strike action against the label. Prince and George Michael also went on a strike against their respective labels that was heavily publicized at about the same time. XTC's strike, however, received little press. In the meantime, Partridge produced Martin Newell's 1993 album The Greatest Living Englishman and early sessions for Blur's second album. "I thought I did sterling work. ... Next day, [David Balfe from the Teardrop Explodes said], 'Quite frankly, Andy, this is shit.'" Other complications arose; he developed some health issues while his wife divorced him. In 1997 (also reported as in late 1994), XTC found themselves freed from financial debt and from Virgin after "making some heavy concessions". Partridge fantasised that people from the label "met in the dark and thought, 'These blokes are not making a living. We've had 'em all these years and we've got their catalogue and the copyright to their songs for evermore and we've stitched 'em up real good with a rotten deal so, erm, maybe we should let them go.' I like to think that it was a guilt thing." One of the group's first new recordings since the strike was released for the tribute album A Testimonial Dinner: The Songs of XTC (1995). "The Good Things", a Moulding song originally demoed for Oranges & Lemons, was credited under the pseudonym Terry and the Lovemen. In 1998, Song Stories, an authorized overview of the band's catalog by journalist and longtime friend Neville Farmer was published. Partridge said the book was badly edited and "used the crappiest quotes". Apple Venus and Wasp Star By late 1997, Partridge and Moulding had amassed a large stockpile of material. The former's songs were an elaboration on the more orchestral style he developed with Nonsuch tracks "Omnibus", "Wrapped in Grey", and "Rook". Moulding felt that "something a bit different" was appropriate for the band at this juncture, and shared Partridge's desire for a cohesive LP similar to soundtracks such as My Fair Lady and "stuff that Burt Bacharach wrote for various [films]". Partridge thought the new songs were "some of the best stuff, if not the best stuff, ever. It's even more intensely passionate than before." The group elected to divide the album into two parts: one of rock songs, and the other of orchestral/acoustic songs augmented by a 40-piece symphony. They found a label, Cooking Vinyl, and a producer, Haydn Bendall, who had engineered XTC's