In 1983, former group member Nash the Slash proposed a future double bill tour with FM, as the two artists seemed to share a common audience.

The double bill concept was retained, with Nash playing a solo set as the opening act for most FM concerts from 1983 to 1989.

The album was titled Con-Test after the group ran a contest to come up with something that "FM" might stand for, and its cover art featured fine print listing several hundred submissions including Fluent Monkeys, Flunk Math, Floyd Meddle, Fashion Magazine, Free Money, Forgiven Mistake, Facing Mecca, False Mammaries, and so on.

Despite the absence of pictorial graphics, the cover art was credited to surrealist painter Robert Vanderhorst, who has frequently collaborated with Nash the Slash on multi-media presentations[3] from 1978 to the 2000s.

The album was initially available on Quality Records in 1985 (catalogue number SV-2138), but the label ceased operations in 1986, after more than 35 years of business.

In the liner notes, Nash the Slash heavily criticizes the production of the Con-Test versions, preferring the demos.