The Dukes of Stratosphear was a pseudonym used by the British rock band XTC in the mid to late 1980s, concurrently with XTC's continued musical activities. The project was intended as a homage to 1960s pop and psychedelic music by groups such as The Beatles, The Byrds, The Kinks, The Beach Boys, Jefferson Airplane, Pink Floyd and The Pretty Things.^{[citation needed]}