I am still stuck on the British rock band XTC‘s twelfth studio album Nonsuch this week, so today’s Repeat Rotation Video is from that album as well.
Then again Nonsuch is such a perfect album, just about every Repeat Rotation Video I listen to for the next week should be from it, by rights.
Not just the perfect XTC album either. But the perfect album in general. So much so it was nominated for a Grammy award as Best Alternative Music Album back in 1992 when it was released.
The band was nominated along with the illustrious company of The Cure, Morrissey, the B-52s and Tom Waits, with Waits ultimately winning the award.
The Nonsuch track I am obsessing over today, and the one I have been listening to as my Repeat Rotation Video half of the day already, is ‘Wrapped in Grey‘. A song that was the third single from the album, and even had a video already filmed and waiting for release until, bizarrely, XTC’s record label Virgin suddenly withdrew the single and destroyed all the remaining copies.
XTC was angry enough about the decision they went on strike for over seven years, refusing to release anything else with Virgin until their contract came to an end.
Incredibly sad for fans and the music industry in general, as imagine how much incredible music we missed.
As XTC’s lead singer Andy Partridge said about ‘Wrapped in Grey‘ and about their relationship with Virgin at the time, “This was the final straw. I was really proud of this track — we put a lot of time and thought into the whole thing, including the video, and Virgin just pulled it.”
So, yes, ‘Wrapped in Grey’ is getting airplay today partially because of that. At least in my house. And, yes, Partridge is right about the song — it is beautiful and should have been given the full promotion it deserved.
Listen to ‘Wrapped in Grey‘ below as your Repeat Rotation Video — wearing headphones, playing as loud as you can and, as I always tell you, dancing.
You can buy XTC’s stunning album Nonsuch on CD, cassette and MP3 on all major digital music platforms.
And when you have finished listening to the track, try to remember this gorgeous line as a good life lesson — “But don’t let the loveless ones sell you a world wrapped in grey” — because isn’t that the truth?
Related: Listen to XTC’s ‘The Ballad of Peter Pumpkinhead‘ — the best song ever released