Born Peter Frank Adshead in Bolton but better known as Baby Ford.
Purveyor of English Acid House music in the late 80s, Baby Ford enjoyed a string of club hits that also troubled the UK singles charts between September 1988 and February 1990, namely Oochy Koochy (F.U. Baby Yeh Yeh), Chikki Chikki Ahh Ahh and Beach Bump.
Oh, and a cover of Children Of The Revolution by T. Rex...
But then I happened across BFORD9, Baby Ford's third (if you count EP collection Ford Trax as his debut) album from 1992, which was a game changer for me. Quite simply one of the greatest techno albums ever made, with a slew of great singles not least the nosebleed-inducing Fetish.
BFORD9 contains twin takes on a few songs, essential inclusions in all cases. Here's a 2022 "Spintext Reformat" re-edit by Tony Fairchild of the alt. mix of Move On, a crucial album cut.
1997 follow up Headphoneasy Rider saw Baby Ford's first steps into a genre that's subsequently seen him labelled as the "elder statesman of classical Minimal-Techno". 2003's Basking In The Brakelights - as far as I can tell, Baby Ford's last full album release to date - continued to explore the form, as evidenced by this remix of Satellite Stroll.
Standalone single Messenger, also from 2003, is another deep cut especially this 11-minute Vox version.
Bandcamp has proved to be a veritable smorgasbord of Baby Ford tracks and remixes from the past decade, a welcome discovery that the journey continues. Here's a few choice selections: the lead track from the One For Sorrow EP (2015), plus remixes of Brainstew by Tom Ellis (2020), Lovin' Space by Le Loup aka Léonard Perret (also 2020) and Praise by Leigh Dickson (2023).
Note: not to be confused with this Baby Ford, who is Real 4Eva and really should come with a health warning.
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