Blake Babies were an American

college rock College rock is rock music played on student-run university and college campus radio stations located in the United States and Canada in the 1980s and 1990s. The stations' playlists were often created by students who avoided the mainstream rock p ...

band formed in 1986 in

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

, Massachusetts. The three primary members were

Freda Love Freda Love Smith (born Freda Boner, later used the stage name Freda Love) is an American musician, journalist, and non-fiction author. Smith is known as a drummer and vocalist for several alternative rock bands, including Blake Babies, Antenn ...

, Juliana Hatfield and John Strohm. They recorded three albums before splitting up in 1991. They reformed to record a new album in 1999, and again in 2016.

History

The band formed in 1986, while Hatfield was studying at

Berklee College of Music Berklee College of Music () is a Private university, private music college in Boston, Boston, Massachusetts. It is the largest independent college of contemporary music in the world. Known for the study of jazz and modern Music of the United ...

.Strong, Martin C. (2003) ''The Great Indie Discography'', Canongate, , pp. 782-3 The name "Blake Babies" was provided by the poet

Allen Ginsberg Irwin Allen Ginsberg (; June 3, 1926 – April 5, 1997) was an American poet and writer. As a student at Columbia University in the 1940s, he began friendships with Lucien Carr, William S. Burroughs and Jack Kerouac, forming the core of th ...

; following a reading at

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

, the group (which had just begun to play together) raised their hands and asked him to name their band. Their first release was the '' Nicely, Nicely'' album, released on their own Chewbud label in 1987.Larkin, Colin (1998) ''The Virgin Encyclopedia of Indie & New Wave'', Virgin Books, , p. 50 In 1989 they released the

mini-LP A mini-LP or mini-album is a short record album or LP, usually retailing at a lower price than an album that would be considered full-length. It is distinct from an EP due to containing more tracks and a slightly longer running length. A mini- ...

''Slow Learner'' on

Billy Bragg Stephen William Bragg (born 20 December 1957) is an English singer, songwriter, musician, author and political activist. His music blends elements of folk music, punk rock and protest songs, with lyrics that mostly span political or romantic th ...

's Utility label, Evan Dando of

the Lemonheads The Lemonheads are an American alternative rock band formed in Boston in 1986 by Evan Dando, Ben Deily, and Jesse Peretz. Dando has remained the band's only constant member. After their initial punk-influenced releases and tours as an indep ...

(who Strohm had previously played with) joining as a temporary bassist.Robbins, Ira
Blake Babies
, ''

Trouser Press ''Trouser Press'' was a rock and roll magazine started in New York in 1974 as a mimeographed fanzine by editor/publisher Ira Robbins, fellow fan of the Who, Dave Schulps, and Karen Rose under the name "Trans-Oceanic Trouser Press" (a reference ...

''. Retrieved February 9, 2018 The band then signed to the then-independent North Carolina–based record label Mammoth Records, who issued ''

Earwig Earwigs make up the insect order (biology), order Dermaptera. With about 2,000 species in 12 families, they are one of the smaller insect orders. Earwigs have characteristic cercus, cerci, a pair of forceps-like pincer (biology), pincers on ...

'' in 1989 and ''

Sunburn Sunburn is a form of radiation burn that affects living tissue, such as skin, that results from an overexposure to ultraviolet (UV) radiation, usually from the Sun. Common symptoms in humans and other animals include red or reddish skin tha ...

'' in 1990, the latter described by

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

as "the last great college rock album". Their final UK tour included several sold-out shows, and the band looked on the verge of a breakthrough, but they went on hiatus in 1991, with the '' Rosy Jack World'' EP released in June and Hatfield rumored to be on the brink of signing with a major label as a solo artist. The band's split was finally confirmed in early 1992. The Blake Babies toured the United States and Europe, eventually achieving a moderate amount of notice, particularly among listeners of college age who were appreciative of the group's "intelligent" brand of rock music. The band's music received little airplay on commercial radio, instead being played primarily on

college radio Campus radio (also known as college radio, university radio or student radio) is a type of radio station that is run by the students of a college, university or other educational institution. Programming may be exclusively created or produced ...

stations. Andrew Mayer, Seth White, Anthony DeLuca (who played drums in place of Freda for the group's last European tour in early 1992), and Mike Leahy each also performed as members of the band at times. Strohm and Love continued to perform together in the Indiana-based group Antenna. The group reunited in late 1999 to record a new album, performing a few shows in 1999 and 2000 and embarking on one last US tour in 2001. The result of these recording sessions, ''

God Bless the Blake Babies ''God Bless The Blake Babies'' is the fourth full length album by the Blake Babies, released in 2001 (see 2001 in music). This album was recorded during the Blake Babies brief reunion. Track listing Personnel *Juliana Hatfield - vocals, gui ...

'', was released in 2001 by Rounder Records.Erlewine, Stephen Thomas
Blake Babies Biography
,

. Retrieved February 9, 2018 Hatfield and Love joined up again in 2003 in the band Some Girls along with fellow musician Heidi Gluck. In March 2016, the band announced that an album of demos recorded in March 1988 would be released (''Earwig Demos''), and they reunited again for three live shows that year.

Musical style

The group were compared to

R.E.M. R.E.M. was an American alternative rock band formed in Athens, Georgia, in 1980 by drummer Bill Berry, guitarist Peter Buck, bassist Mike Mills, and lead vocalist Michael Stipe, who were students at the University of Georgia. One of the fir ...

and

Throwing Muses Throwing Muses are an American alternative rock band formed in 1981 in Newport, Rhode Island, United States, that toured and recorded extensively until 1997, when its members began concentrating more on other projects. The group was original ...

. ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

' described them as "punkish folk-rock".Jenkins, Mark (1991)
Two Groups Play With Folk-Rock
, ''

'', March 22, 1991.

Discography

Albums

Studio albums

Compilation albums

Extended plays

Singles

DVD

* ''Blake Babies'' (2016)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Blake Babies Alternative rock groups from Massachusetts Musical groups from Boston Musical groups established in 1986 Musical groups disestablished in 1992 Musical groups reestablished in 1999 Musical groups disestablished in 2001 Musical groups reestablished in 2016 1986 establishments in Massachusetts Zoë Records artists