US. The album's arrangements were written with the band's subsequent concert performances in mind, avoiding overdubs unless they could be performed live. On the proceeding tour, XTC were the supporting act for the Police, playing arena stadiums in Australia, New Zealand and the US. Partridge's fatigue worsened and his mental state continued to deteriorate. While in upstate New York in December 1980, he exited the tour van to relieve himself. As he remembered, "I wandered into this field ... and I thought, 'Who am I? Who the hell am I, and what am I doing in this field?' And just got back ... laying on the seat in the back of the van in a fetal position, sobbing quietly, not knowing who the hell I was." His then-wife Marianne blamed his illness on his longtime dependency on Valium, which he had been prescribed since his early teens. On 4 April 1981, while the couple were staying at the Tropicana Hotel in Los Angeles, she threw away his tablets. From then, he experienced intense withdrawal effects that he later described as "brain melt". In March, XTC attempted to work with Madness producers Clive Langer and Alan Winstanley at the behest of Virgin. They recorded "Ball and Chain", "Punch and Judy", and "Egyptian Solution (Thebes in a Box)". Langer quit on the first day as he felt his input was unnecessary. The sessions were finished with Winstanley at AIR Studios, but only his production of "Egyptian Solution" was kept by the group. On 2 June, XTC performed their last gig of the year and their last ever British date, in Cardiff. Partridge requested to cease touring, but was opposed by Virgin Records, his bandmates, and the band's management. Bassist Colin Moulding and guitarist Dave Gregory were confused at Partridge's unwillingness to tour and believed that he would reconsider once the next album was finished. Moulding explained: "The problem for us is that we had seen Andy in the early days and witnessed how great he was with an audience. For us then, this came out of the blue." Partridge did not approach drummer Terry Chambers due to an expected hostile reaction. Further to the band's demoralisation was their poor financial situation, as they never received any of the revenue generated by the increasing number of sold-out shows they performed. This made Gregory and Chambers particularly averse to Partridge's proposal, since they were