Mark Ashton was previously with RAREBIRD and HEADSTONE and recorded his first solo work in 1978, following it up with a sophomore release after switching labels to Arista Records. The 'Solo' album saw contributions from RAREBIRD colleague Steve Gould and ex-HEADSTONE drummer Peter Van Hooke. Drums were courtesy of former BACKSTREET CRAWLER man Tony Braunagel.

Ashton re-emerged in 1987, under the band title ASHTON, for a series of club showcase gigs. The band unit involved drummer Zak Starkey, son of Ringo Starr and an ex member of THE NEXT, MONOPACIFIC, NIGHTFLY and THE ROCK, guitars from the KROKUS, COBRA and ASIA credited guitarist Mandy Meyer and fellow American guitarist Mark Antone Adams, who had previously worked with the likes of WORKFORCE and THE WHO's John Entwistle's act THE ROCK, taking on the persona of Devin Powers plus bassist Bob Birch and keyboard player Guy Babylon. In 1988 ASHTON issued the critically acclaimed 'Modern Pilgrims' album through RCA Records, produced by Paul Rothschild, and a studio band that now included erstwhile LEGS DIAMOND drummer Jonathan Valen.

Despite recording a promising set of new demos Ashton failed to keep the RCA deal and faded into obscurity. Devin Powers forged a reasonably successful solo career for himself with CATS CHOIR and latterly FENCE / THE VENTS. Starkey found a high profile globally with OASIS and THE WHO. Babylon and Birch joined ELTON JOHN's band.