- Jesus Jones
Infobox musical artist
Name = Jesus Jones
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Background = group_or_band
Origin =England
Genre =Alternative rock Alternative dance Techno Industrial
Years_active = 1987—present
Label = Food (1989–1993, 1997)
EMI (1993, 1999)
Liberty (2002)
Nebula (2005)
Mi5 Recordings/Koch (2001–2002)
Mi5 UK 2004
Associated_acts =
URL =
Current_members = Mike Edwards
Jerry De Borg
Al Doughty
Iain Baker
Gen
Past_members =Jesus Jones is a British rock group. The
London -based group recorded and performed in the late 1980s, throughout the 1990s, and into the 2000s.History
Formation and "Liquidizer" (1987-1989)
Incorporating elements of
electronic music styles such as house and techno to anindie rock format, along with fellow British groups such asThe Shamen ,Pop Will Eat Itself and EMF, Jesus Jones was one of the leading purveyors of the early 1990s "indie dance " scene. The band is led by Mike Edwards.They achieved initial critical acclaim with their 1989
album "Liquidizer", and in particular, the single "Info Freako", which featured buzzing rockguitar s with samples and a hip-hop sensibility, relatively new for the time. The track was particularly championed byBruno Brookes on his Radio 1 evening show."Doubt" and "Perverse" (1990-1995)
In the spring of 1990, Jesus Jones recorded their second album, "Doubt", but their label was forced to delay its release until the beginning of 1991. The album sold very well, due to the success of their best-known hit "Right Here, Right Now". The song is about the swift end of the
Cold War , and was a No. 2 hit in the U.S. but reached only No. 31 in the UK; and which was resurrected in 2006 as an advertisingjingle for the Americanretailer Kmart , an image campaign forCBS News , and was used in promotional advertisements for the now defunct TV channel,TechTV .Other singles from the "Doubt" album included "Real, Real, Real" and "International Bright Young Thing". In the year that "Doubt" was released, Jesus Jones won the "Best Newcomer" award at the
MTV Awards .The follow-up to "Doubt" was "Perverse" which, although a big seller, did not reach the worldwide hit status of "Doubt".
Recent activity (1996-present)
After the release of the "Perverse" album, Jesus Jones took an extended hiatus and did not return to the studio until 1996. They released fourth album, ironically titled "Already", in 1997 after which Jesus Jones and their
record label EMI parted company. The band remained in contact and came back with the low-selling "London" in 2001 on the indie record label Mi5 Recordings. EMI issued "", a collection of greatest hits whilst, in the meantime, the band moved from the North American-only Mi5 to the newly established Mi5 Recordings UK.In 2004 they released the EP "Culture Vulture", whilst in 2005
DJ andrecord producer Robbie Riviera had a club hit with a remix of "Right Here Right Now", but did not manage to follow his previous single "Bang" into theTop 40 .2008 Democratic presidential candidate
Hillary Rodham Clinton has used "Right Here, Right Now" as her campaign theme song.Fact|date=October 2007 1992 Democratic presidential candidateJerry Brown used it as his campaign theme song.Fact|date=October 2007The band are soon playing three live dates in the UK in October 2008, two supporting the Wonder Stuff and one by themselves. Use the links below for further details.
Band leader Mike Edwards is an enthusiastic proponent of new music technology and presented a brief
BBC Radio series describing its history.Fact|date=September 2008Their first producer Craig Leon described them as "easily the loudest band in history".
The third album "Perverse" lays claim to being the first rock album recorded entirely digitally.Fact|date=October 2007 As a result, the jacket sleeve does not list the traditional guitars/ drums/ vocals credit; it instead lists a frequency range: 20 Hz to 4 kHz- Al Jaworski, 300 Hz to 8 kHz- Jerry De Borg, drum type sounds- Gen, etc. Mike Edwards lead vocals are the only non sampled acoustic instrument on the record.
Band members
* Mike Edwards (born Michael James Edwards,
22 June 1964 inLondon ) - Vocals,guitar s, keyboards.
* Jerry De Borg (born30 October 1963 inKentish Town , London) - Guitars.
*Al Doughty - (born Alan Jaworski,31 January 1966 inPlymouth ) - Bass.
* Iain Baker (born Iain Richard Foxwell Baker,29 September 1965 inCarshalton ,Surrey ) - Keyboards, programming.
* Gen - (born Simon Matthews,23 April 1964 inDevizes ,Wiltshire ) - drums, additional percussion.Discography
External links
* [http://www.jesusjones.com Official website]
* [http://www.redpenguin.net/bandphotos/ Photos from Jesus Jones' live show in London in August 2005]
* [http://www.cmapworld.org Jesus Jones and more Jesus Jones]
* [http://memorexyears.blogspot.com/2007/05/jesus-jones-perverse-foodemi-1993.html detailed review of Perverse]
* [http://www.jesusjonesarchive.info Archive of Info on Jesus Jones]
* [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=B46psa9wgb238 All Music Guide entry for Jesus Jones]
* [http://www.badvibes.net/viewArticle.asp?article=1124626116 Mike Edwards interview on Badvibes.net]
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