Oranges & Lemons (album)
| Oranges & Lemons | ||||
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| Studio album by XTC | ||||
| Released | 27 February 1989 | |||
| Recorded | 1988 | |||
| Studio | Ocean Way Recording, Los Angeles | |||
| Genre | Psychedelia | |||
| Length | 60:50 | |||
| Label | Virgin | |||
| Producer | Paul Fox | |||
| XTC chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Oranges & Lemons | ||||
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| Professional ratings | |
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| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   |
| Chicago Sun-Times |  |
| Chicago Tribune | |
| Encyclopedia of Popular Music | |
| Q | |
| Record Collector | |
| Rolling Stone | |
| The Rolling Stone Album Guide | |
| Uncut | 7/10 |
| The Village Voice | B− |
Oranges & Lemons is the eleventh studio album by English band XTC, released in 1989. The name of the album came from the old English nursery rhyme, also referenced in the song "Ballet for a Rainy Day" on their previous album Skylarking. Oranges & Lemons was XTC's second double album, after 1982's English Settlement. The band was sent to Los Angeles to record the album, and Paul Fox was recruited for his first producing gig.
The album produced three singles, "Mayor of Simpleton", "King for a Day", and "The Loving". "Mayor of Simpleton" was a minor US hit (reaching No. 1 on the US Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart, No. 72 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, and No. 46 on the UK singles chart) and was the only XTC song ever to hit the US Hot 100 chart. It was accompanied by a music video, which resembled the opening credits of an Avengers-type TV show and saw significant airplay on MTV, especially on the alternative music show 120 Minutes. In addition, the Steely Dan-influenced "King for a Day" reached No. 10 on the US alternative / modern rock charts. The album itself was a commercial success, reaching No. 1 on the US college / alternative album chart, No. 44 on the US Billboard Top 200 chart, and No. 28 on the UK album chart.
To promote the album and appease the stage-shy Andy Partridge, the band went on a two-week acoustic radio-station tour of the US on which they performed a few songs from the album and a few medleys of earlier hits, as well as album reject "Blue Beret". The tour commenced on 15 May 1989 in Boston and ended on 31 May 1989 at Eastern Sound Studios in Toronto before a live studio audience of two hundred people.
The album cover, designed by Andy Partridge with Dave Dragon and Ken Ansell of The Design Clinic, is directly inspired by a 1965 WOR-FM 98.7 radio advert poster by Milton Glaser.
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