Respectable Street

"Respectable Street"
Single by XTC
from the album Black Sea
ReleasedMarch 1981 (1981-03)
Recorded1980
StudioTownhouse Studios, London
Genre
Length3:56
LabelVirgin
Songwriter(s)Andy Partridge
Producer(s)Steve Lillywhite
XTC singles chronology
"Sgt. Rock (Is Going to Help Me)"
(1980)
"Respectable Street"
(1981)
"Senses Working Overtime"
(1982)

"Respectable Street" is a song written by Andy Partridge of XTC, released as the opening track on their 1980 album Black Sea. According to Partridge, the song is about English streets[3] and "the hypocrisy of living in a so-called respectable neighborhood. It's all talk behind twitching curtains. It's all Alan Bennett land."[4] In another interview Partridge reveals that Respectable Street was based on a real street Bowood Road in Swindon, which was diagonally opposite the flat above a shop on Kingshill Road where he was living at the time he wrote it.[5] Discounting the Canada-only "Love at First Sight", it was the fourth and last single issued from the LP. BBC Radio banned the song because of its references to abortion and a "Sony Entertainment Centre".[6]

  1. ^ Schabe, Patrick (27 October 2006). "The Man Who Sailed Around His Soul". PopMatters. 1980's Black Sea sold well on the album charts on the strength of its solid post-punk tracks, including "Respectable Street", "Towers of London", and "Generals and Majors".
  2. ^ Segretto, Mike (2022). "1982". 33 1/3 Revolutions Per Minute - A Critical Trip Through the Rock LP Era, 1955–1999. Backbeat. pp. 414–415. ISBN 9781493064601.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference Harris2010 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference Farmer was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Partridge, Andy (2016). Complicated game : inside the songs of XTC. Todd Bernhardt (1st ed.). London. p. 110. ISBN 978-1-908279-78-1. OCLC 900032028.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  6. ^ Bernhardt, Todd; Partridge, Andy (26 February 2007). "Andy discusses 'Respectable Street'". Chalkhills.