[3] A precursor to the group, known as Jam-On Productions, was formed in 1977 in Brooklyn, New York City, and included teenagers Ben "Cozmo D" Cenac and his cousins Monique and Pierre "Pete" Angevin.
[4][5] Both singles began as an anti-hip hop joke, according to founding member DJ and producer Ben Cenac.
At the time (1981) we were going by the name Positive Messenger and were making music that had a purpose, either messages of love or faith or talking about the conditions of the world.
Having come out of Hip-Hop street battles in Brooklyn in the ’70s, I didn't really think much of the Rap records that were playing on the radio, so I figured as a joke I would make a parody jam ...
In 2005, Cozmo D released Destination Earth: The Definitive Newcleus Recordings, a collection of hip-hop tracks from the group's entire catalog.
The definitive versions of the songs "Destination Earth" and "Why" taken from this CD were also released on 12-inch vinyl on the German record label Dominance Electricity.
Together with remixes by Sbassship and Reeno, the cover illustrations are by Bill Wray (known for his work on the 1990s cult TV cartoon The Ren & Stimpy Show).
However, both albums' original track listing and cover art were also available on CD, manufactured and distributed by Bellaphon Germany, under license from Sunnyview Records, in 1988.