About this episode
Stage left! It's time for Strong Songs to talk about XTC. Stage right! Now the song is picked, analysis can begin. Stand up! If we listen close, we'll hear some lovely notes... On this episode, Kirk takes the stage alongside "Easter Theatre," the first single off of XTC's 1999 experimental symphono-pop album Apple Venus: Vol. 1 . Bring on the bassoons and power up the mellotron; we've got some shapes to stack. Written by: Andy Partridge Produced by: Haydn Bendall & Nick Davies Album: Apple Venus Vol. 1 , 1999 and Instruvenus , 2002 Listen/Buy via Songwhip ALSO REFERENCED/DISCUSSED: “Senses Working Overtime” by Andy Partridge from English Settlement , 1982 “Dear God” by Partridge (eventually) from Skylarking , 1986 “Mayor of Simpleton” from Oranges & Lemons , 1989 “River of Orchids,” “I’d Like That,” “Greenman,” “Frivolous Tonight,” and “Fruit Nut” by XTC from Apple Venus, Vol. 1 , 1999 "Easter Theatre (Demo Version)" and "How Easter Theatre Came to Be" released with the UK single, 1999 Partridge’s 1999 Guitar Player interview Complicated Game: Inside the Songs of XTC by Andy Partridge with Todd Bernhardt A subsequent behind the song interview published by XTC “Killer Queen” by Freddie Mercury from Sheer Heart Attack , 1974 “Chicago” by Sufjan Stevens from Illinoise , 2005 “I Will Always Love You” by Dolly Parton as sung by Whitney Houston on The Bodyguard Soundtrack, 1992 ----LINKS----- 💰 SUPPORT STRONG SONGS! Patreon | Paypal 🏠 HOMEPAGE strongsongspodcast.com 👚 MERCH strongsongspodcast.com/store 📬 KIRK'S NEWSLETTER newsletter.kirkhamilton.com 📷 SOCIAL MEDIA Instagram: @Kirk_Hamilton Bluesky: @kirkhamilton.com 💬 STRONG SONGS DISCORD SERVER strongsongspodcast.com/discord 🎧 STRONG SONGS PLAYLISTS Spotify | Apple Music | YouTube Music 🎸 KIRK'S GEAR & INSTRUMENTS kirkhamilton.com/gear 🎶 KIRK'S MUSIC kirkhamilton.com/music 🎨 SHOW ART Tom Deja, Bossman Graphics -------------------- MAY 2024 WHOLE-NOTE PATRONS Robyn Metcalfe Brian Templet Cesar Bob Tucker Corpus Frisky Ben Barron Catherine Warner Damon White Kaya Woodall Jay Swartz Miriam Joy SEAN D WINNIE Rush Daniel Hannon-Barry Christopher Miller Jamie White Christopher McConnell David Mascetti Joe Laska Ken Hirsh Jez Melanie Andrich Jenness Gardner Paul Delaney Dave Sharpe Sami Samhuri Jeremy Dawson AccessViolation Andre Bremer Dave Florey MAY 2024 HALF-NOTE PATRONS Danielle Kriz Michael York Clint McElroy Mordok’s Vape Pen Inmar Givoni Michael Singer Merv Adrian Joe Gallo Lauren Knotts Dave Kolas Henry Mindlin Monica St. Angelo Stephen Wolkwitz Suzanne Rand LeShay Max eric sp Matthew Jones Thomas Anthony Mentz James McMurry Ethan Laser Brian Johan Peter Chris Remo Matt Schoenthal Aaron Wilson Dent Earl Carlos Lerner Misty Haisfield Abraham Benrubi Chris Kotarba Callum Webb Lynda MacNeil Dick Morgan Ben Stein Susan Green Grettir Asmundarson Sean Murphy Alan Brough Randal Vegter Go Birds! Robert Granat dave malloy Nick Galloway Heather J john halpin Peter Harding David John Bauman Martín Salías Stu Baker Steve Martino Dr Arthur A Gray Carolina Gary Pierce Matt Baxter Luigi Boccia E Margaret Warton Charles McGee Catherine Clause Ethan Bauman KenIsWearingAHat Jordan Block Aaron Wade Jeff Ulm David Futter Jamie Deebs Portland Eye Care Carrie Schneider Richard Sneddon Doreen Carlson David McDarby Wendy Gilchrist Elliot Rosen Lisa Turner Paul Wayper Bruno Gaeta Kenneth Jung Adam Stofsky Zak Remer Rishi Sahay Jeffrey Bean Jason Reitman Ailie Fraser Rob Tsuk NATALIE MISTILIS Josh Singer Amy Lynn Thornsen Adam W Kelli Brockington Victoria Yu mino capossela Steve Paquin David Joske Bernard Khoo Robert Heuer David Noah Geraldine Butler Madeleine Mader Jason Pratt Abbie Berg Doug Belew Dermot Crowley Achint Srivastava Ryan Rairigh Michael Berman Linda Duffy Bonnie Prinsen Liz Seger Eoin de Burca Kevin Potter M Shane Borders Dallas Hockley Jason Gerry Nell Morse Nathan Gouwens Lauren Reay Eric Prestemon Cookies250 Damian Brady Angela Livingstone Diane Hughes Michael Casner Lowell Meyer Stephen Tsoneff Joshua Hill Geoff Golden Pascal Rueger Randy Souza Clare Holberton Diane Turner Tom Coleman Dhu Wik Mel D Eric Helm Jonathan Daniels Michael Flaherty Caro Field michael bochner Naomi Watson David Cushman Alexander Chris K Gavin Doig Sam Fenn Tanner Morton AJ Schuster Jennifer Bush David Stroud Brad Callahan Amanda Furlotti Andrew Baker Andrew Fair L.B. Morse Bill Thornton Brian Amoebas Brett Douville Jeffrey Olson Matt Betzel Nate from Kalamazoo Melanie Stivers Richard Toller Alexander Polson Earl Lozada Justin McElroy Arjun Sharma James Johnson Kevin Morrell Colin Hodo ----LINKS----- 💰 SUPPORT STRONG SONGS! Patreon | One-Time Donation 🏠 HOMEPAGE 👚 MERCH 💬 DISCORD SERVER 📬 KIRK'S NEWSLETTER 🎸 KIRK'S GEAR & INSTRUMENTS 🎶 KIRK'S MUSIC 📷 KIRK’S SOCIAL MEDIA: Instagram | Bluesky 🎧 EVERY STRONG SONG: Spotify | Apple Music | YouTube Music 🎨 SHOW ART: Tom Deja, Bossman Graphics