Ruth

Ruth was a French coldwave trio with veteran experimental musicians Thierry Müller and Philippe Doray. Starting in 1982, they developed tracks collected on Polaroïd/Roman/Photo, released in 1985 on the Paris Album label.

Members: Thierry Müller (guitar, synthesizer, electronics), Philippe Doray, Ruth Ellyeri

Background

Ruth began in 1982 in Paris when guitarist and keyboardist Thierry Müller developed a studio project around a new set of songs and lyric collaborators.

Müller grew up in Paris as the youngest of three children and discovered pop music with his older brother Patrick. In 1969, a cousin taught Thierry and Patrick to manipulate tape recorders at electroacoustic workshops in Paris. By 1970, Müller trained himself on a newly acquired acoustic guitar and a small Bontempi organ. He studied applied arts and graphics alongside home recording.

In 1974, Müller recorded with Arcane, an arts-school group that used guitar, tapes, electronics, percussion, and flute. He also developed Ilitch from home recordings and presented the project in 1975 at the Maison du Portugal theater at the Cité Universitaire de Paris. The Oxigène label issued the 1978 Ilitch album Periodikmindtrouble. Müller met experimental musician Philippe Doray through Oxigène and later spent more than a year at a Normandy farmhouse where Doray and members of Asociaux Associés maintained a cellar studio. The musician first used Ruth M. Ellyeri, an anagram of Thierry Müller, as a female alter ego for the 1979 compilation track “Mescalito.”

In 1982, Müller built the first version of “Polaroïd/Roman/Photo” around a Farfisa organ synchronized by a handmade clock. Doray wrote the lyric, while Frédérique Lapierre wrote “Misty Mouse” and “Tu m’ennuies” and sang the first title-track version. Visual artist Édouard Nono supplied the lyric for “Mots.” Müller recorded the basic and synthesizer parts at the Normandy cellar studio, then moved the acoustic sessions to Studio Anagramme near Paris.

Müller and Doray replaced the original title-track vocal with singer Frédérique Cambon, and Patrick Chevalot remixed “Polaroïd/Roman/Photo” at Studio Synthesis. Jacques Pasquier of S.C.O.P.A./Invisible Records then helped Müller take the finished tape to record companies. RCA executive Francis Fottorino expressed interest, but the proposal stopped at label management. Müller ultimately placed the completed album with Paris Album for the 1985 LP Polaroïd/Roman/Photo.

Discography:

• Polaroïd/Roman/Photo (1985)

Sources

• Thierry Müller / Ilitch official archive — early biography, Arcane, Ilitch, Ruth chronology, album credits. Ilitchmusic: Thierry Müller biography Ilitchmusic: Ruth — Polaroïd/Roman/Photo
• Thierry Müller interview, 2022 — Paris childhood, tape experiments, first instruments, Arcane evidence, Ruth recording locations. It’s Psychedelic Baby: Thierry Müller interview
• Born Bad Records — detailed Ruth chronology from Arcane through the label search. Born Bad Records: Ruth — Polaroïd/Roman/Photo
• POPnews interview, 2009 — Ruth concept, Farfisa setup, RCA contact, Francis Fottorino, Virgin approach, Paris Album. POPnews: Thierry Müller interview
• The Quietus interview, 2010 — studio-project status, Frédérique Lapierre, replacement title-track vocal, absence of a fixed live group. The Quietus: Thierry Müller on Ruth
• Thierry Müller photo archive — dated Arcane session and 1984 Crash material. Ilitchmusic photo archive