The Reluctant Keyboardist

When Gregory goes fishing, the treasures he pulls up belie XTC's new-wave affiliations. "I think a lot of my influence came from the '70s," he admits, "listening to Steely Dan and Stevie Wonder. I learned more from Donald Fagen and Stevie Wonder than I did in five years of piano tutoring."

"I love that sort of jazz influence, the tone clusters," he reflects. "You know, it's almost impossible to get a nice tone cluster on the guitar. Three or four notes, just one tone or a semi-tone apart, but played in a certain way and maybe with a certain tone setting on a synthesizer, produce a particular blend that's nice. It's difficult to put into words, but notes at those intervals jammed together with the right sound produce a certain effect. Maybe it's because the ear can't decide which notes it's trying to listen to."

Todd Rundgren

As it happens, Rundgren's involvement in the Skylarking project was largely Gregory's doing. Having been told by their record company that they sounded "too English," the band members received a list of American record producers. "It read like a roll call from Fort Baxter," Gregory laughs.

"We hadn't heard of anyone except for Todd. I said to the other guys, `Forget all those other names. Let's go with Todd.' I'd been a fan of his for so long, and it was a dream come true to work with him."