{{Short description|British musician}} {{about|the musician|the Ford automobile with the same nickname|Ford Model Y}} {{Use dmy dates|date=January 2025}} {{Use British English|date=October 2016}} {{BLP sources|date=June 2011}} {{infobox person | image = | caption = | name = Baby Ford | birth_name = Peter Frank Adshead | occupation = Record producer, musician | known_for = acid house music }} '''Peter Frank Adshead''', better known as '''Baby Ford''', is a British electronic music record producer,<ref name="British Hit Singles & Albums">{{cite book | first= David | last= Roberts | year= 2006 | title= British Hit Singles & Albums | edition= 19th | publisher= Guinness World Records Limited | location= London | isbn= 1-904994-10-5 | page= 37}}</ref> known particularly for his contributions to the birth of acid house. He has also released material under aliases with Mark Broom (Casino Classix, El Mal, Solcyc, & Perbec), Thomas Melchior (Soul Capsule & Sunpeople), and Eon (Minimal Man).<ref name="LarkinDM"/>
==Career== Ford is influenced by Chicago musicians such as Marshall Jefferson, Ron Trent, Armando, and Larry Heard, and was one of the founders of the acid house scene in the United Kingdom.<ref>[{{AllMusic|class=artist|id=p12285/biography|pure_url=yes}} Baby Ford] at AllMusic</ref> His early work was released on Rhythm King, including the club tracks "Oochy Koochy (F.U. Baby Yeah Yeah)" (a No. 58 UK Singles Chart hit seen as the first British acid house record),<ref>{{Cite journal|url=http://www.muzines.co.uk/articles/acid-radical/2314|title=Acid Radical (MT Dec 1988)|journal=Music Technology|date=December 1988|issue=Dec 1988|pages=82–84|last1=Bradwell|first1=David}}</ref> and "Chikki Chikki Ahh Ahh" (UK No. 54).<ref name="British Hit Singles & Albums"/> These two first singles appeared on the 2x12" EP "Ford Trax" (BFORD3.)<ref name="LarkinDM">{{cite book|title=The Virgin Encyclopedia of Dance Music|editor=Colin Larkin|editor-link=Colin Larkin (writer)|publisher=Virgin Books|date=1998|edition=First|isbn=0-7535-0252-6|page=23}}</ref>
Both appeared in remixed form on the EP, and the original singles were remixed on a variety of different formats (12" and CD) and energized the burgeoning UK acid-house scene. Sire Records in the US signed Baby Ford, as well as several other artists, on the Rhythm King label. Sire had been impressed with the label, but reportedly had concerns about how to effectively market Rhythm King artists in the US, as acid house had not broken into the US mainstream. The second album ''"Ooo" The World of Baby Ford'' contained three singles, the most popular of which was a cover of Marc Bolan & T. Rex's "Children of the Revolution" (a UK No. 53 hit in 1989).<ref name="British Hit Singles & Albums"/> It was also a club hit across the globe, as was 1990's "Beach Bump" (UK No. 68).<ref name="British Hit Singles & Albums"/> The US released the "Let's Talk It Over" EP in 1990, with exclusive live tracks. The tracks were recorded on Baby Ford's tour of the US, where he opened for Depeche Mode on several dates of their Violator tour.
The ''BFord9'' album in 1992 revealed a different side of Ford's electronic influences. The release incorporated minimal techno with trance-like elements, long before these genres became popular later in the decade.{{Citation needed|date=June 2011}} CJ Bolland contributed a mix of "In Your Blood" on ''BFord9'' and "Fetish" was a club hit in both the UK and the US. Several of the songs on ''BFord9'' were re-released by Aphex Twin on his Re-Phlex label in the late 1990s in a remixed format on "Normal EP". Many of these remixes were recorded in 1992.
Baby Ford, Eon, and Mark Broom continued their explorations into minimal electronic music throughout the 1990s and well into the next decade through the iFach, Pal-SL and Trelik Record labels. ''iFach Vol. 1'' contained the first five releases on the iFach label.
Releases appeared on Sire, Source, and Insumision/Transglobal. He co-managed the labels Trelik and iFach, and worked with Trelik's Ian Loveday. His remixing work includes tracks by Stefan Robbers and S'Express.
==Discography== {{Incomplete list|date=August 2008}}
===Albums=== *''Ford Trax'' (Rhythm King, 1989, BFORD3) *''"Ooo" The World of Baby Ford'' (Rhythm King (UK), Sire (US), 1990, BFORD5) *''BFord9'' (Transglobal (Rhythm King) (UK), Sire (US), 1992) *''Headphoneasyrider'' (Blackmarket Records, 1997, BFORD12) *''Sacred Machine'' (Klang Electronic, 2001) *''Basking in the Brakelights'' (EFA, 2003) *''Birds'' (Pal, 2007)
===Singles and EPs=== *"Oochy Koochy (F.U. Baby Yeah Yeah)" (Rhythm King 1988) (BFORD1) – UK No. 58 *"Chikki Chikki Ahh Ahh" (Rhythm King 1988) (BFORD2) – UK No. 54 *"Children of the Revolution" (Rhythm King 1989) (BFORD4) – UK No. 53 *"Beach Bump" (Rhythm King 1990) (BFORD6) – UK No. 68 *"Change" (Rhythm King 1990) (BFORD7) *"In Your Blood" (Rhythm King 1992) (BFORD8) *"Fetish" (Rhythm King 1992) (BFORD10) – UK No. 99 *"Move-On" (Sire US 1992) (US-only release) *"Slow Hand" (PAL-SL 1) (BFORD11) *"Tall Storey" / "Now and Then" (Source Records) (BFORD13) *"Night D3 Died EP" (PAL-SL 4) (BFORD14) *"Normal EP" (Rephlex 1999) (BFORD15)<ref name="British Hit Singles & Albums"/>
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== *[http://music.hyperreal.org/bford/ Baby Ford site] *[http://www.discogs.com/artist/baby+ford Discogs: Baby Ford] *[http://the-garage-recording-studio.com/artists-a-l/baby-ford/ The Garage Recording Studio: Baby Ford]
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Ford, Baby}} Category:Year of birth missing (living people) Category:Living people Category:British house musicians Category:British electronic musicians Category:British record producers Category:Rhythm King artists Category:Sire Records artists