Championed initially by Morrissey of the Smiths, James signed with their home town record label, Manchester's Factory Records, in 1983. Their early singles, "What's The World?" and "Hymn From A Village", and the EPs JimOne and James II, were acclaimed for their unusual mixture of folk and new wave textures. The original line-up was Tim Booth (b. Timothy Booth, 4 February 1960, Wakefield, England; vocals), Jim Glennie (b. James Glennie, 10 October 1963, Manchester, Lancashire, England; bass), Larry Gott (b. 24 July 1957; guitar) and Gavan Whelan (drums). They signed to Sire Records in 1985 and began an unsettled three-year relationship with the company. Stutter was a collection of strange but striking songs, followed two years later by Strip-Mine, which had a stronger melodic edge. One Man Clapping, a live set recorded in Bath, England, marked a return to independent status with Rough Trade Records.
Dave Baynton-Power (b. David Baynton-Power, 29 January 1961, Kent, England) replaced Whelan and soon afterwards the band was augmented by Saul Davies (b. 28 June 1965; guitar/violin), Mark Hunter (b. 5 November 1968; keyboards) and Andy Diagram (trumpet). Fontana Records, with its policy of signing England's leading independent bands, re-released "Come Home" and a Gil Norton remix of "Sit Down", the latter single reaching number 2 in the UK charts in 1991. Gold Mother was more accessible than previous albums, the band writing in a more direct lyrical style, though there were still echoes of earlier eccentricities. The title track was a paean to mothers and the extreme physical pain they underwent during childbirth, and drew from Booth's personal exposure to the birth of his own child.
Although their recording career stretched back further than their contemporaries, James became part of an upsurge in talent from Manchester during the late 80s and early 90s, and the media attention on the city made the transition from independent to major league status that much easier. Seven saw the band digress further away from the immediacy of "Sit Down", which up to that point was their most enduring and popular song. Instead, the emphasis was on atmosphere and multi-layered, unconventional song structures. The upshot of this was a fall-off in commercial viability, although the band maintained a loyal fanbase. Laid, meanwhile, was a title presumably inspired by Booth's return from a life of celibacy, and its hit single of the same title was the first to make an impression in the USA. The other contents were described as "paranoid love songs, ecstatic laments and perverse lullabies' by Select magazine's reviewer. The heavily experimental Wah Wah was seen by some critics as an attempt to steal U2"s Zooropa thunder. It was recorded with Brian Eno during sessions for Laid, for release as an "alternative" album. The move into ambient electronics had, however, been signposted by the 1993 Sabres Of Paradise remix of "Jam J".
Tim Booth recorded an album with American composer Angelo Badalamenti as Booth And The Bad Angel before, in 1997, the band broke a three-year silence with the well-received Whiplash and the hit single "She's A Star". The recordings featured new guitarist Adrian Oxaal (b. 20 March 1965), who replaced founder member Gott, while multi-instrumentalist Michael Kulas (b. 27 January 1969, Oakville, Ontario, Canada) was added to the line-up on the subsequent tour. A remix of "Sit Down" reached the UK Top 10 in November 1998 on the back of the commercial success of their compilation album. The excellent Millionaires benefited from the creative input of Hunter and Davies and the production wiles of Brian Eno, employed by the band for the first time since Laid. The band returned in 2001 with another strong release, Pleased To Meet You. This proved to be Booth's final recording with the band. The singer launched his solo career in 2004 with the release of Bone, but returned to the James fold in 2007 to play a series of live shows with the Laid-era line-up.
