XTC's superb double record Oranges & Lemons was released 30 years ago today. The intriguing psychedelic cover art promised aural goodness; the album delivered and then some!
The fifteen track record is brimming with brilliant songwriting -- most of the tracks were written by Andy Partridge, though Colin Moulding represented with a few songs including the eternally addictive "King For A Day" which is one of the standouts on this incredible record alongside "The Mayor Of Simpleton," "The Loving," "Chalkhills And Children," "Garden Of Earthly Delights," and more.
Oranges & Lemons was technically the follow up to the 1986 (North American) breakthrough Skylarking, though the band had managed to sneak in a phenomenal Dukes of Stratosphear record between the proper XTC releases.
Although Skylarking still seems to receive the most attention from XTC fans in the U.S. (or at least seems to be the best known album), Oranges & Lemons yielded XTC's biggest charting single in the U.S., "The Mayor Of Simpleton." [Not that a charting single equals a better song -- obviously ALL of XTC's music is wonderful, just not as widely appreciated, which is a shame indeed for this underrated gem of a band.]
Happy 30th!
Published February 27th, 2019