C-C-Cola On Tap

XTC : Life Begins at the Hop

[Purchase]

On May 6, 1979 the new XTC single "Life Begins at the Hop" b/w "Homo Safari" entered the U.K. charts at #62. The Colin Moulding penned single would peak at U.K.#44. 

Colin: “First song of mine ever to make the A side of a single, and a bit special to me as a result. I like to reminisce and this one sprang from spending the greater part of my adolescence on a council estate and having the church hall hop as the only way of getting me rocks off. I go into a trance every time I think of those young socialists meeting in the church hall every Friday night. Well, you have to write about something, haven't you?”

Andy: “Our attempt at a modern Tamla-Motown track. . .” 

Dave: “Or maybe The Equals.”

We should mention by this point future Shriekback co-founder Barry Andrews left the band and been replaced by guitarist Dave Gregory. The video, shot in a London studio, was directed by Australian Russell Mulcahy who would later make all the best known Duran Duran videos.

"Life Begins at the Hop" would eventually find its way on later editions of Drums and Wires. The B-side is a quirky instrumental by Andy Partridge.