Page "XTC" Paragraph 24

Dave Gregory left the band during the recording sessions for Apple Venus Volume 1 after 20 years ' service.

Ostensibly, this was due to " musical differences " -- Gregory was unhappy with the plan to record an album whose arrangements relied largely upon orchestral instruments and keyboards rather than guitars.

What was not mentioned at the time was that the cutting back of his involvement in the new XTC recordings, ( the string arrangements having been taken over by Andy Partridge ), meant considerably fewer " points " in the calculation of royalties ; as Gregory never wrote any songs for the band, this put a significant dent in his potential income from the album, basically reducing his payments to that of a session musician.