Synopsis

XTC's "Ball And Chain" uses a surreal industrial setting instead of a straightforward band performance. Colin Moulding appears as a straitjacketed worker inside a puzzle factory, surrounded by the oppressive machinery and repetitive routines suggested by the song. The eccentric imagery turns the track's concerns about demolition, redevelopment, and social helplessness into a stylized portrait of a man trapped by forces beyond his control.

Factoids & Trivia

• The video was made in 1982 and later included on XTC's home video compilation "Look Look."

• Contemporary MTV material described "Ball And Chain" as a concept video that presented XTC from an entirely different perspective.

• Colin Moulding's straitjacketed puzzle-factory character is one of the compilation's more unusual visual ideas, alongside Andy Partridge's evil clown in "Making Plans for Nigel."

• Moulding described the song as a terrace-style chant about the redevelopment of Swindon town center. Its references to demolition and compensation came from seeing much of the Swindon area being cleared or altered.

• The sleeve for the 1982 single showed a house in Westlecott Place, Swindon. Its occupant, Peter Uzzell, had refused to leave even after the surrounding properties had been demolished.

• "Ball And Chain" reached No. 58 on the UK Singles Chart, making it a modest follow-up to "Senses Working Overtime."