Penned and sung by Moulding, ‘Making Plans for Nigel’ was the lead single from XTC’s third studio album ‘Drums and Wires’ and became the band’s first UK Top 20 hit. Nearly five decades on, its anniversary provides a fitting backdrop for the release of a new solo work from the songwriter whose distinctive melodic voice helped shape XTC’s music and legacy.
Previewed by the title track and an accompanying video, shared last month, this EP offers a tantalising glimpse into the creative process of one of the UK’s finest songwriters, these three tracks offering a compact portrait of the ideas, inspirations and experiments behind the music.
At the EP’s centre is ‘Want It Bad’, which began as a pep talk before taking on a broader meaning. Moulding shares, “Although this song started life as a sporting pep talk, it was clear that it could easy be thought of as a mantra for ones own life ambitions whatever they may be. If you want something in this life you have to really want it. And if you really want it, you’ll get it — that was my mantra.
Moulding’s distinctly English pop sensibility is present throughout the release, showcasing his English pop vision with XTC’s trademark qualities of melody, rhythm, variety, and idiosyncratic subject matter, mixed in with nostalgia and a degree of pensiveness.
The artwork, created by Andrew Swainson, and video, created by Thomas Walsh, are derived from ‘Les Coureurs’ by Robert Delaunay, whose depiction of runners perfectly captured the spirit Moulding wanted to convey.
Moulding explains, “I was scouting around for a cover that would signify human endeavour. I had written ‘Want It Bad’, which basically amounted to a pep talk by a sporting coach to his team. Football perhaps… something made me think of the runners on the beach in the film “Chariots of Fire”. After many permutations, Andrew, my artwork designer, said “What about Delaunay and his runners?” and when he showed me, there was no doubt. So it was derived from “Les Coureurs” by Robert Delaunay, a French painter from the early part of the twentieth century. Check him out!”
The second track, ‘Something About The Boy (James Bond Demo for Female Voice)’, reveals a very different side of Moulding’s songwriting. Inspired by the James Bond films of his childhood, the song grew from a long-held ambition to one day work with legendary composer John Barry.
Moulding shares, “I was a big James Bond fan. My father had taken me to see the first three – ‘Dr No’, ‘From Russia with Love’, and ‘Goldfinger’…..In the 1960’s. I had secretly nursed an ambition that one day John Barry and I would work on a theme together (hey ya got to have dreams kid!). So here then was my idea to put to John Barry. Only trouble was I had to sing it myself to demonstrate the female lead. The key could have been a problem, but it had not occurred to me. I’m still a dreamer even today.”
The EP closes with ‘Want It Bad (Demo)’, an immediate document of the bare-bones initial phase of Colin’s songwriting process. He notes, “Quite simply, it’s my working demo knocked out in about an hour with a hand-held 57 microphone, different lyrics, and no bass. This is something for the musos, I guess.”
Taken together, the three recordings offer a compact portrait of Moulding’s musical imagination: a finished song, an unexpected songwriting experiment born from a lifelong love of Bond films, and the rough working demo that shows how an idea can sound before it becomes a finished recording.
This is Moulding’s second solo release, following ‘The Hardest Battle’, released several years ago. It continues a remarkable body of work that has established him as one of Britain’s most distinctive songwriters, both with XTC and beyond.
Founded in 1972, XTC only had their first UK charting single in 1979. Moulding wrote the first three charting singles (‘Life Begins at the Hop’, ‘Making Plans for Nigel’ and ‘Generals and Majors’) and continued with frontman Andy Partridge through the group’s dissolution in 2006.
In 1984, Moulding also co-founded The Dukes of Stratosphear, anticipating and celebrated by retro-minded movements such as the Paisley Underground.
Decades later, he reunited with original XTC drummer Terry Chambers under the TC&I moniker, releasing two CDs — the ‘Great Aspirations’ EP and Naked Flames: Live at Swindon Arts Centre — and playing a series of live shows during a Swindon residency.
A driving force in establishing XTC as one of Britain’s most inventive and influential bands, Moulding once again invites listeners behind the curtain — not simply presenting the finished song, but revealing some of the ideas, experiments and musical possibilities that shaped it along the way.
The ‘Want It Bad’ CD is out on September 18th. Presented in a four-panel digisleeve, it is avaialble exclusively via Burning Shed, where ‘The Hardest Battle’ can also be obtained, along with music and merch from TC&I and Colin’s other projects.
TRACK LIST
1 . Want It Bad (The Pep Talks and Playing Fields of Old England) 3:56
2 . Something About The Boy (James Bond Demo for Female Voice) 2:47
3 . Want It Bad (Demo) 4:20
CREDITS
Written & Produced by Colin Moulding
Mixed by Stuart Rowe
Mastered by Jason Mitchell at Loud Mastering
Manufactured by Noisebox Digital
Cover Artwork by Andrew Swainson
Released by Burning Shed. Catalogue #CMCD002
Androideo video created by Thomas Walsh
Colin Moulding photos by Geoff Winn
Publicity by Shameless Promotion PR