White Music
{{about|the XTC album}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2021}}
{{Use British English|date=August 2012}}
{{Infobox album
| name = White Music
| type = studio
| artist = XTC
| cover = XTC_White_Music.jpg
| border = yes
| alt =
| released = 20 January 1978
| recorded = 28 April–7 October 1977
| studio = The Manor (Oxfordshire)
| genre = * Post-punk
- new wave{{cite book|title= Fear of Music: The 261 Greatest Albums Since Punk and Disco|first=Garry|last=Mulholland|date= November 1, 2006|chapter= 1978|pages= 34–35|publisher=Orion Publishing Group|isbn=0752868314|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pnkwGwAACAAJ}}
- art pop
| length = 35:44
| label = Virgin
| producer = John Leckie
| prev_title = 3D EP
| prev_year = 1977
| next_title = Go 2
| next_year = 1978
| misc = {{Singles
| name = White Music
| type = Studio
| single1 = Statue of Liberty
| single1date = 6 January 1978
| single2 = This Is Pop
| single2date = 20 January 1978
}}
}}
White Music is the debut studio album by the English rock band XTC, released on 20 January 1978. It was the follow-up to their debut, 3D EP, released three months earlier. White Music reached No. 38 in the UK Albums Chart and spawned the single "Statue of Liberty", which was banned by BBC Radio 1 for the lyric "In my fantasy I sail beneath your skirt". In April 1978, the group rerecorded "This Is Pop" as their third single.
Originally titled Black Music, referring to black comedy, the title was changed at the suggestion of both Virgin Records and the band's manager. The resultant title, White Music, refers to white noise.{{cite book |last1=XTC |author-link=XTC |last2=Farmer |first2=Neville |author-link2=Neville Farmer |date=1998 |title=XTC: Song Stories |location=London |publisher=Helter Skelter Publishing |page=15 |isbn=1-900924-03-X}}
Background
In 2014, Stereogum described the album as a "collection of scratchy, hyperactive post-punk".{{cite web |last=Ham |first=Robert |title=XTC Albums From Worst To Best |url=https://www.stereogum.com/1701312/xtc-albums-from-worst-to-best/photo/ |access-date=8 December 2021 |website=Stereogum |date=15 September 2014}} The track "Radios in Motion" has become one of the band's better-known songs. In a 2009 interview, Andy Partridge stated, "We couldn't think of any better way to start off our first album than with the 'kick the door in', breezy opener we used in our live set... the lyrics are very silly, picked for their sonic effect rather than meaning. The first refuge of an inexperienced songwriter, forgive me, but they do have a youthful scattergun energy."{{cite web |url=http://chalkhills.org/articles/XTCFans20090208.html |title=Andy's Take: "Radios in Motion" |publisher=Chalkhills |date=25 January 2009 |access-date=30 June 2018 |last=Bernhardt |first=Todd}} The song is considered representative of the band's "agitated amphetamine rock" style of their earlier works, though others would call it "relatively tame mod-pop".{{cite news |url=https://www.gazettenet.com/Archives/2014/01/tunedin-hg-011714 |title=Ken Maiuri's Tuned In |newspaper=Daily Hampshire Gazette |date=27 February 2014 |access-date=11 August 2018 |last=Maiuri |first=Ken}}{{cite web |url=https://www.salon.com/2018/01/21/this-is-pop-xtcs-giddy-incomparable-white-music-turns-40/ |title=This is pop: XTC's giddy, incomparable "White Music" turns 40 |website=Salon |date=21 January 2018 |access-date=11 August 2018 |last=Zaleski |first=Annie}} The song mentions Milwaukee in the lyrics because Partridge's aunt lived in that city.
Critical reception
{{Music ratings
| rev1 = AllMusic
| rev1score = {{Rating|3|5}}{{cite web |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/white-music-mw0000192528 |title=White Music – XTC |publisher=AllMusic |access-date=26 October 2020 |last=Woodstra |first=Chris}}
| rev2 = Chicago Tribune
| rev2score = {{Rating|3|4}}{{cite news |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1992-05-03-9202090389-story.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181116124951/https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1992-05-03-9202090389-story.html |title=The XTC Legacy: An Appraisal |newspaper=Chicago Tribune |date=3 May 1992 |access-date=26 October 2020 |last=Kot |first=Greg |author-link=Greg Kot |archive-date=November 16, 2018}}
| rev3 = Christgau's Record Guide
| rev3score = B+{{cite book |chapter=X |chapter-url=https://www.robertchristgau.com/get_chap.php?k=X&bk=70 |access-date=23 March 2019 |via=robertchristgau.com |title=Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies |title-link=Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies |last=Christgau |first=Robert |author-link=Robert Christgau |publisher=Ticknor and Fields |year=1981 |isbn=0-89919-026-X}}
| rev4 = Q
| rev4score = {{Rating|3|5}}{{cite magazine |title=XTC: Britpop's Spiritual Granddads |magazine=Q |issue=178 |date=July 2001 |last=Harrison |first=Andrew |page=139}}
| rev5 = The Rolling Stone Album Guide
| rev5score = {{Rating|3.5|5}}{{cite book |chapter=XTC |last=Frere-Jones |first=Sasha |author-link=Sasha Frere-Jones |title=The New Rolling Stone Album Guide |title-link=The Rolling Stone Album Guide |editor1-last=Brackett |editor1-first=Nathan |editor1-link=Nathan Brackett |editor2-last=Hoard |editor2-first=Christian |editor2-link=Christian Hoard |publisher=Simon & Schuster |edition=4th |year=2004 |isbn=0-7432-0169-8 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/newrollingstonea00brac/page/890 890–92]}}
| rev6 = Sounds
| rev6Score = {{Rating|5|5}}{{cite magazine |title=Power pop perfection |last=Mitchell |first=Tony |date=21 January 1978 |magazine=Sounds}}
| rev7 = Spin Alternative Record Guide
| rev7score = 6/10{{cite book |chapter=XTC |last=Bernstein |first=Jonathan |title=Spin Alternative Record Guide |title-link=Spin Alternative Record Guide |editor1-last=Weisbard |editor1-first=Eric |editor1-link=Eric Weisbard |editor2-last=Marks |editor2-first=Craig |publisher=Vintage Books |year=1995 |isbn=0-679-75574-8 |pages=441–43}}
}}
Village Voice critic Robert Christgau felt "Radios in Motion", "Statue of Liberty" and "This Is Pop" were aimed squarely at the American market, and that Partridge failed on the latter because "radio programmers resent anyone telling them their business." Conversely, he opined that Colin Moulding's songs were "aimed at bored Yes fans, which is why he missed—the lad doesn't know that Yes fans like being bored."
In a retrospective review for AllMusic, Chris Woodstra said, "More dissonant than their latter period, the young band shines with directionless energy and a good sense of humor." Greg Kot of the Chicago Tribune later called the album "quirky" and "pithy", while Annie Zaleski of Salon later deemed it "a giddy and (yes) impossible-to-pigeonhole debut" that's "exhilarating and, truth be told, almost exhausting to absorb, simply because it's so relentless and energetic."{{cite web |url=https://www.salon.com/2018/01/21/this-is-pop-xtcs-giddy-incomparable-white-music-turns-40 |title=This is pop: XTC's giddy, incomparable "White Music" turns 40 |last=Zaleski |first=Annie |website=Salon |access-date=March 2, 2022}}
White Music achieved modest success, charting in the Top 40 on the UK album charts, although its singles failed to chart. The band performed "Radios in Motion", "I'll Set Myself on Fire" and "Statue of Liberty" on BBC Two's The Old Grey Whistle Test on 14 February 1978.{{cite web |url=http://www.tvpopdiaries.co.uk/1978.html |title=TV Pop Diaries: Pop Music on British Television 1955 - 1999 - 1978 |publisher=tvpopdiaries.co.uk |access-date=20 July 2019}}
Track listing
{{Track listing
| headline = Side one
| all_writing = Andy Partridge, except where noted
| title1 = Radios in Motion
| length1 = 2:52
| title2 = Cross Wires
| writer2 = Colin Moulding
| length2 = 2:03
| title3 = This Is Pop
| length3 = 2:38
| title4 = Do What You Do
| writer4 = Moulding
| length4 = 1:14
| title5 = Statue of Liberty
| length5 = 2:52
| title6 = All Along the Watchtower
| writer6 = Bob Dylan
| length6 = 5:40
}}
{{Track listing
| headline = Side two
| title1 = Into the Atom Age
| length1 = 2:32
| title2 = I'll Set Myself on Fire
| writer2 = Moulding
| length2 = 3:00
| title3 = I'm Bugged
| length3 = 3:59
| title4 = New Town Animal in a Furnished Cage
| length4 = 1:51
| title5 = Spinning Top
| length5 = 2:38
| title6 = Neon Shuffle
| length6 = 4:25
}}
{{Track listing
| headline = 2001 CD bonus tracks
| extra_column = Original release
| title13 = Science Friction
| extra13 = 3D EP, 1977
| length13 = 3:13
| title14 = She's So Square
| extra14 = 3D EP
| length14 = 3:06
| title15 = Dance Band
| extra15 = 3D EP
| writer15 = Moulding
| length15 = 2:41
| title16 = Hang on to the Night
| extra16 = B-side of "Statue of Liberty", 1978
| length16 = 2:09
| title17 = Heatwave
| extra17 = B-side of "This Is Pop?", 1978
| writer17 = Moulding
| length17 = 2:12
| title18 = Traffic Light Rock
| extra18 = White Music outtake; from Guillotine, various artists compilation album, 1978{{cite web |url=http://chalkhills.org/reelbyreal/s_TrafficLightRock.html |title=Guillotine |publisher=Chalkhills |access-date=26 November 2019}}
| length18 = 1:40
| title19 = Instant Tunes
| extra19 = B-side of "Are You Receiving Me?", 1978
| writer19 = Moulding
| length19 = 2:34
}}
- CD issues prior to 2001 placed the bonus tracks between the original sides one and two of the album.
- Original release information for bonus tracks sourced from Chalkhills and Children (1992), by Chris Twomey,{{cite book |last=Twomey |first=Chris |author-link=Chris Twomey |date=1992 |title=Chalkhills and Children |location=London |publisher=Omnibus Press |page=183 |isbn=0-7119-2758-8}} except where noted.
Personnel
XTC
- Andy Partridge – guitar, harmonica, vocals
- Colin Moulding – bass guitar, vocals
- Barry Andrews – piano, organ
- Terry Chambers – drums
Technical
- John Leckie – producer, engineer
- Alan "Jaffa" Douglas – tape operator
- Dennis Morris – photography