XTC: This Is Pop (2017)

XTC: This Is Pop: Directed by Roger Penny, Charlie Thomas. With Barry Andrews, Clem Burke, Terry Chambers, Stewart Copeland. A brand new film on one of Britain’s best-loved and most influential bands of modern times, XTC. Emerging from the late 1970s punk and new wave explosion, XTC amassed a devoted following with hit singles Making Plans For Nigel, Sgt. Rock (Is Going To Help Me), Senses Working Overtime, Dear God and Mayor Of Simpleton. A colourful and vibrant journey into the world of XTC and their alter-ego band, The Dukes Of Stratosphear, the film includes newly filmed interviews with Andy Partridge, Colin Moulding, Dave Gregory and Terry Chambers. Through a mixture of animation, archive and specially-shot sequences, the film opens up the world of XTC and into the brilliant minds of principle songwriters, Messrs Partridge and Moulding.

“u0026quot;XTC – This Is Popu0026quot; (2017 release from the UK; 75 min.) is a rock documentary about the British band XTC. As the film opens, we see Andy Partridge egging on the viewer about how much he disdains u0026quot;rockumentariesu0026quot; in general (but then of course he goes on to fully participate in this one). We then go back in time to Partridgeu0026#39;s upbringing in Swindon (80 mi. west of London) as an only child, leading him to entertain himself much of the time since Mum wouldnu0026#39;t allow other kids to the house. It eventually brings him to discover music: u0026quot;I wasnu0026#39;t good enough to learn other peopleu0026#39;s music, so I starting writing my own songsu0026quot;, ha! It leads to the mid-70s punk-ish start of the Helium Kids, which then morphed into XTC…u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eCouple of comments: this documentary does a nice job of tracing the origins, and evolution, of u0026quot;smart popu0026quot; band XTC. I grew up in Belgium and theyu0026#39;ve been a favorite of mine since their 1979 hit u0026quot;Making Plans for Nigelu0026quot;. While there are lots of u0026quot;talking headsu0026quot; in the film (I particularly enjoyed the Policeu0026#39;s Stewart Copelandu0026#39;s comments about their touring together in the early 80s–his brother Ian apparently was manager of both bands), it needs to be pointed out that the documentary is definitely Andy Partridge-centric. But in the end I mostly enjoyed this for the band members reminiscing on how great songs like u0026quot;Making Plans for Nigelu0026quot; and u0026quot;Senses Working Overtimeu0026quot; came about. Everyone has their favorite XTC album, and mine is 1986u0026#39;s u0026quot;Skylarkingu0026quot;. I had no idea how much Partridge butted heads with producer Todd Rundgren (as sis made clear in this documentary), but in the end it all worked out as it is a brilliant album and remains so now 30+ years later…u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eu0026quot;XTC – This Is Popu0026quot; premiered on Showtime in 2018, and I completely missed it at that time. I finally stumbled on this and watched it on Showtime On Demand the other night. Whether you are a casual (?) or die-hard fan of XTC, Iu0026#39;d readily suggest you check this out, and draw your own conclusion.”