In the history of rock oddities, the spectacle of an established group taking on a pseudonym to record material in tribute to the music that initially inspired 'em has become an established ploy. The Mothers of Invention did it for doo-wop back in 1968 with Cruising with Ruben & the Jets, while in 1984, British art-poppers XTC donned the moniker Dukes of the Stratosphear to do something similar to psychedelia.
The results of this masquerade produced two enjoyable pastiches, the EP 25 O'clock and full-length long-player Psonic Psunspot. Together, both discs were originally released together in the U.S. on CD by Geffen as Chips from the Chocolate Fireball (An Anthology), though expanded and remastered versions of both titles are now being reissued separately on XTC mastermind Andy Partridge's Ape House label.
Are they worth getting if you already own a copy of Fireball? Depends on how avid a fan you are of this quirky band of studio obsessives. Of the two releases, Dukes debut 25 O'clock is the one with the most extras, which makes sense since the original platter was around the length of the original Magical Mystery Tour EP. Six demos (two of songs not included on the original release), plus three additional recordings are added to the original's six tracks. (A video of "The Mole from the Ministry" was originally supposed to be part of the package but couldn't be included.) One of these extra tracks, "Open A Can of Human Beans," was done as a one-shot Dukes reunion for an MS Society charity compilation album: the one time these faux sixties survivors recorded together in the 21st century.
The six core tracks remain top-notch psychedelic pspoofs: five were penned by Partridge under the pseudonym Sir John John, while the sixth came from the less prolific bassist Colin Moulding (a.k.a. The Red Curtain), playing Harrison to Partridge's Lennon/McCartney with a Zager & Evans-ish prophecy of dire futures entitled "What in the World??…" In the doomy title opener, Partridge melds Electric Prunes' "I Had Too Much to Dream Last Night" to Pink Floyd, while "Bike Ride to the Moon" hints at a greater Britbeat obscurity, Tomorrow's "My White Bicycle."
Article comments
1 - Glen Boyd
Nice to see this one getting the reissue treatment, as it's one of those forgotten gems that a lot of folks could've easily missed the first time around. XTC is one of those great bands that I could never understand why they weren't a lot bigger in America. I saw them just once, opening for the Police and have never forgot it. Also agree with you about "Skylarking"...is there a cooler Beatlesque gem than "grass" anywhere? I think not.
-Glen
2 - Turner
Dont get it!
3 - ScienceFriction
I have to say this, don't take it the wrong though, The Smartest Monkeys is a Colin Moulding composition. Also, the videos will not be on the official releases due to problems with Virgin Records. Otherwise nice review, we have our differences, but then again I'm biased! Cheers.
4 - Bill Sherman
Made the correction on the Partridge/Moulding misattribution (my simpleton brain mashed Moulding's song togther with "Scarecrow People"). Ape House's promo copies of both discs list the videos as part of each package; it's unfortunate that they ultimately couldn't be included.