Ruby Blue

Ruby Blue were an English folk rock/pop band of the late 1980s and early 1990s. Fronted by Rebecca Pidgeon, they released a total of four albums, beginning with Glances Askances in 1987 and Down From Above in 1990. The original members of the band were Rebecca and Roger Fife. Erika Spotswood and Anthony Coote later joined for the album Down From Above.

Rebecca Pidgeon left the band in late 1990 to move to the USA to be with her partner, the playwright David Mamet; they subsequently married. She later went on to have a solo singing and acting career, and to date has released four albums of songs. The album Broken Water, a compilation of pre-Down From Above material, was released after the breakup, by Red Flame Records.

Between Glances Askances and Down From Above, the band released a flexidisc, 'Easy', on the Fatea label, in conjunction with Fatea magazine, as a thank you for the support the magazine provided during their early career.

Two of the original members, Erika (now called Erika Woods) and Roger, kept the band name and released a fourth album, Almost Naked, but it was unsuccessful, and no further recordings were released. Erika, like Rebecca an alumnus of RADA, moved to Los Angeles and married Tony Philips, the producer of Down from Above, and has had a minor career as an actress. Roger went on to become a successful producer/engineer/mixer and has worked with a variety of artists, including Cyndi Lauper, Antony and the Johnsons, Tricky, and The Infadels.

Always difficult to categorise, Ruby Blue's style was mainly pop with strong folk influences, with occasional forays into jazz (Betty's Last Letter, Too Many Suitcases, Meaning of Life). Some songs have a slightly Scottish theme (Meaning of Life, Not Alone), drawing on Rebecca's and Roger's time in Edinburgh.

A Ruby Blue Remasters album came out in 2011. It featured songs selected from the time Rebecca and Roger worked together, up and until Rebecca left the band.