Making Plans for Nigel - wikipedia Making Plans for Nigel `` Making Plans for Nigel '' Single by XTC from the album Drums and Wires B - side `` Bushman President '' `` Pulsing Pulsing '' Released 1979 ( 1979 ) Length 4 : 14 Label Virgin Songwriter ( s ) Colin Moulding Producer ( s ) Steve Lillywhite XTC singles chronology `` Life Begins at the Hop '' ( 1979 ) `` Making Plans for Nigel '' ( 1979 ) `` Ten Feet Tall '' ( 1980 ) `` Life Begins at the Hop '' ( 1979 ) `` Making Plans for Nigel '' ( 1979 ) `` Ten Feet Tall '' ( 1980 ) Audio sample file help `` Making Plans for Nigel '' is a song written by Colin Moulding for the English rock band XTC, released as the lead single from their 1979 album Drums and Wires. It spent 11 weeks on the UK Singles Chart, peaking at number 17. The song also reached number 12 on the Canadian chart and remained on the charts there for 22 weeks. The lyrics are told from the point of view of parents who are certain that their son Nigel is `` happy in his world '', affirming that his future in British Steel `` is as good as sealed '', and that he `` likes to speak and loves to be spoken to ''. As a response to the song, British Steel reportedly gathered four Sheffield employees named Nigel to talk about job satisfaction for the trade publication Steel News. In 2016, `` Making Plans for Nigel '' was ranked number 143 on Pitchfork 's list of the 200 best songs of the 1970s. Personnel As written on the record sleeve : XTC Andy Partridge -- vocals, guitars, synthesizers Colin Moulding -- vocals, bass Dave Gregory -- guitars, keyboards, background vocals Terry Chambers -- drums, percussion, background vocals Technical Steve Lillywhite -- production Hugh Padgham -- engineering References Jump up ^ `` Official Charts : XTC ''. Official Charts. The Official UK Charts Company. Retrieved 5 June 2016. N.B. This site displays ' compressed ' ( with exclusion rules applied ) singles chart peaks between numbers 76 -- 100 Jump up ^ `` Image : RPM Weekly, 19 April 1980 ''. RPM Weekly. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 23 January 2017. ^ Jump up to : Pitchfork Staff ( 22 August 2016 ). `` The 200 Best Songs of the 1970s ''. Pitchfork. Jump up ^ Drums and Wires, Virgin Records, 1979 - record sleeve XTC Andy Partridge Colin Moulding Barry Andrews Terry Chambers Dave Gregory Studio albums White Music Go 2 Drums and Wires Black Sea English Settlement Mummer The Big Express 25 O'Clock Skylarking Psonic Psunspot Oranges & Lemons Nonsuch Apple Venus Volume 1 Wasp Star ( Apple Venus Volume 2 ) EPs 3D - EP Compilations Waxworks : Some Singles 1977 -- 1982 Beeswax : Some B - Sides 1977 -- 1982 The Compact XTC Chips from the Chocolate Fireball Explode Together : The Dub Experiments 78 - 80 Rag and Bone Buffet : Rare Cuts and Leftovers Drums and Wireless : BBC Radio Sessions 77 -- 89 Fossil Fuel : The XTC Singles 1977 -- 92 Upsy Daisy Assortment Transistor Blast : The Best of the BBC Sessions Box sets Coat of Many Cupboards Apple Box Demos Remixes Homespun Homegrown Instruvenus Waspstrumental Singles `` Statue of Liberty '' `` Life Begins at the Hop '' `` Making Plans for Nigel '' `` Generals and Majors '' `` Senses Working Overtime '' `` Wonderland '' `` Dear God '' `` Mayor of Simpleton '' `` The Disappointed '' `` The Ballad of Peter Pumpkinhead '' Related articles Discography The Dukes of Stratosphear Urgh ! A Music War A Testimonial Dinner : The Songs of XTC Fuzzy Warbles Take Away / The Lure of Salvage Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Making_Plans_for_Nigel&oldid=796661908 '' Categories : 1979 songs XTC songs Songs written by Colin Moulding Hidden categories : Articles with hAudio microformats Talk About Wikipedia Français Nederlands Edit links This page was last edited on 22 August 2017, at 09 : 53. About Wikipedia

Question: who sang we are making plans for nigel
Answer: XTC