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(1982) Dexy's Midnight Runners are a British
New Wave and Northern Soul band who achieved
their major success in the early-mid 1980s.
Kevin Rowland (vocals, guitar) and Kevin 'Al'
Archer (vocals, guitar) founded the band in
1978 in Birmingham, England, naming the band
after Dexedrine, a recreational drug popular
amongst Northern Soul fans at the time. Big
Jim Paterson (trombone), Geoff 'JB' Blythe
(saxophone), Steve 'Babyface' Spooner (alto
saxophone), Pete Saunders (keyboard), Pete
Williams (bass) and Bobby 'Jnr' Ward(drums)
formed the first line-up of the band to
record a single, 'Dance Stance' (1979). The
song only reached number 40 in the British
charts, but the next single, 'Geno' -- about
Geno Washington -- (featuring new recruits,
Andy Leek (keyboards) and Andy 'Stoker'
Growcott (drums)) was a British Number One in
1980.
The band members were disappointed with their
share of the profits, and soon stole the
master tapes of Searching for the Young Soul
Rebels, their debut LP, in order to
renegotiate the deal. The album was released
later in 1980 and became a massive success.
After the next single, 'There There My Dear'
was a hit, Rowland insisted on choosing the
uncommercial, 'Keep It, Part Two' for the
following single. It was a failure, and most
of the band members quit, angered over
continual personality problems with Rowland.
Archer eventually formed The Blue Ox Babes,
while Blythe, Williams, Stoker and Mick
Talbot (ex-Merton Parkas, who had recently
joined on keyboards) left to form The Bureau.
Paterson stayed with Rowland, who added Billy
Adams (guitar/banjo), Seb Shelton (drums,
formerly of Secret Affair), Micky Billingham
(keyboard), Brian Maurice (alto saxophone),
Paul Speare (tenor saxophone) and Steve Wynne
(bass), releasing 'Plan B', 'Show Me' and
'Liars A to E' in 1981 without much success.
Rowland then recruited fiddle players, Helen
O'Hara (from Archer's new group, the Blue Ox
Babes), Steve Brennan and Roger MacDuff,
known collectively as 'The Emerald Express'.
With the addition of new bass player, Giorgio
Kilkenny this line-up recorded Too-Rye-Ay in
1982, a Celtic folk and soul hybrid. The
first single, 'The Celtic Soul Brothers', was
mildly successful but 'Come on Eileen' soon
followed, and became a Number One hit in both
the UK and the United States. Feeling that
their role in the group had diminished
following the arrival of the fiddles, the
brass section of Paterson, Speare and Maurice
left to form The TKO Horns, while Kilkenny
was replaced by Johnny Edwards on bass and
Billingham left to join General Public. With
the singles, 'Jackie Wilson Said (I'm In
Heaven When You Smile)' (a Van Morrison
cover) and 'Let's Get This Straight (From The
Start)' maintaining their popularity, the
group continued to tour until 1983 with a
nucleus of Rowland, Adams, O'Hara and Shelton
augmented by other musicians.
After a two year break, Dexy's returned in
1985 with the critically-acclaimed album,
Don't Stand Me Down, featuring Rowland,
Adams, O'Hara and Nicky Gatfield together
with various seasoned performers including
Vincent Crane (ex-Atomic Rooster), Julian
Littman and Tim Dancy (who had been Al
Green's drummer). Rowland at first refused to
issue any singles from the album, and by the
time 'This Is What She's Like' was released,
it was too late to save the album from
commercial failure. The group disbanded the
following year after a brief return to the
charts with the single, 'Because Of You'
(which was used as the theme tune to a
British sitcom, 'Brush Strokes'), and Rowland
became a solo artist with the release of
1988's poorly-received album, The Wanderer.
Despite spending much of the 1990s suffering
from financial problems and drug addiction,
Rowland made plans to reform Dexy's together
with Big Jim Paterson, although these
resulted in no more than a solitary TV
performance in 1993. Returning once more as a
solo performer, Rowland signed to Creation
Records, releasing an album of cover versions
called My Beauty in 1999, which sold poorly.
The demise of Creation meant that the planned
follow-up album which would, once again have
featured Dexy's Midnight Runners was never
made. However, in April 2003 the group
announced that they would be reforming for a
tour and a new greatest hits album.
Tags : 80s Dexy's Midnight Runners Come On Eileen |
