25 O'Clock

File:XTC live.jpg

When guitarist Dave Gregory was invited to join XTC in 1979, bandleader and songwriter Andy Partridge learned that they both shared a longtime passion for 1960s psychedelic music. An album of songs in that style was immediately put to consideration, but the group could not go through with it due to their commercial obligations to Virgin Records. Another consideration Partridge had was the punk movement's antipathy toward pop music of the past.{{cite book|last1=Partridge|first1=Andy|last2=Bernhardt|first2=Todd|authorlink1=Andy Partridge|title=Complicated Game: Inside the Songs of XTC|date=2016|publisher=Jawbone Press|isbn=978-1-908279-78-1}} XTC stopped touring in 1982 and immediately began focusing on refining their sound in the studio. During the making of their 1984 album The Big Express, Partridge began writing material he thought could potentially be performed in a psychedelic style, the first being "Your Gold Dress". He recalled "beginning [to be unable] to contain the desire to do this. You can see it leaking out earlier".

In November 1984, one month after the release of The Big Express, Partridge traveled to Monmouth, 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). 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.{{cite web|last=Ingham|first=Chris|title=XTC - 'Til Death Do Us Part|url=http://chalkhills.org/articles/MOJO199903.html|website=Mojo|date=March 1999}} The rules were as follows: songs must follow the conventions of 1967 and 1968 psychedelia; no more than two takes allowed; vintage equipment wherever possible. Partridge said: "I didn't really have songs ready, just ideas. I knew I wanted to do something like Syd Barrett. Perhaps a Beatles-esque track. ... I rung up the other guys and said 'Hey, let's put on a show!'; you know, that kind of thing."{{cite web|last1=Gibron|first1=Bill|title=Parcels from a Patchouli Past: An Interview with Andrew Partridge|url=https://www.popmatters.com/119477-parcels-from-a-patchouli-past-an-interview-with-andrew-partridge-2496154616.html|website=PopMatters|date=14 February 2010}}

Leckie agreed to take on production and searched for a cheap studio for the band. Partridge invited his XTC bandmates to participate; they were augmented on drums by Dave Gregory's brother Ian, since the group did not have a drummer at the time. The song "25 O'Clock" was quickly written as they waited for the project to be greenlit by Virgin.{{cite web|last1=Bernhardt|first1=Todd|last2=Partridge|first2=Andy|authorlink2=Andy Partridge|title=Sir John Johns discusses "25 O'Clock"|url=http://chalkhills.org/articles/XTCFans20090412.html|website=Chalkhills|date=12 April 2009}} After the label reluctantly loaned the group £5,000, two weeks were spent on the album's recording and mixing at Chapel Lane Studios in Hereford, England.{{cite book|last=Rachel|first=Daniel|year=2014|title=The Art of Noise: Conversations with Great Songwriters|page=203|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hL1zAwAAQBAJ|publisher=St. Martin's Press|isbn=9781466865211}} The project was planned as a full-length LP, but only six songs were completed due to time constraints. The album was produced so cheaply that the band refunded £1,000 back to the label.{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x7gqQjtX970 |title=John Leckie on producing XTC, Dukes of Stratosphear, Be-Bop Deluxe, Stone Roses, and full Q&A |language=en |access-date=2024-03-31 |via=www.youtube.com}} Partridge looked back on its making as the "most fun we ever had in the studio."{{Cite magazine|url=http://www.magnetmagazine.com/2016/03/28/magnet-classics-xtcs-skylarking/|title=The Making of XTC's "Skylarking"|last=Amorosi|first=A.D.|date=28 March 2016|magazine=Magnet|access-date=13 March 2017}}

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|filename=The Mole from the Ministry.ogg

|title="The Mole from the Ministry"

|description= The album's only single, "The Mole from the Ministry", was an improvised-in-the-studio Beatles pastiche.

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Each musician adopted a pseudonym: "Sir John Johns" (Partridge) "Lord Cornelius Plum" (Dave), "The Red Curtain" (Colin Moulding) and "E.I.E.I. Owen" (Ian). Partridge's moniker was inspired by the Martian Manhunter's name,{{cite web |last1=Evans |first1=Stewart |title=We've Forgotten Part Four! |url=http://chalkhills.org/articles/KFJC1987.html |website=Chalkhills |access-date=10 January 2025}} while Moulding's was derived from an old nickname referring to the length of his hair.{{cite magazine|last1=Allen|first1=Richard|title=The Dukes of Stratosphear|magazine=Freakbeat|date=1987|issue=4|url=http://chalkhills.org/articles/Freakbeat1987.html}} The band dressed themselves in Paisley outfits for the sessions and lit scented candles. Partridge: "Dave Gregory took to the Dukes a bit too much. Elephant jumbo cord flares, big white belt, beads - we were a bit worried." In contrast to himself and Gregory, "Colin was more of a heavy metal kid. He was more into Black Sabbath and Uriah Heep and people like that. So he didn't really have much of a grasp on psychedelia."

"25 O'Clock" and "Bike Ride to the Moon" were reimaginings of the Electric Prunes' "I Had Too Much to Dream (Last Night)" (1966) and Tomorrow's "My White Bicycle" (1967), respectively.{{cite web|last1=Ham|first1=Robert|title=XTC Albums From Worst To Best|url=https://www.stereogum.com/1701312/xtc-albums-from-worst-to-best/franchises/counting-down/attachment/25oclock/|website=Stereogum|date=15 September 2014}} One of the "best bits on the EP," Partridge later said, was Moulding's "What in the World??...", which featured tape manipulation akin to the Beatles' "Only a Northern Song" (1969). Moulding offered another song, "Big Day", but the group deemed it good enough for the next XTC album. He explained: "The Dukes thing was written in an air of 'Well, it doesn't really matter, we'll tart it all up in the mix.'"{{cite web|last1=Bernhardt|first1=Todd|title=Working from the Inside|url=http://chalkhills.org/articles/TBColin20000523.html|website=Chalkhills|date=23 May 2000}} "Have You Seen Jackie?", a Pink Floyd–Tomorrow–Keith West–Rolling Stones amalgamation, was also left off the album, later being included on Psonic Psunspot.

{{Music ratings

| state = plain

| subtitle = Retrospective reviews

| rev1 = AllMusic

| rev1Score = {{Rating|4.5|5}}

| rev3 = Pitchfork

| rev3Score = 7.7/10

| rev2 = The Encyclopedia of Popular Music

| rev2Score = {{Rating|5|5}}{{cite book|last=Larkin|first=Colin|author-link=Colin Larkin|title=The Encyclopedia of Popular Music|year=2007|publisher=Omnibus Press|edition=5th|isbn=978-0857125958|title-link=Encyclopedia of Popular Music}}

}}

Released exclusively in Britain on April Fool's Day 1985, the mini-album was presented as a long-lost collection of recordings by a late 1960s group.{{cite web|last1=Erlewine|first1=Stephen Thomas|authorlink1=Stephen Thomas Erlewine|title=25 O'Clock|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/25-oclock-mw0000811566|website=AllMusic}} Partridge designed its cover art on his kitchen table using colored pens and photocopied 19th-century lettering. Virgin Records publicised the Dukes as a mysterious new act,{{cite web|url={{AllMusic|class=artist|id=p4140/biography|pure_url=yes}}|title=The Dukes of Stratosphear - Biography|last=Erlewine|first=Stephen Thomas|author-link=Stephen Thomas Erlewine|website=AllMusic|accessdate=28 July 2009}} and when asked about the album in interviews, XTC initially denied having any involvement.{{cite web|last1=Brelhan|first1=Tom|title=XTC to Reissue Dukes of Stratosphear Side Project|url=https://pitchfork.com/news/34690-xtc-to-reissue-dukes-of-stratosphear-side-project/|website=Pitchfork|date=25 February 2009}} A music video set to "The Mole from the Ministry"—the first in which they were allowed total creative input—was produced for BBC West's RPM music programme.{{Cite magazine|last=Ramon|first=Gary|url=http://chalkhills.org/articles/recordCollector.html#rc199011|title=XTC Recording History|magazine=Record Collector|date=November 1990|issue=130}} Partridge: "That's the only one of our videos that I've liked, the only one I can watch ... every little [promo] film [from 1967] we could find, we put ideas from them in there."{{cite web|last1=Benjamin|first1=Kent H.|title=The Jetsons Meet Captain Beefheart: The Wonderful World of XTC|url=http://chalkhills.org/articles/PopCulturePress1999.html|website=Pop Culture Press|date=1999}}

In England, 25 O'Clock sold twice as many copies as The Big Express, even before the Dukes' identity was made public. The album also achieved considerable sales in the US.{{cite magazine|last1=Hunt|first1=Chris|title=Andy Partridge Interview|magazine=Phaze 1|date=1989|url=http://www.chrishunt.biz/features16.html}} On XTC's next album Skylarking (1986), the Dukes were mentioned in its liner notes, where they were thanked for the loan of their guitars.

{{track listing

| all_writing = Andy Partridge except "What in the World??...", by Colin Moulding

| headline = Side one

| title1 = 25 O'Clock

| length1 = 5:01

| title2 = Bike Ride to the Moon

| length2 = 2:24

| title3 = My Love Explodes

| length3 = 3:54

}}

{{track listing

| headline = Side two

| title1 = What in the World??...

| writer1 =

| length1 = 5:01

| title2 = Your Gold Dress

| length2 = 4:38

| title3 = The Mole from the Ministry

| length3 = 5:50

}}

A remastered and expanded version of 25 O'Clock was released on 20 April 2009 by Partridge's Ape House record label. This edition of 25 O'Clock is credited to "XTC as The Dukes of Stratosphear". It also included the promotional video for "The Mole from the Ministry" as a QuickTime file.

{{track listing

| headline = 2009 CD bonus tracks

| title7 = 25 O'Clock (Demo)

| length7 = 2:25

| title8 = Bike Ride to the Moon (Demo)

| length8 = 1:30

| title9 = My Love Explodes (Demo)

| length9 = 1:54

| title10 = What in the World??... (Demo)

| writer10 =

| length10 = 3:40

| title11 = Nicely Nicely Jane (Demo)

| length11 = 1:17

| title12 = Susan Revolving (Demo)

| length12 = 1:24

| title13 = Black Jewelled Serpent of Sound (Radio Caroline Edit)

| length13 = 2:17

| title14 = Open a Can of Human Beans

| length14 = 4:44

| title15 = Tin Toy Clockwork Train

| length15 = 3:17

}}

Credits adapted from the album's liner notes.{{cite AV media notes| title = 25 O'Clock| others= The Dukes of Stratosphear| year = 1985| type = liner notes| publisher = Virgin Records}}

The Dukes of Stratosphear

• Sir John Johns (Andy Partridge) – vocals, guitar, bass on "What in the World??...",{{cite web|last1=Bernhardt|first1=Todd|title=Andy discusses 'Mayor of Simpleton'|url=http://chalkhills.org/articles/XTCFans20070107.html|website=Chalkhills|date=7 January 2007}} sleeve art
• The Red Curtain (Colin Moulding) – vocals, bass, rhythm guitar on "What in the World??..."
• Lord Cornelius Plum (Dave Gregory) – mellotron, piano, organ, fuzz-tone guitar
• E.I.E.I. Owen (Ian "Eewee" Gregory) – drums

Technical

• John Leckie – producer, engineer
• Swami Anand Nagara – producer
• The Dukes of Stratosphear – producer

("Swami Anand Nagara" is an alternate identity of Leckie; both are credited as producers.)

{{Reflist|refs=

{{ cite web | first=Stephen Thomas| last=Erlewine| url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/25-oclock-mw0000811566| title=Review: The Dukes of Stratosphear - 25 O'Clock | work=Allmusic | publisher=Rovi Corporation | accessdate=7 November 2018}}

{{ cite web | first=Chris | last=Dahlen | url=http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/12893-25-oclock-psonic-psunspot/ | title=Review: The Dukes of Stratosphear - 25 O'Clock | work=Pitchfork | date=2 April 2009 | accessdate=18 June 2011 }}

}}

• {{URL|chalkhills.org/reelbyreal/s_25OClock.html|25 O'Clock on Chalkhills}}

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Category:1985 albums

Category:Albums produced by John Leckie

Category:Virgin Records albums

Category:The Dukes of Stratosphear albums