Album details

Name: Skylarking

First released: 27/10/1986

Working Title(s): All Day Life; Leftover Rites; Pink Things Sing; Rite; Rite Things; and Summer Good.

UK Singles:

Grass

The Meeting Place

Earn Enough for Us

Big Day

The Man Who Sailed around His Soul

Dear God

Recording Data:

Produced and engineered by Todd Rundgren for Alchemedia Productions. Continuity concept by Todd Rundgren.

Mixed at Utopia Sound Studios, Woodstock, NY. Assistant engineers -- Kim Foscato and George Cowan.

Personnel: Andy Partridge - vocals, guitar. Colin Moulding - vocals, bass guitar, and bonfire. Dave Gregory - vocals, guitar, piano, synthesiser, chamberlain, and the odd tipple.

All backing vocals by the Beech Avenue Boys. The part of the time bomb was played by Prairie Prince. Orchestral arrangements and computer programming by Todd Rundgren. Strings arranged for "1000 Umbrellas" by Dave Gregory.

Trivia:

Andy originally wanted the cover to have a very close shot of the pubic area of a young girl on one side and that of a young man on the other side, with meadow flowers for the hairs. This was changed at the last minute due to the fear that the album would not to be stocked by High Street record shops. The new cover is based on a print from a classical music concert programme from 1953 by Hans Erni. Andy altered the boy's guitar to a flute.

What look like Catholic school girl uniforms that the trio is wearing on the inner sleeve are in fact Quaker costumes.

"Summer's Cauldron" was called "Drowning Here in Summer's Cauldron" at an early stage.

"Big Day" was originally written for The Dukes' 25 O'Clock.

XTC recorded an instrumental demo version of "Little Lighthouse" during the Skylarking sessions, with Todd Rundgren producing.

On "That's Really Super, Supergirl" Prairie Prince played a sample of the tin can snare drum off Deface the Music, Todd Rundgren's 1980 album.

Songs written, demoed, rehearsed, and/or recorded around the Skylarking days include:
"Across This Antheap" (re-recorded and released on Oranges & Lemons);
"Dear God" ("Grass" single B-side; later released in its own right);
"Dream Down" (demo version retitled "Ridgeway Path" and released on The Bull with the Golden Guts);
"Extrovert" ("Grass" 12" B-side);
"Find the Fox"* (demo version released on "The Meeting Place" 12" B-side and on the compilation Coat of Many Cupboards);
"Gangway, Electric Guitar Is Coming Through" (unreleased);
"Let's Make a Den" (demo version released on "The Meeting Place" 12" B-side and on the compilation Coat of Many Cupboards);
"Little Lighthouse" (demo version released on Jules Verne's Sketchbook, later re-recorded and released on The Dukes' Psonic Psunspot);
"Obscene Procession" (demo version released on Jules Verne's Sketchbook);
"Peck the Ground Like a Chicken" (unreleased);
"Ra Ra for Red Rocking Horse" (aka "Rah Rah for...") (demo version released on Jules Verne's Sketchbook);
"Terrorism" (demo version released on "The Meeting Place" 12" B-side and on the compilation Coat of Many Cupboards); and "When We Get to England" (demo version released on Jules Verne's Sketchbook).
All songs written by Andy Partridge and *Colin Moulding.

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