The Jesus and Mary Chain originally revolved around the songwriting partnership of the Reid brothers-guitarist William and singer/guitarist Jim. The Reid brothers had been inspired to form a band as far back as 1977, having heard bands such as the Sex Pistols, but it would be the early 1980s before they actually did it, William stating "It was perfect timing because there weren't any guitar bands. Everybody was making this electronic pop music." Before forming the band, the brothers had spent five years on the Jobseeker's Allowance, and in those five years they wrote and recorded songs at home and worked out the sound and image of the band. Originally called The Poppy Seeds, and then Death of Joey, they initially told journalists that they had taken their eventual name from a line in a Bing Crosby film, although six months later they admitted that this wasn't true. Other accounts suggest that the name derived from an offer on a breakfast cereal packet, where customers could send off for a gold Jesus & Mary chain.