Kevin Archer
{{BLP sources|date=April 2010}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2021}}
{{Infobox musical artist
| name = Kevin Archer
| image =
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| background = non_vocal_instrumentalist
| birth_name =
| alias = Al Archer
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1958|12|21|df=y}}
| birth_place = Birmingham, England
| origin =
| instrument =
| genre =
| occupation =
| years_active = 1970s–1980s
| label =
| associated_acts = The Killjoys, Dexys Midnight Runners, The Blue Ox Babes
| website =
}}
Kevin "Al" Archer (born 21 December 1958) is an English guitarist and songwriter.
Career
Archer played with Kevin Rowland in the punk rock group the Killjoys. In 1978, Rowland and Archer formed Dexys Midnight Runners. Archer co-wrote some of the songs on the group's debut album Searching for the Young Soul Rebels.{{cite web |title=Biography: Dexys Midnight Runners |last=Huey |first=Steve |publisher=Allmusic |url={{Allmusic|class=artist|id=p17004/biography|pure_url=yes}} |access-date=2010-04-10}}
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.{{Cite AV media |title=Kevin Archer Interview |work=Mornings With Joanne Malin |publisher=BBC Radio WM |date=February 2009 |format=MP3 |url=http://www.dexys.org/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderfiles/kevin_archer_interview_part_one.mp3 |access-date=2020-03-26 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200326115953/http://www.dexys.org/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderfiles/kevin_archer_interview_part_one.mp3 |archive-date=2020-03-26 |url-status=live}} The band's second album, Too-Rye-Ay (1982), featured his significant influence on the hit single "Come On Eileen", though Rowland did not acknowledge this until years later.{{cite news |title=Rock star admits stealing song |first=Jojo |last=Moyes |author-link=Jojo Moyes |date=1997-01-21 |newspaper=The Independent |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/rock-star-admits-stealing-song-1284279.html |access-date=2024-02-07}}
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 2009{{snd}}20 years after it was recorded.{{cite magazine |title=Let's Make This Precious! |first=Stephen |last=Troussé |magazine=Uncut |date=June 2012 |page=30 |url=https://archive.org/details/uncut-06.2012/page/n29/mode/2up |access-date=2024-02-07 |via=Internet Archive Book Reader}}
References
{{Reflist}}
{{Dexys Midnight Runners}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Archer, Kevin}}
Category:musicians from Birmingham, West Midlands
Category:English new wave musicians
Category:English rock guitarists
Category:English male songwriters
Category:Dexys Midnight Runners members
{{UK-guitarist-stub}}