Mummer (album)

Mummer
Studio album by XTC
Released 30 August 1983
Recorded September–December 1982
Studio The Manor, Oxfordshire, and Genetic Studios, Berkshire, England
Genre New wave, pop rock
Length 41:43 (original release)
66:44 (CD reissue)
Label Virgin
Producer Steve Nye, XTC
Bob Sargeant
XTC chronology
English Settlement
(1982)English Settlement1982		 Mummer
(1983)		 The Big Express
(1984)The Big Express1984
Singles from Mummer
  1. "Great Fire"
    Released: April 1983
  2. "Wonderland"
    Released: June 1983
  3. "Love on a Farmboy's Wages"
    Released: September 1983
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]
Chicago Tribune[2]
Encyclopedia of Popular Music[3]
Q[4]
Rolling Stone[5]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide[6]
Smash Hits9/10[7]
The Village VoiceB−[8]

Mummer is the sixth studio album by the English band XTC, released on 30 August 1983. It reached No. 51 on the UK album chart and No. 145 on the U.S. Billboard album charts. The album title refers to a Mummers play. Working titles considered for the album were Fruit and Fallen From The Garden.[9]

It spawned three UK singles; "Great Fire" (released 22 April 1983), "Wonderland" (released 24 June 1983) and "Love on a Farmboy's Wages" (released 19 September 1983 and reached No. 50 on the UK singles chart).

The album was delayed many months by Virgin Records. It was originally supposed to be released by Epic Records on 26 May 1983 in the U.S.A. (it was assigned a catalog number: BFE 38516), but the label thought it was too acoustic and pastoral for American audiences. It was finally issued in the U.S. by Geffen Records (who subsequently issued all of XTC's Virgin releases) in February 1984. "Wonderland" was the only single issued by Geffen from the album.

The only promotional public appearance made by the band for this album was in late 1983 when they appeared on the BBC-TV show Pebble Mill At One where they lip-synced to "Love on a Farmboy's Wages". A promotional video was made for the "Wonderland" single. Five more videos were also made in July 1983 for the television documentary program Play At Home.

This was the final album that drummer Terry Chambers appeared on with XTC, as he quit the group during the recording sessions. He was replaced by Peter Phipps. Andy Partridge later said "Until early 1982, our work was like black-and-white TV. Mummer was the first in full color -- bright sky blue."

Track listing

All songs written and composed by Andy Partridge, except where noted.

UK LP: V 2264

Side A
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Beating of Hearts" 3:56
2."Wonderland"Colin Moulding4:50
3."Love on a Farmboy's Wages" 3:58
4."Great Fire" 3:47
5."Deliver Us from the Elements"Moulding4:36
Side B
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Human Alchemy" 5:11
2."Ladybird" 4:32
3."In Loving Memory of a Name"Moulding3:16
4."Me and the Wind" 4:17
5."Funk Pop a Roll" 3:14

2001 Remastered CD: CDVX 2264

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Beating of Hearts" 3:56
2."Wonderland"Colin Moulding4:50
3."Love on a Farmboy's Wages" 3:58
4."Great Fire" 3:47
5."Deliver Us from the Elements"Moulding4:36
6."Human Alchemy" 5:11
7."Ladybird" 4:32
8."In Loving Memory of a Name"Moulding3:16
9."Me and the Wind" 4:17
10."Funk Pop a Roll" 3:14
11."Frost Circus" 3:53
12."Jump" 4:39
13."Toys" 4:20
14."Gold" 3:33
15."Procession Towards Learning Land" 3:46
16."Desert Island" 4:52

Personnel

XTC

with

[10]

References

  1. ↑ Woodstra, Chris. "Mummer – XTC". AllMusic. Retrieved 19 June 2011.
  2. ↑ Kot, Greg (3 May 1992). "The XTC Legacy: An Appraisal". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 22 June 2016.
  3. ↑ Larkin, Colin (2011). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music (5th concise ed.). Omnibus Press. ISBN 0-85712-595-8.
  4. ↑ Sinclair, David. "XTC: Mummer". Q. Retrieved 19 June 2011.
  5. ↑ Considine, J.D. (29 March 1984). "XTC: Mummer". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 12 April 2009. Retrieved 19 June 2011.
  6. ↑ Frere-Jones, Sasha (2004). "XTC". In Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian. The New Rolling Stone Album Guide. Simon & Schuster. pp. 890–92. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8.
  7. ↑ Black, Johnny (15–28 September 1983). "Albums". Smash Hits: 21.
  8. ↑ Christgau, Robert (29 May 1984). "Christgau's Consumer Guide". The Village Voice. Retrieved 19 June 2011.
  9. ↑ "XTC Reel by Real: XTC: Mummer". Chalkhills. 2013-09-21. Retrieved 2017-07-12.
  10. ↑ http://chalkhills.org/reelbyreal/s_GreatFire.html
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