Scroll down for Kevin's piece on The Knack's Round Trip

Wasp Star: Apple Venus Part 2 was one of the best albums of 2001, it's hook-laden, non-fussy guitar-based approach completed the XTC comeback after the previous year's well-received orchestral-baroque styled Apple Venus Part 1 With two studio albums in as many years, it is hard to believe that the band had been on an enforced hiatus for seven years, thanks to a contractual dispute with erstwhile label, Virgin.

After all, when XTC delivered their last studio album to Virgin - Nonsuch - in 1992, they had spent fifteen years with the label. Upset with a disadvantageous royalty rate which left them living from 'hand-to-mouth' despite their recent US successes, XTC went on strike - refusing to record any more new material for Virgin - and demanded that they be released from their 'unfair' contract. Virgin ultimately capitulated and the pent-up demo-recording activity that took place during the 'sabbatical' meant that very quickly, XTC had enough material to fill two new albums. This process is now behind them and all that is left for the band is the future…

However, it is primarily the past that concerns this article and the story of XTC and Virgin begins in 1977 and the onset of the punk explosion in the UK. With the success of the Sex Pistols, British record labels were on the mad lookout for punk bands and whilst XTC were a bit too clever to be punks, they were signed based on their spiky guitar/crazy keyboard sound. Consisting of Andy Partridge (guitar/vocals), Colin Moulding (bass/vocals), Barry Andrews (keyboards/vocals) and Terry Chambers (drums), the band released a fine debut - White Music - that can be best described as Captain Beefheart playing Beatles tunes! Throw some Brian Eno influences into the mix and the result would be the sophomore release - Go 2.

Both albums were modest achievements sales wise, but the band was gaining a reputation for putting up great 'live' shows. However, internal friction between Partridge and Andrews, led to the latter's departure to be replaced by guitar hero Dave Gregory, the only trained musician in the group. With Gregory's musicianship, the XTC sound became tighter. This factor along with hooking up with producer Steve Lillywhite and a moment of inspiration from Moulding led to XTC's first bona fide top ten hit - Making Plans for Nigel. The consequent album - Drums & Wires sold well on the back of Nigel.

The subsequent album - Black Sea followed the established pattern and produced three hit singles - Generals & Majors, Towers of London and Sgt Rock. The band also began making inroads into the US market, touring with the Talking Heads and the Police.

The big time was beckoning for XTC and this seemed to be confirmed when the opening single from the pastoral, acoustic-based double album English Settlement - Senses Working Overtime crash landed into the UK top five in 1982! Then, disaster! In the next three years, a series of events would occur which would almost break the back of XTC forever!

First, Partridge suffered a nervous breakdown in Paris on tour and would never again return to the stage. Drummer Terry Chambers, bothered by the band's 'retirement' from 'live' performance quit the band and emigrated to Australia. The next two albums, Mummer and The Big Express were commercial duds and their relationships with managers and label led to legal suits and acrimonious splits.

Rather fortuitously, and as a bit of a lark, the band with producer John Leckie (who produced the first two albums) recorded a 5 track EP called 25 O'Clock under the name The Dukes of Stratosphear parodying/paying homage to the psychedelic era of 1967. The EP became a minor hit and eventually sold more than The Big Express!

Convinced, that XTC could again shift considerable units of records, Virgin put the band into the hands of ace producer Todd Rundgren. Whilst the resulting album - Skylarking - was a masterpiece, it belied the conflicts and endless in-fighting that surrounded the recording with Rundgren and Partridge unable to get along.

The album was a big hit on the US College Radio Circuit - thanks to a song that was not even meant to be on the album. Dear God - an anti-religion rant - had been consigned to B-side obscurity but College Radio DJs loved it and played it constantly. The record label caught wind of it and recalled and repressed the album to include this popular track.

Flush with renewed acceptance, XTC paused to deliver a full-length follow-up to 25 O'Clock called Psonic Psunpot. With Oranges and Lemons (1989) and Nonsuch (1992), XTC cementing their cult status in the US and the number of XTC-influenced bands became increasingly apparent viz Jellyfish, Toad the Wet Sprocket, Crash Test Dummies, Verve Pipe, Spacehog, The Sugarplastic, the XTC revival was on a roll but was brought to a crashing halt by the 'strike' against Virgin. Whilst the contractual wrangles have been worked out, one significant casualty was the resignation of Gregory from the fold. Now in their 40s, the remaining duo of Partridge & Moulding have proven with Apple Venus and Wasp Star that they are still a musical force to be reckoned with.

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ON THE OTHER SIDE: THE KNACK'S ROUND TRIP

Most fans acknowledge that the Knack's follow-up to smash hit Get The Knack was rushed and therefore inferior. Too painfully obvious was the fact that the band (viz. Doug Fieger, Prescott Niles, Berton Averre and Bruce Gary) were trying too hard to replicate the success of the debut album by virtually replicating the songs!

This was never more evident than in the lead single from the album, …but the little girls understand - "Baby Talks Dirty" - a blatant rewrite of the monster smash, My Sharona.

Despite the backlash surrounding the band's image (too Beatlesque?), sound (too derivative?) and no-interview policy (too arrogant?), the album managed to rack up sales in excess of two million copies. However, the constant critical battering would soon cause the band to split not long after the release of their third, and quite possibly their best album - Round Trip.

Whereas Mike (Blondie) Chapman produced the first two albums, for Round Trip the band roped in Jack Douglas, fresh from producing John Lennon's Double Fantasy. Even as the boys appeared on the album cover in bright colours in stark contrast to the monochrome affects of its predecessors, inside, the sophisticated and multi-hued production signalled a new spin to the familiar Knack sound.

Whilst it was clear that the first two albums were virtually 'live' in the studio affairs - all gritty and sweaty - Round Trip possessed an air of craft and complexity about it. It was almost as if Douglas had opened infinite doors of possibilities. Still rooted in the Knack's outright love for the sixties, the songs on Round Trip evince the development of a band coming to grips with the potential of their material and its presentation. This is instantly evident from the opening cuts. "Radiating Love" finds the band pulling back somewhat from the visceral guitar attack of previous openers ("My Sharona" and "Baby Talks Dirty") with clipped rhythms, phased percussion and a restrained vocal delivery from Fieger. Even better is the gorgeously textured middle-8 with its horns and Averre's slick use of harmony lead solos throughout. A smashing icebreaker that is matched by the following "Soul Kissin'" - a get-down funky toe tapping winner with Niles' fuzz bass accentuating the groovy riff. Add to that, the slinky, orgasmic chorus and Averre's expert guitar work and the result is powerpop bliss. With material of such irresistible quality, it simply beggars belief that neither was issued as singles!

The remaining songs were no slouches either! The Knack maintained their penchant for slapping together superior Beatlesque fodder with "Just Wait And See" and "Boys Go Crazy," the distinctively frenetic drumming style of Bruce Gary and the catchy melodies and harmonies warranting repeated plays. The band's expanded tastes were confirmed with the tangential jazz-rock excursions of "Africa" and "Lil Cals Big Mistake." Within months of the release of Round Trip, The Knack decided to give up the chase. Nevertheless, Round Trip remains an incandescent power pop moment, and those in the know…understand.

Like singer-songwriter-musician Brian Curtis (of the Oohs) - who was kind enough to share with us his thoughts on Round Trip: The Knack had put out two charged-up pop platters already, and I was curious what would come next. When Round Trip finally surfaced, I eagerly purchased the LP and plopped it on the turntable. Unlike its' predecessors which both started with piss & vinegar uptempo gallops, this album began with the relaxed lope of "Radiating Love." Right away something was different. It was the thing that always trips my musical trigger - variety! On Round Trip, The Knack began to show how versatile they could be, and how much more inventive their music could become when not recording things in two weeks or less. The horn section from Chicago appears on several tracks; background vocal contributions from Flo & Eddie and Mark Hudson; various band members playing keyboards. Different genres were flirted with: R&B, psychedelia, a weepy country ballad...

This is not to say that they didn't retain the sexually-charged immediacy of their previous work...they did. But the band was able to expand its' horizons and attempt to show the public of what The Knack was capable, except not all was well in Knackville, and the band disintegrated before being able to promote the new music. As per usual in my book, it seems, as many of my favorite records have been released by bands that appear to be falling out of favor with the public or themselves. It could be that the internal combustion that sparks a record like that takes a larger toll than we on the outside of the loop will ever know...someone should ask.

'Nuff said!

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