The Dukes of Stratosphear were a fictional English psychedelic-pop group who were, in reality, a side project and alter ego of XTC. Formed in 1984 in Swindon, Wiltshire, the Dukes allowed Andy Partridge, Colin Moulding and Dave Gregory to indulge their fascination with the psychedelic pop and rock of the late 1960s without the expectations attached to the XTC name.