The band began as a trio named Second Unit, with GB Jones on drums, Kathleen Pirrie Adams on bass, and Janet Martin on guitar.
After its first issue, they came out with audio cassettes that were compilations of music by their punk, post-punk and experimental contemporaries, like Anti-Scrunti Faction, The Dave Howard Singers, Mydolls, The Party's Over, Really Red, Rongwrong, and Michael Phillip Wojewoda, as well as Fifth Column.
It is important to note that mainstream local media/middle-of-the-road maligners of the group, were a mix of music reporters/columnists who were both female and male, uncomfortable with the sound and performance, not considered palatable at the time.
The few Canadians in the media championing were: Radio Hosts/Journalists; CKLN's Denise Benson, The Eye's Chris O'Connor, The Sun's John Sakamoto, The Globe and Mail's Liam Lacey, CBC Brave New Wave's hosts Brent Banbury and Kevin Komoda.
The Fifth Column sound forged on Vinyl, would not be, without the deftness of Producers/Engineers: Peter D. Hudson (Dundrells), Walter Sobczak (Sturm Group), MP Wojewoda and the elusive Jack Freimanis.
There were many girls close to the group who were inspiring friends/muses, and many of them appeared in the music video "Donna", like Jena Von Brucker, Mic Hell, Norma Jean LeFebvre and Ottilie Mason.
A song from this LP, "The Fairview Mall Story" was based on true events concerning media publication of the names of men arrested after being entrapped by police and was instrumental in paving the way for the emergence of the queercore scene.
Jones to create the installation/performance The Bruised Garden in 2013 at The Theatre Centre in Toronto, Ontario, which included music composed by the pair and credited to Fifth Column, making this their last song written together.
In 2015, Azar combined Wilfred Owen's anti-war poem Anthem for Doomed Youth with original music she composed for Peter Hinton's play The End at Theatre 20.
Azar wrote the story (inspired by Jones' and Kerr's trance-based meditations) and directed and produced the experimental multi media event for Opera Arcana at Videofag (run by Jordan Tannahill and William Ellis).
[5] In 2012, a documentary film by Kevin Hegge, called She Said Boom: The Story of Fifth Column was released featuring interviews with band members Caroline Azar, G.B.
Jones, and Beverly Breckenridge, with commentary on the influence of Fifth Column by Toronto artist John Brown, Vaginal Davis, Kathleen Hanna and Bruce LaBruce.