They formed in 1977, in the punk rock era, but began soon to play more dance-oriented music. The group's permanent members have been Martin Moscrop (guitar, trumpet) and Jeremy Kerr (bass, vocals). Another of today's members, Donald Johnson (drums, vocals), joined early to replace a drum machine. The fourth member in the present ACR, keyboardist Andy Connell, joined in 1983. Three original members have left the band - singers Martha Tilson (left in 1982) and Simon Topping (left in 1983), plus guitarist Peter Terrell, who left in 1983.
'A Certain Ratio' started their career on Factory Records.