The two members of the Newsboy Legion, Mike Coleman and Kelly Shane, both did time in Tallahassee, Florida's punk pop dada freak rock trio Ultraboy in the early 1990s. (Coleman had cut his teeth as leader of local indie rock legends Singing Spoons, and Shane had previously played drums in the psychotic prog band Zen Lemmings.) After Ultraboy's sad demise, when guitarist Chris Gissendanner moved out of town, Coleman and Shane tried unsuccessfully to form a new band from the wreckage but soon discovered that Gissendanner was irreplaceable.

Coleman went on to form Bacon Ray, and Shane began gigging with Kenny Howes. Both began to record experimental solo music under the names Canard (Coleman) and Enemy From Space (Shane). Shane released a single by each artist, as well as a shared Christmas 7', on his short-lived Ubik Records label in late 1995/early 1996. Meanwhile, they were piecing together old Ultraboy outtakes with new music to create a concept album to be titled "Twilight of the Puppets" under the band name Tars Tarkus. In 1997, AAJ Records released a split 7" of the two solo artists, and Coleman and Shane decided to try to combine their solo rock styles into a new project, first named Ike, then Newsboy Legion.

In late 1997, the band led with their chins, and IKE was born, an insane amalgamation of rock and roll deconstruction, weighing in at double LP length and including "Twilight of the Puppets - Part I", the first twenty minutes of the abandoned concept record. (Part II was recorded, but has never been mixed.) The album garnered a mixed reception with hefty praise for intelligence, iconoclasm and humor, and criticism for sloppiness and having a sense of humor that didn't fall in an easy category. The band followed IKE's release with a spat of gigging in North Florida and a short tour with Invaders From a Forbidden Planet. The live band featured Brent McNeal of Bacon Ray on bass-- he is now the drummer in Canard & the Magnetic Band.

The Legion then began work on a second album that never saw light, though it evolved through various forms, including a planned double CD. A portion of it was eventually released in 1999 as Jimmy don't like that, a CD EP. Where IKE was sprawling, Jimmy was concise, and the disc has gained a cult following for its skewered pop tunes. A limited edition, full-length CD of leftovers from the same sessions was released in 2001as I Want to be a Service Station Attendant and quickly disappeared into the memory hole.

In 1999, the band recorded the basic tracks for a new, full-length album. The planned release was never finished. One track, "White Swan Blues" surfaced online. A few other songs were later recorded by Canard and Ancient Brain, a short-lived Tallahassee supergroup led by Coleman. Another became the basis of a Solution Science Systems piece.

At the same time the Legion began the failed third rock album, the duo recorded and released Sounds From the Electric Lawnchair, over an hour of experimental, instrumental, electronic music, which to the shock of the band, landed them on many ambient and dance programs on college radio. Much as the band's rock music didn't safely fit into any category, their excursions into synthetic sounds were also hard to classify, though the results were well received.

In 2000, the basic tracks for a new instrumental electronic album were laid down, recorded as a series of improvisations. Then in 2001, these basic tracks were combined with a handful of solo recordings by both members. Shane took all the material and manipulated it extensively in a computer. The results are to be released under the name Electric Lawnchair.

Meanwhile, the band has gotten back to its rock roots and have begun work on a new album to be released by Smiley Jones in 2003.