The Blue Ox Babes were an English pop group, formed in early 1981 by the former

Dexys Midnight Runners Dexys Midnight Runners (currently officially Dexys, their former nickname, styled without an apostrophe) are an English pop rock band from Birmingham, with soul influences, who achieved major commercial success in the early to mid-1980s. They a ...

guitarist Kevin 'Al' Archer, together with his girlfriend Yasmin Saleh, guitarist Nick Bache and former Dexys keyboard player

Andy Leek Andy Leek (born 1958) is a singer/songwriter, poet and musician, known for his work with Dexys Midnight Runners and Sir George Martin. He is an original member of Dexys Midnight Runners and played on the number one single "Geno". He has also wri ...

. Archer was keen to mix the

soul In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being". Etymology The Modern English noun ''soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest attes ...

sounds of his previous group with folk styles. To this end he recruited fiddle player

Helen O'Hara Helen O'Hara (born Helen Bevington; 5 November 1956) is a British musician. She was a member and violinist of Dexys Midnight Runners from 1982 to 1987, including performing on songs such as "Come on Eileen", and in 2021 rejoined the band. Early ...

to play on demo tapes of the new songs he had written. When former colleague

Kevin Rowland Kevin Rowland (born 17 August 1953) is a British singer and musician best known as the frontman for the pop band Dexys Midnight Runners (currently called ''Dexys''). The band had several hits in the early 1980s, the most notable being "Geno" an ...

heard these demo tapes, he invited O'Hara to join Dexys, and adopted a similarly folk-influenced sound for his own group. By the time the Blue Ox Babes finally released their debut single "There's No Deceiving You" on

Go! Discs Go! Discs was a London-based record label, launched in 1983 from offices in Wendell Road, Shepherd's Bush, by Andy Macdonald and Lesley Symons. The pair founded the label after Macdonald left his job as press officer at Stiff Records, and Sym ...

in 1988, the line-up consisted of Archer (guitar and vocals), Saleh (backing vocals), Pete Wain (piano), Nick Smith (saxophone), Ian Pettitt (drums), former Dexys members Steve 'Brennan' Shaw (fiddle), and Steve Wynne (bass). "There's No Deceiving You" was only a minor chart entry, peaking at No. 92 in the UK. Two other singles, "Apples and Oranges" and "Walking On The Line", were released, but sales were disappointing and these singles did not chart. A planned album ''Apples & Oranges'' was recorded by the group but shelved, and the Blue Ox Babes broke up shortly thereafter. In 2009, a CD of ''Apples & Oranges'' was finally released, containing all their recordings for Go! Discs, through

Cherry Red Records Cherry Red Records is a British independent record label founded in Malvern, Worcestershire by Iain McNay in 1978. The label has released recordings by Dead Kennedys, Everything But the Girl, The Monochrome Set, and Felt, among others, as well ...

. The package included all their singles plus many unreleased songs, and several additional demos were also made available as downloads.

Members

Kevin Archer Kevin "Al" Archer (born 21 December 1958) is an English guitarist and songwriter. Career Archer played with Kevin Rowland in the punk rock group the Killjoys. In 1978, Rowland and Archer formed Dexys Midnight Runners. Archer co-wrote some of t ...

— guitar, vocals (1981–88) *Yasmin Saleh — vocals (1981–88) *Nick Bache — guitar (1981–82) *

— keyboards (1981–82) *

— fiddle (1981–82) *Corin Winfield — bass (1981) *Pete Williams — bass (1982) *Pete Wain — piano (1988) *Nick Smith — saxophone (1988) *Ian Pettitt — drums (1981–88) *Steve 'Brennan' Shaw — fiddle (1988) *Steve Wynne — bass (1988)

Discography

Albums

* ''Apples & Oranges'' (recorded 1988, issued 2009)

Singles

* "There's No Deceiving You"/"The Last Detail"/"Take Me to the River" (1988) * "Apples and Oranges"/"Pray Lucky"/"Yes Let's"/"Russia in Winter" (1988) * "Walking on the Line"/"Four Golden Tongues Talk"/"What Does Anybody Ever Think About"/"Thought as Much" (1988)

References

External links

Blue Ox Babes' Apples & Oranges CD pageThe Blue Ox Babes' MySpace page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Blue Ox Babes, The English pop music groups English new wave musical groups