Blueboy are an
indie pop
Indie pop (also typeset as indie-pop or indiepop) is a music genre and subculture that combines guitar pop with a DIY ethic in opposition to the style and tone of mainstream pop music. It originated from British post-punk in the late 1970s and s ...
band formed in
Reading, Berkshire
Reading ( ) is a town and borough in Berkshire, England, and the county town of Berkshire. It is the United Kingdom's largest town, with a combined population of 355,596. Most of Reading built-up area, its built-up area lies within the Borough ...
who were signed to
Sarah Records and later
Shinkansen Recordings. Core members Keith Girdler and Paul Stewart also recorded as Arabesque and Beaumont. After breaking up in 1998 and Girdler's passing in 2007, Stewart resumed the band in 2023 with several of its previous members.
History
Blueboy formed around 1989 and initially consisted of Keith Girdler (on vocals) and Paul Stewart (on guitars), formerly of little-known band Feverfew.
[Ankeny, Jason " Blueboy Biography, allmusic.com, Macrovision Corporation][Strong, Martin C. (2003) ''The Great Indie Discography'', Canongate, , p. 633-4] They soon signed to
Sarah Records, releasing the home-recorded
single "Clearer" in 1991, and took on more members, including singer/
cellist
The violoncello ( , ), commonly abbreviated as cello ( ), is a middle pitched bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), tuned i ...
Gemma Townley and second guitarist
Harvey Williams (of
The Field Mice/
Another Sunny Day
Another Sunny Day was an indie pop solo project of Harvey Williams, signed to Sarah Records. Williams later recorded two albums under his own name.
History
The band was a solo project for Harvey Williams (born in Newlyn, Cornwall), started whil ...
).
"Clearer" was followed by several singles and two
album
An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...
s on Sarah, ''If Wishes Were Horses'' and ''Unisex''.
In October 1994, Blueboy recorded a session for
John Peel
John Robert Parker Ravenscroft (30 August 1939 – 25 October 2004), better known as John Peel, was an English radio presenter and journalist. He was the longest-serving of the original disc jockeys on BBC Radio 1, broadcasting regularly from ...
's
BBC Radio 1
BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and Contemporary hit radio, current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including ...
show.
[Details of Blueboy's Peel session from the BBC's ''Keeping It Peel'' site](_blank)
/ref> Their final release before going on hiatus, ''The Bank of England'', was released in 1998 on Sarah head Matt Haynes' new label, Shinkansen Recordings.cancer
Cancer is a group of diseases involving Cell growth#Disorders, abnormal cell growth with the potential to Invasion (cancer), invade or Metastasis, spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Po ...
in 2004 and he died on 15 May 2007. Prior to his death he was working as volunteer manager for Age Concern
Age Concern is the banner title used by several charitable organisations specifically concerned with the needs and interests of all older people (defined as those over the age of 50) based chiefly in the four countries of the United Kingdom.
I ...
in Eastbourne
Eastbourne () is a town and seaside resort in East Sussex, on the south coast of England, east of Brighton and south of London. It is also a non-metropolitan district, local government district with Borough status in the United Kingdom, bor ...
.
In 2008, Siesta Records issued a compilation album
A compilation album comprises Album#Tracks, tracks, which may be previously released or unreleased, usually from several separate recordings by either one Performing arts#Performers, performer or by several performers. If the recordings are from ...
called ''Country Music (Songs for Keith Girdler)''. The compilation was put together by Richard Preece (of Lovejoy) to raise money for the Martletts Hospice in Hove
Hove ( ) is a seaside resort in East Sussex, England. Alongside Brighton, it is one of the two main parts of the city of Brighton and Hove.
Originally a fishing village surrounded by open farmland, it grew rapidly in the 19th century in respon ...
who cared for Girdler.
In 2018, Blueboy's music was released to Bandcamp
Bandcamp is an American online music distribution platform founded in 2008 by Oddpost co-founder Ethan Diamond and programmers Shawn Grunberger, Joe Holt and Neal Tucker, with an office and record store in Oakland, California. Acquired by Epic ...
as part of the release of all the Sarah Records back-catalogue.
In April 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
, Paul Stewart recorded acoustic versions of some Blueboy songs and posted them to th
"OfficialBlueboy" Youtube channel
to connect with those interested in the band.
October 2023 saw a reunion described as "almost accidental" when Townley (now going by Gemma Malley) and Stewart played at the launch of ''These Things Happen: The Sarah Records Story''. This was followed by a new single in May 2024, "One", which was recorded as a four-piece with Stewart and Townley rejoined by Mark Cousens on bass and Martin Rose on drums. To mark the release of "One" and celebrate the 30th anniversary of ''Unisex'', Blueboy performed a full-band show on the 18th of May at the Water Rats in London. Another new single, "Deux", followed on the 2nd of November.
Discography
Albums
Singles
*"Clearer" (1991), Sarah
*"Popkiss" (1992), Sarah
*"Cloud Babies" (1993), Sarah - flexi-disc
The flexi disc (also known as a phonosheet, Sonosheet or Soundsheet, a trademark) is a Gramophone record, phonograph record made of a thin, flexible Polyvinyl chloride, vinyl sheet with a molded-in spiral Phonograph pickup, stylus groove, and is ...
*"Meet Johnny Rave" (1993), Sarah
*''Some Gorgeous Accident'' EP (1993), Sarah
*"River" (1994), Sarah
*''Bikini'' EP (1995), Aquavinyle
*"Dirty Mags" (1995), Sarah
*"Love Yourself" (1996), Shinkansen
*''Marco Polo'' EP (1998), Shinkansen
*''One'' (2024), Prenew
Compilations
*''Speedboat'' (1993 - Quattro Records)
Discography as ''Arabesque''
*''Roma EP'' EP (1995), Siesta
*''The Grooming Gambit EP'' (1997), Siesta
Discography as ''Beaumont''
*''This Is...'' (2000), Siesta
*''Discotheque a la Carte'' (2001), Siesta
*''Tiara'' (2003), Siesta
*''No Time Like The Past'' (2005), Siesta
''Beaumont'' on Discogs.com
/ref>
Compilation album appearances
*''Grimsby Fishmarket 4 Norrkoeping 0'', featured "Chelsea Guitar"
*''In This Place Called Nowhere'' (1992) Quattro, featured "Clearer"
*''Sound of Music - An Anti-Racist Benefit'' (1993) Bring on Bull, featured "My Favourite Things"
*''La Rue du Chat Qui Pêche'' (1993) Sarah/Quattro, featured "Elle" and "Air France"
*''Gaol Ferry Bridge'' (1994) Sarah, featured "Try Happiness" and "Air France"
*''Engine Common'' (1995) Sarah, featured "Clearer" and "Popkiss"
*''Battery Point'' (1995) Sarah, featured "Dirty Mags", "River", and "Toulouse"
*''There and Back Again Lane'' (1995) Sarah, featured "The Joy of Living"
*''PREGO! The Menu of Trattoria'' (1995) Trattoria, featured "My Favourite Things"
*''Country Music: Songs for Keith Girdler'' (2008) Siesta, featured "80's Diaries"
References
External links
Unofficial Blueboy band web siteBlueboy at discogs.comBlueboy's bandcamp page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Blueboy
English pop music groups
English indie pop groups
Musical groups from Reading, Berkshire
Sarah Records artists