Each member had previously been in critically acclaimed and commercially successful bands; Jobson and Webb were in The Skids, whilst McGeoch and Doyle had been in post-punk pioneers Magazine.
According to Russell Webb, in the sleeve notes of the 2013 re-issue of their album Waiting for the Floods, the intention was not to be a band, but a collective of musicians getting together to write songs and make music in the studio.
[2] Given the green light to record an album, the band spent four weeks at Manor Studios in rural Oxfordshire, with Public Image Ltd producer Nick Launay at the controls.
In 1986, following the tour to promote the album, both McGeoch and Doyle left the band,[2] with the former joining Public Image Ltd. and the latter working with former Buzzcocks lead singer/guitarist Pete Shelley.
When Jobson returned from China, where he had been working as a model, he reunited with Webb, calling on Dave Lockwood (guitar) and Ray Weston (drums) to record tracks for their next album.