The Dukes of Stratosphear-You're a good man Albert Brown

[gwynethanne]

Psychedelic Steampunk form The. Best. Band. Ever.

[SuperMegaUberGenius]

most people on twitter on acid in 2011 haven't enough characters nor walrii? it's just the extrapolation

/watch?v=Ki9WtdZPsRY

from slide guitar genius backwardness

 Heinous makes me squint like lime in my eye like the last shot of bourbon

/watch?v=Ki9WtdZPsRY

cowardice athos for a thousand alex

[BillMinworth]

Remember when this came out? now where did Blur get their hit from?!

[14up0]

This is one of the most authentic post 60s , 60s tracks. If you know what I mean.

[mik63ward]

british ecrencitity at its best

[jluke68]

@mik63ward: ecrencitity (e-KREN-chə-titty)

[mik63ward]

@mik63ward oops! ha ha ha, thanks for pointing that one out, better get my skates on, i'll be late for school,

oh dear, 40 years too late...........bugger!

[macxtc]

XTC!!!.... Dukes... Oops! ...hahahaaaa used Barbie Dolls... such a cool song... tells a good story of everyday life... another XTC thingy

[macxtc]

XTC!!!.... Dukes... Oops!

[redstarboy93]

Much better than XTC !!!

[wattdabny]

@redstarboy93 ooofff that's VERY debatable considering they are XTC haha

[redstarboy93]

@wattdabny I knew this my friend. Just wanted to say that I prefer xtc when they are the dukes... Understand?

[wattdabny]

@redstarboy93 i do understand, what i meant was that they're literally the same band or that's how i see em as anyways so i wouldnt really bother saying ones better than the other cos i think both are ace personally.... understand?

[redstarboy93]

@wattdabny Yes my good friend ! So I resume my opinion, the same since the first message: xtx when they play xtc is boring (for me) but xtc when they change their name and their style to become The Dukes (the same men ! ) it is (for me) very very good and interesting! That's all folks !

[Topographer]

The Dukes project changed XTC. For the better. They must have learned a lot from it.

[paralentor]

Back in the 80's they were all nostalgic for the 60's. And you married that nurse and her name was Alice, and along came DAD.

[joynthis]

Because I've been so nostalgic for 80's nostalgia for the 60's nostalgia for the 'teens.

[Frisbieinstein]

Stolen from Corporal Clegg

[gardengrove0]

i like that xtc did dukes of stratosphere... it shows how versatile they actually were. ah they can do anything!

[101Volts]

@gardengrove0 You're not kidding, They REALLY changed their sound over the years. If you played their songs Heatwave and The Mole From The Ministry to someone who was unfamiliar with them they'd probably never guess it was the same band.

[trumansstate]

love this song xtc rules

[cpdaddy7]

Sooty and Sweep! Sausages!

[autodidactic]

it's the "it's fucking on now, chaps guy @1:47 !

i remember having this on tape back in the day!

[maxheadway]

The ultimate peacenik anthem - from 1987. Who'd have thought it?

[ePhilosopher9]

your self-indulgent ralph malph is absurd comedy's version of Sigh

[wedrinkmountaindew]

Sgt Pepper meets The Small Faces

[The21stcenturypaul]

Delightful! & appropriately cheese-surrealistic...hey, neo-psychedelia(that actually works) is not necessarily as easy as these gents make it look...they pulled it off cleverly & beautifully, then gracefully folded it into the band's main body of work, producing some of the best songs of a distinguished career...also paving the way for excellent work by neo-prog bands like Porcupine Tree, who started out on neo-psychedelic label Delerium...Sir John Johns & The Red Carpet, forever!

[AGlassScura]

do you know kimball?

[p2crisis]

people, where's your sense of humour and iconoclasm?

[WeeklyAd3]

what the fuck.

[macxtc]

My favorite band in the whole world.....

I have every album...from XTC, the dukes, The Three Wise Men, even Barry Andrews bands

but.... boy, their music videos suck.

[pazzensutra]

Oh Blimey, watch out!

[mrmarriottsgirl]

Love this band - Apple Venus/Greenman/Easter: the stuff off Psonic/25 O'clock or this song or maybe Gold Dress or Lighthouse, or Pale & Prescious, or wait maybe Skylarkin - Summer's Cauldron, Earn Enough for Us Fear God, or wait Generals & Majours - I could prattle on & on! Partridge is as creative & talented as many other greats of Commonwrealth rock & so underrated! The less accolades yuo get usually the better you are - rest my case with XTC! THIS IS POP!! THIS IS COOL SMART POP!

[rob57uk]

@mrmarriottsgirl Absolutely brilliant. Some might say "they don't make music like that anymore", but that's a lie. There's a great British tradition of entertainment that goes back to Chaucer via the Globe, Drury Lane, Gilbert & Sullivan, Barry and many others. XTC carried the flame for a while and have passed it on to others. Half the fun is in winkling those others out from the surrounding blandness. Pop may well eat itself but cream always rises to the top. Brilliant!!!

[MoveOverCasanova]

the best song ringo starr never got written by paul mcCartney

[sundayneal]

@MoveOverCasanova

very beatle-esque....sargeant peppers, i think

[ineabriate]

or was it 25 o'clock?

[ineabriate]

bought chips from the etc... 20 odd years ago, just found this and listened again, cant believe i neglected it for so long. Your gold dress has to be up there in favoridium

[kittyprydekissme]

This one sounds like a Ray Davies song.

[FLORENT2222]

the voice too !!!!

[drsloan]

FYI...You can now own this as a Quicktime movie (hi-res!), included on the Psonic Psunspot enhanced reissue CD, just released 4/14/09. Bonus demo tracks too! (I'm just a fan, and not a representative of the band or their label.)

[mrmarriottsgirl]

Beatles,musichall,kneeup,oldty­me,barmy, romp thru the bizzare world that is XTC this number nicks Barrett's Floyd and the Beatles Pepper so perfectly it's creepy - and anyway it's pure Partridge insanity and I gotta say it grows on ya - I like it - "and you married that nurse - and her name was Alice ..." what a melody Cheers and Knees Up Mother Brody!,

[VictorConMalvaviscos]

I love this song!

[WONDAWOMAN]

Would you believe a "black" girl from California purchased and loves this wacky album! It is so off & strange but I love it!

Is this an official video for the song:?

[Sircornflakes]

Yes it was many years ago....XTC are so underrated. There are so many fun tunes on this album. The beach boyish Pale and Precious or the very beatle esque "mole from the ministry". My personal favorite is "Brainiacs Daughter". Im gonna listen right now :)

[Waluigiman]

My favourite song is My Love Explodes, so, so epic.

[KaitainCPS]

Brainiac's Daughter is ace.

I think my favourite is "She's a Little Lighthouse". Middle eight on that is stupendous.

[blackiron60]

Now wasn't that just about the greatest thing since sliced bread!

[PictureVideoBook]

This is another excellent video by the Dukes, just like the one they did for "The Mole From the Ministry." This is definitely something I should've seen when it was first shown.

[VictorConMalvaviscos]

I love this song, and I love this video.

[54spiritedwill54]

most excellent to see this here!!

[ChasBeauregarde]

CURSE YOU RED BARREL!!!!

[Waluigiman]

Maybe Andy tried playing Sonic 3 and was stuck at the red barrell in Carnival Night Zone Act 2. I'm sure lots of people cried that out ;)

[letdown201]

One of the greatest drinking songs of all times. My grandfather would have tilted a few to this one.

Cheers to Andy and the boys!

[Wilthomer66]

As psychedelic as a pint of brown...god bless The Dukes. They were a lark psych band who sounded more authentic and genuinely psychedelic than all those crap California bands in paisley shirts making new wave records with trippy lyrics and raving about Syd Barrett in intereviews while their records sounded like U2 w/ Rickenbackers & Farfisas!

[johnnybsteelriff]

Uncle Ray is beaming over Andy Partridge's shoulder here

[ePhilosopher]

oh arnold lane

[hermorobert]

a little pastiche of beatles and all the british band so charming of the sixties

[mik1234]

ha ha ha, love it

[lulakirby]

Wow. I didn't know the Dukes made any videos. I actually got into them before XTC. My friend gave me a tape with their first 6 songs on it. Great!

[MusicJew158]

Christ what an amazing Kinks tribute!

[RudieDavidson]

Brilliant. Didn´t know either that there were videos of the Dukes. A complete new world opens for me.

[LiquidDreamsUK]

It is an impressive tribute to the Kinks by the way...

[cranie4]

I'm sure there's more British reference in the videos and songs than we Americans will ever understand. Like when Andy sings things like "Sunny Jim couldn't jump it" we all go..?? and then run for reference :) No band on our side is gonna make vague references to things like "You're soaking in it" or "Mr Whipple" or "Hi, Neighbor" :) British music is just too cool...

[tikitortured]

Agreed! Brian Wilson tried to make an American version of this type of stuff with SMILE.

[ThousandEmbers]

I know that you didn't mean to say that Brian wanted to copy that stuff but it got me thinking, so thanks.

Smile was started in 1966, before most of "Village Green" songs were done, certainly before the concept emerged for it. Before "Sgt. Peppers". Before the "national pride" aspect was successfully combined with a kind of musical surrealism.

Maybe it's just a convergence of thought of the times by contemporaries who were all ridiculously talented.

[Squeaky1423]

absolutely fab! Want to return to England now...

[zzzozzz]

This.... is.... awesome! I had no idea there were any videos from the Dukes, though this looks more like Sir John Johns and and Company messing about and being daft than a real video, which is perfectly appropriate for this song.

[Sircornflakes]

Pure Genius

[csnewbob]

My dad played this song all the time when I was like 3 and I didn't know what it was until I was 14

[exile103]

It's "Arnold Layne" meets "Bike", with some "What's The New Maryjane" mixed in. Wonderful stuff! All hail The Dukes of Stratosphear

[seerauberjohnny]

Actually,I think 'Bike Ride to the moon' was their Barrett tribute,each song on their albums was an homage to a different artist-e.g Braniacs daughter-Macca!

[exile103]

I think that actually is closer to Tomorrow. And not just cuz of the bike either.

[crimsonkng]

I love The Beatles just like the XTC guys love The Beatles.

[BarryBeatmaster]

good to see Sooty & Sweep in the vid.

Chips from the Chocolate Fireball- £4.99 at HMV! love it.

[ePhilosopher]

an effervescing elephant, perhaps i should walk behind you playinga tuba, stewie griffin or D list. Great song dated today 01/01.2008

[Mobytanner]

Amazing!! My favourite album apart from The Stone Roses, looking for videos for ever! Thank you sooooo much!

[JeffSolidRock]

As the old Lyric says:- "I had too much to dream last night" and Andy has too many ideas for XTC. Great song's from Dukes. World has too few song like this today! Andy Look at all these people liking your work!!!!!! Sooo keep them coming. Megastratasphoric.

[christophershannon]

Best fucking song of all time! Goddamn they are gods!

[Lovecraft688]

"Vanishing Girl" was my fave from that album...hrmmm...also liked "She's a little Lighthouse" and the ome definite homage to the Beach Boys, "Pale and Precious". Gawd they made fantastic music.

[gobin56]

I first heard this song 20 years ago and haven't been able to get it out of my head since. What's funny is that the only reason I heard it in the first place was because the music reviewer for my local Florida newspaper was a fan of XTC. Also, I read elsewhere that the Dukes got back together for a song on the MS Society tribute album. The song can also be found on Andy Partridge's "Fuzzy Warbles" cd.

[thedupper]

most excellent to see this here!!

[saivo12]

yes goofd band but my favourite one : 25 o'clock , does anyone know this song ?

[lamancha2]

"that's when you're going to be mi-i-iine"

[Elkahatchee9]

Brilliant! What a great talent, those XTC boys....

[HTabor]

"And another Choad was had" LOL

These Swindon boys always put a smile on my face...

[CentralNervous]

Heard this song once, 20 years ago, and have been humming it ever since... Curse you, Andy Partridge!

[redgrrl]

skrapco ...i'd join in that endeavor..though i rather think Andy doesn't hang out at the pubs much..no liking for crowds, has our dear Andy....pity that

[spurs1971]

I cannot get this song out of my head.

Typical Partridge.

[MonsewerBoobhead]

Velly foooney.

[yeildtotheden]

"PLAY THEM SPOONS !!" Great Swindon Band. Used to rehearse across the road from me on a Sunday. My old man used to go and tell them to shut up after his usual 10 pints down the Bulldog.

Magic Stuff

[skrapco]

Awesome memory! We used to talk about how cool it would be to visit Swindon and hang out with Andy and the lads as the dorky American music snobs/nerds we are..uh, I mean were.

[Hagamaba]

This looks like it was a blast to be on set. I love how mickey mouse is in it.

[kevinandrewmoore]

There's not much that makes me proud to be English, but by god, this band is one of them

[shame69]

Yay! Sooty & Sweep!

[ferrari808]

cool cool , never seen before

[soremongs]

I't's great that you can find vids like this on youtube and you can get away from the drivel that's force fed.

[yokai1968]

Do Purchase Andy Partridge's Fuzzy Warbles. A rare collection over 9! yes thats right 9 CDs!!

[Jakpa11]

I love the way its shot on cine 8 making it look as original as it sounds.The musicianship on these two albums {25'o'clock/Psonic Sunset is incredible,making XTC truly,the one that got away. Am still longing for the next one...  Jakpa11

[ePhilosopher]

25 oclock anyone/ link me or whatever the term is

[thegorn68]

Psonic Psunspot came out in '87 and totally flew under the radar. Unfortunaetly, the airwaves were being ruled by hairbands, Michael Jackson, and other crap! An awesome album!

[ePhilosopher]

Syd anyway

[denverexec2000]

British music-hall comedy really gave Brit-Pop a wonderful facet that would never have come from American rock. The Beatles had the great good fortune of George Martin's years of musical comedy experience. XTC had the good fortune of the Beatles, the Kinks etc, and they all had Gilbert and Sullivan to thank, and Monty Python, and so on back. No wonder Britain (and Ireland - U2)produced almost all of the great bands. (The US produced great rock artists but only a few of the greatest bands).

[tikitortured]

You are absolutely right on that. Great points.

[lordwindowlicker]

Superb.  All hail Sir John Johns.

[kiint]

and Andy's 'stache...

bleedin' Kaiser Partridge!

[sanslatete]

Love Colin's beard! Awesome, thanks for posting this.