- Skylarking
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For other uses, see Skylark (disambiguation).For the Mic Christopher album, see Skylarkin' (Mic Christopher album). For the Grover Washington, Jr. album, see Skylarkin' (Grover Washington, Jr. album).
Skylarking 
Studio album by XTC Released 27 October 1986 Recorded 1986 at Utopia Sound Studios, Woodstock, NY and at The Sound Hole Studios, San Francisco Genre Psychedelic pop, New Wave Length 50:09 Label Virgin Records/Geffen Records Producer Todd Rundgren XTC chronology 25 O'Clock
(1985)Skylarking
(1986)Psonic Psunspot
(1987)Singles from Skylarking - "Grass"
Released: August 1986 - "The Meeting Place"
Released: February 1987 - "Dear God"
Released: June 1987
Alternative cover 
2010 Remaster LP coverProfessional ratings Review scores Source Rating Allmusic 
[1]Mojo (favourable) [2] PopMatters (favourable) [3] Q 
[4]Robert Christgau (A-) [5] Rolling Stone (favourable) [6] Uncut (favourable) [7] Skylarking is XTC's eighth studio album, released on 27 October 1986 and produced by American musician Todd Rundgren. Skylarking is a "life-in-a-day" semi-concept album which displayed songwriting and arranging heavily influenced by The Beatles, The Beach Boys and The Kinks. The title of the album was inspired by Percy Bysshe Shelley's poem To a Skylark and many of the songs expand on the pastoral themes of their 1983 album, Mummer, most notably "Summer's Cauldron" and "Season Cycle".
Contents
Recording process
The album was produced by Todd Rundgren after the band chose his name from a list of potential producers submitted by its label, Virgin Records. The recording sessions took place in early 1986, at Rundgren's upstate New York recording studio. Rundgren convinced the band that the songs which Andy Partridge and Colin Moulding wrote would form a concept album. It was recorded track to track on one reel of 2 inch tape. Segues between songs were performed.[8] The sessions were fraught with tension, due to creative differences between Rundgren and Partridge. In the book XTC: Song Stories by Neville Farmer, Partridge says:
"(Rundgren) was so bloody sarcastic, which is rare with Americans. He's got it down to an extremely cruel art. He'd ask how you were going to do the vocals and you would stand in front of the mic and do one run through to clear your throat and he'd say, 'That was crap. I'll come down and I'll record me singing it and you can have me in your headphones to sing along to.' I just thought it was so insulting."
However, in the same interview, Partridge acknowledged Rundgren's contributions to the album, saying:
"He did do great things musically. The arrangements were brilliant and I don't know how he came up with them... The bloke is ludicrously smart when it comes to certain things."
Elsewhere in Song Stories Moulding called the finished product "my favourite album so far", even 12 years and several more albums after Skylarking's release.
Most of the album was recorded at Rundgren's studio in Woodstock, with Prairie Prince's drums being recorded in San Francisco. Partridge admitted that this caused some problems when recording "That's Really Super, Supergirl" due to the snare being sampled from Utopia's Deface the Music, forcing both Prince and Moulding to play around the beat.[9] The solo was played by Gregory on Eric Clapton's famous psychedelic Gibson SG.
Multiple versions
Original versions of the album did not contain "Dear God", a pointed, anti-theistic song. The track was originally the B-side to the UK single "Grass", but due to its popularity with American DJs (who "flipped over" the record to play "Dear God"), the album was reissued in the US, with "Mermaid Smiled" cut from the album and "Dear God" added in its place. (Despite the extra airplay and availability, "Dear God" missed the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart, though it did make it to #37 on the Mainstream Rock Tracks chart.) On most versions of the album that contain "Dear God" the ending of this song is cross-faded over the beginning of the next track "Dying."
In Canada, the album was reissued without cutting any songs, but with "Dear God" added to the end of the CD version (the same song order as the 2001-02 reissue). Some compact disc versions of the album include both tracks. Many artists have covered the song, including Sarah McLachlan. On 28 May 2001, Virgin Records released a remastered version of the album in the UK with "Dear God" added; this was released in the US in 2002 on the Caroline Records imprint.
In 2010 Andy Partridge's APE House label released the album exclusively on vinyl, with a standard release and deluxe board book edition. The album is spread out over two discs and cut at 45 rpm to "make the high end clearer and smoother." The release also features the cover art planned for the albums original release that was "banned" by Virgin.[10] The album has been remastered by engineer John Dent for this release. Dent discovered that the album's original mix had reversed sound polarity and was able to fix this error.[11]
Partridge has stated that the remastered album cannot yet be released on the APE imprint through digital formats because Virgin has retained the digital rights.[12]
Singles
The singles from the album were "Grass" (released 16 August 1986), "The Meeting Place" (released 2 February 1987), "Earn Enough For Us" (in Canada and Australia only) and, due to its popularity arising out of college radio as the last song on the "Grass" UK 12" single, "Dear God" (released 1 June 1987). "Dear God" reached No. 37 on the Billboard Rock Album Tracks chart and received the Billboard Best Video award for 1987.
Videos
Promotional videos were made for "Grass" and "Dear God" (both directed by Nick Brandt). The Channel 4 music program The Tube also produced videos for "The Meeting Place" and "The Man Who Sailed Around His Soul" filmed in Portmeirion with the band wearing costumes from The Prisoner. The "Dear God" video was also nominated for the categories Best Director, Best Concept, and Best Innovation for the MTV Video Music Awards for 1987.
Critical response
The album was praised highly by critics. In 1989, it was ranked #48 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 100 greatest albums of the 1980s (despite having panned the album in a 1987 review). Pitchforkmedia ranked the album #15 on their Top 100 Albums of the 1980s, calling it a "beacon of psychedelic greenery".
Chart position
The album reached No. 90 on the UK album chart and No. 70 on the US album chart.
Track listing
All songs written and composed by Andy Partridge, except where noted.
Virgin Records LP: V 2399
Side one No. Title Writer(s) Length 1. "Summer's Cauldron" 3:19 2. "Grass" Colin Moulding 3:05 3. "The Meeting Place" Moulding 3:14 4. "That's Really Super, Supergirl" 3:21 5. "Ballet for a Rainy Day" 2:50 6. "1000 Umbrellas" 3:44 7. "Season Cycle" 3:21 Side two No. Title Writer(s) Length 1. "Earn Enough for Us" 2:54 2. "Big Day" Moulding 3:32 3. "Another Satellite" 4:15 4. "Mermaid Smiled" 2:26 5. "The Man Who Sailed Around His Soul" 3:24 6. "Dying" Moulding 2:31 7. "Sacrificial Bonfire" Moulding 3:49 The tracks on the original Geffen Records U.S. album release (GHS 24117) was identical to the Virgin Records album, however the album was quickly reissued with the track "Mermaid Smiled" removed and "Dear God" placed after "The Man Who Sailed Around His Soul".
2001 Virgin Records Remastered CD: CDVX2399
No. Title Writer(s) Length 1. "Summer's Cauldron" 3:19 2. "Grass" Colin Moulding 3:05 3. "The Meeting Place" Moulding 3:14 4. "That's Really Super, Supergirl" 3:21 5. "Ballet for a Rainy Day" 2:50 6. "1000 Umbrellas" 3:44 7. "Season Cycle" 3:21 8. "Earn Enough for Us" 2:54 9. "Big Day" Moulding 3:32 10. "Another Satellite" 4:15 11. "Mermaid Smiled" 2:26 12. "The Man Who Sailed Around His Soul" 3:24 13. "Dying" Moulding 2:31 14. "Sacrificial Bonfire" Moulding 3:49 15. "Dear God" 4:24 Personnel
- Andy Partridge – vocals, guitar
- Colin Moulding – vocals, bass, and bonfire
- Dave Gregory – vocals, guitar, piano, synthesizer, Chamberlin, string arrangement on "1,000 Umbrellas" and the odd tiple
Additional personnel
- Prairie Prince – "the part of the time bomb (i.e., drums)"
- Beech Avenue Boys (i.e., XTC) – backing vocals
- Todd Rundgren – orchestral arrangements, computer programming, melodica on "Summer's Cauldron", keyboards on "Grass" and "That's Really Super Supergirl", and backing vocals
- Mingo Lewis - percussion on "Mermaid Smiled" and "The Man Who Sailed Around His Soul"
- John Tenney - violin
- Emily Van Valkenburgh - violin
- Rebecca Sebring - viola
- Teressa Adams - cello
- Charlie McCarthy - alto and tenor saxophone, flute
- Bob Ferriera - tenor saxophone, piccolo, bass clarinet
- Dave Bendigkeit - trumpet
- Dean Hubbard - trombone
- Jasmine Veillette - vocals on the first verse and final line of "Dear God"
Credits
- Produced and engineered by Todd Rundgren
- Additional engineering by Kim Foscato at The Soundhole Studios and George Cowan at Utopia Sound Studios
- Mastered 1986 by Greg Fulginiti at Artisan Sound Recorders
- Remastered 2001 by Ian Cooper at Metropolis Mastering
- Remastered 2010 by John Dent at Loud Mastering
- Additional engineering by Chris Anderson
Charts
Album
Year Chart Position 1987 The Billboard 200 70 Single
Year Single Chart Position 1987 "Dear God" Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks 37 References
- ^ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Review: XTC - Skylarking". Allmusic. Rovi Corporation. http://www.allmusic.com/album/skylarking-r22377/review. Retrieved 18 June 2011.
- ^ Harrison, Ian. "Review: XTC - Skylarking". Mojo. Bauer Media Group. http://www.mojo4music.com/blog/2008/11/xtc.html. Retrieved 18 June 2011.
- ^ Schabe, Patrick. "Review: XTC - Skylarking". PopMatters. http://www.popmatters.com/pm/review/xtc-skylarking/. Retrieved 18 June 2011.
- ^ Sutcliffe, Phil. "Review: XTC - Skylarking". Q (Bauer Media Group). http://chalkhills.org/articles/qTheMusic.html#q86. Retrieved 18 June 2011.
- ^ Christgau, Robert. "Review: XTC - Skylarking". Robert Christgau. http://www.robertchristgau.com/get_artist.php?name=xtc. Retrieved 18 June 2011.
- ^ Tannenbaum, Rob. "Review: XTC - Skylarking". Rolling Stone (Jann Wenner). Archived from the original on 11 February 2009. http://web.archive.org/web/20090211183225/http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/xtc/albums/album/115810/review/6068315/skylarking. Retrieved 18 June 2011.
- ^ Stannard, Joe. "Review: XTC - Skylarking". Uncut (IPC Media). http://chalkhills.org/articles/Uncut0408.html. Retrieved 18 June 2011.
- ^ Doug Interview of Colin Moulding Rundgren Radio (fansite), 7 December 2008, Retrieved 9 December 2008
- ^ Andy discusses "That's Really Super, Supergirl"
- ^ XTC Skylarking Vinyl Update Ape - News, 7 September 2010, Retrieved 24 October 2010
- ^ XTC Skylarking Better Than You've Ever Heard It Ape - News, 30 June 2010, Retrieved 24 October 2010
- ^ Andy Partridge Forum Post More Stuff! - Ape Forum, 11 October 2010, Retrieved 24 October 2010
Studio albums White Music · Go 2 · Drums and Wires · Black Sea · English Settlement · Mummer · The Big Express · 25 O'Clock · Skylarking · Psonic Psunspot · Oranges & Lemons · Nonsuch · Apple Venus Volume 1 · Wasp Star (Apple Venus Volume 2)Live albums Compilations Waxworks: Some Singles 1977–1982 · Beeswax: Some B-Sides 1977–1982 · The Compact XTC · Chips from the Chocolate Fireball · Explode Together: The Dub Experiments 78-80 · Rag and Bone Buffet: Rare Cuts and Leftovers · Drums and Wireless: BBC Radio Sessions 77–89 · Fossil Fuel: The XTC Singles 1977–92 · Upsy Daisy Assortment · Transistor Blast: The Best of the BBC Sessions · Coat of Many Cupboards · Apple BoxOther albums Related articles Categories:- XTC albums
- Virgin Records albums
- Geffen Records albums
- Albums produced by Todd Rundgren
- 1986 albums
- "Grass"
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