Think there's a lot of affection for them on this website.

Definitely my favourite band.

You're right, though. Its either Swindon, or "Making Plans" that gets name-checked...

Apple Venus never left the stereo this summer.

There's not many bands whose last album (or in this case last two albums) are the high point of their career.

Most bands fizzle out but XTC went out on a high. I'm sorry to see them go, but at least they left us some wonderful music.

If not, why not ?

A truly great band and you're right they've never really had their rightful recognition.

Ever since I saw the video for 'All You Pretty Girls' on Saturday Superstore, I've been mad about XTC. If any band cites them as an influence I'll check 'em out, though the influence of the later, more pastoral stuff gives a higher quality than their earlier, jerky new wave incarnation. APE records (prop. A Partridge) has introduced me to the Milk and Honey Band and Pugwash - two acts with the pastoral/psychedelic XTC vibe that I can't get enough of.

When I saw a lanky, balding man tuning up a blue Strat before Pugwash played the first Word in your Ear gig, I am nerdy enough to know it was Dave Gregory before he even turned round. My wife couldn't quite fathom why I was so excited.

And another thing. Andy Partridge is answering questions of his worldwide fanbase on a (almost) daily basis here:
http://twitter.com/xtcfans
that pretty much justifies the existence of the internet.

NB: I quite like Talk Talk, but as Lenny Henry once said of Sting 'Has he given up consonants for Lent?'

They made good music and are generally liked by critics and bloggers. Their albums remain in print (as far as I know) and they are regularly discussed.

If underrated means "unpopular with the generally public", well, no-one knows how to fix that.

If critical stock was plotted against public appreciation, and that's how you determine rating, you might well say that XTC are actually overrated.

Don't get me wrong, I love them, Black Sea, Mummer, Skylarking and Wasp Star especially, and find Andy Partridge to be an entertaining character. But in the overall scheme of things, they are unpopular.

In a perfect world XTC would be universally acknowledged for their genius. In this world popularity/ubiquity is more likely to signify pap.

If I'm in the mood for them XTC are brilliant. If I'm not then I find them incredibly annoying. I never know when I'm going to find them annoying. I loaded up several of their albums recently on the Ipod, for the first time in a while. And unfortunately even the drums were annoying.

I'm speaking as a fan and as someone who wouldn't dispute that XTC are a bit of a national treasure, but I don't necessarily buy into the idea that they should have been any more successful than they were. I'm not sure that their songs, with some notable exceptions, were ever really commercial enough to be embraced by a mainstream audience.

It’s been well documented that they were badly treated by their record company (read 'Chalkhills and Children' by Chris Twomey for a good account of what went on) but, when you listen to 'Mummer' or even 'Big Express' -both of which led to a significant deterioration in their relationship with the record company- you can hear why the bigwigs had less and less faith in the band as a potential chart act.
And criticising a record company for wanting to make money is a bit like criticising a lion for eating a zebra.

Andy P seems like a jolly good fellow and he’s clearly very talented. He may feel (along with some of his fans) that he’s had the rough end of the stick, but there are folk who’ve had worse. Andy, after all, has made a living from music and has been able to create a body of work that is admired and respected by hundreds of thousands of people. That's hardly a bum deal, is it?

I wish XTC had been more successful, but they weren't. I'm not convinced that another record company could have sold their quirky music to a much bigger audience. In addition, the fact that Andy was unwilling /unable to play live would hardly have endeared him to any business looking for a return on its investments.

I think XTC got the audience they deserved and I'm really glad that I was /am part of that.

I was just thinking in terms of magazine coverage and influence on bands. I think Mojo have covered them once in 18 years and maybe an interview in Uncut or Word. Whereas someone like Elvis Costello or David Byrne are featured endlessly.

They’re not well known at all really beyond people who have an interest in popular music and even by a lot of those they are given short shrift. Probably deservedly I suppose given their limited success. I sometimes wonder what would have happened if the Clash came from Swindon and XTC from Ladbroke Grove.

My train of thought appears to be eating itself, so I will go and listen to English Settlement for the zillionth time.

and it is because of the respect that they get from people whose opinion I care for that I hold them in regard in spite of this.

I remember in the mid 80s when I lived in the US and an american friend saw them as the real deal I was genuinely surprised and realised I had really just misunderstood them as a one-note new wave novelty act.

I still don't quite get what people see but appreciate this is my loss.