May 10, 2017: Tim Kendrick recapitulates, "There will be a convention of XTC fans the weekend
of Sept 15-17, 2017, town of Swindon, in the UK. Friday night and Saturday
events will be held at the Southbrook
Inn pub, Southbrook St, Swindon. Sunday will be a coach/bus trip to the
Uffington White Chalk Horse (seen on cover of English Settlement). There
will be an Open Mic evening, Walking Tour of Town Centre, Quiz, Panel
Discussion, Tribute Acts and much more. Complainers need not attend. Tickets are £27.50
(non-refundable). All tickets must be purchased in advance. We recommend the Jury's Inn, a 5-minute walk
from the train station and about a 15-18 minute walk to the convention spot,
with a 20% group discount rate, ask for discount code."
March 26, 2017: A long time ago, in a library far far away (well, Swindon, actually), a shy
schoolboy who loved books, but was a slow reader, borrowed three science
fiction books per week. He didn't read them. Instead, mesmerised by the covers,
he imagined his own stories to match the cover paintings which he stared at
intently for hours. His response was to record a sort of soundtrack to the
paintings which had been so inspirational to him. The resulting album conjures,
via 12 enigmatic pieces akin to a virtual Musique concrete (with the
computer/editing process replacing the more cumbersome scissors/tape method), a
musical accompaniment to the variety of alien landscapes which Richard M.
Powers illustrated so profusely.
Now a much sought after album, A.J Partridge's album Powers
has been reissued as a mid-price jewel cased CD with 12 pages of sleeve notes
and illustrations by long-time Ape House sleeve artist Andrew Swainson.
March 8, 2017: POWERS RETURNED
December 3, 2016: XTC SHIRTS AU GO GO
October 17, 2016: SKYLARKING NOW IN 5.1
June 10, 2016: BACK TO VOLUPTUOUS VINYL
February 22, 2016: FUZZY WARBLES ARE HERE AGAIN
Chalkhills is a web resource dedicated to XTC
(the now defunct band). Peruse Chalkhills to find a wealth of information about
XTC, their music and recordings, and much more. Chalkhills was
created by me, John Relph, and is infrequently
updated (I am often busy with other things) so check back often. Chalkhills
was the longest extant XTC mailing list, created in April 1989 as an offshoot
of the venerable Love-Hounds list and killed off (in a bizarre kitchen
accident, of course) in August 2014. Chalkhills is the longest extant XTC web
site, first hacked together in May 1994, although FTP archives were first made
available in April 1991.
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July 3
Rolling Stone published “15 Legendary Tours That Never Were”. Were you there?
¶ According to Music Week, Andy Partridge signs worldwide deal with Warner/Chappell!
June 11
Kenn Scott provided a contemporary review of 25 O'Clock that appeared on page C7 of the Edmonton Journal (Edmonton, Alberta, Canada) on May 9, 1985.
¶ Thierry Samzun let us know that XTC's Oranges & Lemons is among ten records inspired by The Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Bands according to les inRocks.
¶ Dan Pinder updated the tablature for the guitar solo on “Pink Thing”, 19 years after he originally tabbed it out.
May 21
Paul Ferguson would like to present bass tab for “I Remember the Sun”.
July 3, 2017: Vision - Vintage Video: Drums and Wires-era XTC live performance captured by French TV: For this week's installment of Vintage Video, we flash back to XTC's early turn as a touring band for this 1979 performance filmed in Paris and broadcast by French TV. The 20-minute set comes a few months after the release of Drums and Wires, and opens with three songs off that album. Within three years of this performance, XTC would quit touring altogether.; Press - “Andy Partridge signs worldwide deal with Warner/Chappell”, Music Week, June 23, 2017, “15 Legendary Tours That Never Were”, Rolling Stone, June 29, 2017
June 11, 2017: Songs - The Dukes of Stratosphear: "Vanishing Girl", XTC: "Pink Thing", XTC: "Towers Of London", XTC: "Then She Appeared", XTC: "The Ballad of Peter Pumpkinhead", XTC: "Ten Feet Tall", XTC: "Rocket From A Bottle", XTC: "Humble Daisy", XTC: "1000 Umbrellas", XTC: "The Mayor of Simpleton", XTC: "Senses Working Overtime", XTC: "Rook", XTC: "Respectable Street", XTC: "Melt The Guns", XTC: "Merely a Man", XTC: "Garden of Earthly Delights", XTC: "Dear Madam Barnum", XTC: "Books Are Burning", XTC: "Ball and Chain", XTC: "Dear God"; Sound - Tunetribe “Podcast 96: XTC”, January 15, 2017; Press - Reviews of The Dukes of Stratosphear's 25 O'Clock (1985), “Dix albums, parmi des centaines, sortis de la cuisse de Sgt. Pepper.”, les inRocks, May 31, 2017
May 29, 2017: Discography - Allyson Seconds: Little World
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