Album Producer
Right Here, Right Now is a single from the pop band Jesus Jones that Martyn Phillips produced in 1990.
Just after embarking on Londonbeat’s “In the Blood”, Dave Balfe from Food Records send me Mike (from the band)’s demo of this track and I was immediately struck by its timely message and the effective directness of its implementation and told the somewhat disgruntled Londonbeat singers that I was going to take time off to record this (as we still had not signed off the deal).
Recording with Mike went smoothly in Sam Therapy and Matrix. The lyrics refer indirectly to the demolition of the Berlin wall and the later unification of Germany (optimistically referred to as the “end of history”) and it was somewhat ironic that I was able to record the lead vocal on an ex-East German broadcast Neumann UM57 that I had managed to purchase as a result of the opening up of the East. After the tracking, a first mix did not cut the mustard so I returned to Sarm 3 for a recall. The US company, however were still not convinced by my mix so engaged Gary Hellman and John Luingo to do another, cutting out the guitar solo and reducing the track to 2 minutes but creating a smoother mix.
A bigger irony was that, despite being an anti-war, first Gulf-War veterans adopted it a “We Showed Saddam" anthem and helped push it to no 1 on the R&R chart spot and no 2 in Billboard Hot 100, only kept off the top spot by another British band EMF with “Unbelievable”. In following years, both Clintons used the track as walk-on music for their rallies. Years later, I noticed that the release date for the record had been September 11th 1990, the same day that George Bush senior made his infamous “New World Order” speech - make of that what you will!
Jesus Jones
Jesus Jones are a British alternative rock band from Bradford-on-Avon in Wiltshire, formed in late 1988, who recorded and performed from the late 1980s to the 2000s. Their track "Right Here, Right Now" was an international hit, and was subsequently globally licensed for promotional and advertising campaigns. They also achieved chart success with the songs "Real Real Real", "International Bright Young Thing" and "Info Freako".
Incorporating elements of electronic music styles such as house and techno to an indie rock format, along with fellow British groups such as The Shamen, Pop Will Eat Itself and EMF, Jesus Jones were one of the leading purveyors of the early 1990s alternative dance scene. In late 1988, while on holiday in Spain, Mike Edwards, Iain Baker, and Jerry DeBorg decided to leave the band they were in at the time, and form their own band. The name of the band came about when they realised that they were three "Joneses" sitting on a beach in Spain surrounded by people called Jesus.
"Right Here, Right Now" was released as the album Doubt's second single in September 1990 (approximately four months before the release of Doubt). Despite spending only nine non-consecutive weeks on the UK Singles Chart and peaking at number 31, it became a top ten hit in the United States; it topped the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart and reached number two on the Billboard Hot 100 in July 1991. The single sold over 1 million copies, won a BMI award, and was the song most performed on college radio in 1991.
From The Guardian: how we made Right Here, Right Now
"‘Bill Clinton used it as his campaign song. Then Hillary used it as hers. I think it got stuck in their car stereo and was the only song they knew’"
Reviews
The most earnest of Jesus Jones's songs, "Right Here, Right Now," about "watching the world wake up from history" in 1990, recently became a No. 1 single.
The New York Times
The song became a No 1 in America, popular enough that versions of it still appear on karaoke discs in bars all over the US.
The Guardian Newspaper
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