1984-10-15
The Big Express
XTC
By Maeve C.
Swindon’s railway works, then facing closure, form the backdrop to The Big Express, and the title points both to express trains and to artistic expression. XTC produced it with David Lord, recording between March and July 1984 at Crescent in Bath, with overdubs at Odyssey in London.
“Wake Up” opens the record and “Train Running Low on Soul Coal” closes it. “All You Pretty Girls” went out first as a single, peaking at number 55 in the UK, and “This World Over” followed. Phil Thornalley completed the mixing at RAK Studio Two in early August.
Sources
Rights-holder metadata (Virgin Records Limited) gives release date 15 October 1984.Corroborates release 15 October 1984 by Virgin; producers David Lord and XTC; Crescent and Odyssey; Thornalley mix at RAK; Swindon Works backdrop; title meaning; singles and chart peak.
MusicBrainz release group first-release date 1984-10-15.