Jesus Jones is a British London-based rock group that recorded and performed in the late 1980s, throughout the 1990s, and into the 2000s.
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 "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 rock guitars with samples and a hip-hop sensibility, relatively new for the time. They are best known for the track "Right Here, Right Now" on the 1991 album Doubt, a song about the swift end of the Cold War, which was a Top 5 hit in both the U.S. and the UK and which was resurrected a decade later as an advertising jingle for the American retailer Kmart, an image campaign for CBS News, and was used in promotional ads for the now defunct TV channel, TechTV. Other hit singles from the "Doubt" album include "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. The fourth album, after a hiatus of some years, was the ironically titled Already, after which Jesus Jones and their record label EMI parted company. The band remained in contact and came back with London in 2001 on the independent label Mi5 Recordings, which was critically praised[citation needed], but not a big seller. EMI issued Never Enough, 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 and record 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 the Top 40.
Band members
Mike Edwards (born Michael James Edwards on 22 June 1964 in London) - Vocals, guitars, keyboards.
Jerry De Borg (born on 30 October 1963 in Kentish Town, London) - Guitars.
Al Doughty - (born Alan Jaworski on 31 January 1966 in Plymouth) - Bass.
Iain Baker (born Iain Richard Foxwell Baker on 29 September 1965 in Carshalton, Surrey) - Keyboards, programming.
Gen - (born Simon Matthews on 23 April 1964 in Devizes, Wiltshire) - Drums, additional percussion.
Discography
Year Title Label Other information
1989 Liquidizer Food reissued in 2002 (label: Food)
1989 "Info Freako" Food
1989 "Never Enough" Food
1989 "Bring It On Down" Food
1990 "Real Real Real" Food
1990 "Right Here Right Now" Food
1990 "International Bright Young Thing" Food
1991 Doubt Food reissued in 2002 (label: EMI)
1991 "Who? Where? Why?" Food
1991 "Right Here Right Now" Re-release Food
1992 "The Devil You Know" Food
1993 Perverse Food
1993 "The Right Decision" Food
1993 "Zeroes And Ones" Food
1993 Scratched album (Japan only) EMI
1997 Already Food
1997 "The Next Big Thing" Food
1997 "Chemical No.1" Food
1999 Greatest Hits Album Japan Only EMI
2001 London Mi5 Recordings/Koch
2002 "Nowhere Slow" Mi5 Recordings/Koch
2002 "Come On Home" Liberty
2002 "In The Face Of All Of This" Mi5 Recordings/Koch
2002 Never Enough: the Best of Jesus Jones EMI
2004 "Culture Vulture" Mi5 Recordings UK
2005 "Right Here Right Now" (Robbie Rivera featuring Jesus Jones) Nebula
Singles
Year Title Chart Positions Album
US Modern Rock
1991 "Right Here, Right Now" #1 (5 weeks) Doubt
1991 "International Bright Young Thing" #6 Doubt
1991 "Real, Real, Real" #26 Doubt