so-and-so". They followed up with the British-only mini-album 25 O'Clock, released on April Fools' Day 1985 and credited under the pseudonym "the Dukes of Stratosphear". The album was a more explicit homage to 1960s psychedelia that outsold The Big Express, even before the Dukes were revealed to be XTC. Partridge remembered: "That was a bit upsetting to think that people preferred these pretend personalities to our own personalities ... they're trying to tell us something." During a routine meeting in early 1986, Virgin Records executives threatened to drop the band from the label if their next album failed to sell more than 70,000 units. One reason why the group was not selling enough records, the label reportedly concluded, was that they sounded "too English". As was the case for their other records, the label refused to allow the band to act as their own producers, even though Partridge was already established as a producer of other artists. The group were given a list of American producers and the only name they recognized was Todd Rundgren's. To Virgin, he appeared to be ideal for XTC, as he had a reputation for completing troubled projects on schedule and under budget, such as Badfinger's Straight Up (1971) and Meat Loaf's Bat Out of Hell (1977). XTC was a rare example, he said, "where I was both familiar with the band's previous work and unnecessary as a 'songcraft' agitator." He had also attended one of XTC shows in Chicago during their 1980 Black Sea tour. Guitarist Dave Gregory was a fan of Rundgren's music, particularly since hearing the 1978 album Hermit of Mink Hollow. His bandmates were not as familiar with the producer. For bassist Colin Moulding, "I'd seen him on stage, on TV, with his Utopia stuff, and I thought it was way over the bastard top ... Then Dave started playing me one or two things. I heard 'I Saw the Light," and I thought, 'Christ, that's a really good song!' I didn't know he had that side to him. All that Partridge knew about Rundgren was his solo album Something/Anything? (1972). Gregory urged the group to work with him: "I reminded Andy that Todd had produced one of his favourite New York Dolls records [New York Dolls, 1973]. In the absence of any better alternatives, he agreed." Once contacted, Rundgren offered to handle the album's entire recording for a lump sum