The Phantom Orchestra formed on 9 October 1978 in a bar in Paris. They progressed from busking in the streets of Paris to promoting their own shows there before eventually moving to Dublin, where they appeared on RTE Television (The Late Late Show and Our Times among others) and toured in Belgium and Holland. They signed to Philips Ireland and released their debut LP in 1979. A second album recorded by the core trio of Phantoms with Louis Stewart was released under the Jazz Phantoms name.