Making Plans for Nigel

The lyric is sung by parents certain that their son Nigel has a future in British Steel that is as good as sealed. Moulding described it as an attempt at an Alan Bennett-style vignette about someone put-upon. He said there had been Nigels at his school, that he had the title first, and that he finished the song in an afternoon. At 15 he had a big battle with his father over not staying on in sixth form.

Steve Lillywhite produced and Hugh Padgham engineered. The drum pattern was an attempt to invert drum tones and accents in the style of Devo's cover of Satisfaction. Chambers said he played the rhythm on the floor tom and kept the hi-hat for accents, which gave a juddering, production-line feel. Partridge remembered spending a week on the song and three weeks on the rest of the album.

Released as a single in September 1979, it spent 11 weeks on the UK chart and peaked at 17. The BBC added it to its playlists, and the band made two Top of the Pops appearances. Moulding said British Steel responded by rounding up Sheffield steelworkers named Nigel to tell the press how good their jobs were. Covers include Primus in 1992, The Rembrandts in 1995, Robbie Williams in 1997 and Nouvelle Vague in 2004.