they were featured in a small NME article as an up-and-coming band from Swindon. Drawing influence from the New York Dolls, particularly the "Jetboy" single, and the emerging New York punk scene, they played glam rock with homemade costumes and slowly built up a following. Keyboard player Barry Andrews joined in 1976, and the band finally settled on a name: XTC.

XTC (album)

XTC (translated phonetically to Ecstasy) is the debut studio album by American R&B and soul singer-songwriter Anthony Hamilton, released October 29, 1996 on MCA Records in the United States. The album failed to chart on both the Billboard 200 and the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums charts, and subsequently went out of print. Its only single, "Nobody Else", charted at number sixty-three on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart.

Track listing

References

XTC (Elgar)

”XTC” is a song with words and music written by the English composer Edward Elgar in 1930. It was his last song.

Elgar's sketches for the accompanying music were written separately from the words. At the end of the sketches he wrote "Fine del songs November 11th 1930".

The song was pieced together by the pianist-musicologist David Owen Norris from sketches he found at the composer's birthplace.

The first performance was on the 150th anniversary of the composer's birth, 2 June 2007, at the Royal Academy of Music in London, sung by soprano Amanda Pitt, accompanied by David Owen Norris.

Lyrics

Recordings

References

Toy

A toy is an item that can be used for play. Toys are generally played with by children and pets. Playing with toys is an enjoyable means of training young children for life in society. Different materials are used to make toys enjoyable to all ages. Many items are designed to serve as toys, but goods produced for other purposes can also be used. For instance, a small child may pick up a household item and "fly" it through the air as to pretend that it is an airplane. Another consideration is interactive digital entertainment. Some toys are produced primarily as collector's items and are intended for display only.

The origin of toys is prehistoric; dolls representing infants, animals, and soldiers, as well as representations of tools used by adults are readily found at archaeological sites. The origin of the word "toy" is unknown, but it is believed that it was first used in the 14th century. Toys are mainly made for children.

Playing with toys is important when it comes to growing up and learning about the world around us. Younger children use toys to discover their identity, help their bodies grow strong, learn cause and effect, explore relationships, and practice skills they will need as adults. Adults use toys to form and strengthen social bonds, teach, remember and reinforce lessons from their youth, discover their identity, exercise their minds and bodies, explore relationships, practice skills, and decorate their living spaces.

Walls Have Eyes

Walls Have Eyes is the fourth solo album released by British singer-songwriter Robin Gibb. It was released in November 1985 on EMI America Records in the US and Polydor Records throughout the rest of the world, and produced by Maurice Gibb and Tom Dowd. The two singles from the album, "Like a Fool" and "Toys", did not chart in the US and UK. Gibb did not release a solo album in eighteen years until 2003 with Magnet. Unlike Secret Agent that contains dance numbers, this album is containing mostly ballads.

Background

Writing credits

Barry Gibb co-wrote eight of the ten songs, but he was in the studio only to contribute a part lead vocal to "Toys". The credits for the songs are precisely stated as R. B. & M. Gibb in most cases, and B. R. & M. Gibb in others. Although the songs all have Robin's signature simplicity of form, Barry's hand is evident in the improved melody lines, especially in the verses.

Recording

Like its previous album Secret Agent it was recorded in Criteria Studios rather than the Middle Ear Studio which was owned by the Bee Gees.The only regulars from previous Gibb recordings was George Terry on guitar with Steve Farris of Mr. Mister. Session musician Phil Chen was credited as the bass player on the song "Gone with the Wind".

Toys (video game)

Toys is an action video game for the Super NES and Sega Genesis released in 1993.

The game is based on the 1992 film Toys starring Robin Williams. Chaos has been spread at a toy factory that must be stopped by the player.

Plot

An irresponsible young man (Leslie Zevo) wouldn't take over the company and now his father is dying. In order to get his young adult son to accept his new responsibilities, the father must force him to reclaim his toy factory from a straight-laced Army general (Lt. General Leland) that he has appointed as part of a "test of maturity."

Gameplay

Players are involved in a "toy war" between an army of military-style toys fought with a personalized action figure army using toys found in certain places in the game. The player will start each level only possessing a limited supply of toys, whereas the general will have a virtually unlimited supply of toys to throw at the player. These toys range from the realistic (bowling balls) to the cartoonish (i.e., peanut gun projectiles, radio-controlled cars, water balloons). Crashing a toy plane into General Zevo's windows allows players to beat the game. However, they have to navigate the plane through a scale model of Manhattan and avoid running out of power.