History The Dukes of Stratosphear

The Dukes of Stratosphear was a pseudonym used by the English rock band XTC in the mid-1980s. A studio-only project, the band released two vinyl albums: 25 O'Clock (1985) and Psonic Psunspot (1987), which drew upon influences of 1960s psychedelic music such as The Beatles, Syd Barrett-era Pink Floyd, The Kinks, The Byrds, The Pretty Things, and The Beach Boys (c. 1966). The two albums were released on a single CD under the title Chips from the Chocolate Fireball (An Anthology) in late 1987.

They reformed and recorded the track "Open a Can of Human Beans" in 2003 for a charity album. The track was later re-released on Andy Partridge's Fuzzy Warbles, Vol. 7.

Under another pseudonym, Terry and the Lovemen, XTC appeared on its own tribute album A Testimonial Dinner and thanked The Dukes of Stratosphear for the loan of their instruments.

The pseudonymous personnel included:

Sir John Johns (Andy Partridge) - singing, guitar, brain buds;

The Red Curtain (Colin Moulding) - electric bass, song stuff;

Lord Cornelius Plum (Dave Gregory) - mellotron, piano, organ, fuzz-tone guitar;

E.I.E.I. Owen (Ian Gregory) - drum set;

and their preferred producer at that time, Swami Anand Nagara (John Leckie).

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