A Certain Ratio (ACR) formed in Flixton, Manchester, in 1977. Founder members Peter Terrell (guitar, electronics) and Simon Topping (vocals, trumpet) were joined by Jez Kerr (bass, vocals), Martin Moscrop (trumpet, guitar) later the same year. Donald Johnson (drums) joined in 1979, and Martha Tilson (vocals) soon after. The name of the band comes from a Brian Eno track The True Wheel. In 1982, Tilson left and keyboard player Andy Connell joined the band. Founder members Topping and Terrell left the band later the same year. Tony Quigley (saxophone) joined in 1983. Connell left in 1985 to form Swing Out Sister, and the core of the band became Kerr, Moscrop, Johnson and Quigley.

The band’s musical influences are funk, disco and Latin. The ACR single All Night Party was the second recorded release on independent record label Factory Records. One of the Factory Records partners, Tony Wilson, was briefly the band’s manager. The band released a total of six albums and ten singles on Factory Records before signing to major label A&M in 1987. Between 1991 and 1994, ACR released records through the independent label Robs Records, set up by former Factory Records partner Rob Gretton. In 1994, Creation Records began reissuing the band’s back catalogue of albums and the band recorded and released new material in 1996 and 1997. The band released a new album on French label Le Maquis in 2008. Other reissues of the ACR back catalogue have been released by Soul Jazz and by LTM. Since 2018, Mute Records has reissued ACR’s back catalogue material, including a 40th anniversary retrospective in 2019. The band continues to tour.