When Thorn and Watt met, they were both attending the University of Hull and both had contracted with the independent record company Cherry Red Records, as solo artists. Thorn was also a member of the trio Marine Girls. The pair each had solo album releases through Cherry Red: Thorn's 1982 LP was "A Distant Shore", an eight-track mini-album. Watt's 1983 debut LP – the follow-up to his 1982 5-track EP "Summer Into Winter" featuring Robert Wyatt – was entitled "North Marine Drive".