The band can originally be dated back to 1973, when bassist John Ace and guitarist Ian Smith, played together in Spectaté II at the school they attended in Sutton Coldfield.
With Hoi Polloi singer Terry Dark joining in December 1976, and Stewart leaving a few days later, Jameson Raid's most well-known line-up was complete.
"The combination of influences which had given birth to the band’s overall sound was quite difficult to pin down, as there were elements of 70's rock/pop (particularly David Bowie and Mott The Hoople), heavier acts such as Thin Lizzy and the occasional nod towards punk snottiness…" noted author Malc Macmillan,[1] and the three tracks on the EP ("Seven Days of Splendour", "It’s a Crime" and "Catcher in the Rye") illustrated Macmillan’s conundrum in terms of an inability to categorise the band’s sound.
In March 1980 the band, along with Magnum, played support to Def Leppard at West Midland venues on the latter's On Through the Night World Tour.
[5] Fighting against a tide of apathy, Smith and Ace handed in their notice and played their final gig with the band in Birmingham in July 1980.
In 1981 Darby left and was replaced by The Handsome Beasts founder member James Barrett, who in turn gave way to Steve Makin in 1982.
Malcolm Dome wrote: "Jameson Raid are one of the many bands who were definitely contenders for glory during the halcyon days of the new wave of British heavy metal.
[6] The classic line-up of Terry Dark, Ian Smith, John Ace and Phil Kimberley re-united in 2008, and their back catalogue album, Just as the Dust Had Settled, was released by Shadow Kingdom Records in March 2010.