The Dukes of Stratosphear
L-R: The Red Curtain, Lord Cornelius Plum, Sir John Johns, E.I.E.I. Owen
Background information
Origin	UK
Genre(s)	Neo-Psychedelia
Years active	1984 to 1987
Label(s)	Virgin
Associated acts	XTC
Former members
The Red Curtain Lord Cornelius Plum Sir John Johns E.I.E.I. Owen

The Dukes of Stratosphear was a pseudonym used by the British rock band XTC in the late 1980s. The band released two albums, 25 O'Clock (1985) and Psonic Psunspot (1987), which drew upon influences of 1960s psychedelic music such as the Beatles, Pink Floyd, and the Pretty Things. The two albums were released on a single CD under the title Chips from the Chocolate Fireball: An Anthology simultaneous with the release of the second vinyl album.

In the credits to the Skylarking album, XTC thanked the Dukes of Stratosphear for the loan of their guitars.

The Dukes of Stratosphear reformed in 2003 to record the track "Open A Can (Of Human Beans)" for the MS Society charity compilation album The Wish List. The track was later included on Andy Partridges' album Fuzzy Warbles Volume 7 (2006).

Members

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

Trivia

It seems that hearing Nick Nicely's "Hilly Fields (1982)" inspired Andy Partridge et al. to form The Dukes of Stratosphear.

Discography