XTC – Go 2(1978)

Biography
XTC were an English rock band formed in Swindon in 1972 and active until 2006. Led by songwriters Andy Partridge and Colin Moulding, the band emerged from the late 1970s punk and new wave explosion, later playing in a variety of styles that ranged from angular guitar riffs to elaborately arranged pop. Partly because the band did not fit into contemporary trends, they failed to maintain popular success in the UK and US, but still attracted a cult following. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/XTC

Album & Cover
Go 2 is the second studio album by the English band XTC, released on 6 October 1978. The United Kingdom version contained no singles, but the American and Canadian versions included the single “Are You Receiving Me?” (released 27 October 1978, the same month as the album’s release). A promotional video was also made for the song. The cover consists of an essay, written by Storm Thorgerson, about how album covers are used to attract buyers of the album. On the first British pressings, the track listing on the vinyl disc label mimicked the type style of the cover art. The label is crammed full of text. The full text is shown below.

The Front Cover reads:
This is a RECORD COVER. This writing is the DESIGN upon the record cover.  The DESIGN is to help SELL the record.  We hope to draw your attention to it and encourage you to pick it up. When you have done that maybe you’ll be persuaded to listen to the music – in this case XTC’s Go 2 album.  Then we want you to BUY it.  The idea being that the more of you that buy this record the more money Virgin Records, the manager Ian Reid and XTC themselves will make.  To the aforementioned this is known as PLEASURE.  A good cover DESIGN is one that attracts more buyers and gives more pleasure.  This writing is trying to pull you in much like an eye-catching picture. It is designed to get you to READ IT.  This is called luring the VICTIM, and you are the VICTIM.  But if you have a free mind you should STOP READING NOW! because all we are attempting to do is to get you to read on.  Yet this is a DOUBLE BIND because if you indeed stop you’ll be doing what we tell you, and if you read on you’ll be doing what we’ve wanted all along.  And the more you read on the more you’re falling for this simple device of telling you exactly how a good commercial design works. They’re TRICKS and this is the worst TRICK of all since it’s describing the TRICK whilst trying to TRICK you, and if you’ve read this far then you’re TRICKED but you wouldn’t have known this unless you’d read this far.  At least we’re telling you directly instead of seducing you with a beautiful or haunting visual that may never tell you.  We’re letting you know that you ought to buy this record because in essence it’s a PRODUCT and PRODUCTS are to be consumed and you are a consumer and this is a good PRODUCT.  We could have written the band’s name in special lettering so that it stood out and you’d see it before you’d read any of this writing and possibly have bought it anyway.  What we are really suggesting is that you are FOOLISH to buy or not buy an album merely as a consequence of the design on its cover.  This is a con because if you agree then you’ll probably like this writing – which is the cover design – and hence the album inside.  But we’ve justwarned you against that. The con is a con.  A good cover design could be considered as one that gets you to buy the record, but that never actually happens to YOU because YOU know it’s just a design for the cover.  And this is the RECORD COVER.

The Back Cover reads:
This is the back of a RECORD COVER.  Catalogue No. V2108. This writing is the DESIGN on the back of the cover.  This design is not like that on the FRONT.  Its aim is to impart information about the RECORD and the GATEFOLD INSERT within rather than trying to sell it by being impactful or clever or any of those things.  We have kept it in the same style so that the entire package has a sense of IDENTITY which-ever way you see it.  The record is by XTC.  This is their second album.  We won’t attempt to describe their music because all you have to do is play it and you can describe it for yourself.  XTC is made up of Andy Partridge, Barry Andrews, Colin Moulding and Terry Chambers.  We have shown photos of them below because this is regarded as commer-cially sensible and helpful in creating their image.  And if you’re curious at all you might find it interesting to see what the musicians actually look like.  And there are more pictures and words on the very colourful insert which you can only see if you buy the whole thing.
Many people think it helpful and useful to know some details about the songs on the record , so here they are:-
1. Meccanik Dancing (Oh We Go!) 
2. Battery Brides (Andy Paints Brian)
3. Buzzcity Talking
4. Crowded Room
5. The Rhythm
6. Red
7. Beatown
8. Lfe is Good in the Greenhouse
9. Jumping in Gomorrah
10. My Weapon
11. Super-Tuff
12. I am the Audience. 
You may also be interested to know that the record was produced and Engineered by John Leckie with assistant engineers Haydn Bendall and Pete James at Abbey Road, also, Andy Llewelyn and Jess Sutcliffe at Matrix and that Barry’s Roots photos were by Dave Eagle. We have to repeat the catalogue number on the insert for bureaucratic reasons and here it is V2108. Lastly we would like to make it clear that this is a product of Virgin Records Limited, partly because they wanted us to and partly because it is a legal necessity. Virgin Records’ head office is located at Vernon Yard,Portobello Road, London W.11. and is (P) Virgin Records

Cover Location: Hipgnosis Studio, London, UK
Who Did What: Cover Design – Hipgnosis, and written by S. Thorgerson. Photography – A. Powell/S. Thorgerson. Photography – Dave Eagle.
Label: Virgin International VI 2106(US), Virgin V2108(UK)
Source: Vinyl. Album. Cover. Art, The Complete Hipgnosis Catalogue: Aubrey Powell

Credits
Engineer [Assistant] – Andy Llewelyn, Haydn Bendall, Jess Sutcliffe, Pete James
Management – Ian Reid
Mastered By – tone
Performer – Andy Partridge, Barry Andrews, Colin Moulding, Terry Chambers
Producer, Engineer – John Leckie

Notes
Released with gatefold insert containing a map of Swindon on one side and a photograph of the band on the other side and a special unique inner sleeve.
The first 15.000 copies were accompanied with a 12″ bonus: XTC – Go+