Then Jerico -

Then Jerico was an English sophisti-pop band that released the 1987–89 London albums First (The Sound of Music) and The Big Area.

Members: Mark Shaw (vocals), Jasper Stainthorpe (bass, 1983-89), Steve Wren (drums, 1983-89), Cliff Lawrence (guitar, 1983), Mark Sanderson (keyboards, 1983), Scott Taylor (guitar, 1984-89), Ben Angwin (keyboards, 1984–85), Alex Mungo (keyboards, 1985–88), Rob Downes (guitar, 1987-89), Chris Youdell (keyboards, 1988–89), Keith Airey (guitar, 1989)

Background

Then Jerico formed in London in 1983 when singer Mark Shaw assembled bassist Jasper Stainthorpe and drummer Steve Wren with guitarist Cliff Lawrence and keyboardist Mark Sanderson.

Shaw was born Mark Robert Tiplady on June 10, 1961, in Chesterfield, Derbyshire. Family moves took him through Nottingham, Sunderland, Newcastle, Northumberland, Barcombe, and Croydon. Older brother Richard introduced Shaw to records by David Bowie, Roxy Music, Elton John, and Genesis alongside literature and visual art. Shaw also absorbed big-band and modern jazz through records played by his father. Repeated moves put him through roughly twelve schools, and he left formal education by age sixteen following an expulsion from school.

By 1980, Shaw lived in central London and frequented Billy’s and the Blitz, where he entered the emerging club network around Steve Strange and Rusty Egan. He worked assorted West End jobs, including a position at Browns clothing store and advertising work for ZigZag. Shaw first auditioned as a singer with electro group Naked Lunch, then tried for the vacant singer position in Birmingham group Fashion. Mulligan, the keyboardist in Fashion, advised Shaw to form his own band and advertise for musicians through Melody Maker.

Shaw placed an advert headed “A Boy With Style” and drew roughly thirty-five musicians to a group audition. He initially called the project Terminal Jive, then changed the name to The Anniversary as personnel departed. The Anniversary played Shaw’s first live performance at London private club Monkberry’s with a three-song set. Shaw sifted numerous members over the next year, then presented a new lineup in 1983 at the Half Moon in Herne Hill. Gary Crowley arranged a subsequent live session for the group.

Stainthorpe and Wren came from Red Lipstick, where the pair already worked as a bass-and-drums unit. In 1984, Shaw replaced Lawrence and Sanderson with guitarist Scott Taylor and keyboardist Ben Angwin. Scott Taylor came from the original live band of Belouis Some, active in 1983 on the London club circuit. He impressed Shaw at a 1984 Monkberry’s performance.

Shaw arranged a trip to New York around the New Music Seminar. He secured a booking at the Limelight and promoted the appearance directly to record companies, managers, and agents across Manhattan. Then Jerico returned to London with multiple label offers and signed a seven-album agreement in August 1984 with London Records.

London paired Then Jerico with Human League producer Martin Rushent for an initial run of recordings. The label declined to issue “The Big Sweep,” whose lyric targeted newspaper proprietors Robert Maxwell and Rupert Murdoch, so Rushent and Pete Shelley released a limited 12-inch edition in 1985 through Immaculate Records. The record reached No. 12 on the UK independent chart and prompted London Records to finance an additional pressing. London followed with the Rushent-produced “Fault,” while Alex Mungo replaced Angwin on keyboards as the group developed the material for First (The Sound of Music).

Discography: