Blueboy

Reading, England-based Blueboy embodied the quintessential Sarah Records indie pop aesthetic through jangly guitars, hushed arrangements, softly introspective lyricism, and an overarching dreamy melancholy. Formed in 1989, the group remained steadily active across a decade until it splintered into separate projects. During that span Blueboy issued three studio albums alongside a larger number of singles and EPs, operating within the Sarah Records wing of twee pop that deliberately isolated singles from full-length releases. Following the band’s dissolution, several archival projects appeared, among them Peel Sessions recordings and the 2023 compilation Singles 1991-1998, which gathered every track from the group’s many 7"s for the first time.

Singer Keith Girdler and guitarist Paul Stewart, who had earlier played together in the little-known band Feverfew, established Blueboy. After cutting their initial demo in a friend’s shed, the pair forwarded the song “Clearer” to the Sarah Records label, which issued it as a single in fall 1991. With the later arrival of second guitarist Harvey Williams (of Field Mice/Another Sunny Day fame), singer/cellist Gemma Townlet, bassist Mark Cousens, and drummer Lloyd Haggar, the ensemble delivered the 1992 single “Popkiss” and soon afterward the album If Wishes Were Horses. The following year brought the singles “Meet Johnny Rave” and “Some Gorgeous Accident,” leading to the spring 1994 release of their second LP, Unisex. Shortly thereafter the lineup changed again when Townlet moved to bass and Martin Rose joined on drums for the 1995 single “Dirty Mags.” After Sarah Records closed later that year, co-owner Matt Haynes launched the Shinkansen imprint and took Blueboy with him, resulting in the 1996 single “Love Yourself.” By then the roster had contracted back to the core duo of Girdler and Stewart, augmented by vocalist Cath Close, bassist James Neville, and drummer Ian Gardner for the band’s final studio album, 1998’s The Bank of England. Girdler and Stewart also recorded together as Arabesque and, later, Beaumont. In 2004 Keith Girdler received a cancer diagnosis and succumbed to the illness on May 15, 2007.

Blueboy’s Peel Sessions recordings first appeared on a double 7" in 2021, marking their debut on vinyl. The 2023 collection Singles 1991-1998 assembled all twenty-one of the band’s singles and corresponding B-sides.