Kevin "Al" Archer (born 21 December 1958) is an English guitarist and songwriter.

Career

Archer played with Kevin Rowland in the

punk rock Punk rock (also known as simply punk) is a rock music genre that emerged in the mid-1970s. Rooted in 1950s rock and roll and 1960s garage rock, punk bands rejected the corporate nature of mainstream 1970s rock music. They typically produced sh ...

group the Killjoys. In 1978, Rowland and Archer formed

Dexys Midnight Runners Dexys (known as Dexys Midnight Runners from 1978 to 2011) are an English pop rock band from Birmingham, with soul music, soul influences, who achieved major commercial success in the early to mid- 1980s. They are best known in the UK for their ...

. Archer co-wrote some of the songs on the group's debut album ''

Searching for the Young Soul Rebels ''Searching for the Young Soul Rebels'' is the debut studio album by English band Dexys Midnight Runners, released on 11 July 1980, through Parlophone and EMI Records. Led by Kevin Rowland, the band formed in 1978 in Birmingham, England, and for ...

''. He used the name "Al" because Kevin Rowland decided that the group was not big enough to accommodate two Kevins. After the first album, Archer, exhausted by Dexys' touring schedule, left the group in early 1981. In a 2009 interview, with Joanne Malin on her BBC Radio WM morning show, Archer said he enjoyed the musical side of the group, but did not enjoy the culture of the band under Rowland's direction. The band's second album, ''

Too-Rye-Ay ''Too-Rye-Ay'' is the second studio album by English pop band Dexys Midnight Runners. It was released in July 1982 by Mercury Records. The album is best known for the hit single " Come On Eileen", which included the refrain that inspired the a ...

'' (1982), featured his significant influence on the hit single "

Come On Eileen "Come On Eileen" is a song by the English group Dexys Midnight Runners (credited to Dexys Midnight Runners and the Emerald Express), released in the United Kingdom in June 1982 as a single from their second studio album ''Too-Rye-Ay''. It reache ...

", though Rowland did not acknowledge this until years later. He then formed the Blue Ox Babes. The band finally signed to Go! Discs Records for three singles and an aborted album, ''Apples & Oranges'', which belatedly saw release in 200920 years after it was recorded.

References

1958 births Living people musicians from Birmingham, West Midlands English new wave musicians English rock guitarists English male songwriters Dexys Midnight Runners members {{UK-guitarist-stub