Colin Moulding

• Name — Colin Moulding • Birth Name — Colin Ivor Moulding • Alias — The Red Curtain, The Colonel • Born — 17 August 1955 • Birthplace — Swindon, Wiltshire, England • Died — YYYY MM DD • Instrument — * Bass • vocals • guitar • keyboards • Genre — * Rock • pop • Occupation — * Musician • songwriter • singer • Years Active — 1972–present • Label — * Cooking Vinyl • Geffen • Idea • Virgin • Past Member Of — * XTC • The Dukes of Stratosphear • TC&I

Colin Moulding was born in Swindon on 17 August 1955 to working class parents. His father, Charlie, chiefly worked for British Rail and his mother, Vera, worked part-time as a laundry woman. Moulding has a brother, Graham, who is five years his senior. While his childhood was happy, he was described as being "painfully shy". In 1970, Moulding heard "All Right Now" by Free, who became his favorite band and spurred him to take up the bass guitar. Moulding later said, "In my early teens I had pretty high hopes of doing something academic, but once I'd discovered music it all went out the window. I started growing my hair and got totally engrossed in the scene." His long hair eventually led to him being expelled from school. In 1972, he acquired a mustard-coloured Fender Jazz bass and met local drummer Terry Chambers, and the two would eventually form a short-lived band that played cover songs.

Moulding began jamming with another local musician, Andy Partridge, circa 1972–1973 and soon joined Partridge's band Star Park, convincing Partridge to hire Chambers as well. In July 1975, after a period in which the band were known as the Helium Kidz, they changed their name to XTC. Several of the band's early hits were penned by Moulding: 1979's "Life Begins at the Hop" was their first to chart in the UK, Australia and Canada; that same year, "Making Plans for Nigel", from the album Drums and Wires, became a Top 40 hit in the UK, Canada, Netherlands and New Zealand; "Generals and Majors", from 1980's Black Sea, became the band's first charting single in the US, reaching No. 28 in Billboard. Outside of his work with XTC (and their alter-ego side project the Dukes of Stratosphear), Moulding released a solo single in 1980 under the pseudonym "The Colonel": "Too Many Cooks in the Kitchen" b/w "I Need Protection". The project came about after Moulding was dissatisfied that he hadn't been able to make a bigger contribution to Black Sea, due to time constraints. Moulding later said, "I was peeved at being hurried and I wanted to do something fun with a different band and girl backing singers." Since Moulding had penned several of XTC's hits, Virgin Records supported the solo project, but the single ultimately failed to chart. In 1986, David Gilmour approached Moulding over becoming Pink Floyd's new bass player following Roger Waters' departure. He turned it down, as XTC were in the midst of recording Skylarking (1986). He later played bass and co-produced one track on the 1994 Sam Phillips album Martinis and Bikinis. In 1995, Moulding contributed bass to several tracks of French band L'Affaire Louis' Trio's album L'Homme aux mille vies. In 2005, he contributed to Billy Sherwood's Pink Floyd tribute album Return to the Dark Side of the Moon, performing "Brain Damage" with Robby Krieger and Geoff Downes.

After releasing 14 albums, XTC disbanded in 2006. In February 2007, Partridge told music website Pitchfork Media that Moulding was "not interested in music any more, and doesn't want to write", which Moulding himself later confirmed. In November 2008, he emerged for an interview about "Making Plans For Nigel" for an installment in the series of interviews by Todd Bernhardt. He gave a two-hour interview in December on the Todd Rundgren fansite, Rundgren Radio. Moulding made vocal contributions to a Billy Sherwood progressive rock album (The Prog Collective, August 2012), combining with Rick Wakeman on "Check Point Karma". In 2012, he appeared on Sherwood's album Songs of the Century: An All-Star Tribute to Supertramp. He performed a lead vocal for the song "The Man Who Died Two Times" from the album In Extremis by the progressive rock band Days Between Stations (released 15 May 2013) and appears in the video for the song, released in June 2014. Moulding played bass on "High Noon", a track on Anton Barbeau's 2016 release Magic Act, and contributed vocals to the title track of Little World, a 2016 collaboration between Barbeau and Sacramento singer Allyson Seconds. Moulding also appeared in both the "High Noon" and "Little World" videos. In 2017, Moulding and Chambers recorded an EP titled Great Aspirations that was credited to TC&I. It was released on 20 October 2017. In October and November 2018, TC&I—featuring Moulding, Chambers, Steve Tilling (from Circu5), Gary Bamford, Susannah Bevington and Moulding's son, Lee—played a series of six gigs at the Swindon Arts Centre. The sets consisted of a selection of Moulding's songs from XTC's career plus material from the TC&I EP and a cover of Andy Partridge's "Statue of Liberty". Highlights of the concerts were released in August 2019 on CD and in download format under the title Naked Flames: Live at Swindon Arts Centre. He has since released his solo debut EP The Hardest Battle in 2021.

In February 1974, Moulding married Carol Evans, whom he had been dating since March 1973. They have a son, Lee, born in June 1974, and a daughter, Joanne.