I Love 1980 - 22

XTC - Generals & Majors

I was quite surprised to see this one lurking in the lower reaches of the Top 40 of 30 years ago; firstly because I thought it came out much later (81?82?) and also because it's one of those songs and bands I've never stopped listening to since they first started having hits back then . .has it really been thirty years? Gor blimey.

Anyway here they be: Swindon's (and indeed the West Country's) finest having their taste of success, day-time radio play, charts, Smash Hits, Top of the Pops and all the rest of it with what is essentially and anti-war protest song. Perhaps it's 1980 timeslot is all the more surprising with it's "generals and majors always seem so unhappy unless they got a war" punchline sounding more like it was written for the Falklands/Malvinas crisis a couple of years later, not to mention more war-mongering in the Middle East in the decades to come. After 35 years of (relative) peace, Moulding, Partridge and friends reminded us only too well that said military chiefs "like never before are tired of being actionless".
Prophetic words indeed. One can only but shudder at the thought that General Leopoldo Galtieri et al may have been inspired by the song to launch their invasion on the up to then little known British islands far far away. Shudder also at the thought of British squaddies whistling and singing along to the track in a 'riding along in an army truck' fashion as they headed for the chilly South Atlantic. Brrrr.
Perhaps surprisingly Generals & Majors was the least successful of XTC's heyday singles - after going top 20 with Making Plans for Nigel, even the 'Majors' follow-up Towers of London faired slightly better and the reached their chart zenith with the military-metaphoric Sgt Rock in January 1982 and the marvellous (1-2-3-4-5!) Senses Working Overtime a year later.
XTC certainly deserved better although perhaps much of their charm and appeal lies within that 'never quite made it really big' status. They had all the backing of the Virgin label (Richard Branson appears in the G&M video) and a top producer in Steve Lillywhite. I regret not seeing them live back then although I read recently that they stopped playing live after the Black Sea album (why so?).
Generals & Majors was released as a limited edition double 7" pack, a tactic often used by Virgin at the time to boost initial sales. The three other tracks are now available on the Black Sea CD re-issue.


Generals & Majors on Chart Stats
XTC discography on chalkhills.org
Black Sea in The Lost Classics series

XTC: deserved better

Listen: XTC - Generals and Majors