One of the best dates in my life was taking my then g/f to see XTC at the Palladium in NY in 1981. They did this number. "Living through another Cuba" was surpisingly the highlight of the show IMO--it was awesome. The girl was so exictied she savaged me in the car as soon as we got in after the show. I turned her on o the real deal. XTC.
@LovingSeattle to get it played on UK radio. they had to change a few other lyrics, too. "abortion" -> "absorption", "contraception" -> "child prevention", "wretching" -> "stretching".
all the while, lou reed's transvestites were giving each other blowjobs on the wild side and nobody noticed. ;]
for sure! an online friend recommended i listen to more of them about 6 years ago because i like Blur so much (as did he). I wasn't really old enough to know of these guys in their heyday. The 1st song i heard was "The Ballad of Peter Pumpkinhead" in '92, & slowly got into them from there... but yah, i've since seen the XTC influences in some Blur songs :)
I love them sweeping up the beer cans. Black Sea was a defining album for my teen years. We used to sing this song about a place called Drake Street in Sault Ste, Marie, Ontario, Canada. Great memories. Thanks to the Dinsmore brothers for introducing me to this song!
Rodney Mayo , decendant of one of the first Irish families to establish themselves on the island of Palm Beach opened a progressive bar Downtown WPB named it after this track ....still there 34 yrs later !
Black Sea was the first of their albums I got before I got the rest back in the 80's, was lucky enough to get the British pressing of English Settlement a the time which was a double album with extra tracks. Great Band ! I wish bands today had this much humor, energy, talent, and songwriting ability. The music scene today is populated by the untalented unless you dig for indie stuff or check out your local scene or listen to reunion tours. Now punks sit around and play 'guitar hero'. Sigh.
I envy anyone who has just discovered the mighty XTC, what a treat you are in for with all the back catalogue brilliance, I grew up listening to them and was never disapointed when an album came out and I ran to buy it.
"which sex position pleases her old man" was over the top even for Andy P, Come back to us XTC 'cause there's nothing that comes close..it's almost embarrasing
reminds me of the northside of chicago! I got almost thrown out of the improv olympic theatre well for being spontaneous! Please boycott the io on my behalf!
Never heard this version before, but I figured that they would have had to make a "sanitized" version, especially for the BBC. I couldn't imagine that "Abortion","Contraception","Sex Position", and "Retching" would have made it onto the network that had banned "I Am the Walrus" for its "Knickers" reference. This song was awesome, though. It was a witty tribute to the falseness and hypocrisy of the pretentious upper-middle class which is still relevant today.
you read politics at YALE (lock) UNIVERSITY ?maybe ya should try writing some new(er) tunes...where are they know? in a country cottage in the west country...battered by high winds (flatulence?) No doubt their juicy royalties keep em afloat at a time when English OAPs survive on Heinz beans and NO toast...but MAN what bass lines...this guy has six fingers...
It's the version that's on Rag and Bone Buffet, with the re-done vocals; the 'choir' backing vocals at 2.16 have been mixed higher then on the Black Sea version too.
Nowt wrong with being a geek mate! I'm a nerd and proud of it. I always quote producers, lyrics etc to my mates and they look at me as if I have landed from Mars! I thought I was alone in this world!!
I too am met with the same blank stares and 'resistance', but usually wear my friends down until they willingly concede that XTC are, in fact, a genius group ;-)
Of course they are! I grew up with them - along with Squeeze, Blondie, Talking Heads,and many many others. So much music, so little time. And why is music SO crap these days, with a few exceptions? (I sound like an old git now!)
I agree with you, and I feel privileged that my musical taste was crystallised during the late 1970s/early 1980s New Wave period.
There is some good new music coming through from young bands though, which is heartening. If you're a fan of Drums and Wires-period XTC, check out 'Photoshop Handsome' by a band called Everything Everything, here on YouTube.
They've been compared to XTC, and I was impressed!!
Great song, This seems to be a different edit from the album version though. Is it the same as on my copy of Rag & Bone Buffet? Oh and Sex Pistols poster at 2:14.
Teveh, I agree with you. It really sounds like a little more effort in the last verse. Backing synth and vox helps it as well. What a great great under-appreciated song it is. Too bad the BBC, forced them to chage some lyrics but in the day I am sure some would have been offended. Thanx for the years of enjoyment XTC...
great song great album,the youngsters of today have no idea what good music is.i pity them cus the crap they have to listen to just does not compare or am i being a grumpy forty something?
I am 19 and i agree with you, the music today is absolutely terrible, to be honest i absolutely hate this indie thing at the moment. XTC kick ass, thank god i have parents who let me listen to good music.
if you look hard enough there is always some good music being produced somewhere- personally i think the XTC sound is really dated, though i did enjoy seeing them live, it now sounds chugg
Hey truthorfibs, Im a forty somthing and I agree with you 100%. Whats nice for me is that I have a 19yo and a 13yo and they love 80s music. Only cause of me tho Im sure.Otherwise they would not have been exsposed to it. 80s was the best decade for music period. Does anyone remember Urgh! a Music war?? An HBO special released in 81 ? there was an excelant live version of this cut on there, with the original lyircs. Along with many other great 80s bands. Look for cuts from it here on youtube.
I'm forty something too (but not for too much longer... and I'm not quite sure how that happened...) I appreciate that you pass the baton of incredible music to your kids - and that they're bright enough and receptive enough to appreciate lots of different kinds of wonderful music! XTC is up there with David Byrne and Bowie...
I hear this, and am still gobsmacked and skull-cracked that XTC didn't become as sickeningly famous as some of their contemporaries. I hear this and I'm transported back to the clubs I lived in, hearing the local favorite band kick the living' crap out of a cover version of this song, and wishing I could go back to those days. Hi to my friends from the Harrisburg PA area who remember The Pikers, and Li'l Joe's and all the fun we had. I've been thinking of you all!
i totally agree. even when you listen to generals and majors, from black sea too, it sounds a bit like girls and boys. today´s british pop musicians are standing over the shoulders of the beatles, xtc and david bowie...
I always found the "edited for radio" version of the lyric to be the height of irony, considering it's a song lashing out at hypocritically conformist society.
Awesome song! I never seen this video before, and I can't help but notice --it's got some different lyrics, and also when he goes "Sunday church and they look fetching", right as he says that, some kind of instrument(s) come on soaring.
"Rag & Bone Buffet," their Bsides and leftovers has the original, much more "retching" version of the song. A lot was edited out in this version. "And which sex position pleases her old man..."
....Yeah, it's interesting (though not in a good way, i mean) how radio stations often have no problem playing a (often much worse) cover of a tune, but refuse to play the original....go figure....
I remember living in an apartment in Reseda, California, 4th of July, 1981. Watched Wimbledon, took some acid, put my speakers on the balcony and blew out the neighbors windows with "Respectable Street" and the rest of "Black Sea." That was when KROQ was at its finest, too.
x respectable street Everything is feeding off each other and motion is a cycle we are all things !!..when our nature matures to the awareness of species cruzing instinct is able to comprehend why kindness is so important!!.. its you in a long time from now and a long time ago!!.. it taste like spaceship!!.. h t t p://one.revver dot com/watch/326713/flv/affiliate/17620 big ups dj the h t t p spaces and the dot
o.k. you have to stop ingesting anything remotely drug like, although i do agree we have to be a lot nicer to each other, and generally ignore things that get in the way of everyday life, especially any lind of religion, or fake philosophical system. are you listening america?
Ummm, donuts, when this song came out, there WAS no hiphop. Not in the sense that you and I know it today, anyway.
Fuckamericanidiot: yes, it is as dark as it sounds. XTC have always had a dark sarcasm about them, despite the sweet perfect pop sounds of their later albums. They rock. Full stop.
yes, espeically here with our "conspicuous consumerism" and the hypocracy of "keeping up with the jones". This is a very strong social commentary as we watch the various neighbors buy the newest biggest fanciest more expensive SUV or sony plasma tv or other gizmos
def damn near impossible to pick just one, but this is right up there. I always liked rocket from a bottle too. it just always put a smile on my face while leaping about singing along.
Shame that the "company" forced them to censor the lyrics. By today's standards (esp with hip hop), the words "abortion", "wretching", "sex position" etc are pretty tame.
Would someone tell me what those people are doing? Slamming the walls and kicking their legs up as if in a tantrum doesn't seem to have much connection with the Song lyrics. I'd love to know if they ever did the uncensored version of this, my favorite XTC song, in a video.
The censored words are hilarious - "retching" turned into "stretching" - really? It totally corroborates the meaning of the song - I guess retching isn't respectable.
Arguably one of the best and certainly most consistent bands of recent times. Have loved them since statue of liberty. Still going strong, check out their website.
I am shocked that for this video they would overdub some of the lyrics and Andy Partridge let them. Oh well..interesting and my favourite band of all time!
Interesting concept for the video. Having never seen it until now, I always assumed the song was from the point of view of someone complaining about upper class busybodies. I guess ignorance knows no class distinctions, eh? LOL. XTC rules.
"Black Sea" was one of the XTC albums that was produced by Steve Lillywhite and engineered by Hugh Padgham (they also did "Drums and Wires", but Padgham produced and engineered "English Settlement"). Padgham went on to produce Phil Collins in that same era with that same huge, gated drum sound. Great songs, always. Bless Andy Partridge! "Travels in Nihilon" was always my favorite from this album, but ALL the songs have a special place in my heart and Terry Chambers really pounded them out.
Thanks for the info. Yes, yes I can hear it now. "In the Air Tonight" and "Respectable Street" are first cousins for sure (at least with the drum sound. End of comparison).
yeah, they were really at the top of their game, but if you look at their careers, Padgham and Lillywhite want on to produce some real blockbusters....and XTC never broke through to that gigantic worldwide audience like their other productions, it's a shame. But XTC has that core of rabid, devoted fans. If you can find it, get Andy's solo album from 1980 " Take Away", now collected into the CD "Explode Together" with the "Go+" EP.
Didn't even know Andy did a solo trip. Must have been b/w Black Sea and English Settlement. Thanks. Have you checked out Andy stumbling off stage in '82? I couldn't resist a pithy Spinal Tap comparison. And who cares that XTC weren't huge. To us, they are up with the Fab Four for non-stop quality album after album.
Yeah I saw that clip of Andy just yesterday...it's a sad reality of the history of the band that they stopped touring. I would have LOVED to have seen them live. The quality of their recorded output is right up there with the Beatles, for sure, I've been a big fan of them since '83. Even albums I didn't like at first, I grew to love. Even so, seeing these videos is a first for me--so been checking them all out. Very amazing band.
So true about the strange 'growing power' of XTCs albums. I bought 3-D EP (their first recording) and found it AMAZING. Ever since I have bought their albums and ALWAYS was deluded at first... only to capiyulate after a few spins. As a singer I LOVE to sing all the parts witha nother XTC fan called Davide (from Italy). We used to stay upo all night (he was a Night Porter in a Rome Hotel) singing Album after Album!!!
Very, very British, all of them. Yeah, they were at the top of their game. Padgham and Lillywhite produced some HUGE records, and XTC just never broke out to a huge audience...a shame. But they have rabid, rabit fans. A great, tough to find album was Andy's "Take Away" from this same era, which has been collected with the "GO+" EP into the compilation called "Explode Together"--pretty interesting stuff.
Interesting. Also, Lillywhite did extensive work with Peter Gabriel and Genesis. The Groove noise on "Respectable Street" is a copy from the Peter Gabriel song 'Intruder' on "III". Funny how they all intertwine like that.
or it could be the other way round as Dave Gregory played on that Peter Gabriel album - who's to say Gabriel didn't rip off XTC, when they were in the Townhouse studios at the same time?
This is the song featured on Fossil Fuel, not Black Sea.
Still, this and No Thugs In Our House are some of my favorites for the great instrumentals.
Core11953 4 months ago
@Core11953 Yes, this is the single version (a remix), not the album version from Black Sea.
TheMightyHartley 4 months ago
This was what started it all for me and a lifelong love of this group.
SirTenTea 5 months ago
To be fair to Andy P., me and the wife talk about absorption all the time, and we often enjoy an invigorating stretch over our garden fence.
kittenmuck 6 months ago
As ripped off by Aerosmith/Run DMC for "Walk This Way" video
sweetknuckle 6 months ago
this is the cleaned up version - not the one on the album!
brnsie 6 months ago
I agree with PATAGONIALOOP. What ever they said is bound to be true. That and I live in Wales!"
ffunkddup1 8 months ago
XTC 4ever greats!!!!!
ramacure 8 months ago
God, how big they would have been if Andy hadn't come down with stage fright, glad i got to see them before they stopped touring
DJfox69 8 months ago
It's ridiculous how many non dirty words were changed for this video. It's a completely different vocal track.
TIMOTHYSAARINEN 9 months ago
we were so naive back in the 80s, when "abortion" and "sex position" and "retching" and "contraception" were dirty words.
bent4toons 11 months ago 6
So sad to think that when someone could challenge the social order with verve and intellect, that the BBC would edit them -- still great
SleepyTymeT 11 months ago
La raja weon la rajaaaa!!!!!
PATAGONIALOOP 1 year ago
lol, what's with the LITERAL blue hair at 2:30 with the collar? this video is pretty quirky & funny! & 5 people have no sense of humor :)
pessimystica 1 year ago
What a great band.
epic song too.
vonzeke 1 year ago
Brilliant!!!!!!!!
manueltava 1 year ago
xtc = sexy road ! gengster indonesia ! hahaha lol xD
xkuba69corex 1 year ago
good aint it, listening to XTC since about 76 i think and they just get better
settingsonssc 1 year ago
their best track for me. best lyric. this and no thugs.
yooanoozarrmay 1 year ago
absorption. wtf :/
iwokeuphalfundressed 1 year ago
Well this idea pre-dates Aerosmith and Run-DMC by a good 6 years or so.
.
XTC, always on the leading edge.
Knepperify1 1 year ago
One of the best dates in my life was taking my then g/f to see XTC at the Palladium in NY in 1981. They did this number. "Living through another Cuba" was surpisingly the highlight of the show IMO--it was awesome. The girl was so exictied she savaged me in the car as soon as we got in after the show. I turned her on o the real deal. XTC.
RareBird0 1 year ago
@RareBird0 was there, too, and remember Andy spinning during Helicopter. GREAT live band.
maida1982a 1 year ago
They changed the lyrics from "which sex position pleases best her old man" to "which proposition pleases..." Why?! lol
LovingSeattle 1 year ago
@LovingSeattle to get it played on UK radio. they had to change a few other lyrics, too. "abortion" -> "absorption", "contraception" -> "child prevention", "wretching" -> "stretching".
all the while, lou reed's transvestites were giving each other blowjobs on the wild side and nobody noticed. ;]
nightdriver 1 year ago 4
@nightdriver That was bugg'in me.... here I was singing along, an all a sudden I notice they're singing the wrong lyrics!
notchic 8 months ago
I think Damon Albarn was listening to this when he wrote Tracy Jacks.
gazerman65 1 year ago 7
@gazerman65
for sure! an online friend recommended i listen to more of them about 6 years ago because i like Blur so much (as did he). I wasn't really old enough to know of these guys in their heyday. The 1st song i heard was "The Ballad of Peter Pumpkinhead" in '92, & slowly got into them from there... but yah, i've since seen the XTC influences in some Blur songs :)
pessimystica 1 year ago
Hoidy-toidy folks beware!! They're on to you!
It's about THE KIND OF LOOK THAT SAYS YOU'RE PERFECT.
CAR84again 1 year ago
I love them sweeping up the beer cans. Black Sea was a defining album for my teen years. We used to sing this song about a place called Drake Street in Sault Ste, Marie, Ontario, Canada. Great memories. Thanks to the Dinsmore brothers for introducing me to this song!
sagman68 1 year ago
Probably the most underrated band from that era.
merbac 1 year ago 2
Well the neighbour slamed his car door....
sagman68 1 year ago
Rodney Mayo , decendant of one of the first Irish families to establish themselves on the island of Palm Beach opened a progressive bar Downtown WPB named it after this track ....still there 34 yrs later !
toekneecrass 1 year ago
Love the Sex Pistol poster in the quick scene...about 2:13...
Great album and great band...brings me back to a kid of 14 listening to Black Sea.
rplcmint 1 year ago
this song needs its original album version lyrics, though.
IGotMadOverReggaeton 1 year ago 2
Black Sea was the first of their albums I got before I got the rest back in the 80's, was lucky enough to get the British pressing of English Settlement a the time which was a double album with extra tracks. Great Band ! I wish bands today had this much humor, energy, talent, and songwriting ability. The music scene today is populated by the untalented unless you dig for indie stuff or check out your local scene or listen to reunion tours. Now punks sit around and play 'guitar hero'. Sigh.
videocanone 1 year ago 3
ECTACY~
cylosisruler 1 year ago
This song head has been stuck in my head for days. Much prefer XTC's earlier stuff than the late eighties stuff
pawnsacrifice1 1 year ago 2
Reminds me of Joe Jackson and that's not a bad thing
ninelivecat 1 year ago 2
These guys had an amazing, and I'm assuming underrated, rythym section! Tight!
steelironbody 1 year ago
I envy anyone who has just discovered the mighty XTC, what a treat you are in for with all the back catalogue brilliance, I grew up listening to them and was never disapointed when an album came out and I ran to buy it.
MrLobeless 2 years ago 3
"which sex position pleases her old man" was over the top even for Andy P, Come back to us XTC 'cause there's nothing that comes close..it's almost embarrasing
patkeeg1 2 years ago
some of the best poetry ever written.
rhodimer66 2 years ago 4
reminds me of the northside of chicago! I got almost thrown out of the improv olympic theatre well for being spontaneous! Please boycott the io on my behalf!
amyth74 2 years ago
Classic stuff!
rubbishycrap 2 years ago
Hell, YEAH!!!!!!!!
GSTcheque 2 years ago
i love singing this at school to annoy the teachers lmao
shadouge4eva97 2 years ago
I think this is the clean version.
guitarman7asat 2 years ago
Never heard this version before, but I figured that they would have had to make a "sanitized" version, especially for the BBC. I couldn't imagine that "Abortion","Contraception","Sex Position", and "Retching" would have made it onto the network that had banned "I Am the Walrus" for its "Knickers" reference. This song was awesome, though. It was a witty tribute to the falseness and hypocrisy of the pretentious upper-middle class which is still relevant today.
mantarayZ7 2 years ago 3
you read politics at YALE (lock) UNIVERSITY ?maybe ya should try writing some new(er) tunes...where are they know? in a country cottage in the west country...battered by high winds (flatulence?) No doubt their juicy royalties keep em afloat at a time when English OAPs survive on Heinz beans and NO toast...but MAN what bass lines...this guy has six fingers...
PoireauMan68 1 year ago
...i don't know,...i've been around for about 48 years or so...
.....grew up with them in the 80's...etc .. X.T.C.are more novelists,and poets, than mere pop
artists!
jasonfaessel 2 years ago 24
It's the version that's on Rag and Bone Buffet, with the re-done vocals; the 'choir' backing vocals at 2.16 have been mixed higher then on the Black Sea version too.
Fucking hell, I'm such a geek.
TheMightyHartley 2 years ago 2
Nowt wrong with being a geek mate! I'm a nerd and proud of it. I always quote producers, lyrics etc to my mates and they look at me as if I have landed from Mars! I thought I was alone in this world!!
Bristlehound67 2 years ago 2
Heh heh! You are not alone!
I too am met with the same blank stares and 'resistance', but usually wear my friends down until they willingly concede that XTC are, in fact, a genius group ;-)
TheMightyHartley 2 years ago
Of course they are! I grew up with them - along with Squeeze, Blondie, Talking Heads,and many many others. So much music, so little time. And why is music SO crap these days, with a few exceptions? (I sound like an old git now!)
Bristlehound67 2 years ago 3
I agree with you, and I feel privileged that my musical taste was crystallised during the late 1970s/early 1980s New Wave period.
There is some good new music coming through from young bands though, which is heartening. If you're a fan of Drums and Wires-period XTC, check out 'Photoshop Handsome' by a band called Everything Everything, here on YouTube.
They've been compared to XTC, and I was impressed!!
TheMightyHartley 2 years ago
素敵な曲。
it is goooooooooooooood!
tekutekutekoteko 2 years ago 4
How come XTC sold so few records while those pretentious, stuck-up, tuneless posers Duran Duran sold millions?
YoungPike 2 years ago 2
In a word: makeup.
GrigoriSom 2 years ago
@YoungPike Hey! Leave Duran out of this. They were great too. But yes, XTC deserved the same kind of success.
therealsoulproduct 1 year ago
Great song, This seems to be a different edit from the album version though. Is it the same as on my copy of Rag & Bone Buffet? Oh and Sex Pistols poster at 2:14.
101Volts 2 years ago
I haven't done a side by side comparison, but I'm 99% sure it's the same as R&BB.
GrigoriSom 2 years ago
Yeah, it is the same edit as on Rag & Bone Buffet.
101Volts 2 years ago
Teveh, I agree with you. It really sounds like a little more effort in the last verse. Backing synth and vox helps it as well. What a great great under-appreciated song it is. Too bad the BBC, forced them to chage some lyrics but in the day I am sure some would have been offended. Thanx for the years of enjoyment XTC...
gbthecoach 2 years ago
Why does the last verse sound better the ones before? It may be just me but vocals just sound better on the "heard the neighbours..." bit. i duno
Teveh 2 years ago
Serve the Servants ?
eartant 2 years ago 2
Wow this song makes me crazy - it's a fuckin good tune
Waikikib0y 2 years ago 30
just red uncut article on andy partridge,it said that he is a uncommon genius.
cosmicwarrior287 2 years ago
watch 'complicated game xtc' if you like early xtc
buncho888 2 years ago 3
It was the BBC that forced them to clean up the lyrics - or they wouldn't play the song on the radio.
But still a damn shame...
Lefthandbadass 2 years ago 3
Shame they had to change the original lyrics to get played on TV....damn shame..
Sircornflakes 2 years ago 3
I love XTC
It's in the order!
alminmusic 2 years ago 3
is that david gregory sporting that beautiful beard?
lalalovering 2 years ago 3
im 16 and i love 80's music.
meganz44 3 years ago
great song great album,the youngsters of today have no idea what good music is.i pity them cus the crap they have to listen to just does not compare or am i being a grumpy forty something?
truthorfibs 3 years ago
I am 19 and i agree with you, the music today is absolutely terrible, to be honest i absolutely hate this indie thing at the moment. XTC kick ass, thank god i have parents who let me listen to good music.
str84ever 3 years ago
glad to hear some good stuff is getting through.wot u think of the jam,buzzcocks,skids,squeeze and big country? happy listening
truthorfibs 3 years ago
if you look hard enough there is always some good music being produced somewhere- personally i think the XTC sound is really dated, though i did enjoy seeing them live, it now sounds chugg
pixinc 2 years ago
Hey truthorfibs, Im a forty somthing and I agree with you 100%. Whats nice for me is that I have a 19yo and a 13yo and they love 80s music. Only cause of me tho Im sure.Otherwise they would not have been exsposed to it. 80s was the best decade for music period. Does anyone remember Urgh! a Music war?? An HBO special released in 81 ? there was an excelant live version of this cut on there, with the original lyircs. Along with many other great 80s bands. Look for cuts from it here on youtube.
cotey4 2 years ago
I am 45, cotey, and Urgh! is one of my favorite movies EVER!!!
CTZippy 2 years ago
I'm forty something too (but not for too much longer... and I'm not quite sure how that happened...) I appreciate that you pass the baton of incredible music to your kids - and that they're bright enough and receptive enough to appreciate lots of different kinds of wonderful music! XTC is up there with David Byrne and Bowie...
artsaveslives77 2 years ago
ah the good old days when mtv played videos
mrscjcsr 3 years ago 2
wall-to-wall grins upon listening to this (yet another) great tune from XTC, and more fabulous bass playing from Colin
DoctorPatient 3 years ago
I hear this, and am still gobsmacked and skull-cracked that XTC didn't become as sickeningly famous as some of their contemporaries. I hear this and I'm transported back to the clubs I lived in, hearing the local favorite band kick the living' crap out of a cover version of this song, and wishing I could go back to those days. Hi to my friends from the Harrisburg PA area who remember The Pikers, and Li'l Joe's and all the fun we had. I've been thinking of you all!
PhosphorDigital 3 years ago
steve lillywhite produced this, what an amazing drum sound he seemed to get.
KCVROCKS2008 3 years ago
i totally agree. even when you listen to generals and majors, from black sea too, it sounds a bit like girls and boys. today´s british pop musicians are standing over the shoulders of the beatles, xtc and david bowie...
JoaquinAhumada 3 years ago
i remember this song from 1984...love it still.
goofygoat2009 3 years ago
Sterotypes(Blur)has almost the same intro as this one! Blur was in many ways XTC over again. Love both bands off course!
pinheadsen 3 years ago
Such a thumping start,i love this tune.Its a wonder Oasis havent ripped some of it ...
CBRSIXPACK 3 years ago
Hmm, I thought more Blur "Tracy Jacks" but yeah the simlarities are there! Both amazing bands!!
Flashpoint922 3 years ago 2
fantastic group..some of the most true lyrics out there
montvilleballer1 3 years ago 3
like how the song make a 360 degree turn and it all fits.
astroman287 3 years ago 2
I always found the "edited for radio" version of the lyric to be the height of irony, considering it's a song lashing out at hypocritically conformist society.
Great song though.
zzzozzz 3 years ago
Even more sad than the fact that they aren't touring is that they aren't a band anymore!!!!
alexsarus 3 years ago
Awesome song! I never seen this video before, and I can't help but notice --it's got some different lyrics, and also when he goes "Sunday church and they look fetching", right as he says that, some kind of instrument(s) come on soaring.
Thanks for posting!
primitivelink 3 years ago
I think the instruments over that line are just vocal harmony and a bit of keyboard, might be wrong. But it's a great effect!
Simply adore this band!
Rotateitbaby 3 years ago 4
these days, 70s Punks actually LOOK like that!
lakeviewviking 3 years ago
the best !!!!!!!!!!!!!! from bcn
warholbcn 3 years ago
This sucks ass....destroy it...I LOVE XTC, but this VERSION sucks.
alexsarus 3 years ago
XTC is better then any fucking thing you know of bitch
diamonddust22 3 years ago 3
@alexsarus No way, you idiot!!!
christoJihad2 3 weeks ago
Great song, I just wish it weren't the watered down version.
lordwindowlicker 3 years ago
Simply brilliant!!
scooticus 3 years ago
This song rocks so hard
ubergossen 3 years ago
puta el grupo culiao bueno, por las re chucha!!!
La cagaron los huevones grossos...onofre?
"Todo el mundo se limpia los pies en cualquier cosa que diga Bienvenido" (A. Partridge)...
lavitroladeldiablo 3 years ago
One of my favorite XTC songs :D
ariglewen 3 years ago
This has been flagged as spam show
Fuck me what a load of shite.
No wonder that cunt Blue In Heaven and that fat cunt Porkillo likes it.
SRTUK 3 years ago
"Rag & Bone Buffet," their Bsides and leftovers has the original, much more "retching" version of the song. A lot was edited out in this version. "And which sex position pleases her old man..."
135wt 4 years ago
Andy's typically brilliant insights.
dlanodrelda 4 years ago
love this song, saw it in a movie called "Ugh! a music war"
orbitclockbus 4 years ago 2
Actually, the movie was called "Urgh:A Music War."
Burrellfan1 3 years ago
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Heard Colin slam his car door.
Don't he realize that I am a nerdy freak?
Whatcha think he left the band for?
'cause he realized that I am a nerdy freak.
pier23ca 4 years ago
Just a thought: is drumstick twirling an obligatory part of a drummer's repertoire?
PhantomDog 4 years ago
Yes. It is much like a Mason's secret handshake.
muukiithefinn 4 years ago 2
Fantastic Song! The song sticks in my head for days every time I listen to it!
longliverock8 4 years ago 2
Great song..
reg4321 4 years ago 2
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XTC when they began their long descent into crappiness.
Best of their first suffering, over produced, over contemplated, over crapped recordings.
pier23ca 4 years ago
pixies copied it. many *new* bands copied it. a shame.
TarantellaSerpentine 4 years ago
....Yeah, it's interesting (though not in a good way, i mean) how radio stations often have no problem playing a (often much worse) cover of a tune, but refuse to play the original....go figure....
jaye230 4 years ago
love it! Beautifully, thrashy song, with a great melody. Love the juxtaposition of the band playing strings and wearing tuxes.
GettingThereSlowly 4 years ago
I hate to say this, but this is painful to watch (and I love XTC).
hk459 4 years ago
Cleaned up radio play version!
Spule4 4 years ago
what old time
cacolandia69 4 years ago
Thanx for all the XTC! Highlights for me are the clips from English Settlement which remains an all-time favorite.
blairh1966 4 years ago
"Absortion?" I doubt it.
americandodgeball 4 years ago
I worshippped this band, especially with hyper funky beats like this
SociallyConspicuos 4 years ago
Rock and Roll...... garage quirky rock
SociallyConspicuos 4 years ago
I remember living in an apartment in Reseda, California, 4th of July, 1981. Watched Wimbledon, took some acid, put my speakers on the balcony and blew out the neighbors windows with "Respectable Street" and the rest of "Black Sea." That was when KROQ was at its finest, too.
christoJihad2 4 years ago
rocket from a bottle!yes!
blatspanner 4 years ago
farflungfarcry
ePhilosopher 4 years ago
interesting. just realized they changed 'sex position' to proposition in the video. i think they changed it on one of the compilation cd's too.
schitt4brains 4 years ago
Classic Power Pop Anthum.
bobwhobobwhobobwho 4 years ago
One of their best songs, imho
Spoocecow 4 years ago
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x respectable street Everything is feeding off each other and motion is a cycle we are all things !!..when our nature matures to the awareness of species cruzing instinct is able to comprehend why kindness is so important!!.. its you in a long time from now and a long time ago!!.. it taste like spaceship!!.. h t t p://one.revver dot com/watch/326713/flv/affiliate/17620 big ups dj the h t t p spaces and the dot
gohighproductions 4 years ago
o.k. you have to stop ingesting anything remotely drug like, although i do agree we have to be a lot nicer to each other, and generally ignore things that get in the way of everyday life, especially any lind of religion, or fake philosophical system. are you listening america?
narrator6 4 years ago
Kicks your butt.
jennvix 4 years ago
Ummm, donuts, when this song came out, there WAS no hiphop. Not in the sense that you and I know it today, anyway.
Fuckamericanidiot: yes, it is as dark as it sounds. XTC have always had a dark sarcasm about them, despite the sweet perfect pop sounds of their later albums. They rock. Full stop.
lekkermeisje78757 4 years ago
yes, espeically here with our "conspicuous consumerism" and the hypocracy of "keeping up with the jones". This is a very strong social commentary as we watch the various neighbors buy the newest biggest fanciest more expensive SUV or sony plasma tv or other gizmos
leicafool 4 years ago
wow is that supposed to be as dark as it sounds to me? that was awesome. good as sgt rock. fuck yeah
fuckamericanidiot 4 years ago
Thanks! If forced to pick just one XTC song, this is it.
fembrace 4 years ago
def damn near impossible to pick just one, but this is right up there. I always liked rocket from a bottle too. it just always put a smile on my face while leaping about singing along.
schitt4brains 4 years ago
does anyone happen to have jason & the argonauts from english settlement???? love XTC!
Caliope28 4 years ago
luv this band..saddest day when they stopped touring.
millysinge 4 years ago
One of my favorite bands ever...this still sounds better than half the shit that comes out today!
caflyergirl 4 years ago
Shame that the "company" forced them to censor the lyrics. By today's standards (esp with hip hop), the words "abortion", "wretching", "sex position" etc are pretty tame.
p717 4 years ago
Unnecessary dig at Hip Hop.
donuts187 4 years ago
Thanks to the gilmore girls, i'm now a big fan of XTC!
rockfangeek09 4 years ago
This came out in what? 1980? Yet the drum sounds kick the shit out of pretty much all modern drum sounds.
Nakedprey 4 years ago
the drums
meinkrys 4 years ago
XTC..the drums always sound great!
meinkrys 4 years ago
Would someone tell me what those people are doing? Slamming the walls and kicking their legs up as if in a tantrum doesn't seem to have much connection with the Song lyrics. I'd love to know if they ever did the uncensored version of this, my favorite XTC song, in a video.
Paypaulie 4 years ago
better than the Beatles! Easily!
aginghipster 4 years ago 2
The censored words are hilarious - "retching" turned into "stretching" - really? It totally corroborates the meaning of the song - I guess retching isn't respectable.
agibba 4 years ago
neither is (ahem) "stretching" --VULGAR! ;p
primitivelink 3 years ago
Arguably one of the best and certainly most consistent bands of recent times. Have loved them since statue of liberty. Still going strong, check out their website.
ZiggyAntPuff 4 years ago
I am shocked that for this video they would overdub some of the lyrics and Andy Partridge let them. Oh well..interesting and my favourite band of all time!
Can I get an AMEN!
frink32 4 years ago
I love XTC too... COLIN AND ANDY AND TERRY ARE SO FUCKING HOT AND SO FUNNY!!!!
depechevery 4 years ago
Interesting concept for the video. Having never seen it until now, I always assumed the song was from the point of view of someone complaining about upper class busybodies. I guess ignorance knows no class distinctions, eh? LOL. XTC rules.
eastakron 5 years ago
they always make great videos.
leomcculloch 5 years ago
They cut the music hall intro.
njgodfrey 5 years ago
This song brings a tear to my eye from it's awesomeness. Too bad this is the censored version. "Child prevention"? LOL, gimme a break!
VonRichter 5 years ago
i saw them live back in 1980 opening for The Cars. i think Black Sea was their best album.
ylais 5 years ago
"Now they talk about absorption" eh? Blimey, I bet that was an interesting conversation.
imitationleather 5 years ago
Has the best drum sound this side of "When the Levee Breaks" and "Moonlight Mile".
ozbocfan 5 years ago
"Black Sea" was one of the XTC albums that was produced by Steve Lillywhite and engineered by Hugh Padgham (they also did "Drums and Wires", but Padgham produced and engineered "English Settlement"). Padgham went on to produce Phil Collins in that same era with that same huge, gated drum sound. Great songs, always. Bless Andy Partridge! "Travels in Nihilon" was always my favorite from this album, but ALL the songs have a special place in my heart and Terry Chambers really pounded them out.
sonor1 5 years ago
Thanks for the info. Yes, yes I can hear it now. "In the Air Tonight" and "Respectable Street" are first cousins for sure (at least with the drum sound. End of comparison).
ozbocfan 5 years ago
yeah, they were really at the top of their game, but if you look at their careers, Padgham and Lillywhite want on to produce some real blockbusters....and XTC never broke through to that gigantic worldwide audience like their other productions, it's a shame. But XTC has that core of rabid, devoted fans. If you can find it, get Andy's solo album from 1980 " Take Away", now collected into the CD "Explode Together" with the "Go+" EP.
sonor1 5 years ago
Didn't even know Andy did a solo trip. Must have been b/w Black Sea and English Settlement. Thanks. Have you checked out Andy stumbling off stage in '82? I couldn't resist a pithy Spinal Tap comparison. And who cares that XTC weren't huge. To us, they are up with the Fab Four for non-stop quality album after album.
ozbocfan 5 years ago
Yeah I saw that clip of Andy just yesterday...it's a sad reality of the history of the band that they stopped touring. I would have LOVED to have seen them live. The quality of their recorded output is right up there with the Beatles, for sure, I've been a big fan of them since '83. Even albums I didn't like at first, I grew to love. Even so, seeing these videos is a first for me--so been checking them all out. Very amazing band.
sonor1 5 years ago
So true about the strange 'growing power' of XTCs albums. I bought 3-D EP (their first recording) and found it AMAZING. Ever since I have bought their albums and ALWAYS was deluded at first... only to capiyulate after a few spins. As a singer I LOVE to sing all the parts witha nother XTC fan called Davide (from Italy). We used to stay upo all night (he was a Night Porter in a Rome Hotel) singing Album after Album!!!
andreaprodan 4 years ago
Yeah, I'm foaming at the mouth. Someone pass the salt please.
Paypaulie 4 years ago
Very, very British, all of them. Yeah, they were at the top of their game. Padgham and Lillywhite produced some HUGE records, and XTC just never broke out to a huge audience...a shame. But they have rabid, rabit fans. A great, tough to find album was Andy's "Take Away" from this same era, which has been collected with the "GO+" EP into the compilation called "Explode Together"--pretty interesting stuff.
sonor1 5 years ago
OOPS, I thought I lost it, and it don't post! sorry for the double comments, replying to my own comment, a metacommentary.
sonor1 5 years ago
Interesting. Also, Lillywhite did extensive work with Peter Gabriel and Genesis. The Groove noise on "Respectable Street" is a copy from the Peter Gabriel song 'Intruder' on "III". Funny how they all intertwine like that.
CairoEast 5 years ago
or it could be the other way round as Dave Gregory played on that Peter Gabriel album - who's to say Gabriel didn't rip off XTC, when they were in the Townhouse studios at the same time?
peepingpom 4 years ago
'In The Air Tonight' ripped off the drum sound of XTC. I'm glad you entered the info for Youtube fans of XTC. Thanks from Argentina!
andreaprodan 4 years ago
yeaahhhhh!!!! this song rules!
revmor 5 years ago
god, i always loved XTC!
buppie2000 5 years ago