Sgt. Rock (Is Going to Help Me)

"Sgt. Rock (Is Going to Help Me)" is a song by the British band XTC. Written by frontman Andy Partridge, it was released as the band's 12th single in December 1980, charting in the UK singles chart at No. 16 on 21 February 1981,[1] being XTC's biggest single chart success to this date. The song also reached the Irish charts, peaking at No. 20.[2]

"Sgt. Rock (Is Going to Help Me)"
Single by XTC
from the album Black Sea
Released	December 1980
Recorded	1980
Studio	The Town House, London
Length	3:57
Label	Virgin
Songwriter(s)	Andy Partridge
Producer(s)	Steve Lillywhite
XTC singles chronology
"Take This Town" (1980) "Sgt. Rock (Is Going to Help Me)" (1980) "Respectable Street" (1981)
Audio sample
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The band performed the song on Top of the Pops[3] and the Saturday morning show Multi-Coloured Swap Shop.[4] The tune itself was recorded at Townhouse Studios, London in June 1980. The 7" single is packed with a poster, showing a Sgt. Rock comic. The song is featured on the compilation albums Waxworks: Some Singles 1977–1982, The Compact XTC, and Fossil Fuel: The XTC Singles 1977–92.

Partridge has since expressed disdain with the song, stating that it "embarrasses the shit out of me. Of all the tunes that I've written, that made it to tape, this makes me cringe the worse. It's not the music, that's solid enough. All the instruments in the track mesh nicely enough, but the lyrical sentiment, oh dear. It was supposed to be ironic, you know, nerdy comic fan imagines two dimensional hero can help him with his unsuccessful chat up technique. It did not work. It just came out limply crap. Virgin insisted it be included in this set, otherwise I'd gladly erase it from our history. We all make mistakes".[5]