Remastering: can't execute script after X starts

I have removed KDE in its entirety and replaced it w/ XFCE4 which works fine however I cannot get a script or command to execute after X starts.  I've tried ~/Desktop/Autostart and while the directory is created and the scripts are also there they are not executed. If I boot into X and issue deskmenu -blah then deskmenu is launched properly but not when added to /etc/X11/Xsession.d/45xsession nor .xinitrc nor .xsession.  Any ideas are very appreciated.