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Drums and Wires is the third studio album by the English band XTC, released on 17 August 1979, on the Virgin record label.

It reached No. 34 on the UK Albums Chart, and No. 176 on the US Billboard Albums Chart. One single, "Making Plans for Nigel", was released from the album on 14 September 1979, and reached No. 17 on the UK Singles Chart. It also contained the original recording of "Ten Feet Tall", a re-recorded version of which was released in March 1980 in the US only, as the band's first American single, designed to coincide with their first American tour. Certain versions of the album also include "Life Begins at the Hop", which was released on 27 April 1979, and reached No. 54 on the UK Singles Chart.

All tracks written by Andy Partridge, except where noted.

The first 20,000 copies of the LP were bundled with a free 7" single, "Chain of Command" / "Limelight". The song "Life Begins at the Hop" (Moulding), released as a 7" single before the original LP's release, appears on some international versions of the album, either as an insertion or a substitution. All three songs were later included on CD reissues starting in 1985.

UK and Canadian vinyl editions came with an insert featuring lyrics to all the songs on Drums and Wires as well as XTC's previous albums, Go 2 and White Music, although it didn't list which album each song came from.

The 2001 reissue CD was digitally remastered by Ian Cooper at Metropolis Mastering.

The final song on side two of the album, "Complicated Game", made its way onto television in 2014 as non-diegetic source music in the premier episode of AMC's Halt and Catch Fire, which was broadcast on 1 June 2014.

The album was reissued on CD and Blu-ray in October 2014, boasting a new stereo and 5.1 surround sound mix of the album from renowned remixer Steven Wilson, as well as new liner notes from liner notes by Partridge, Moulding and Gregory, alternate mixes and nearly 40 demo and rehearsal tracks. Partridge said of the new mix: "It's so good it's upped my opinion of the album."

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