THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.

603-XTC-Making Plans for Nigel.

1979-Number 17 single.

Best Bit-At 1.44. The British Steel Corporation had to take drastic measures, they were worried that this song would put future employees off wanting to work for them.

XTC were formed in Swindon, Wiltshire, England, in 1972, by Andy Partridge, (guitar, and vocals) and Colin Moulding, (bass, and vocals) who had both grown up together on the Penhill council estate in Swindon. Partridge would become the groups main songwriter, with Moulding also contributing, including the writing of this song, although they rarely worked together on tracks. The duo were later joined in 1972 by Terry Chambers, (drums) and then Barry Andrews, (keyboards, and vocals) in 1976. Andrews left in 1978, and was replaced by Dave Gregory, (guitar, and keyboards) who joined in 1979. Between 1972-1974 they were known as ‘Star Park,’ before becoming ‘The Helium Kidz,’ from 1974-1975. The final name change to ‘XTC’ came about after Andy Partridge had read about the American comedian Jimmy Durante, (1893-1980) during one of his routines exclaiming, ‘That’s it, I’m in ecstasy,’ Between 1972-1976, a further five members came and went, so there have been 10 different group members in total. XTC remained active until 2006.

The discography of XTC includes 14 studio Albums released between 1978-2000, and 40 singles released between 1977-2005, there are also four official compilation Albums, and two live Albums available. In the UK nine of their studio Albums have reached the top 40, with ‘English Settlement,’ from 1982 peaking the highest at Number 5, while six of their singles have made the UK top 40, with ‘Senses Working Overtime,’ from 1982, charting the highest at Number 10.

‘Making Plans for Nigel’ was the only single released from ‘Drums and Wires,’ the third studio Album by XTC, from August 1979, the song was written by Colin Moulding, with the production being by Steve Lillywhite (see also best songs 1004-962-254 and 32.) ‘Making Plans for Nigel’ is about overpowering parents, who think that they know best for their child. The lyrics are told from the point of view of the parents, who are certain that their son Nigel is ‘happy in his work,’ affirming that his future in ‘British Steel’ ‘is as good as sealed.’As a response to the song, worried that it was sending out negative messages, British Steel gathered four employees, all named Nigel, to talk about job satisfaction, for the company’s trade publication ‘Steel News.’

‘Making Plans for Nigel’ was the breakthrough hit for XTC, peaking at Number 17 during an 11 week run on the UK top 40, although their are rumours that the track should have peaked a few places higher, with a computer glitch being blamed. Colin Moulding who wrote the song has said,’I didn’t know where it came from. That phrase popped into my head, and one line followed another. Before I knew it, I’d written three parts of the song, and the rest of it just kind of fell in line probably a day or two later. … When I was about 16, my father wanted me to stay on in school. But by that time, I really didn’t want to do anything other than music, I think. … So, in a way, is it autobiographical? Well, a little bit. I knew somebody called Nigel at school. But I think that, when you write songs, it’s a lot of things all wrapped up, like in your dreams. Your dreams are kind of bits and pieces of all the walks of life you’ve been in.’

Andy Partridge has recalled the making of that third studio Album ‘Drums and Wires, ‘Quite early on it had been decided that Making Plans For Nigel was going to be the single. We spent five times longer messing with that song than any of my tracks. At one point I was fuming because my songs were being ignored.’ The first 20,000 copies of the single came with a bonus fold-out board game called ‘Chutes And Ladders,’ (similar to snakes and ladders) built around Nigel’s mundane and mapped-out life. There were two versions of the game board, one to be played by Nigel, and the other to be played by his parents. This is obviously now a collectors item for XTC fans.

‘And if young Nigel says he’s happy, he must be happy, he must be happy, he must be happy in his world. We’re only making plans for Nigel, we only want what’s best for him.’