Oranges & Lemons is the tenth studio album by the English band XTC, released in 1989.
The name of the album may have been taken from the lyrics to Skylarking's "Ballet for a Rainy Day," which in turn may have come from the old English nursery rhyme:
Orange and lemon
Raincoats roll and tumble
Together, just like fruit tipped from a tray
The band was sent to Los Angeles to record the album, and Paul Fox was retained to produce it. The album was lushly produced with multiple overdubs on almost ev...
Oranges & Lemons is the tenth studio album by the English band XTC, released in 1989.
The name of the album may have been taken from the lyrics to Skylarking's "Ballet for a Rainy Day," which in turn may have come from the old English nursery rhyme:
Orange and lemon
Raincoats roll and tumble
Together, just like fruit tipped from a tray
The band was sent to Los Angeles to record the album, and Paul Fox was retained to produce it. The album was lushly produced with multiple overdubs on almost every track, yielding the psychedelic feel.
The album produced a minor hit, "The Mayor of Simpleton", the only XTC song ever to hit the US Hot 100 charts. The album was a commercial success, reaching the charts in both the US and Britain. "The Mayor of Simpleton" video, which resembled the opening credits of a The Avengers-type TV show, also saw significant airplay on MTV, especially on the alternative music show "120 Minutes."
The album produced three hit singles: "The Mayor of Simpleton" - reaching No. 1 on the US Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart, No. 72 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and No. 46 on the UK singles chart. "King for a Day" which reached No. 10 on the US alternative / modern rock charts and "The Loving" which was released in August 1989 in the UK. The album reached No. 1 on the US college / alternative album chart, No. 44 on the US Billboard Top 100 chart and No. 28 on the UK album chart.
To promote the album and appease the stage-shy Andy Partridge the band went on a two-week acoustic radio-station tour of the US, on which they performed a few songs from the album and a few medleys of earlier hits. The tour commenced on 15 May 1989 in Boston and ended on 31 May 1989 at Eastern Sound Studios in Toronto before a live studio audience of two hundred people.
Also of note: "King For a Day," which the band performed on Late Night With David Letterman on 30 June 1989; "Pink Thing," which was a classic XTC double-entendre; "Chalkhills and Children," which lead singer Andy Partridge considers one of his favorite compositions.
The album cover is directly inspired by a 1965 WOR-FM 98.7 radio advert poster by Milton Glaser. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.
