Ashley Beedle was born in Hemel Hempstead in 1962. He began DJing during the acid-house explosion of the late '80s, but was turned on to disco as well when he heard Norman Jay DJing obscure tracks on the pirate station Kiss FM. After he joined long-time friend Rob Mello and John Howard as Black Science Orchestra, the trio reworked the Trammps' "Where Were You (When the Lights Went Out)?" into their debut single "Where Were You," released on Junior Boy's Own. House godfather Frankie Knuckles began spinning the record, as well as the second BSO offering "Strong" (recorded with Linsey Edwards replacing Mello). Beedle recruited engineer Marc Woolford and keyboard player Uschi Classen for third single, "New Jersey Deep," and watched the record become a classic, selected by Knuckles and the Masters at Work team for use in their DJ sets.