Description

Although "Come On, Eileen" will forever be the song that people associate with Dexy's Midnight Runners, the British '80s outfit was more than a one-hit wonder. Leader Kevin Rowland combined his American soul music obsession with the DIY attitude of punk and the instrumentation and musical forms of his native Ireland. The group's debut was hailed by some as a masterpiece, and two years later, on the strength of "Eileen," TOO-RYE-AY became an international smash. On subsequent releases, Rowland retooled the group's sound a bit, but Dexy's was unable to maintain its popularity.

Biography

Conceived by the uncompromising Kevin Rowland (b. 17 August 1953, Wolverhampton, West Midlands, England), Dexys Midnight Runners proved one of the most original, eclectic and fascinating UK bands to achieve success in the 80s. Their career was marked by a series of broken contracts, band upheavals, total changes of image, diverse musical forays and an often bitter association with the music press. Vocalist Rowland and rhythm guitarist Al Archer were previously members of punk outfit the Killjoys, before rehearsing the soul-inspired Dexys Midnight Runners in July 1978. A further six members were added to the first line-up: Pete Williams (bass), Bobby Junior (drums), Pete Saunders (piano/organ), Jeff "JB" Blythe (tenor saxophone), Steve "Baby Face" Spooner (alto saxophone), and Big Jim Paterson (trombone).
The unit took their name from the amphetamine Dexedrine, a stimulant favoured by northern soul dancers. Their name notwithstanding, the band gained an almost puritanical reputation for their aversion to drink and drugs. Rowland cleverly fashioned their image, using Robert De Niro's movie Mean Streets as an inspiration for their New York Italian docker chic. The band's debut, "Dance Stance", was an extraordinary single, its simple title belying what was a lyrically devastating attack on racism directed at the Irish community, with a superb background litany extolling the virtues of Ireland's finest literary figures. The single crept into the UK Top 40, but the follow-up "Geno" (a tribute to 60s soul singer Geno Washington featuring new keyboard player Mick Talbot) climbed confidently to number 1 in May 1980. Two months later, Searching For The Young Soul Rebels was released to critical acclaim and commercial success. Many polls perhaps rightly suggested that it one of the finest debut albums ever issued; it showed Rowland's mastery of the pop-soul genre to spectacular effect. The epistolary "There, There My Dear", taken from the album, brought the band another UK Top 10 hit. The flip was a revival of Cliff Noble's instrumental "The Horse", in keeping with the band's soul revivalism.
The first signs of Rowland's artistic waywardness occurred with the release of the blatantly uncommercial "Keep It Part Two (Inferiority Part One)", much against the band's wishes. Unquestionably his most intensely passionate work from the band's first phase, the song's almost unbearably agonized vocal line was double-tracked to create a bizarre but riveting effect. The song precipitated the fragmentation of the original line-up. With Blythe, Spooner, Talbot and Williams defecting to the Bureau, Rowland and Paterson found a fresh line-up: former Secret Affair drummer Seb Shelton, Micky Billingham (keyboards), Paul Speare (tenor saxophone), Brian Maurice (alto saxophone), Steve Wynne (bass) and Billy Adams (guitar). After another single for EMI Records, the excellent "Plan B", the band switched to Phonogram.
By 1981, they had abandoned soul revivalism in order to investigate different music and a new look. Out went the balaclavas to be replaced by a new uniform of red anoraks, boxing boots, tracksuit bottoms, hoods and pony tails. Their "ascetic athlete" phase saw the release of the more commercial "Show Me" produced by Tony Visconti. This was followed by the idiosyncratic "Liars A To E". A highly acclaimed live show, "The Projected Passion Review" followed, including a performance at London's Old Vic. Early 1982 saw the band augmented by a fiddle section, the Emerald Express, featuring Helen O'Hara, Steve Brennan and Roger McDuff. Rowland's latest experiment was to fuse Northern soul with Irish traditional music. As before, the shift in musical style was reflected in the image as Rowland created his own brand of hoedown gypsy chic - neckerchiefs, earrings, stubble and leather jerkins. The first release from the new line-up, "The Celtic Soul Brothers", was a vital work that failed to chart. Shortly afterwards Paterson, Maurice and Speare departed, having become disillusioned by their role in the band. "Come On Eileen" restored Dexys Midnight Runners to number 1 in the summer of 1982. The second album, Too-Rye-Ay, was another startling work and a bestseller, reaching number 2 in the UK album charts. The band subsequently undertook an extensive tour, which revealed Rowland's love of theatre in its self-conscious grandeur.
Further line-up changes followed, with the departure of Rowland's right-hand man Jim Paterson and two other brass players. Continuing under the autocratic title "Kevin Rowland And Dexys Midnight Runners", the band went on to reap considerable success in the USA where "Come On Eileen" reached number 1 in 1983. Further hits followed with a snappy cover version of Van Morrison's "Jackie Wilson Said" and "Let's Get This Straight (From The Start)" before the band underwent a long hibernation. They returned as a quartet comprising Rowland, Adams, O'Hara and Nicky Gatfield, and boasting a radically new image "College Preppie" - chic shirts and ties and neatly cut hair. Don't Stand Me Down received favourable reviews but sold poorly in spite of its qualities. Featuring some of Rowland's most impassioned material, the album also featured a rambling conversation between the singer and Adams running on and off through the first four tracks. An edited version of "This Is What She's Like" was belatedly issued as a single, but received little airplay. A director's cut version was issued in 2002. Adams subsequently left, and although Rowland and O'Hara charted again in 1986 with "Because Of You" (the theme for BBC Television's comedy series Brush Strokes), the commercial failure of the latest experiment forced Rowland to think again, and he finally dissolved Dexys Midnight Runners in 1987.
Rowland returned in 1988 as a soloist with the light pop album The Wanderer, which failed to produce a hit single. In 1990, Rowland, amid not unusual record company trouble, announced that he was resurrecting Dexys Midnight Runners and bringing back his old colleague Jim Paterson. A similar announcement came in 1993, but three years later Creation Records signed Rowland for a one-album deal. My Beauty was an idiosyncratic cover versions album, which received a wide-ranging batch of reviews and sold poorly. Some enlightened sources quoted 300 copies.
Rowland remains a fascinating renegade; original, temperamental and brutally uncompromising at times, yet still capable of producing a surprise hit out of the hat. He finally re-formed Dexys Midnight Runners in 2003, recording new material for a compilation album and performing live dates throughout the UK.
DISCOGRAPHY: Searching For The Young Soul Rebels (Parlophone/EMI America 1980)****, as Kevin Rowland And Dexys Midnight Runners Too-Rye-Ay (Mercury 1982)****, Don't Stand Me Down (Mercury 1985)****, BBC Radio One Live In Concert 1982 recording (Windsong 1994)***, Don't Stand Me Down: The Director's Cut (EMI 2002)****.
Solo: Kevin Rowland The Wanderer (Mercury 1988)**, My Beauty (Creation 1999)*.
COMPILATIONS: Geno (EMI 1983)***, The Very Best Of Dexys Midnight Runners (Mercury 1991)****, 1980-1982: The Radio One Sessions (Nighttracks 1995)***, It Was Like This (EMI 1996)****, Let's Make This Precious: The Best Of Dexys Midnight Runners (EMI 2003)****.

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