and better". Drums and Wires and Black Sea XTC were impressed by Steve Lillywhite's work on Ultravox's 1977 debut, and Siouxsie and the Banshees' The Scream, and he was contacted to produce their third album with a drum sound that would "knock your head off". With engineer Hugh Padgham, the band embarked to the newly built Townhouse Studios, "with its now world-famous stone room"; Gregory later recalled that Padgham had "yet to develop his trade-mark 'gated ambience' sound". Coinciding with Gregory's arrival, the band recorded "Life Begins at the Hop" (1979), a Moulding composition. By this time, Moulding "wanted to ditch [our] quirky nonsense and do more straight-ahead pop." He was surprised to learn that the label chose his song as a single over Partridge's. Upon release, it was the first charting single for the band, rising to number 54 on the UK Singles Chart. For a period, most of the group's singles were not placed on their albums. Moulding explained that this was because of an industry convention in the 1960s and the 1970s, and that when "we wanted to shift albums later on, that approach got blown out of the water." Drums and Wires, released in August 1979, was named for its emphasis on guitars and expansive drums. AllMusic reviewer Chris Woodstra wrote that it signalled "a turning point ... with a more subdued set of songs that reflect an increasing songwriting proficiency. The aimless energy of the first two albums is focused into a cohesive statement with a distinctive voice that retains their clever humor, quirky wordplay, and decidedly British flavor. ... driven by the powerful rhythms and angular, mainly minimalistic arrangements." The distinctive drum pattern of its lead single, Moulding's "Making Plans for Nigel", was an attempt to invert drum tones and accents in the style of Devo's cover of the Rolling Stones' "Satisfaction". The song became a number 17 hit and helped propel the album to number 37 in the UK. Before "Nigel", XTC had struggled to fill more than half the seats of the small club circuits they played. Afterward, the single was playlisted at the BBC, which helped the band secure two appearances on Top of the Pops. When touring resumed in November, every date was sold out. In later years, the album became the best-known of XTC's discography and Moulding and Partridge would look back on this point as the symbolic start