Editing The Jesus and Mary Chain (section)

===Early years===
Brothers Jim and William Reid formed a band in the early 1980s in response to their distaste of the music at the time, saying, "It was the crap coming out of the radio that made us want to be in a band".<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/jesus-and-mary-chain-look-back-on-30-years-of-psychocandy-75675/ |title=Jesus and Mary Chain Look Back on 30 Years of ‘Psychocandy’ |last=Grow |first=Kory |publisher=[[Rolling Stone]] |date=28 April 2015 |access-date=28 September 2024}}</ref> This worked in their favour, as William said, "It was perfect timing because there weren't any guitar bands. Everybody was making this electronic pop music."<ref name="PBM1">{{cite web |url=http://www.pennyblackmusic.co.uk/MagSitePages/Article.aspx?id=2919 |title=Jesus and Mary Chain : Interview with Jim Reid Part 1 |last=Sladeckova |first=Olga |work=pennyblackmusic.co.uk |date=10 August 2002 |access-date=11 July 2012 |archive-date=15 February 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120215035644/http://www.pennyblackmusic.co.uk/MagSitePages/Article.aspx?id=2919 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Before forming the band, the brothers had spent five years on the [[Jobseeker's Allowance|dole]], during which they wrote and recorded songs at home and worked out the sound and image of the band.{{sfn|Robertson|1988|p=8}} Originally called The Poppy Seeds,{{sfn|Wilson|2004|p=226}} and then Death of Joey,<ref name="PBM1" /> they initially told journalists that they had taken their eventual name from a line in a [[Bing Crosby]] film, although six months later they admitted that this was not true.{{sfn|Robertson|1988|p=16}}{{sfn|Strong|2003|p=383}} Other accounts suggest that the name derived from an offer on a breakfast cereal packet, where customers could send off for a gold Jesus & Mary chain.{{sfn|Wilson|2004|p=226}} As neither brother wanted to be the singer, they decided on Jim via [[coin toss]].

The brothers started recording and sending demos to record companies in 1983 (using a [[Portastudio]] bought with [[Pound sterling|£]]300 given to them by their father from [[redundancy pay]] after he lost his factory job),<ref name=graun>{{cite web |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2014/oct/26/jesus-and-mary-chain-psychocandy-live-interview |title=The Jesus and Mary Chain on Psychocandy: 'It was a little miracle' |last1=Lynskey |first1=Dorian |date=30 October 2014 |website=[[theguardian.com]]|access-date=30 October 2014}}</ref> and by early 1984 they had recruited bass player [[Douglas Hart]] and teenage drummer [[Murray Dalglish]].{{sfn|Robertson|1988|p=16}} Early influences included [[the Velvet Underground]], [[the Stooges]], [[New York Dolls]], [[Suicide (band)|Suicide]],<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024 |title=Interview with Jim Reid of The Jesus and Mary Chain |url=https://onyourmarkus.au/interview/interview-with-jim-reid-of-the-jesus-and-mary-chain/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241209203706/https://onyourmarkus.au/interview/interview-with-jim-reid-of-the-jesus-and-mary-chain/ |archive-date=December 9, 2024 |access-date=December 9, 2024 |website=On Your Marks}}</ref> [[the Shangri-Las]], and [[Einstürzende Neubauten]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Marszalek |first=Julian |date=October 9, 2008 |title=The Jesus and Mary Chain Interview: Earl Brutus, Riots, Alcoholism and Reformation |url=https://thequietus.com/interviews/the-jesus-and-mary-chain-interview-earl-brutus-riots-beating-alcoholism-and-reformation-part-one/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250409010913/https://thequietus.com/interviews/the-jesus-and-mary-chain-interview-earl-brutus-riots-beating-alcoholism-and-reformation-part-one/ |archive-date=April 9, 2025 |access-date=April 23, 2025 |website=[[The Quietus]] |quote=At the time, I guess [the Jesus and Mary Chain sound] was down to the kind of music we were listening to at the time. I've probably said it a million times but it's the truth: at that time we were really into stuff like [[the Shangri-Las]] but we were also really into stuff like [[Einstürzende Neubauten | Einsturzende Neubauten]] and we thought just wouldn't it be amazing if we had a band that had the melodies of the Shangri-Las but the production values of Einsturzende Neubauten and we thought we'll become that band, we'll do that!}}</ref> William said in 1985, "We all love The Shangri-Las, and one day we're going to make Shangri-Las records."{{sfn|Robertson|1988|p=16}} Jim mentioned his liking for [[Pink Floyd]], [[Siouxsie and the Banshees]], [[The Monkees]], and [[Muddy Waters]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01cyrh9 |title=Jim Reid on BBC Radio 6 Music |publisher=bbc.co.uk |date=4 March 2012 |access-date=4 August 2015 |url-status=bot: unknown |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120303120739/http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01cyrh9 |archive-date=3 March 2012 }}</ref> Early demos displayed a similarity to the [[Ramones]], prompting the brothers to add another element to their sound; in William's words: "That's why we started using noise and feedback. We want to make records that sound different."{{sfn|Robertson|1988|p=15}} They began playing live in early 1984. In the early days William Reid's guitar would be left out of tune, while Dalglish's drum kit was limited to two drums, and Hart's bass guitar only had three strings, down to two by 1985; in Hart's words, "That's the two I use. I mean what's the fucking point spending money on another two? Two is enough."<ref name="Sky">Sky News interview, 1985</ref>

Struggling to get gigs, the band took to turning up at venues claiming to be the support band, playing their short set and making a quick exit.{{sfn|Robertson|1988|p=16}} After failing to generate any interest from concert promoters and record labels in Scotland, the band relocated to [[Fulham]], London, in May 1984, and soon afterwards their demo tape was passed to fellow Scot [[Alan McGee]] by Bobby Gillespie. Subsequently, McGee promoted a gig for the band at the Living Room in London in June 1984.<ref name="PBM1" /> On the strength of hearing the band sound check, McGee signed them to his Creation Records label on a one-off deal, and McGee also became the band's manager.{{sfn|Robertson|1988|p=17}}{{sfn|Larkin|1992|p=227}} Their debut single, "[[Upside Down (The Jesus and Mary Chain song)|Upside Down]]", was recorded in October and released in November that year.{{sfn|Strong|2003|p=129}} The sessions were produced by [[Slaughter Joe|Joe Foster]], but McGee, unsatisfied with Foster's work, remixed the A-side, although the B-side, a [[cover version]] of [[Syd Barrett]]'s "[[Vegetable Man]]", remained credited to Foster.{{sfn|Robertson|1988|p=18}} The band were gaining increasing attention from the music press at this time with Neil Taylor of the ''[[NME]]'' describing them as "the best band in the world".{{sfn|Robertson|1988|p=21}}

Dalglish left in November 1984 after a dispute over money and was replaced shortly afterwards by Gillespie who had also formed [[Primal Scream]] two years earlier in 1982.<ref name="PBM1" /> "[[Upside Down (The Jesus and Mary Chain song)|Upside Down]]" topped the [[UK Indie Chart]] in February 1985 and then again in March and stayed on the chart for 76 weeks, selling around 35,000 copies in total, making it one of the biggest-selling [[Independent music|indie]] singles of the 1980s.{{sfn|Robertson|1988|p=19}}{{sfn|Lazell|1997|p=123}}

Playing in front of small audiences, during early shows the Mary Chain performed very short gigs, typically fueled by amphetamines and lasting around 20 minutes,{{sfn|Larkin|1992|p=227}} and played with their backs to the audience, refusing to speak to them. In late December 1984, the band performed as part of the [[Institute of Contemporary Arts|ICA]] Rock Week. During their performance, bottles were thrown on stage, with press reports exaggerating events and claiming that there had been a riot, and national newspaper ''[[The Sun (United Kingdom)|The Sun]]'' running a story on the band concentrating on violence and drugs, the band attracting the tag "The new Sex Pistols".{{sfn|Robertson|1988|p=22}} That led several local councils to ban the band from performing in their area.{{sfn|Robertson|1988|p=22}}