| In conversation with Alan Haber: XTC's Andy Partridge May 3, 2005 |
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audio buhdge
have you really heard the words?
New segments posted October 9.
In the south of England, in the county of Wiltshire, in the town of Swindon, just 81 miles from London as the seagulls screaming "Kiss her, kiss her!" fly, Andy Partridge is settling into his grilling chair as the radio host and pop culture observer twiddles the knobs and sets every last decibel in its proper position. All ready, it is time to let the questions and answers fly.
In just over two hours, Partridge took me through his years with XTC, including the recording of Skylarking and the controversy behind the song "Dear God," as well as his current activities with his record company, Ape; his ongoing Fuzzy Warbles series of demos, orphaned songs and the like; writing for other artists; and his plans for the future. Our exhaustive, wide-ranging chat constantly surprised and enlightened me, so invested were the both of us in its depth and success.
All 15 segments can be listened to simply by clicking on the appropriate links below. In the weeks to come, I will be adding the final segments.
I hope you enjoy the show.
Alan Haber
October 9, August 7, July 31, and July 18, 2005
Segment No. 13: Concerning "Rook"'s theatrical approach, how Andy surprises himself with songwriting, and Nonsuch as a bridge to Apple Venus (2 min., 35 sec.)
Segment No. 14: Concerning the songs Andy wishes he'd written, other artists Andy likes, and the attraction of Holst's Planets Suite (5 min., 41 sec.)
Segment No. 15: Concerning where Andy goes from here, musicals, and...opera?
(2 min., 42 sec.)
Previously Posted Segments:
Segment No. 12: Concerning "The Disappointed" and "Mayor of Simpleton," working for the movies and television, Disney, and James and the Giant Peach's "The Stinking Rich Song" (7 min., 40 sec.)
Segment No. 11: Concerning the story behind Oranges and Lemons, XTC in LA, radio station touring, and the MTV Unplugged session (7 min., 55 sec.)
Segment No. 10: Concerning Mummer, the money thing, housing, Skylarking, and the Ballad of Todd Rundgren (13 min., 41 sec.)
Segment No. 9: Concerning the road to The Big Express, "Seagulls Screaming...", water in XTC songs, "Liarbird", and E-tuning (5 min., 51 sec.)
Segment No. 8: Concerning the road from English Settlement to Mummer and beyond, failure, and the leap to "No Language in Our Lungs" (2 min., 23 sec.)
Segment No. 7: Concerning the road from White Music to Black Sea (3 min., 6 sec.)
Segment No. 6 : Concerning getting song ideas from everywhere (2 min., 22 sec.)
Segment No. 5 : Concerning Apple Venus song construction, building the songs one layer at a time, repetition, lyrics, titles and the writing process (14 min., 27 sec.)
Segment No. 4 : Concerning the stories behind and reactions to "Dear God" and "Your Dictionary" (9 min., 32 sec.)
Segment No. 3: Concerning more about Apple Venus and Ape, Virgin Records, the future of XTC, listening to British radio as a child, and the newfound theatricality of Partridge's songwriting (11 min., 47 sec.)
Segment No. 2: Concerning Fuzzy Warbles, the relationship between "Then She Appeared and "Goodbye Humanasaurus," the Dukes of Stratosphear, and getting and recording ideas (7 min., 40 sec.)
Segment No. 1: Concerning Apple Venus, Ape, and working with other artists (9 min., 13 sec.)
Go to: Ape House
Interview (c) 2005 Alan Haber