XTC's English Settlement: The Expert View

What does the Bishop of Leeds think of All of a Sudden? What does Pat Kane of Hue and Cry make of Leisure? What can classicist Charlotte Higgins tell us about Jason and the Argonauts?

It's the 40th anniversary of XTC's English Settlement and, in the first of two special birthday episodes, What Do You Call That Noise? The XTC Podcast asks the experts to guide us through the album track by track.

Every guest is a specialist in the theme of each song – and every one of them responds with enthusiasm and insight. Essential listening!

Featuring:

• Runaways: Sarah Smith, CEO, Link Living
• Ball and Chain: Noel Ponting, writer, Swindon Heritage 
• Senses Working Overtime: James Wannerton, president, UK Synaesthesia Association 
• Jason and the Argonauts: Charlotte Higgins, journalist and author, Greek Myths: A New Retelling 
• No Thugs in our House: Nigel Fielding, emeritus professor and author, The National Front 
• Yacht Dance: Helen Horsfall, Royal Forth Yacht Club 
• All of a Sudden: Rt Revd Nick Baines, Bishop of Leeds, and author of Finding Faith: Stories of music and life 
• Melt the Guns: The Gun Control Network 
• Leisure: Pat Kane, writer, musician and futurist,  author of The Play Ethic 
• It’s Nearly Africa: Carl Honoré, writer, broadcaster and TED speaker, author of In Praise of Slow 
• Knuckle Down: Lucy Robinson, professor in collaborative history and founding organiser of the Network for Subcultures, Popular Music and Social Change 
• Fly on the Wall: Shahrar Ali, Green Party spokesperson policing and domestic safety  
• Down in the Cockpit: Pat Thane, professor in contemporary British history and author of Sinners? Scroungers? Saints? Unmarried Motherhood in Twentieth-Century England 
• English Roundabout: Jane Milner-Barry, Swindon Borough councillor, opposition spokesperson for climate and transport, and parish councillor
• Snowman: Sue Charles, BBC Wales journalist, weather presenter and DJ  

Further reading in What Do You Call That Noise? An XTC Discovery Book available from https://www.xtclimelight.com 

If you've enjoyed What Do You Call That Noise? The XTC Podcast, please show your support at https://www.patreon.com/markfisher

Thanks to the Pink Things, Humble Daisies and Knights in Shining Karma who've done the same.