The Dukes Of Stratosphear

In 1985 the British pop group XTC committed to tape an EP of fond pastiches of 1960s psychedelia and guitar pop titled 25 O'Clock. Rather than issue the recording under their established name, they credited it to the Dukes of Stratosphear. Producer John Leckie oversaw the sessions, during which Andy Partridge, Colin Moulding and David Gregory performed under the respective pseudonyms Sir John Johns, the Red Curtain and Lord Cornelius Plum. Ian Gregory, David’s brother, participated as E.I.E.I. Owen. The finished EP bore no reference to XTC on its packaging, and the band members publicly disavowed any involvement.

Two years later the Dukes of Stratosphear delivered their first full-length album, Psonic Psunspot. By the time that record appeared in 1987, XTC had begun confirming in interviews that they were in fact the Dukes. Later the same year both the EP and the album were combined on the compact-disc collection Chips from the Chocolate Fireball. XTC thereafter reverted to recording under their own name, releasing new material through the 1990s and early 2000s until the group disbanded in 2005. Four years afterward, expanded editions of Psonic Psunspot and 25 O'Clock were issued by Andy Partridge’s label Ape House Records. In 2019 the Dukes’ catalog was reissued as Psurroundabout Ride, containing Steven Wilson’s 5.1 surround remixes along with a Blu-ray that added demos and instrumental versions of the songs.