The Blue Up?

Emerging from Minneapolis during the middle of the 1980s, the alternative dance-pop outfit Blue Up? originally comprised vocalist and guitarist Rachael alongside bassist Carolyn Rush and drummer Renee Bracchi. The trio launched its career with local performances that earned it the title of Best New Band from the city’s First Avenue venue. Carolyn Rush soon exited the lineup, prompting Rachael to craft the concept album Introducing Sorrow on her own. The three musicians reunited in 1991, resumed live shows, and captured their debut effort Cake and Eat It using a personal four-track machine. Issued by Catacombs in 1992, that recording attracted a growing Minneapolis following that included Bobby Z., the former drummer of Prince’s Revolution. Bobby Z. later helmed the band’s follow-up, Spool Forka Dish, which was tracked for Columbia in 1995.