Psonic Pollspot! It's the DUKES OF STRATOSPHEAR POLL with your atom bomb!

25 O'Clock, easy

Your Gold Dress

Tough. First EP is actually perfect.

Vanishing Girl

albert brown

Nothing on the first EP that isn't AMAZING but had to go with Bike Ride To The Moon for the psuedo-Syd Barrett lyrics and the tinkly tonkly harpsichord solo.

My vote goes to that bloody fine man, Albert Brown

My vote went for "Have you seen Jackie?"

It really doesn't get better than "Vanishing Girl," although I so adore "25 O'Clock."

"Vanishing Girl" is the joint

Vanishing Girl for the win!

"You're My Drug" for the airplane sfx

love love love this album. tough call but it may be Vanishing Girl. no lvoe for the Affiliated?

I like it. This is an EP and an album - not an album, per se.

my love explodes for the gongs

your gold dress and you're my drug runners up

I ended up voting Braniac's Daughter cuz lolz Macca + Superman comics

ALbert Brown, no hesitation, although this reminds me i should see if i still have any of this

BRAINIAC'S DAUGHTER
25 O'CLOCK
YOU'RE A GOOD MAN ALBERT BROWN

always in my head for days, stuck like a burr on the paw of a bearcub

can i vote for all of them

"Vanishing Girl" is my jam, but I may have to go for "Pale and Precious" even though it's at best my third-favorite, just cuz no one else seems to be pickin' it.

"My Love Explodes"! Because it's just as great as "Vanishing Girl" but no one has mentioned it yet.

OH FUCK. This is in my top five albums of all time and Brainiac's Daughter is the correct answer.

WAIT NO YOUR GOLD DRESS. Oh god this is too hard.

"You're My Drug" easily -- fuck you guys, don't you like the Byyyyyrds?

(I voted for "The Affiliated" fyi)

That'll be everything with at least one vote then.

Honestly, there's really not a bad track on this disc.

Vanishing Girl verse melody sounds like "In the jungle, the mighty jungle, the lion sleeps tonight"

(i'm going 'pale and precious')

Vanishing for containing the immortal line 'the whole street's talking about my white shirts looking so grey' and for rhyming 'enthusiasm' with 'answer' …

Moulding's intro on the bass is also extremely choice. And the fact that he can't handle the florid cod-psychedelic stuff that Andy churns out by the ton but insists on writing another ballad of mundanity.

All the Dukes stuff is killer … I miss XTC so much … sniff

Pale and Precious is probably the ultimate Beach Boys pastiche

Voted "Collideoscope". Great album(s)

I always wondered what Brian Wilson made of "Pale"

Apparently, not much.

I was impressed when I first heard it but I don't like much it myself anymore - sounding really like The Beach Boys doesn't seem like that great an achievement to me now

"What In The World" with "Ple And Precious" close behind.

What Tom D said.

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

Trainspotter fact: The bass on Vanishing Girl (my choice) is by Partridge, who also plays drums on Pale and Precious (due to Dave Gregory's brother being too drunk...)

Voted for "Little Lighthouse"

"What In The World??..." and "My Love Explodes" are close seconds.

All else was a close third. Nothing on either release is less than stellar. The only tracks that bother me are the ones where the band they're imitating currently bother me... which is really more power to the Dukes wrt how goddamn *accurate* they were in their reverences.

Shiny Cage is way too much like I'm Only Sleeping.

"Vanishing Girl" as the most joyful two and a half minutes of music EVER, followed by "Pale and Precious".

I voted Shiny Cage but have only ever heard the Suggs version of I'm Only Sleeping.

Many great tracks, voted little lighthouse, but coulda been yr my drug or my love explodes or...

turning facts and figures all around

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

WAU

this is a popular album

That is the most obscene - abomination, that is filth, that is trash, what possessed you to write such a disgusting degeneratized song as that? And I'm complimenting you by considering it a song.

Nice to see at least one vote for every song. There probably aren't many albums where every song is somebody's favorite.

But "Brainiac's Daughter" at #2? Lotsa closet "Yellow Submarine" fans out there...

.... and COlin Moulding gets the flag!

Who knows, if they did an "XTC Singles" poll,he'd probably get that too!

(I know, "they")

I do not understand these results, they are so topsy turvy.

One of the best polls EVER, each song with at least one vote... I don't understand that big love for 'Vanishing Girl', but good to see 'Brainiac's Daughter' getting so many votes.

It's the big 'pop' moment.

I'd have liked "Your gold dress" higher.

That reads wrong.

The full length album is just not as good as the EP. I do not understand this poll at all.

I nearly voted for Your Gold Dress, but that would have left Bike Ride To The Moon voteless.

Yes, the album isn't as good, some of the Partridge songs are average

Breaking it down:

First e.p. 18 votes
Album 33 votes

So, if you weight it as 6 tracks vs 10 tracks

Ratio:
ep average 3 votes per track
lp average 3.3 votes per track

Now, if you discount VG as being wayyy pop,

lp average 2 votes per track.

Hray!

Now do the same for Moulding vs. Partridge!

Moulding 18 votes, Partridge 33 votes, funnily enough.

4 tracks / 12 tracks

MRatio = 4.5 per track
PRatio = 2.8 per track

Discounting VanGirl would be unfair.

Hooray for Col!

...How the heck did I manage to miss this chance to vote for "25 O'Clock"?

Smacking myself for missing this poll.

No love for Collideascope? Surprising. I would've voted for Brainiac's Daughter, myself, though.

i've been listening to this the last few days. i always preferred the album to the ep, but maybe because i heard the album years before the ep.

XTC Fly In As The Dukes Of Stratosphear Date: 09/03/09
Hang onto your loon pants, Ape is proud to announce that it is to issue on April 9th in expanded form, the two albums originally released between 1985 and 1987 by Virgin Records under XTC's psychedelic pseudonym The Dukes Of Stratosphear.

Having never been issued on CD before in its own right, 25 Oclock will includes 9 extra tracks of demos and previously unreleased material and its follow up Psonic Psunspot adds 6 bonus demo recordings. Both CD's are packaged in luxurious hardback book format with 24 colour pages of full lyrics, photos and reams of brand new sleeve notes written by Dave Gregory, Colin Moulding and Andy Partridge or is that Lord Cornelius Plum, The Red Curtain and Sir John Johns?

Both albums were produced by John Leckie under his Indian spiritual name, Swami Anand Nagara, the man who will soon feature in several not to be missed exclusive podcasts on the Ape Site, talking in depth with Andy about this pair of wonderful projects.

Tracklisting for both albums are follows

25 Oclock (APECD023)
1. 25 Oclock
2. Bike Ride To The Moon
3. My Love Explodes
4. What In The World ??..
5. Your Gold Dress
6. The Mole From The Ministry
DEMOS
7. 25 Oclock
8. Bike Ride To The Moon
9. My Love Explodes
10. What In The World??..
11. Nicely Nicely Jane
12. Susan Revolving
EXTRA RECORDINGS
13. Black Jewelled Serpent Of Sound (Radio Caroline Edit)
14. Open A Can Of Human Beans
15. Tin Toy Clockwork Train

Psonic Psunspot (APECD024)
1. Vanishing Girl
2. Have You Seen Jackie?
3. Little Lighthouse
4. Your A Good Man Albert Brown (Curse You Red Barrel)
5. Collideascope
6. You're My Drug
7. Shiny Cage
8. Brainiacs Daughter
9. The Affiliated
10. Pale & Precious
DEMOS
11. No One At Home (Vanishing Girl)
12. Little Lighthouse
13. Colliedeascape
14. Shiny Cage
15. Brainiac's Daughter
16. The Affiliated

Both albums will be available to pre order from the Ape Site on 16th March for £10.99 each inc VAT, or if you pre order both albums for a total price of £20.00 inc VAT, you'll get 2 sets of free XTC as the Dukes badges.

Both albums will be released on vinyl later in the year.

Very cool, I'm down.

Anyone else hear Andy Partridge talking about this reissue on Radio 6 't other day?

Chips From the Chocolate Fireball was the second CD I ever bought, after Joy Division's Substance. I sold it eventually, and kind of miss those albums. Funny how great 25 O'Clock was compared to The Big Express, released that same year.

If you're made of money:

LIMITED edition XTC's ENTIRE output as "The Dukes of Stratosphear" + goodies = "The Complete And Utter Dukes" box set

The Complete And Utter Dukes is a special LIMITED edition release of XTC's pseudonymous output as "The Dukes of Stratosphear" being released domestically November 30 on XTC mainman Andy Partridge's Ape House label, distributed by ADA. This LIMITED EDITION purple cloth-covered box set completes even the completist's collection with everything the Dukes ever recorded presented in a variety of formats.

This includes the vinyl versions of 25 O'Clock and Psonic Psunspot are faithful to the original in their content and were remastered especially for these vinyl pressings. Both come in gatefold sleeves and newly designed inner bags. There's also a 7 inch single featuring Andy Partridge's "Tin Toy Clockwork Train," a track written for a psychedelic Euro Star ad campaign and Colin Moulding's demo of "The Affiliated."

You also get both 25 O'Clock and Psonic Psunspot are on separate CDs, again, having been completely remastered from the original analogue tapes, with generous bonus material and packaged in hardback books.

There is a "puzzle" that is exactly that: a psyched-out, mindbendingly difficult jigsaw.

You'll also find the Dukes $US dollars, psychedelic sheckles, one of which can be redeemed for an EXCLUSIVE Dukes T Shirt.

http://www.ape.uk.net

http://www.ape.uk.net/acatalog/dukes_utter_pack3d.jpg

jesus christ

wait are the cd reissues available? i am so out of the loop

Yes.

i mean available without buying a puzzle and some dukes of stratosphear whee la bucks or the rest of that nonsense

xpost ok good

I love how Andy's financial strategy these days is squeezing every last penny out of hardcore XTC nerds.

I mean, you have to buy two boxes.

One so you can get the psychedelic sheckles, one of which can be redeemed for an EXCLUSIVE Dukes T Shirt.

Then another one so you can get another one of that psychedelic sheckle because the ones that aren't redeemed will be a serious collectors item.

Got kind of excited about Steven Wilson remixes but then wondered if these really need remixing for stereo. If you're a surround guy I'd jump on it though.

Still I think the CD / Blu-ray bundle is cheaper than the separate CDs were and I'd considered getting at least the first one to replace my 2001 CD which is too much louderised.

https://burningshed.com/store/ape

Plus, instrumental mixes on the bluray!

would've voted for You're My Drug