XTC’s fourth album swiftly entered the album charts, becoming a firm favourite of many fans. Better traverse the waters of Black Sea, track by track…
Respectable Street
The fourth and final single to be taken from Black Sea, regrettably, Respectable Street failed to chart – most likely because of the Beeb refusing to play the single on the radio. With lines about abortion and a plug for Sony Entertainment Centres, it was inevitable that the broadcaster got cold feet.
The single version is slightly different with a couple of lines altered. Instead of “contraception”, it’s “child prevention” – while “which sex position pleases best her old man” becomes “proposition pleases”. Not that this made a scrap of difference to Respectable Street’s fortunes.
Which does this storming opener a disservice. Crackling into life with a cod-Noel Coward preview of the middle bit, Respectable Street explodes into life with crashing guitar chords and drum thumping so powerful, it could blow a street’s worth of doors off their hinges. Not for the last time will I discuss Terry Chambers’ powerhouse drumming.
Respectable Street was written as a sardonic riposte to the old-fashioned prim and proper suburban values, and exposing the hypocrisy of what went on behind closed doors. “Sunday church and they look fetching,” sneers singer Andy Partridge. “Saturday night saw him retching over our fence”. A corker of a song, which already sets a very high standard. The promo video – in which a tuxedoed XTC annoy three sped-up punk pensioners with their music – is also priceless comedy gold.
Generals And Majors
The first single from Black Sea at least managed to graze the Top 40 in the UK, although a lowly Number 32 position doesn’t reflect its quality.
There may have been friction within the band, since Colin Moulding was coming up with all kinds of new wave pop confections (to the annoyance of Partridge), but the mop-topped bassist was rapidly coming into his own as a songwriting talent. This fast and furious mickey take of war glorifiers still resonates today, especially with pompous types insisting that everyone should sign up for national service – even if they’ll be staying at home reading all about it in the newspapers.
While Virgin boss Richard Branson cameoed in the promo video, Partridge later decried the clip as “the worst video ever made by man”. It was packaged as a limited edition release with three bonus tracks – all of which were oddly dumped in the middle portion of the CD. These were the claustrophobic Smokeless Zone, the brilliantly poppy Don’t Lose Your Temper, and the minimalist ambient track, The Somnambulist.
Living Through Another Cuba
Fast-paced holiday larks on the surface, but under the driven conga rhythm and the singalong nursery rhyme feel, Living Through Another Cuba reflects on the horrors of nuclear war and how impotent Britain was when it came to this threat. Compared to the size of Russia and America, Britain was sandwiched in between like a little mouse between two tigers.
Cuba is unusual in that there’s no verse/chorus structure – more a repeated refrain of the title after which Andy sneaks in lots of scattered barbs against the possibility of nukes blowing everything to kingdom come. Some of the sound effects are pretty cool too, including frequent chirps and electronic bubbles at the close.
Love At First Sight
Black Sea was the first XTC album I bought back in early 1995. My reasoning for buying albums was that if I’d heard a track I’d liked, I’d figure that the rest of the LP would be as good. It’s a gambit that more often than not paid off. I’d heard Sgt Rock and remembered it as a six-year-old, and so decided to give Black Sea a whirl.
I wasn’t disappointed, and this became one of my albums of choice to get me through the horrors of the first year at university. It always put a dopey smile on my face, and still does today, with simple but infectious classic like Love At First Sight. It’s unpretentious good-time stuff, and another winner from Colin Moulding.
Rocket From A Bottle
Partridge’s compositions tend to be a bit more eccentric in their construction. Little quirks like the opening “I-I-I-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh” and some tricksy bass chords all add to the oddball feel of tracks such as Rocket From A Bottle.
Despite the healthy dollop of snark on the album, one or two tracks are unusually upbeat and optimistic (this and Burning With Optimism’s Flames). The joys of being in love are conveyed through a metaphor, which one or two may read more in to, but lines like “Hate step back/My smile might just crack” indicate a more chirpy outlook on life than expected.
No Language In Our Lungs
Originally, No Language In Our Lungs went under the moniker of I Have The World In My Mouth. The first glimmerings of Side One’s last track were scribbled in a pocket notebook by Partridge on the band’s Drums And Wires tour. Given that it’s an ode to how language is so much more than words, No Language In Our Lungs was the better choice of title.
Besides which, doesn’t I Have The World In My Mouth sound a little batty?
Taking the pace down a wee bit, this drawling concoction is full of little surprises, such as the odd middle section in which Partridge jerkily scats over spooky keyboard warbles. It’s a good one for guitarist Dave Gregory too. The twin guitar sound is said to be an homage to early Fleetwood Mac and Wishbone Ash on No Language In Our Lungs – Gregory’s guitar work is sublime.
Towers Of London
The second single to be taken from Black Sea kicks off Side Two. A glimmer of progress in the charts by leapfrogging Generals And Majors to the lofty position of Number 31. Partridge later said that he was subconsciously channelling The Beatles’ Rain.
A tribute to Victorian era builders, this celebration of La-La-Londinium is so quintessentially English, the single probably came free with a cup of tea. However, like many other global musicians, Partridge’s perfectionism can be heard in the opening intro in which producer Steve Lillywhite announces “Take 103”, and is then mimicked by Partridge and Moulding. The likes of Rundgren, Becker and Fagen all took musical perfectionism to a new level, but then the results were worth it. Black Sea’s meticulous production and playing is no exception.
Paper And Iron (Notes And Coins)
A clip of this surfaced on the Tube Of You, on Swap Shop of all places. As well as promoting their Sgt Rock single, XTC also got to showcase this masterpiece.
This and the next track are my personal favourites on the album, although they are up against some pretty stiff competition. This is one of the heavier tracks on Black Sea, anchored by the sheer power of Terry Chambers’ drumming. Take a look at the Swap Shop clip and gawp in amazement at Chambers not even breaking a sweat at the relentless grind of hitting the skins like an animal. Chambers’ drumming skills are well on a par with Led Zeppelin’s John Bonham, and are simply superb.
I love the quiet menace of this complaint about the drudge of work. Many of Black Sea’s tracks tackle the mundane – from the hypocrisy of the “finer things in life folks” through to having “no chicken for the Sunday carving”. But Paper And Iron is loaned extra weight by the subtle fury of the musicianship. The drumming and bass combine to create a menacing backdrop, against which Gregory’s guitar goes nuts in the instrumental break.
A stone cold classic, one of the finest in the band’s catalogue.
Burning With Optimism’s Flames
It may be a case of “She Said, He Said” as the optimist in this delightful pop ditty is said to have been Partridge himself. Burning With Optimism’s Flames gives enough cause for optimism – it’s a “happy” song without being “forced happy”. It’s never staying still for one minute, dovetailing in to different chord structures and choosing unexpected detours such as the post-chorus scatting, which sounds like it was taken from a different song altogether.
My favourite kinds of music are bands and singers that don’t play it safe. A big problem with today’s autotune dreck is that it’s crushingly predictable and samey. Unfortunately, it sells by the shedload, and what the public wants, the public gets. Black Sea may not have been a multi-billion chart topper, but I’ll take tracks like this any day of the week over the soul-free cack of today.
Plus, I love the last manic gibbering of Partridge and that last escalating guitar chord of Gregory’s to take us into the next track, which is…
Sgt Rock (Is Going To Help Me)
Yeah, this one aged very well. Lines like “make the girl mine/keep her stood in line” haven’t stood the test of time, and even Partridge has since disowned Sgt Rock.
The thing is, it’s all tongue in cheek. The tale of a sad geek imagining a fictional superhero to help make him a stud is actually very funny. I’m picturing this weedy Mr Bean type doing his best to be all macho and super-confident with women (he actually reflects that “girls are foreign and strange to me”, so he clearly hasn’t got a clue how to treat them).
Unlike the previous two, this third single proved to be more what the public wanted in 1981, reaching the Top 20. If the lyrics have dated a smidge, the melody of the song is instantly hummable – even if it does odd things with the chords. The opening rhythm of the “Hey! Rock! Rock!” is obliquely weird, only sounding more like a radio-friendly offering by the time the chorus swoops in.
Travels In Nihilon
The longest track on Black Sea, and I hope that Chambers didn’t have to have his arms in plaster after finishing the sessions. The relentless heavy thump of the drums is a marvel, and must be one of the finest examples ever committed to vinyl.
An odd closer, Travels was written by Partridge about his disillusionment with the music industry. He compares youth culture to rented masks and fashion to a vampire, muttering the verses and snarling the chorus alternately.
If I did have to nitpick, then Travels In Nihilon does outstay its welcome a bit. Maybe it should have been pruned to a more palatable four minutes, but I think that nearly seven minutes is a bit much. Mind you, the last sounds of a shower running have been misconstrued as someone going to the loo – which given Partridge’s opinion of the music industry going down the toilet – adds a final unintentional sting in the tale.
(Cover design credited to Ken White and Ralph Hall)
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