XTC: Senses Working Overtime

Track of the Week - 23 February 2020

My volunteering for Swindon & Gloucestershire Mind brought me a new assignment this week. Collecting money for the charity at Swindon Town's County Ground before their league game against Grimsby Town.

We don't know how much was raised yet but it seemed a successful couple of hours. For our efforts we were given tickets to the game. Now the County Ground used to be almost my second home between about 1984 and 1996 or so but I haven't seen a Swindon game for at least a dozen years.

I thoroughly enjoyed it. The wind nearly ruined things but the Town played some good football and picked up a 3-1 win. I was also surprised and delighted that after each home goal the stadium DJ played Senses Working Overtime by XTC. (Well, I suppose "all the world is football-shaped".)*

Post-punk/pop group XTC are one of Swindon's gifts to the world and Senses Working Overtime is one of my favourites of theirs. From the 1982 album English Settlement the single got to number 10, the highest position the group would reach.

It's a cracking pop tune.




* Last time I went it was Song 2 by Blur. Excellent song but very stadium-generic.