Emerging from the tragic bankruptcy of Stiff Records, James Taylor, founding member of the infamous group The Prisoners, formed The James Taylor Quartet. JTQ's first single, Blow Up was released on the Re Elect The President (Acid Jazz) label in 1985. It was a huge success, immediately attracting the attention of John Peel who championed it; the track appearing in Peel's annual Festive Fifty chart. After an impressive 13 weeks in the Indie Singles Chart, the band decided to start work on a mini album, titled Mission Impossible.