What Was This Strokes Song Doing in the 70's?

There was some dang good music coming out in 1979. In fact, three iconic "band shirt" albums were released within this 12-month period: Pink Floyd's The Wall, The Clash's London Calling, and the immortalized Unknown Pleasures from Joy Division. You most likely cannot go one week on a college campus without seeing someone owning merchandise directly related to these albums. This short list fails to include other generational albums like AC/DC's Highway to Hell and Michael Jackson's iconic Off the Wall, which does not get the same love as Thriller but may a more complete selection of tracks. And even these additions exclude substantial releases from Tom Petty, David Bowie, Talking Heads, Elvis Costello, and Fleetwood Mac. Seriously, this year was loaded.

1979 was dope

That was a lot of name drops, and all deserve recognition. But I'm here to discuss only one song from '79, and it is not "The Wall" or "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough." Despite the ambitious trailblazing in sound and culture done by many of these bands, they all have a dated feel. "Oh, this is prime 80's music" is what most people would say, or "That's too much synthesizer."

There was one song by XTC which had to have been teleported from the 21st century. "Making Plans For Nigel" reached no. 17 at its peak popularity, but maybe would have broken the charts with the Strokes and Interpol. A reserved but fiery drum intro and muted guitar crashes sounds like a prototypical "Obstacle 1." Lead singer Andy Partridge curls snarky ironies around distant wails like a deep track from Funeral, the guitar solos show a calmer fire, much like the anthemic "Reptilia." The only part of the song which exposes its age is a jangly bridge which fizzles with early punk reverberations. The overall product would survive much better if placed alongside Is This It rather than Highway to Hell.

Why has this impressively predictive song not lasted in pop culture as much as its other dated contemporaries? Well, it's hard to enter mainstream recognition when you sound so different. "Making Plans For Nigel" came out at a time where "My Sharona," Gary Numan's "Cars," and this gem dominated the charts. And XTC never really converted towards a mainstream sound for the remainder of their small period of relevance. "Making Plans for Nigel" slipped through the cracks.

Critics have looked back and championed XTC's 1979 Drums and Wires. Paste has it as the 21st best album of the year, and Pre-Conde Nast (*cough* sell out *cough*) Pitchfork has it as the 38th album of the entire decade. But the critical eye rarely translates into the public one. So the next time you make your moody National/Strokes/XX playlist, don't skip out on XTC's biggest hit.