XTC’s Partridge Adds Theme To Fox Series

XTC principal Andy Partridge has contributed the theme song to the new Fox series "Wonderfalls." Beginning with the show’s second episode, 39 seconds of Partridge’s "I Wonder Why the Wonderfalls" — one of six ideas he presented to the show’s producers — will be heard through the opening credits.

"Pilot episodes generally don’t have a main title sequence," executive producer Tim Minear explains in a forum on XTC’s official Web site. "But on the first ’regular’ episode, the following week and every week after that, you’ll get to hear it."

Minear says he has been a fan of Partridge’s since the 1982 XTC album "English Settlement" (Geffen). "Now that I’m old and fat and have some (very little, really) power, I found I was in a position to do a thing I only ever dreamed of before — hire Andy Partridge. And have him write and record a song that would be heard by millions (well, we can hope) of people every bloody week. Which is really as it should be."

A video set to the full version of "I Wonder Why the Wonderfalls" can be found on the series’ Fox Web site. "Wonderfalls" star Caroline Dahvernas lip-synchs the lyrics in the clip, which reflects the series’ Niagara Falls setting and its idiosyncratic characters.

The hour-long show centers around the life of 20-something Jaye Tyler (Dhavernas), whose life is changed when inanimate objects begin speaking to her, leading her into the lives of others in need. The premiere episode of "Wonderfalls" airs March 12 at 9 p.m. ET/PT.

Late last year, XTC side project the Dukes Of Stratosphear was briefly revitalized to contribute the new song "Open a Can (Of Human Beans)" to a compilation benefiting the U.K.-based MS Society. The track for "The Wish List" reunited Partridge and bassist Colin Moulding with guitarist Dave Gregory, who has not participated in an XTC release since 1999.

The album, which also features tracks by the Moody Blues’ Justin Hayward, the Lilac Time and Marillion singer Steve Hogarth, among others, is available from the MS Society’s Web site.