The Compact XTC: The Singles 1978-1985 is a compilation album

Compilation album

A compilation album is an album featuring tracks from one or more performers, often culled from a variety of sources The tracks are usually collected according to a common characteristic, such as popularity, genre, source or subject matter...

 by XTC

XTC

XTC were a New Wave band from Swindon, England, active between 1976 and 2005. The band enjoyed some chart success, including the UK and Canadian hits "Making Plans for Nigel" and "Senses Working Overtime" , but are perhaps even better known for their long-standing critical success.- Early years:...

 released in 1987. It replaced Waxworks: Some Singles 1977-1982

Waxworks: Some Singles 1977-1982

Waxworks: Some Singles 1977-1982 is a compilation album released by XTC in 1982. Though it followed closely on the heels of the successful English Settlement album and its lead-off single "Senses Working Overtime", it failed to crack the Top 40 perhaps signalling their commercial decline in Britain...

 as a Greatest Hits

Greatest hits

A greatest hits album is a music compilation album of successful, previously released songs by a particular artist or band...

 album, adding six singles issued between English Settlement

English Settlement

English Settlement is the fifth studio album by British alternative rock band XTC, released on 12 February 1982. The album reached No. 5 on the UK Album Chart and No. 48 on the Billboard 200 album chart....

 and The Big Express

The Big Express

The Big Express is the seventh studio album by the British band XTC, released in 1984. It was one of XTC's harder-edged albums, in contrast to the pastoral Mummer and Skylarking which were released in sequence with it. The seventh track, "I Bought Myself a Liarbird" is about their former manager,...

. It took advantage of the compact disc

Compact Disc

The Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,...

's greater storage capacity to limit it to a single disc. It was superseded by the double-disc set Fossil Fuel: The XTC Singles 1977-1992

Fossil Fuel: The XTC Singles 1977-1992

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 1987's The Compact XTC. It collects all thirty-one of their Virgin Records UK singles in chronological order...

, on which all eighteen tracks appear.

Despite being released in 1987 (as a result of Skylarking

Skylarking

Skylarking is XTC's eighth studio album, released on 27 October 1986 and produced by American musician Todd Rundgren. Skylarking is a "life-in-a-day" semi-concept album which displayed songwriting and arranging heavily influenced by The Beatles, The Beach Boys and The Kinks...

s success), its copyright is 1985. As an A-side

A-side and B-side

A-side and B-side originally referred to the two sides of gramophone records on which singles were released beginning in the 1950s. The terms have come to refer to the types of song conventionally placed on each side of the record, with the A-side being the featured song , while the B-side, or...

 collection, only 1981's "Love at First Sight" and "Respectable Street" (both of which appear on Black Sea) are not included.

UK CD: CDV 2251

All songs written by Andy Partridge

Andy Partridge

Andrew John "Andy" Partridge is an English singer, songwriter, and guitarist. He has been known as Sir John Johns and Melchior and rose to fame as a founding member, guitarist and chief songwriter of the pop/new wave band, XTC. He lives in Swindon, Wiltshire, where he was raised.Partridge also...

, except where noted.

1. "Science Friction" – 3:14 (from single, 1977)
2. "Statue of Liberty" – 2:52 (from single, 1978)
3. "This Is Pop?" – 2:40 (from single, 1978)
4. "Are You Receiving Me?" – 3:04 (from single, 1978)
5. "Life Begins at the Hop
   Life Begins at the Hop
   "Life Begins at the Hop" is a single by XTC released in 1979. Their fifth single, it was the first indication of a change in their late-seventies sound from urgent post-punk to power pop. As their sound changed, so too did their line-up as keyboardist Barry Andrews was replaced by second guitarist...
   
   " (Colin Moulding
   Colin Moulding
   Colin Ivor Moulding is a bassist, songwriter and vocalist. He is a founding member of the band XTC. Though less prolific than bandmate Andy Partridge, Moulding wrote many of the group's most popular songs, including their first three UK hit singles: "Life Begins At The Hop", "Making Plans For...
   
   ) – 3:47 (from single, 1979)
6. "Making Plans for Nigel" (Moulding) – 4:12 (from single, 1979)
7. "Wait Till Your Boat Goes Down" – 4:20 (from single, 1980)
8. "Generals and Majors" (Moulding) – 3:41 (from single, 1980)
9. "Towers of London" – 4:38 (from single, 1980)
10. "Sgt. Rock (Is Going to Help Me)" – 3:36 (from single, 1980)
11. "Senses Working Overtime
    Senses Working Overtime
    "Senses Working Overtime" is a single by XTC released in 1982. It is at once the apogee of their early-eighties British popularity as well as their last gasp of mainstream success in their homeland...
    
    " – 4:34 (from single, 1982)
12. "Ball and Chain" (Moulding) – 4:29 (from single, 1982)
13. "Great Fire" – 3:50 (from single, 1983)
14. "Wonderland (Moulding) – 4:15 (from single, 1983)
15. "Love on a Farmboy's Wages" – 3:59 (from single, 1983)
16. "All You Pretty Girls" – 3:59 (from single, 1983)
17. "This World Over" – 4:45 (from single, 1984)
18. "Wake Up" (Moulding) – 3:40 (from single, 1985)