I often grab the songs I’m playing about an hour before my show, by making a playlist in iTunes and then copying them over to the computer in our studio what plays the music. Every now and then, you pick up the wrong version of a song and you realise that it’s a live version, and as soon as you hear the fade in of the crowd cheer going out live on air your heart sinks to your stomach as you wonder whether the song is going to be introduced with a volley of swears. (And whether I will have to write a long letter saying sorry to Mr Ofcom).

Luckily the version I played – from the band’s 1992 release BBC Radio 1 Live In Concert which captured the band’s live show at the Hammersmith Palais on 22 December 1980 – had no such words, to which I announced my relief to the world:

#nowplaying @xtcfans – This Is Pop (live) (thank god there weren't any swears in it)

— Brentwood's Only Alt (@brentwoodsonly) February 20, 2014

To which Mr Partridge, potential talker and singer of those non-existent swears, replied:

@brentwoodsonly Swears! SWEARS!! I sir am British

— XTC (@xtcfans) February 21, 2014

I love Andy Partridge on Twitter. He has over 10,000 followers himself but he follows NO ONE, as if to say “I’m not using Twitter the way you want me. I’m just going to talk to XTC fans on here. Take THAT, The Twitter Man”. As for the aforementioned live album, it is one of THE very best live albums ever. Full of early hits and perfectly recorded, if you like XTC, the album gives songs like Living Through Another Cuba a new lease of life. Go buy it, if indeed you still can buy CDs.

And yeah, Andy Partridge tweeted me. I’m never washing my Twitter again.

Tonight’s playlist:

Pre New – Believe (RedKen Kosmische Zweiblen PreMix)
Carter USM – Rubbish
Echobelly – Insomniac
Temples – Test Of Time
Young Knives – Owls of Athens
Train To Spain – All About
Ages and Ages – I See More
Black Casino and the Ghost – Johnny Boy
Julie Ruin – Oh Come On
Brody Dalle – Meet The Foetus Oh The Joy
Todd Terje – Strandbar (disko)
Weirdgear – Snakecharmer
Lykke Li – I Follow Rivers (The Magician Remix)
Meryl And A Bit Of Yellow – Chance
Arctic Monkeys – Arabella
Blur – Advert
Dumb – Two Bottles
Nina Persson – Animal Heart
They Might Be Giants – Ana Ng
Heart Throbs – She’s In A Trance
XTC – This Is Pop (live. No swears)
Honeyblood – Choker
Kill Van Kulls – Wishing
Maximo Park – Give, Get, Take
Powder – Afrodisiac
Public Service Broadcasting – Night Mail
St Vincent – Digital Witness
Sulk – Marian Shrine
Pretty Reckless – Heaven Knows
Wonder Villains – Marshall