Ruth (2)

London-born Ruth Joy (real name Ruth Oram) first came to prominence in Sheffield-based Krush at which point she was widely touted as the new Neneh Cherry. Krush were a house music group who had a big dance hit with House Arrest, released by Mercury Records, which reached number 3 in the UK singles chart in December 1987. They also appeared on Top Of The Pops in the early part of 1988.

Ruth went solo in 1989 with her first single for MCA Records, Don't Push It, and reached 66 in the UK singles chart. The video for Don't Push It was filmed in Jamaica and was heavily promoted in trendy magazines like The Face. Ruth had a reputation for being very honest and was respected for this in the music world. In her own words, “I don’t mind being popular but I do music my own way. If people like it too then that’s safe”. Ruth also said in a 1989 interview with Record Mirror, “I’ve decided just to be myself, not have an image… there’s no falseness, it’s honest, straightforward". She followed this up later the same year with her self-produced single, Soul Power, which failed to chart. It wasn't until 1991 that Ruth released a third single, Feel, a club hit in Europe that reached number 67 in the charts and later still her only album, Pride And Joy, which was released in 1992. Ruth's 11 track album featured her two 1989 singles, one B-Side, her 1991 single, an instrumental and six new tracks.

After the lack of interest in her solo offerings, Ruth returned to Krush for a second time. Their second (and final) single on Network Records, Walking On Sunshine, was released in 1992 and despite being a club hit, it only reached number 71 on the chart.

As is widely misreported, Ruth Joy is not Ann Saunderson, wife of producer Kevin Saunderson of Inner City fame. Ann is also a UK vocalist in the late 80s/early 90s, for a time using the alias Karen Joy. This would appear to be where the confusion has come from, with many sites (Wikipedia, Youtube, etc.) incorrectly recognising Ruth Joy and Karen Joy as the same artist!