Breathing The Same Air: A memoir of my time with XTC during the making of The Big Express

In the spring of 1984, I was nineteen and had just been diagnosed with a lifelong illness. I wasn’t in a good place. Then something came along, which temporarily kicked the disease into touch. XTC were recording their seventh studio album not far from me. I decided to be brave and drive to where they were recording what would be The Big Express to see if I could say hello to my musical heroes. At best, I expected to take up no more than ten minutes of XTC’s time and come away with their autographs. But what I ended up with was more than I could ever hoped for. Breathing the Same Air is an account of the two months I spent with Andy Partridge, Colin Moulding and Dave Gregory at Crescent Studios in Bath.