The Jack Rubies

Despite widespread critical enthusiasm and an attention-grabbing moniker, audiences never saw the Jack Rubies as particularly groundbreaking. The quartet assembled in London, England, in 1987, with Ian Wright handling vocals, Stephen D. Ineson on guitar, Steve Brockway on bass, and Lawrence Giltnane on percussion. Wright and Ineson also wrote the material. Misaligned with the dance-oriented direction of late-'80s British rock, the group turned out imitative jangle pop whose sharp-edged lyrics found favor on U.S. college radio. The erratic drumming and menacing vocals of “Be With You” quickly reached left-of-the-dial stations in 1988, while its video became a regular on MTV’s 120 Minutes. The same year brought their debut album, Fascinatin' Vacation. They shared bills with They Might Be Giants and Modern English, and their second LP, See the Money in My Smile, arrived in 1990. In the mid-'90s Ineson exited to launch the Milagro Saints in New York City with Joyce Bowden on clarinet, percussion, vocals, and lap steel guitar plus Lee Kirby on piano, organ, and harmonica, later settling in Raleigh, NC. The Jack Rubies then adopted the name the Screaming Windsors and replaced Giltnane with Martin Owens of Speedball Baby.