XYZ (Andy Summers album): Difference between revisions

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XYZ is the first solo album by Andy Summers. Released in 1986, it is to these days the only album in his production to feature his vocals, though an uncredited vocal by Summers appears on his 1991 album World Gone Strange.

Background

Following the official break-up of The Police in 1986, Summers, like his band mates Sting and Stewart Copeland decided to embark on a solo project. Summers partnered with musician, recording engineer and producer David Hentschel. The album was recorded in 1986 at Devo's studio in Los Angeles, California. Many of the songs have been demoed in the years before and put forward for consideration for a Police album. Summers took vocal duties on himself, and played guitar and bass. Drum programming was favoured over the use of actual drums following a production vein popular in the mid-1980s. The title "XYZ" comes from the middle names of Summers's three children. His daughter Layla (born 1978) has the middle name 'Z', and his twin sons, Maurice and Anton, (born 1987) have the middle names 'X' and 'Y' respectively. The cover portrait is by Anton Corbijn. "Love is the Strangest Way" was released as the first single along with a promotional video. Another track, "Carry Me Back Home" (5:04), was recorded during the XYZ sessions for the soundtrack of the film Band of the Hand and released on the B-side of the 12-inch version of the "Love is the Strangest Way" single. Summers toured extensively to promote the album, augmenting the set list with some Police material, including "Tea in the Sahara" and "Omega Man", which was never played live before. Both the album and the single failed to chart, prompting Summers to return to the instrumental music explored in the albums recorded with Robert Fripp in his future ventures.

Track listing

All tracks are written by Andy Summers except where noted

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Love is the Strangest Way"	4:20
2.	"How Many Days" (Summers/David Hentschel)	5:21
3.	"Almost There"	4:30
4.	"Eyes of a Stranger"	4:47
5.	"The Change"	2:53
6.	"Scary Voices"	4:37
7.	"Nowhere" (Summers/Hentschel)	4:35
8.	"XYZ" (Summers/Hentschel/Charlotte Caffey)	2:46
9.	"The Only Road"	3:40
10.	"Hold Me" (Summers/Hentschel)	4:48

Personnel

Andy Summers – guitar, bass guitar, vocals, producer
David Hentschel – keyboards, drums, drum programming, producer
Nan Vernon – vocals on "Love Is the Strangest Way", "How Many Days" and "Almost There"; backing vocals on "Eyes of a Stranger"
Chris Childs – bass guitar on "Eyes of a Stranger"
Rick May – bass guitar on "Hold Me"
Abraham Laboriel – bass guitar on "Scary Voices"
Michael G. Fisher – percussion on "Nowhere", "Love Is the Strangest Way" and "Almost There"
Greta Gold – additional backing vocals on "Eyes of a Stranger"
Oren, Julia, and Maxine Waters – backing vocals on "Nowhere", "Hold Me" and "How Many Days"

Technical

Bob Casale – mixing and engineering
Anton Corbijn – photography

References

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-'''''XYZ''''' is a 1987 album by [[Andy Summers]]. It is the first solo album by Summers and the only one to feature his vocals, though an uncredited vocal by Summers appears on ''[[World Gone Strange]]''. The title "XYZ" comes from the middle names of Summers's three children. His daughter Layla (born 1978) has the middle name 'Z', and his twin sons, Maurice and Anton, (born 1987) have the middle names 'X' and 'Y' respectively. The album was recorded in 1986 at [[Devo]]'s studio in Los Angeles, California. The cover portrait is by [[Anton Corbijn]].
+'''''XYZ''''' is the first solo album by [[Andy Summers]]. Released in 1986, it is to these days the only album in his production to feature his vocals, though an uncredited vocal by Summers appears on his 1991 album ''[[World Gone Strange]]''.
+==Background==
+Following the official break-up of The Police in 1986, Summers, like his band mates [[Sting]] and [[Stewart Copeland]] decided to embark on a solo project. Summers partnered with musician, recording engineer and producer David Hentschel. The album was recorded in 1986 at [[Devo]]'s studio in Los Angeles, California. Many of the songs have been demoed in the years before and put forward for consideration for a Police album. Summers took vocal duties on himself, and played guitar and bass. Drum programming was favoured over the use of actual drums following a production vein popular in the mid-1980s. The title "XYZ" comes from the middle names of Summers's three children. His daughter Layla (born 1978) has the middle name 'Z', and his twin sons, Maurice and Anton, (born 1987) have the middle names 'X' and 'Y' respectively. The cover portrait is by [[Anton Corbijn]]. "Love is the Strangest Way" was released as the first single along with a promotional video. Another track, "Carry Me Back Home" (5:04), was recorded during the ''XYZ'' sessions for the soundtrack of the film ''[[Band of the Hand]]'' and released on the B-side of the 12-inch version of the "Love is the Strangest Way" single.
+Summers toured extensively to promote the album, augmenting the set list with some Police material, including "Tea in the Sahara" and "Omega Man", which was never played live before. Both the album and the single failed to chart, prompting Summers to return to the instrumental music explored in the albums recorded with Robert Fripp in his future ventures.
 ==Track listing==
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 }}
-* Another track, "Carry Me Back Home" (5:04), was recorded during the ''XYZ'' sessions for the soundtrack of the film ''[[Band of the Hand]]'' and released on the B-side of the 12-inch version of the "Love is the Strangest Way" single.
 ==Personnel==