# Jesus Jones

Jesus Jones are a British alternative rock band from Bradford-on-Avon in Wiltshire, formed in late 1988, who continue to record and perform, as of 2025. Their track "Right Here, Right Now" was an international hit, and was subsequently globally licensed for promotional and advertising campaigns. The single was also nominated for a Grammy award at the 34th Annual Grammy Awards in 1991, as was its album, Doubt. They also achieved chart success with the songs "Real Real Real", "International Bright Young Thing" and "Info Freako".

## Career
### Formation and Liquidizer (1986–1989)

Incorporating elements of electronic music styles such as house and techno to an indie rock format, along with fellow British groups such as The Shamen, Pop Will Eat Itself and EMF, Jesus Jones were one of the leading purveyors of the early 1990s alternative dance scene. In late 1988, while on holiday in Spain, Mike Edwards, Gen, and Al Doughty decided to leave the band they were in at the time, and form their own band. The name of the band came about when they realised that they were three "Joneses" sitting on a beach in Spain surrounded by people called Jesus. Back in London they advertised in the music press for a guitarist, and Jerry De Borg joined the band. Edwards had recently met Iain Baker in a pub in North London, they had got talking as they recognised each other as skateboarders, due to their footwear. Edwards asked Baker to join as the keyboardist and the line-up was complete.
They achieved initial critical acclaim with their 1989 album Liquidizer, and in particular, the single "Info Freako", which featured buzzing rock guitars with samples and a hip-hop sensibility, relatively new at the time. The track was particularly championed by Bruno Brookes on his BBC Radio 1 programme.
At the end of 1989 they covered the Crazyhead song, "I Don't Want that Kind of Love" for the 12" Food Xmas EP release, with Diesel Park West covering "Info Freako".

### Doubt and Perverse (1990–1995)

In the spring of 1990, Jesus Jones recorded their second album, Doubt, but their record label was forced to delay its release until the beginning of 1991. The album sold well, due to the success of "Right Here, Right Now". The song is about the swift end of the Cold War, and reached No. 2 in the US and No. 31 in the UK. In June 1990, Jesus Jones appeared at the Glastonbury Festival.
Other singles from Doubt included "Real, Real, Real" and "International Bright Young Thing", which became two of their biggest hit singles in the UK, reaching No. 19 and No. 7 respectively in the UK Singles Chart. In 1991, Jesus Jones were the only UK winners when they won the Best New Artist award at the MTV Awards. In April 1991, the British music magazine NME reported that their US tour had sold out before Jesus Jones arrived in the country.
The follow-up to Doubt was Perverse (1993), a darker and more industrial based album, which, though a big seller, did not reach the worldwide hit status of Doubt. Perverse was one of the first rock albums recorded entirely digitally.

### Already and London (1996–2003)

After the release of the Perverse album, Jesus Jones took an extended hiatus and did not return to the recording studio until December 1996. After the recording of their fourth album, drummer Gen left the band before the album was released. They released their fourth album, titled Already, in 1997 after which Jesus Jones and their record label EMI parted company. The final months of the band are chronicled in the PDF book written by Mike Edwards "Death Threats From An 8 Year Old In The Seychelles", which was available for a time from the band's website, and was published as a book to buy from the usual outlets. The band remained in contact and came back with a new drummer Tony Arthy with the low-selling London in 2001 on the indie record label Mi5 Recordings. EMI issued Never Enough: the Best of Jesus Jones, a greatest hits compilation album whilst the band moved from the North American-only Mi5 to the newly established Mi5 Recordings UK.

### Later activities (2004–2015)

With the exception of the release of the Culture Vulture EP in 2004, no new material from the band had been released between 2001 and 2018. However, in 2010, a series of download albums were released to Amazon.co.uk. The release consisted of six different albums containing "in concert" performances at the BBC, such as London T+C 1991 and London Astoria 1993.
In 2005, the Live at the Marquee DVD was released on Secret Recordings of a filmed gig from 2002.
The single "Right Here, Right Now" was resurrected in 2006 as an advertising jingle for the American retailer Kmart, in an image campaign for CBS News, and in promotional advertisements for the now-defunct television channel TechTV. In 2007 Hillary Clinton used the track for her electoral campaign. Ford Motor Company used "Right Here, Right Now" in their 2010 televisual advertising campaign. A cover of the song was also recorded by New Zealand band The Feelers to use in advertising for the 2011 Rugby World Cup. In 2011 the band released The Collection & Other Rarities, which included many of their B-side tracks as well as demos and rarities.
In November 2014, EMI reissued all four of the band's albums in a special CD+DVD bundle. In addition to the original album's tracks the reissues feature radio sessions, long-deleted b-sides, rare remixes and alternate versions. The DVDs include rare live concert footage and other extras.
In a 2015 interview for the online periodical Soot Magazine band leader Mike Edwards acknowledged that, besides re-recording some older tracks with new arrangements, he was in the process of writing material for a new album: "I am writing new stuff – I was actually writing some new material yesterday and I have loads of little bits and pieces ticking over."
Since the mid-2000s, Jesus Jones have continued performing live. In August 2011, the band went on a short tour (dubbed on one poster "The World's Smallest World Tour"), playing three shows in Australia before closing with a show in Japan. In November 2011, the band were due to perform in the UK in Birmingham and London, but the dates were postponed due to bass player Al Doughty being ill. They took place in January 2012. The band also toured the UK in December 2013 as part of The Wonder Stuff's Sleigh The UK tour. In March 2015, the band again returned to Australia and New Zealand for a five city tour.
On 24 December 2013, the band announced the resignation of drummer Tony Arthy. Having been with the band for 13 years, Arthy had replaced original drummer Simon "Gen" Matthews who had left after the rocky completion of Already. On 1 January 2014, the band announced that Matthews would be rejoining the band.
2013 also saw the release of the Liquidizer Live DVD self published.

### Passages and Voyages (2016-2018)

In 2016, the first song taken from what would become the Passages album, "How is this Even Going Down?" was released with extra tracks "Fall" and "Stripped 2016".
This was followed in 2016 with the Cdr single "Suck it up" with the extra tracks "So Welcome" and "Grateful".
All these tracks would later appear on the album Passages, which was released in April 2018 through a pledge music release and cd, with the companion demos album Voyages released in November 2018.

### Liquidizer EP 2019

The band released reworkings of Liquidizer album tracks in November 2019 on CD to celebrate its 30th Anniversary. The reworked tracks were - "Move Mountains", "All the Answers", "Bring it on Down" and "Someone to Blame".

### Some of the Answers 2022

The 15 CD Some of the Answers boxset was released in 2022 on Demon Records to cover all song, alternative releases and demos for the band - 6 albums, 131 bonus tracks and a 12x12 booklet of song annotations by the keyboard player Iain Baker.

### Record Store Day Releases (2018-2023)

Over the years, Jesus Jones have participated four times in record store day releases.
Zeroes and Ones was released as a clear limited to 1000, 12" vinyl with remixes by The Prodigy and Aphex Twin on 21st April 2018 on Razor and Tie Industries.
Right Here Right Now and remixes followed on clear 12" vinyl limited to 500 on RT industries.
Scratched was released as a 2 LP coloured vinyl on 23rd April 2022 on Demon Records limited to 2000. It had previously been a Japan only CD release.
In 2023, Live in Chicago was released as a 1200 edition, 2 white vinyl set with extra bonus tracks from Amsterdam. This was released on 22nd April.
All information can be found on the Record Store Day official pages.

### Coloured Vinyl on Demon Records (2022)

The older albums were all released onto various coloured vinyl in October 2022 on the Demon Records label.
Liquidizer on green, Doubt on orange, Perverse on blue, Already on clear, London on white, Passages on Yellow.
The compilation 2 LP gold vinyl set Zeroes and Ones the Best of Jesus Jones was also released on 28th October 2022.

### Touring (2019-2023)

Apart from during the pandemic years, Jesus Jones continued touring extensively for this time. As well as the UK gigs, they also played in Brazil, USA, Canada and Japan.

### Still Smiling release (2023)

A new single "Still Smiling" with an extra track "Blue Skies" was released on customised USB key with extras. This was for a planned Canada/USA tour, but issues with visas meant it was cancelled.

### More touring (2024)

2024 was a busy year for touring, billed as a "35th Anniversary tour" the band played the UK, USA and Australia. They did their first co-headline tour with fellow band from the 90s of a similar ilk, EMF.

### Animal Instinct release (2024)

The track "Animal Instinct" was released with a video on youtube.com in 2024. Its the precursor to more new tracks and an album release in 2025.

### 2025 Plans

So far the band have been on the "90s Cruise" with other bands to celebrate the 90s, which was a cruise of Tampa and Mexico, and have gigs planned for the end of March, and with EMF again in October. New song writing continues....

## Band members

* Mike Edwards (born Michael James Edwards, 22 June 1964, Educated at St Laurence Secondary School in Bradford on Avon, Wiltshire, England) (London) – vocals, guitars, keyboards (1988–present)
* Jerry De Borg (born Jerry de Abela Borg, 30 October 1960, Kentish Town, London) – guitars (1988–present)
* Al Doughty (born Alan Jaworski, 31 January 1966, Plymouth) – bass (1988–present)
* Gary Thatcher - bass on selected dates.
* Iain Baker (born Iain Richard Foxwell Baker, 29 September 1965, Carshalton, Surrey) – keyboards, programming (1988–present)
* Gen (born Simon Edward Robert Matthews, 23 April 1964, Devizes, Wiltshire) – drums, additional percussion (1988–1997 then 2014–present)

### Former members

* Tony Arthy – drums (1999–2013)

## Discography
### Studio albums

| Title | Album details | Peak chart positions | Peak chart positions | Peak chart positions | Peak chart positions | Peak chart positions | Peak chart positions | Peak chart positions | Peak chart positions | Peak chart positions | Peak chart positions | Certifications |
| Title | Album details | UK | AUS | CAN | EUR | FIN | GER | NED | NZ | SWE | US | Certifications |
| Liquidizer | Released: 2 October 1989 Label: Food (#FOOD3) Formats: LP, CS, CD | 32 | 118 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | UK: Silver |
| Doubt | Released: 26 January 1991 Label: Food (#FOOD5) Formats: LP, CS, CD | 1 | 23 | 35 | 10 | — | — | — | 6 | — | 25 | UK: Gold CAN: Platinum NZ: Platinum US: Platinum |
| Perverse | Released: 25 January 1993 Label: Food (#FOOD8) Formats: LP, CS, CD | 6 | 32 | 38 | 39 | 13 | 96 | 63 | 50 | 29 | 59 | |
| Already | Released: 18 August 1997 Label: Food (#FOOD22) Formats: CS, CD | 161 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| London | Released: 9 October 2001 Label: Mi5 Formats: CD | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| Passages | Released: 20 April 2018 Label: Jesus Jones Recordings Formats: LP, CD, download | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| Voyages | Released: 9th November 2018 Label: Jesus Jones Recordings Formats: LP, CD, download | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| "—" denotes items that did not chart or were not released in that territory. |||||||||||||

### Compilation albums

* 1993 Scratched: Unreleased Rare Tracks & Remixes (Japan only)
* 1999 Greatest Hits
* 2002 Never Enough: The Best of Jesus Jones
* 2011 The Collection: A Selection of Band Favourites and Rarities
* 2018 Zeroes and Ones: The Best of Jesus Jones (2-CD compilation)
* 2022 Some of the Answers (15-CD boxed set)

### EPs

| Year | Title | Tracks | Peak chart positions |
| Year | Title | Tracks | UK |
| 1989 | Food Christmas | "I Don't Want That Kind Of Love" (Jesus Jones) "Like Princes Do" (Crazyhead) "Info Freako" (Diesel Park West) | 63 |
| 2004 | Culture Vulture | "Culture Vulture" "Find The Dial" "Head In The Sand" "Halfway House" | — |
| 2016 | How's This Even Going Down? | "How's This Even Going Down?" "Stripped" "Fall" | — |
| 2016 | Suck it Up | Suck it Up" "Grateful" "So Welcome" | - |
| 2019 | Liquidizer EP | "Move Mountains" "All The Answers" "Bring it on Down" "Someone to Blame" | - |
| "—" denotes items that did not chart or were not released in that territory. ||||

### Singles

| Year | Title | Peak chart positions | Peak chart positions | Peak chart positions | Peak chart positions | Peak chart positions | Peak chart positions | Peak chart positions | Peak chart positions | Peak chart positions | Peak chart positions | Album |
| Year | Title | UK | AUS | CAN | EUR | FIN | GER | NED | NZ | US | US Alt. | Album |
| 1989 | "Info Freako" | 42 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Liquidizer |
| 1989 | "Never Enough" | 42 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Liquidizer |
| 1989 | "Bring It on Down" | 46 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Liquidizer |
| 1990 | "Real Real Real" | 19 | 117 | 10 | 48 | — | — | 59 | 37 | 4 | 26 | Doubt |
| 1990 | "Right Here, Right Now" | 31 | 35 | 18 | 87 | 13 | 84 | 61 | 29 | 2 | 1 | Doubt |
| 1990 | "International Bright Young Thing" | 7 | 79 | 58 | 29 | — | — | — | 22 | — | 6 | Doubt |
| 1991 | "Who? Where? Why?" | 21 | 167 | — | 82 | — | — | — | 48 | — | — | Doubt |
| 1991 | "Right Here, Right Now" (re-issue) | 31 | — | — | 87 | — | — | — | — | — | — | Doubt |
| 1992 | "The Devil You Know" | 10 | 54 | 47 | 34 | — | — | 77 | 15 | — | 1 | Perverse |
| 1993 | "The Right Decision" | 36 | — | 88 | — | — | — | — | — | — | 12 | Perverse |
| 1993 | "Zeroes and Ones" | 30 | — | — | 78 | — | — | — | — | — | — | Perverse |
| 1997 | "The Next Big Thing" | 49 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Already |
| 1997 | "Chemical No.1" | 71 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Already |
| 2002 | "Nowhere Slow" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | London |
| 2002 | "Come on Home" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | London |
| 2002 | "In the Face of All of This" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | London |
| 2005 | "Right Here Right Now" (Robbie Rivera featuring Jesus Jones) | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Non-album single |
| 2016 | "How's This Even Going Down?" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Passages |
| 2016 | "Suck it Up" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Passages |
| "—" denotes items that did not chart or were not released in that territory. |||||||||||||

### Video albums

* 1991 Big in Alaska

### Other

* 1990 Live (a.k.a. Move Mountains & 4 More) (US-only live EP)
* 1991 Live in Alaska (German-only live VHS)
* 1993 A Perverse Conversation with Jesus Jones (US-only interview promo)
* 1993 Zeroes & Heroes (Double EP)
* 1997 4 Track Sampler for Promo Only (Promo EP)
* 1998 Back 2 Back Hits (US-only 'Best of' with EMF)
* 2002 Never Enough The Best of Jesus Jones (Videos DVD)
* 2005 Live at the Marquee (Live DVD)
* 2008 The Remixes (Remix download album)
* 2010 BBC in Concert 26th February 1991 London T+C
* 2010 BBC in Concert 30th March 1993 London Astoria
* 2013 Liquidizer Live DVD