Formed in 1990 by two former punk rockers,
Love Jones fit into the so-called "cocktail nation" of the early '90s. In some ways a reaction to the grunge/alternative wave that swept through America in 1992, the members of the cocktail nation celebrated the aesthetics and music of the '50s and early '60s -- the lounge jazz, crooning pop, and martinis.
Love Jones played any sort of pop music that could fit that label -- pop, blues, R&B, bossa nova, doo wop. Former
Squirrel Bait and
Lemonheads drummer Ben Daughtrey and bassist Barry Thomas formed the group in the spring of 1990; soon afterward, the duo added singer/guitarist
Chris Hawpe, drummer
Stuart Johnson, and singer Jonathan Palmer, with Daughtrey playing various percussion instruments and singing. After playing for a year in Louisville, KY, the group moved out to Hollywood where they eventually received a contract with Zoo Entertainment.
Love Jones released its first record,
Here's to the Losers, in late 1993. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine