XTC: Making Plans for Nigel

[JenJenEL]

creepy song..poor poor Nigel. You are not allowed to think on your own...you have a whole team of managers and babysitters doing it for you...

[snmekr]

kewl dewd!

[neil81071]

Primus' version of this tune is better than Pitchshifter's.So there.

[Harbetman]

Maybe the catchiest song ever!

[LOMANDYO]

WHAT A BAND !!!!!!!

[lampshadeprincess]

love xtc soooooooooo much ,they are one of my fav bands!

[d3p3ch3mod3]

Primus / Les Claypool has a version of this song...

Damn this band is so ahead of their time in everything they do. I looked up the album on Wikipedia because I was going to say that it looks like it could even be from 1993 and didn't want to find out that it was, damn it's from like 1979

[135wt]

Started listening to XTC in 8th or 9th grade (1987). I have a been a fan since, and the older stuff is great. Too bad not more have heard of them, since they are better than an infinite# of bands since. Doing the 80s post-punk thing again now, so I would love to hear a cover of these guys from some up & coming band. I would respect them more.

[ofcoursehesthefarmer]

I think that's quite the stupidest remark I've ever heard, 135wt. I shall be marking you down.

[albionarkadian]

Then listen to nouvelle vague's version =)

[mellowbluebox]

Ok... XTC were such a great band!

[alanlescouse1967]

this song was rather prophetic in that 'nigels future in British Steel' was well and truly buggered up by m thatcher when she closed everything down and sols it off.

xtc were one of the best new wave bands of their time.

[archonite]

Hi alanlescouse1967. British Steel was already losing its edge by the 1970's but the government of the day kept unprofitable plants open for political rather than business reasons (to avoid job losses). Keeping people in employment was more important to the 1970s governments than keeping the company competitive. With the industrialisation of the developing countries, running British Steel without closing unprofitable plants would have required ever increasing amounts of state subsidies.

[AlexTube78]

Is that bloke in the video with the big lips supposed to be the Joker?

[nigelxhail]

love this song

and my name is nigel! =D

[pier23ca]

Both the songwriting of Colin and the interplay between Colin and Terry Chambers carried XTC.

Once a dunderhead chased away Terry, XTC's future was as good as sealed.

Too bad Colin wasted his talent, his musical life hanging on and out with the carcass that became XTC.

[pier23ca]

Colin could carry XTC only so long.

By this time, a dummy chased Barry Andrews from the band and before long would chase out Terry Chambers.

Once that happened, XTC fell into a long slump from bad song to worse.

Too bad Colin wasted his career on XTC after Black Sea. He should have stuck with Terry, Andrew and found guitarists.

[pier23ca]

Colin's songwriting and bass playing along with with Terry Chimes and his drumming carried this band after some idiot forced out Barry Andrews.

Had these guys trusted mega-smart billionaire Sir Richard Branson, they would have been tops.

Instead, some insolent putz drove them to ruin.

Let's say a prayer for Colin.

[burbtube]

great tune .. brings me back to high school!

[dielina]

I just love this song <3

[loreztaken]

still amazing song.

[axelmun]

I think this original version is better than the Primus cover, but the Primus cover is still pretty fucking awesome.The vocals are better in the XTC ver. but the bass is badass in the Primus cover

[airrunwesker]

If a person bought two records in the seventies... this was one of them! I often feel the 90's alternative music copied Indy bands from the 70's band for band!

[exproggo]

My friend, Nigel, was brought out of a coma to this song so it will always be a crucial song in his life. They had to take a tape player into the ic unit and it was not without a hitch...as the tape got stuck. He lived though....I guess that's obvious or I probably wouldn't even be posting about it. The other lad in the lawnmower accident didn't make it..sadly.

[Shine1980]

i feel bad for me because my name is nigel xD

[Ethergirl]

I always loved this song. Poor Nigel.

Please take a minute to check out my band's new music video,"Where's Jeffrey?"

Ether Park

Thanks!

[LAKESIDE2111]

love this song school disco MMMMmmmmmm

[nroks]

check Primus cover for this song

[trouduc00]

ditto!

primus sucks! and in the same way XTC too!

[SpecialGeorgePrdctnz]

!?!?!?!

[ballsylake]

Can't fins it on youTube. Can u give some info?? Thans. :)

[ub3rdave]

whoa.. hipno.

[waterhot80]

Who's who?

[ansabc]

They are both great songwriters. Partridge is more prolific.

[cherry2rock]

my god.. this song is so brainwashing... not necessarily in a bad way, but still...torture me with it :)

[kc1876]

WTF? This is the most annoying song ever!

[herzogsbuick]

it's only 'cause of the video...seriously, I've been listening to XTC for years, this is the second video I've seen of theirs ever (the first one 5 minutes ago), and they're really terrible...if you just listened to the song it would be much better; check out primus's cover

[jujamb89]

Its true, they are better than the POLICE.

[Squeaky1423]

This song is in a league of its own, brilliant stuff!

[mufcevo]

Brilliant!

[parrakm]

Dukes of stratosphere!

[trouduc00]

stratosphEAR! posted at 25:58!

[kmfdmbigfan]

really good song but i prefer the PRIMUS version

[ecallender]

Are you high?

[dudumoi]

less than you man

[narrator6]

you are a fuckwit.

[trouduc00]

foie gras is better than caviar!

mini mini mini tout est mini dans notre vie...

[singingmuppet]

Atlast I've found it. Brilliant!!!!

[xtstevie]

Killer track from the best Brittish band ever, 28 years old & it sounds as if it was recorded yesterday.

[bmxbmxzele]

nigel my name yeaah

[pogsboo]

hope someone is making plans for you!!!nigel

[afca71]

i like the beatiful punk girls mmmmmm!!

[Killerolching]

Nouvelle Vague's version of this song is amazing!

[FordFiestaMK1]

AMAZING SHIT!. another song RAPED by a dumb chick , who wants to make money out of it!

THEREs NOTHING BETTER THEN THIS ORIGINAL!

[takotheoktopus]

Agreed. Too bad Colin Moulding developed stage fright and gave the front end to Andy Partridge.

[jujamb89]

It was Andy who developed stage fright, Due to his girlfriend forcing him to go cold turkey on his favorite meds.

[narrator6]

no you are wrong , mr. partridge has alwayay suffered from stagefright , it was he who decided not to tour.

[pier23ca]

Andy Partridge is a hump douche.

Colin was both the brains and the good song writer.

This band collapsed after Black Sea.

Dave Gregory pissed his life away for Andy Talentless,

Sir Richard Branson was right about Andy.

[justafan12]

Not to say that Colin could'nt write a song, but

Andy was the one better with lyrics.

"If depth of feeling were a currency, then I'm the man who grew the money tree."

Find one of Colin's lyrics that are better than that.

[trouduc00]

XTC's version is chocolate (pop)

NV's version is pina colada (chill out)

Primus version is crack (sex, drugs and...)!

[pinksqrl7]

what about the pitchshifter version?

[lima8080]

wow.. never thought such song exists. even after 3 decades, this song still fits in my modern rock playlist.

[stickski]

in my top 18 songs ever. it just does it.

[DiamondDawg2012]

totally great!

[pier23ca]

The latter days of When XTC was good.

Too bad Andy turned into an idiot and a song writer.

He should have left such duties to Colin and he should have begged for Barry Andrews to stay.

[LOMANDYO]

you are strange,I think we should call you NIGEL , you PRICK.

[ffairlane57]

Is there really any future in British steel?

[Applemask]

This was well before it was privatised.

[someblokecalledchris]

classic!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!­!!.

[pantslam]

i love this song, and i think nigel's still hot! has anyone heard primus's version of this, it;s wikkid!!!

[BlaqueCzar]

great song..i was in a trance when i heard it on some youtubers vid about his french pit puppy..

[BlueStorm297]

Thanks for telling the drummer-story, I started to discover other XTC songs after this one and also the Fuzzy Warbles

[miaastro]

Colin has stated that the 'Nigel' is fictitious! He's the put upon son who lives with parents til he's 40 with a stack of porn under the bed, the British Steel thing was Colin's choice of corporate. Check out Neville Farmer's book written with Andy & Colin! I'll take the writers word for it!

[miaastro]

Another thing, there is no mention of ANYONE ever replacing the wonderful Terry Chambers at that time, he was there a few years after this til HE chose to leave, so whoever told that story on here is talking excrement. BlueStorm, check out 'Chalkhills & Children' and 'Song Stories' both co written with Andy and Colin, you'll find facts there!

[HeadlandRoad]

This song is probably the reason why I can never take anyone called Nigel seriously.

[jacksonhiggs]

my dads name is nigel

[napfro87]

Im a rap fan and i heard this song at work and i must say this is one nice ass song.

[RickyUK100]

That is a niceass coment m8.

[ecallender]

Kool Keith needs to sample this.

[fin4ao]

Nigel was a drummer, his band supported xtc and this song is about xtc trying to convince him to join their band. but he turned them down because he got a job as an engineer on the steelworks in wales (hence the 'future in the british steel' lyric) i know because my boyfriend used to work with a guy who was nigels friend on the steelworks. funny story huh?

[AlbertCunning]

So funny it probably isn't true.

Colin Moulding has made reference to no such thing when commenting about this song, as far as I know.

[miaastro]

Colin Moulding has said that Nigel is fictitious, the name came from the fact he knew a lot of Nigels in his school, 'Nigel's the 'put upon son who lives with his parents til he's 40 with a stack of porn under the bed', the British Steel thing was his choice of corporate. It's all in Neville Farmer's book written with Andy and Colin so I'll take the writers' words as truth!

[billus4]

I love this song; it puts me at ease during hard times.

[00grantham]

Real balst from my past,so of its time especially as british steel no longer exists as it did then BEST XTC TRACK EVER

,if discount senses working overtime,generals and majors etc,seventies timeless

[bratygrl1]

This is by far my favorite XTC song. Damn, I love this band! They're in my top 5 of all time.

[cloudbuster66]

still sounds good

[hurricanegene1973]

Wow! What a classic! I never knew a video of this song existed! Drums and Wires is an awesome album! This band has great music yet very underrated! XTC is the greatest pop band of the world!

[janusultor]

I really really hate this song. The problem is that it is strangely infectious.

[ecallender]

XTC is like that. You either love 'em or hate 'em.

[marokokisetter]

what a rad song this is!

[I4newwave]

I love this track!!!"We're only making plans for nigel!...nigel is happy in this world!!!"XDXDXD!!!!!!!

Kisses!!!Ila!!!

[Capungo]

Certainly one of the best. You can hear how influential they've been to so many other bands.  They belong to the lineage of great British (or perhaps English) bands.

[TheGodParticle]

I like the blond nurse... she really rocks sexy...

[DukeofStratosphear]

My brother was named after this song. And yes the people who don't know who sings this it's Colin Moulding, the bassist.

[LOMANDYO]

Nigel lives!!!!!!!!!!!!

[dreamwulf]

Colin Moulding, the bass player, is the lead singer on this song, not Andy Partidge.

[LateGreatBillHicks]

Great track, XTC are a fine UK talent.

This track below reminds me of XTC, check it out folks, see what you think.

Blue October - Into the Ocean

[emersonballa2]

is the singer not the short haired guy?

[BaddaBigBoom]

I'm pretty sure the guy with short hair clowning around in the vid is Andy Partridge...and yes he is the singer...I LOVED "I'd Like That" -a horribly under-rated band IMO.

[Englishpop]

Nope, Colin Moulding, the bassist, is the singer on this tune, which he wrote. He wrote it; Andy is singing backup vocals. Best band ever?

[crazylords]

XD go xtc...even though they arent around anymore...still, theyre great!

[humeghoul]

there most famous song,but i liked traffic light rock,science friction and rocket from a bottle.andrews was in 2 of them

[TFrankRiley]

This makes ME happy... Thx

[RevHarryBallsack]

love it - thx

[Murkaba]

The Primus version is AWESOME!!!!!!!!

[rebelxchickx]

ThiS song iS greAT!!!! I've only heard it a couple times before.

[heyrodders]

outstanding track outstanding video... nuf said

[folkwisdom]

Corner stones of my youth...try playing the spoons to this, it'll make your day!

[AMBASSODOR]

I think a this stage they should start touring again? I know Andy suffers from stage freight , But i think they owe something back to the fans?

[MoneyBlind]

this song says alot

[Codackussell]

Good stuff...

[Sesquipedaliantique]

Damn, these lyrics are so depressingly true :(

[Novaheart1998]

I used to love this song when I was 10, and I still do....

[Stompy92]

1979! People were very creative then!

[jjj7477]

future in a British Steel, ooh ooh ooh....

[u2boyu2]

What a diverse collection of work! Brilliant!

[gatshredder]

Im only 23,and i was in a record store a few years back and found an XTC CD,and rememberd my dad use to talk about them all the time,so bought it and it was the best stuff id ever heard in my life

[killslay]

heard the nouvelle vague cover 1st, i have to say though the original is 100 times better!

[niceandez73]

XTC... one of the best bands that almost nobody has ever heard of... it's a real shame.

[sohostrut]

Bought this with the fold out sleeve that had the Nigel game of life on it, great band , if not a little underated :-(

[TheKinoEye]

haven't seen this since it aired on don kirshner's rock concert, 1980. looks very current, oddly enough. youtube.. aint it great.

[TheKinoEye]

Is that Looney Skip Rooney or Andy Partridge??

[raggalioness]

Primus does a over of this badass song as well

[ajs41]

A great video when you consider it's from 1979.

[chrissyman77]

Love it' one of my fave bands

[klassiekerrally]

Along with Talking Heads this was musical revolution for me.

[bigbossA2Z]

best fucking song EVER!!!!!

[xanadu2112]

Great Song.

Great Band.

[antster1983]

A remixed version of this video appears on the video screens in the build up to the gigs for Genesis, although the song remains intact. Out of XTC, only Colin Moulding appears.

[allymay1234]

You either hate it or love it. Lol. I hated it till I'd I'd heard it like, 12 times!! Now I like it. =] .../xx

[maskcdesign]

Try :'Eversholt Nigel cover' For my band-

The Bad Dads

[pizzapie555]

the first time i heard this on the radio, i was like, wtf?? then after i downloaded it and heard it again, i was certain that it was about some retarded or crazy guy..weird..

[socialistfighter]

Newmark, They split up cause andy partridge or what ever went nuts , Kinda like what happend to pink floyds Syd Barret

[DAVEYBOND007]

My Ferrari, Yeah Whatever try Trabant. Budweiser Beer of Wankers ! Dream on Butt Fucker.

[pfonyt]

One of my favourite XTC's song!

Thanks for posting!

[batgurrl]

love it - thanx for posting. volume a tiny bit low, but its all good. lol

[newmark401]

Great band who never had the chart success they deserved. Wonder what became of them...

[iiShmi]

Big mouthed guy thinks he knows what's best for Nigel. He obviously doesn't ;D.

[Perranporth]

Weird, catchy, haunting song. But what's it actually about?

[mrzeero]

This is a wonderful essay 'bout "how da man keepin' me down." The guy in pinstripes with the thick red lipstick represents the man dictating to the poor guy what he will be in this case a clerk. An individuals freedom to choose a life is usurped by the establishments' dictated persona.

[lavitroladeldiablo]

Wow!!!

Dont you really get it?

Its about of all the people that studied, prepared and follow some career for being just a kind of servent. Its about being vacant, its about search a future and a job that non exist.

So you only could be a clerk, a book seller, or an emplyed of some british steel industry and be quiet and make happy the british government

[MY599FERRARI]

yes yes yes yeeeeeeees i get it....just was talking F-1 with IcedBudweiser.......OK.

[lavitroladeldiablo]

I wasnt talk to you, motorhead

[MY599FERRARI]

well wah wah wee wah......

[lavitroladeldiablo]

baby motorhead Jr

[MY599FERRARI]

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ­ZZZZZZZZZZZ . BORAT wah wah wee wah....dahhhhh

[Rock74]

Good version by Pitchshifter too.

[IcedBudweiser]

NIGEL MANSELL!!!!

[MY599FERRARI]

Nigel Mansell.... 1993 almost got his autograph here in the states .he won the race and that day was his b-day and that year he was the cart champ after his F-1 championship the previous year.

[IcedBudweiser]

i finally met nigel last year at silverstone, he was drama...

[MY599FERRARI]

That's neat.....Iam a Shui fan and miss him and it shows this year what he brought to FERRARI i like Kimi but he is not a good fit for that team and Massa is a puppy.

[ObscurePvP]

Primus does a cover of this song on their Miscellaneous Debris album. Good song.

[fanofheadroom]

this is a great song i have this video on the max headroom show

thanks for sharing

[nminff]

Thanks for posting! I have the same said name and I hear a reference to this song about twice a month. But I love XTC.

[hornsofarabbit]

is that jamie lidell on lead vocals?

[comicstripdude]

Colin Moulding.

[welzy02]

awesome.

comes close to devo.

x

[dkleva]

This remains one of my all-time favorite songs of the 1980s. Thanks for taking me back to junior high school with this one. I LOVE XTC!

Debbie K.

San Jose, CA

[jaiwills]

Is that Andy Partridge wearing the clown makeup? Yeah, Colin Moulding looked cool back in his 'skinny tie' days.

[garymilli]

A VERY UNDERESTIMATED BAND ,VERY CLASSY AND A BIGGER INFLUENCE THAN THEY ARE CREDITED FOR !!!!!!p.s. EGGS ARE EGGS ,ACHING MENS FEET !

[clivegrah]

I cant stop watching this, its fab, whatever you do dont take it off you tube,Thanks.

[bracl006]

brilliant never dies xD

[clivegrah]

totally fabulous thanks for posting it.

[depechevery]

loooove XTC....LOOOVE COLIN!

[sandyjimenez1]

Bro you're killing me with this stuff. Unbelievable. I haven't seen this video in so many years. Thanks for bringing this one back.