Modelled after psychedelic pop groups from the 1960s, the Dukes were initially publicised by Virgin Records as a mysterious new act, but were actually an XTC spin-off band.

"[8] In 1975, he considered renaming his fledgling band the Helium Kidz to "the Dukes of Stratosphear", but he thought "it was too flowery and people would think we were a psychedelic group.

When guitarist Dave Gregory was invited to join XTC in 1979, Partridge learned that they both shared a passion for 1960s psychedelic music.

"[10] Another consideration Partridge had was the punk movement's antipathy toward pop music of the past: "A real Pol Pot kind of thing, which is ludicrous, and rather nasty."

[7]During the making of XTC's 1984 album The Big Express, Partridge began writing material he thought could be performed in a psychedelic style, the first being "Your Gold Dress".

He recalled "sneak[ing] off upstairs in Crescent Studios, in Bath, with my cassette machine and whisper these ideas for psychedelic songs into it.

'"[10] In November 1984, one month after the release of The Big Express, Partridge travelled to Monmouth in Wales with engineer John Leckie to produce the album Miss America by singer-songwriter Mary Margaret O'Hara, who had recently signed with Virgin.

Partridge and Leckie were dismissed due to conflicts related to their religious affiliations or lack thereof (O'Hara was a devout Catholic).

[11] Partridge was feeling inspired by Nick Nicely's 1982 psychedelic single "Hilly Fields 1892", and devised a recording project to fill the newfound gap in his schedule.

Partridge invited his XTC bandmates to participate; they were augmented on drums by Dave's brother Ian, since the group did not have a drummer at the time.

[10] The label, although sceptical, lent the group £5,000, and they spent two weeks on the album's recording and mixing at Chapel Lane Studios in Hereford, England.

"[11] Released exclusively in Britain on April Fool's Day 1985, the mini-album 25 O'Clock was presented as a long-lost collection of recordings by a late 1960s group.

[18] Virgin Records publicised the Dukes as a mysterious new act,[2] and when asked about the album in interviews, XTC initially denied having any involvement.

"[22] Originally, the running order was supposed to begin with "You're My Drug" and end with "Collideascope", but Virgin suggested flipping the sides so that "Vanishing Girl" would be the opening track.

[21] After the album's release, it was reported that when Brian Wilson was played its Beach Boys pastiche "Pale and Precious", he thought it was styled after Paul McCartney.

[24] Acts such as Kula Shaker, the Shamen and the Stone Roses later recruited Leckie based on his production work for the Dukes.

"[9] In 1991, he produced two tracks, "It's Snowing Angels" and "Then She Appeared", intended to be released as a hoax flexidisc attached to the cover of Strange Things Are Happening magazine.

Several sequels were proposed but ultimately abandoned, including the mock rock opera The Great Royal Jelly Scandal,[29] an animated feature film of 25 O'Clock,[30] a prequel album featuring the Dukes in their early Merseybeat phase, and a glitter rock parody as "The Stratosphear Gang" (the last of which Partridge suggested might have comprised songs originally written for the Helium Kidz).

He recalled playing some demos for Virgin, whose "jaws just hung open like that scene in [the 1967 film] The Producers when people see Springtime for Hitler the first time.

[32] The four members reformed in 2003 to record the track "Open a Can (Of Human Beans)" for the MS Society charity compilation album The Wish List.

[33][8] In 2008, Partridge recorded "Tin Toy Clockwork Train", a solo promotional single for Eurostar credited to the Dukes, which was given away free at railway stations.

[6] In 2019 all of the Dukes material was reissued on the CD/Blu-Ray compilation set Psurroundabout Ride, the title referring to the fact that all of the tracks were remixed for Blu-Ray in 5.1 surround sound by Steven Wilson (all except "Open a Can (Of Human Beans)" for which the multitrack masters were presumably unavailable).