Fossil Fuel: The XTC Singles 1977–92
1996 compilation album by XTC
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Fossil Fuel: The XTC Singles 1977–92 is a compilation album by XTC released in 1996. It was their third such greatest hits album following 1982's Waxworks: Some Singles 1977-1982 and 1985's The Compact XTC. It collects all 31 of their Virgin Records UK singles in chronological order. It does not include their pseudonymous singles as "The Dukes of Stratosphear", "The Three Wise Men" or "The Colonel".
| Fossil Fuel: The XTC Singles 1977–92 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ||||
| Compilation album by | ||||
| Released | September 1996 | |||
| Recorded | 1977–1991 | |||
| Genre | Alternative rock | |||
| Length | 117:38 | |||
| Label | Virgin | |||
| XTC other chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |  [1] |
| Q |  [citation needed] |
The two discs reflect their shift in popularity from Great Britain to the United States in the mid-1980s. Some of disc 1's tracks ("Making Plans for Nigel", "Sgt. Rock (Is Going to Help Me)", "Senses Working Overtime") were top-40 hits in their homeland while a handful of songs from disc 2 became popular on stateside college radio ("Dear God", "Mayor of Simpleton", "The Ballad of Peter Pumpkinhead").
The compilation closes out with "Wrapped in Grey", which had been released as the third single from 1992's Nonsuch and then quickly recalled and deleted by Virgin Records, an event which effectively ended XTC's association with the label.
It reached No. 33 on the UK Albums Chart.
Track listing
All tracks are written by Andy Partridge, except where noted.
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Original album | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Science Friction" | 3D EP (1977) | 3:14 | |
| 2. | "Statue of Liberty" | White Music (1978) | 2:52 | |
| 3. | "This Is Pop?" | White Music | 2:40 | |
| 4. | "Are You Receiving Me?" | Non-album single (1978) | 3:04 | |
| 5. | "Life Begins at the Hop" | Colin Moulding | Non-album single (1979) | 3:47 |
| 6. | "Making Plans for Nigel" | Moulding | Drums and Wires (1979) | 4:12 |
| 7. | "Ten Feet Tall" | Moulding | Drums and Wires | 3:13 |
| 8. | "Wait Till Your Boat Goes Down" | Non-album single (1980) | 4:20 | |
| 9. | "Generals and Majors" | Moulding | Black Sea (1980) | 3:41 |
| 10. | "Towers of London" | Black Sea | 4:38 | |
| 11. | "Sgt. Rock (Is Going to Help Me)" | Black Sea | 3:36 | |
| 12. | "Love at First Sight" | Moulding | Black Sea | 3:07 |
| 13. | "Respectable Street" | Black Sea | 3:07 | |
| 14. | "Senses Working Overtime" | English Settlement (1982) | 4:34 | |
| 15. | "Ball and Chain" | Moulding | English Settlement | 4:29 |
| 16. | "No Thugs in Our House" | English Settlement | 5:10 | |
| Total length: | 59:44 | |||
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Original album | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Great Fire" | Mummer (1983) | 3:50 | |
| 2. | "Wonderland" | Colin Moulding | Mummer | 4:15 |
| 3. | "Love on a Farmboy's Wages" | Mummer | 3:59 | |
| 4. | "All You Pretty Girls" | The Big Express (1984) | 3:59 | |
| 5. | "This World Over" | The Big Express | 4:45 | |
| 6. | "Wake Up" | Moulding | The Big Express | 3:40 |
| 7. | "Grass" | Moulding | Skylarking (1986) | 2:42 |
| 8. | "The Meeting Place" | Moulding | Skylarking | 3:13 |
| 9. | "Dear God" | Skylarking | 3:37 | |
| 10. | "Mayor of Simpleton" | Oranges & Lemons (1989) | 3:57 | |
| 11. | "King for a Day" | Moulding | Oranges & Lemons | 3:36 |
| 12. | "The Loving" | Oranges & Lemons | 3:54 | |
| 13. | "The Disappointed" | Nonsuch (1992) | 3:38 | |
| 14. | "The Ballad of Peter Pumpkinhead" | Nonsuch | 5:03 | |
| 15. | "Wrapped in Grey" | Nonsuch | 3:46 | |
| Total length: | 57:54 | |||
Charts
Certifications
| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
|---|---|---|
| United Kingdom (BPI)[5] | Silver | 60,000‡ |
|
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone. | ||