The Big Express Was Going Places Options

[The Lost Jockey]

I spent an unbelievable amount of time air guitar-vocal-keyboard-drums-ing to this in the lounge of my mother's house in Plumstead, South East London circa 84.

The arrangements are MAD! And gorgeous.

Wake Up = Colin has a genius for distinctive first tracks. I love the descending piano sequence at the end and the duelling guitar riff, an XTC trademark.

All You Pretty Girls = barumm, barumm, barumm buddidy buddidy buddidy boom. And we are rocking in a similar motion - now that's sexy!!

Shake You Donkey Up = lovin' the violin.

Seagulls Screaming = makes me ache. It's so accurately observed. Bashfull mets beauty in dank English seaside town they forgot to close down. I like your coat.

This World Over = the boys toured with The Police and this is where the influence spilled over. Ho hum cold war-era lyrics but sung with gusto and played with da funk.

Small Town = innit good to be English? Bohemian Rhapsody for Kazoo.

Liarbird = I love the "Methinks this world is for you" section.

Reign of Blows = HEAVY. Harmonica. Heartfelt. Other words beginning with H. (Hard-on?)

Wish = wish wish wish wish wish for you.

I Remember the Sun = A wee Moulding masterpiece. Remember the Nick Roeg film Walkabout? This has the same heat haze atmos. The jazz is there as it is often with Colin.

Soul Coal = Andy's a TRAIN!!! My God this is exciting. WOOH WOO! And in the middle it breaks your heart. And then crashes. My jigs around the front room got very jiggy round about now. Phew knackered. Cheers Andy, Colin, Dave and Linn.

[donavan]

To illustrate the mismanagement of XTc, This World Over was released as a Christmas single. I remember them getting slammed in the music press for that.

[foghorn]

Can This World Over really have been aimed at the Christmas market? Chalkhills says 29 October (UK), which seems a mite early for XTCmas, and I don't recall a flogging in the press, but then there's a lot I don't recall. I do remember Andy Partridge of XTC being on BBC Radio's Saturday Live around that time and (I think) saying that the album was coming out on October the "thrusty firt", or some similar (deliberate) rearrangement of the words "thirty first", which impressed me at the time. But that was a Wednesday, so I don't understand. Records always came out on Mondays in those days.

Re. Big Express, I think that the greatest management disastrophe was not releasing Smalltown as a single. For me that was insanity gone mad.

Reading all these effusive comments about TBE makes me think I should dust it down and give it another listen. I struggled with it at the time, and have never properly got to grips with it. I do love trains though, so I ought to give it another go.

Lots of love

Foghorn

[donavan]

I thought it was released in November. Anyway it got reviewd as an Xmas single. And I remember, think it was the NME saying something like, "Nice cheery song for Christmas."

[Jeff Truzzi]

15 October 1984.

[donavan]

but then there's a lot I don't recall.

Same here. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

[Andy Partridge]

It wasn't a christmas release. {footnote: Colin came up with the PUSH ONCE button idea}.

[donavan]

It wasn't a christmas release. {footnote: Colin came up with the PUSH ONCE button idea}.

It got reviewed somewhere in the music press as one. Might have been the 12" version. Wasn't that released in November '84? Anyway doesn't really matter now.

This post has been edited by donavan: Jan 9 2013, 11:57 PM

[101Volts]

It occurs to me that perhaps the clashing guitar bits at the start of Wake Up (Taking the demo of it from A Coat Of Many Cupboards into account) Was in imitation of a siren?

Austin