Oranges & Lemons (album)

Oranges & Lemons
Studio album by XTC
Released	27 February 1989
Recorded	1988, Ocean Way Recording, Los Angeles
Genre	Alternative rock
Length	60:50
Label	Virgin Records
Producer	Paul Fox
XTC chronology
Psonic Psunspot (1987) Oranges & Lemons (1989) Nonsuch (1992)
Singles from Oranges & Lemons
"The Mayor of Simpleton" Released: January 1989 "King for a Day" Released: April 1989 "The Loving" Released: August 1989

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[1]
Q	[2]
Robert Christgau	(B-) [3]
Rolling Stone	[4]

Oranges & Lemons is the tenth studio album by the British band XTC, released in 1989. The name of the album may have been taken from the lyrics to Skylarking's "Ballet for a Rainy Day,"^{[citation needed]} which in turn may have come from the old English nursery rhyme:

Orange and lemon
Raincoats roll and tumble
Together, just liked fruit tipped from a tray

The band was sent to Los Angeles to record the album, and Paul Fox was retained to produce it. As it was his first producing job, Fox tried to be easy to work with^{[citation needed]}. The album was lushly produced with multiple overdubs on almost every track, yielding the psychedelic feel. The album didn't meet with significant approval by XTC^{[citation needed]}, but the band was under pressure to create a hit single^{[citation needed]} and the label liked it, so they didn't argue much^{[citation needed]}. As part of the promotional materials for the album, XTC produced a quasi-puppet show called The Road To Oranges And Lemons making fun of the entire history of the album, from a meeting with Virgin Records head Richard Branson through the initial meeting with a glad-handing Paul Fox, and the actual recording^{[citation needed]}.

Album information

The album produced a minor hit, "The Mayor of Simpleton", the only XTC song ever to hit the US Hot 100 charts. The album was a commercial success, reaching the charts in both the US and Britain. "The Mayor of Simpleton" video, which resembled the opening credits of a The Avengers-type TV show, also saw significant airplay on MTV, especially on the alternative music show "120 Minutes."

The album produced three hit singles: "The Mayor of Simpleton" - reaching No. 1 on the US Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart, No. 72 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and No. 46 on the UK singles chart. "King for a Day" which reached No. 10 on the US alternative / modern rock charts and "The Loving" which was released in August 1989 in the UK. The album reached No. 1 on the US college / alternative album chart, No. 44 on the US Billboard Top 100 chart and No. 28 on the UK album chart.

To promote the album and appease the stage-shy Andy Partridge the band went on a two-week acoustic radio-station tour of the US, on which they performed a few songs from the album and a few medleys of earlier hits. The tour commenced on 15 May 1989 in Boston and ended on 31 May 1989 at Eastern Sound Studios in Toronto before a live studio audience of two hundred people.

Also of note: "King For a Day," which the band performed on Late Night With David Letterman on 30 June 1989; "Pink Thing," which was a classic XTC double-entendre; "Chalkhills and Children," which lead singer Andy Partridge considers one of his favorite compositions.

The album cover is directly inspired by a 1965 WOR-FM 98.7 radio advert poster by Milton Glaser.

Track listing

UK CD: CDV 2581

All songs written and composed by Andy Partridge, except where noted. 

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Garden of Earthly Delights"		5:03
2.	"The Mayor of Simpleton"		3:58
3.	"King for a Day"	Colin Moulding	3:37
4.	"Here Comes President Kill Again"		3:35
5.	"The Loving"		4:11
6.	"Poor Skeleton Steps Out"		3:34
7.	"One of the Millions"	Moulding	4:35
8.	"Scarecrow People"		4:13
9.	"Merely a Man"		3:27
10.	"Cynical Days"	Moulding	3:17
11.	"Across This Antheap"		4:51
12.	"Hold Me My Daddy"		3:47
13.	"Pink Thing"		3:48
14.	"Miniature Sun"		3:57
15.	"Chalkhills and Children"		4:56

Oranges & Lemons was also available as a limited edition 3-MiniCD box set (CDVT2581), with a slightly different running order. A Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab gold-plated "Ultradisc" CD remaster (UDCD 682) was released in 1997.^[5]

On the 2001 remastered edition (CDVX 2581) "Garden of Earthly Delights" is a new edit (removing the brief gap between the fade-in section and the first verse), "King for a Day" is an alternate mix (with more low-end information and an emphasised woodblock part) and "One of the Millions" has a shorter introduction (omitting the first two rings of the bell in the fade-in section).

Personnel

• Colin Moulding – vocals, bass
• Andy Partridge – guitar, vocals
• Dave Gregory – guitars, vocals, keyboards
• Pat Mastelotto – drums

Additional personnel

• Mark Isham – horns
• Paul Fox – keyboards
• Franne Golde – backing vocals

Charts

Album

Year	Chart	Position
1989	The Billboard 200	44 [6]
1989	The UK Top 40	28 [7]

Single

Year	Single	Chart	Position
1989	"King for a Day"	Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks	38
1989	"King for a Day"	Billboard Modern Rock Tracks	11
1989	"The Mayor of Simpleton"	Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks	15
1989	"The Mayor of Simpleton"	Billboard Modern Rock Tracks	1

References

1. ^ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Review: XTC - Oranges & Lemons". Allmusic. Rovi Corporation. http://www.allmusic.com/album/oranges-lemons-r22378/review. Retrieved 18 June 2011. 
2. ^ Hepworth, David. "Review: XTC - Oranges & Lemons". Q (Bauer Media Group). http://chalkhills.org/articles/qTheMusic.html#q89. Retrieved 18 June 2011. 
3. ^ Christgau, Robert. "Review: XTC - Oranges & Lemons". Robert Christgau. http://www.robertchristgau.com/get_artist.php?name=xtc. Retrieved 18 June 2011. 
4. ^ Azerrad, Michael. "Review: XTC - Oranges & Lemons". Rolling Stone (Jann Wenner). Archived from the original on 3 February 2008. http://web.archive.org/web/20080203204606/http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/xtc/albums/album/260407/review/6211360. Retrieved 18 June 2011. 
5. ^ Chalkhills: XTC Discography (Albums)
6. ^ "allmusic". http://www.allmusic.com/album/r22378. Retrieved 2008-05-10. 
7. ^ "UK Top 40 Hit Database". http://www.everyhit.com. Retrieved 2008-05-10.