Modesty Blaise formed in 1993 and rapidly recorded their top hit single Christina Terrace with Edwyn Collins producing. They signed to Spirit of 86 Records and the single soon sold out and became an instant classic, even topping a few end of year polls for finest record released in 1994. Excited by the potential, the record company made the mistake of saying that they could record anything they wanted as the next single, so they recorded the ballad You Can Do Better Than That in typical contrary fashion. This was definitely not what was expected from what many people thought were a little indie band, but The 'Blaise always had higher ambitions. Recorded while Jonny had a really bad cold, it had backing singers from a soul band and (pretend) strings. Strangely, this was the record that started it all in Japan. Spirit of 86 couldn't sell them in Britain so they exported them where they were eagerly snapped up, to the eternal credit of the Japanese record buyer.

Such success, however, can emphasise internal divisions and everything fell apart after a huge fight in a Swansea curry house after a live appearance on BBC Radio Wales. It happened at a bad time because Harlech TV, the ITV station for the West Country, had just approached Jonny as they wanted to make a documentary programme on songwriters. Recruiting a new drummer, the band hung around long enough for filming before imploding.

So the remaining band members, Jonny and Dave who had been together since the influential but highly unpopular Boats Not Ships, set about getting a new one. Gregory Jones of the guitar and French horn was found in Marky Mark's band, and other members were found in equally salubrious surroundings.

They set about recording an album, Modern Guitars With Amplification which was released in October 97, to general public rapture, followed by a vinyl version in March 98. The first single was the definitive Blaise song, Blue and Beautiful, a statement of intent wrapped in 3 minutes of guitars, organs and horns. The second single, Lets Get Together, continued this remarkable run of 7 inch classics, and subsequently became the theme tune for the annual Swedish equivalent of the BRITS. All of this served to bring the band to the welcome attentions of Apricot Records of Germany, who released a compilation album of all the early singles and various other rarities entitled A Beginners Guide To Modesty Blaise, which was just as well because Christina Terrace was beginning to change hands for egregious amounts of money.

The 'Blaise toured some of Spain in June 99, where Modern Guitars... had been licensed to Animal Records of Madrid, and made lots of friends and played some great concerts (Modesty Blaise do not play gigs).

When they got back to Blighty, they recorded the Uranium Girl EP for Apricot. The title track Theme From Uranium Girl was a space-pop song with another of those trademark MB choruses which became a big turntable hit in Germany. The sessions continued into the second proper album Melancholia a huge project involving strings and horns and loads of musicians. It was finally finished in June 2000, 11 months after its inception, but worth the wait. Modesty Blaise have always been ambitious for their records and this one was no exception.

The first single from the album, I'm Going Out , was included in the 20 best singles of the year on Radio Eins (Radio 1) in Germany, helped by extensive touring there in the Fall of 2000. Melancholia was finally released in Europe in February 2001 and garnered fantastic reviews, including one from ME Sounds "Bacharach, Beatles, Beach Boys, believe everything that is said about Jonny Collins" and "already one of the albums of the year, 6/6".

Again there was a cull and four or five line-up changes until Jonny and Gregory toured Germany with acoustic guitars in June 2001. The success of Melancholia meant that it was licensed to various labels worldwide and another new line-up toured Spain in 2002. There have been another three line-up changes since so things are back to their natural state. 2015 was quiet on the live front, only The Cavern in Liverpool and Arlene's Grocery in New York.

Work has finally started on The Modesty Blaise, the third album which will continue the long association between MB and Apricot Records.

Modesty Blaise are: Jonny Collins - Vocals, guitar
David W.Brown - Bass guitar
Gregory Jones - Guitar, vocals
Mark Bradley- Drums, vocals