Burn up the old, ring in the new

XTC - 'Sacrificial Bonfire' (Skylarking - 1986)

XTC were in danger of being dropped by 1986. The band’s English Settlement went top five, but Mummer, The Big Express and their side work as Dukes of Stratosphere were not paying for Virgin Records’ Christmas parties, and the label wanted them to crack America. A list of suggested producers was sent across the Atlantic and back again. A second list feat…