Music

Andy Partridge was born in Malta in 1953 when the island still belonged to the British crown. His family then moved to Swindon in the southwest of England where he still lives today...

Barely into his teens, in the mid-'60s, the Beatles held the first place in his musical hit parade - an influence that can be detected throughout his career. The Monkees soon joined the Liverpool Four, but his ear was also drawn to the early psychedelic experiences, especially those of Pink Floyd.  All these influences would later be found in the writing of this self-taught man who is demanding with himself and endowed with a melodic sense that borders on genius. Without ever taking the easy options.

It is often said that Rome was not built in a day. Partridge's talent also took time to blossom. Although he remembers the title of his first song, "Please Help Me", scribbled at the age of 15, he is probably happy that it has disappeared body and soul because, at the time, he played in "noisy and infamous bands just to get the attention of girls". The man who would later be seen as a pop nerd also experienced irrepressible adolescent impulses, which is kind of reassuring...

The adventure with Colin Moulding and XTC began in the mid-'70s and materialized with the signing of a contract with Virgin Records in 1977. They recorded twelve albums for Richard Branson's label until 1992 before writing the last two chapters of their career with the independent label Cooking Vinyl at the beginning of the 2000s. Although the band had only one major hit with "Making Plans for Nigel" in 1979, they were always able to rely on a base of die-hard aficionados who didn't even hold it against Andy Partridge when he decided to stop performing. He was indeed terrified at the idea of going on stage and it shows in some photos of the time! We therefore advise you to dig into XTC's timeless discography to discover its substance. "Go 2" (1978), "Drums And Wires" (1979), "English Settlement" (1982), "Skylarking" (1986), "NonSuch" (1992) and "Oranges & Lemons" (1989) are excellent gateways. Without being able to explain it too much, I find the latter particularly touching.

Andy Partridge: insatiable sound wizard

Although he gradually slipped off the radar, Andy, an insatiable sound wizard, nevertheless continues to give birth to works that are often instrumental and inspired by the German pioneers of electric music of the 70s, such as Neu or Klaus Schulze. There are also a dozen volumes (quite confidential, it should be said) of his "Fuzzy Warbles" which also gleefully draw on his archives. He has also collaborated on several occasions with Harold Budd and Peter Blegvad, two other fiddlers of sounds. As he certainly does not lack in humor, Andy has for a few years embarked on a project called "My Failed Songwriting Career" which even includes, believe it or not, a volume "My Failed Christmas Career" in 2022 with choruses that finally correspond quite well to the canons of the genre!

Last but not least, Andy himself did the design of most of the covers for XTC and his other projects.

(AK/ML - Photo: © Etienne Tordoir)

Photo: Andy Partridge in the garden of his record company Virgin in Brussels (Belgium) on November 5, 1986 for the promotion of the album "Skylarking".