Dexys Midnight Runners: Biography

• Overview
• Discography
• Biography
• Related Artists

• Videos
• Photos
• Groups/Boards
• Fan Sites

• Brian Wilson
• John Mellencamp
• ABC
• Elvis Costello
• Madness
• The Specials
• The Style Council

• Van Morrison
• Geno Washington
• Sam & Dave
• The Clash
• The Jam
• Graham Parker

• The Rumble Strips
• Montt Mardié
• No Doubt
• Comet Gain
• The Boy Least Likely To
• Guillemots
• Dogs Die in Hot Cars

• That Petrol Emotion
• Kevin Rowland
• Bureau
• Billy Adams
• 4-4-2
• The Killjoys

Formed:

Jul 1, 1978 in Birmingham, England

Disbanded:

Jan 1, 1986

Genres:

Classical Music, Rock Music, Punk and Hardcore Rock Music

Decades Active:

1980's|2000's

Artistic Quality

Medium

Cultural Impact

Medium

Popularity

Medium

Ratings Guide

Dexy's Midnight Runners are best known in America as one of new wave's ultimate onehit wonders, thanks to their 1982 numberone smash "Come on Eileen," a distinctive fusion of '80s pop, Celtic folk, and blueeyed soul. In the U.K., however, they earned a fair amount of critical acclaim, and made a greater impression on the public consciousness with their frequent changes in sound, wardrobe, and personnel.

Dexy's were formed in 1978 by singer/guitarist/songwriter Kevin Rowland and singer/guitarist Kevin "Al" Archer (who changed his first name to avoid confusion). Both had been members of the Birmingham, England, punk band the Killjoys, and Rowland, who was ethnically Irish, had split his childhood between London, Ireland, and Birmingham, and soaked up the influence of Irish folk and the socalled Northern soul music popular in the Midlands. Seeking a new direction, Rowland and Archer decided to put together a fullfledged soul outfit, and named it after the stimulant Dexedrine, a popular drug on the northern soul scene (despite the strict nodrinkingordrugs policy Rowland later imposed on the band). The lineup eventually settled on trombonist Big Jim Paterson, tenor saxophonist Geoff Blythe, alto saxophonist Steve "Babyface" Spooner, keyboardist Mick Talbot (who replaced Pete Saunders, was once a member of the Merton Parkas, and later joined the Style Council), bassist Pete Williams, and drummer Andy "Stoker" Growcott (who replaced Bobby Junior). Acutely imageconscious, Rowland tried to reflect the band's workingclass roots by dressing them as New York dockworkers, with a wardrobe lifted straight from the Martin Scorsese/Robert DeNiro film Mean Streets. The band struggled financially at first, especially given its large membership, and according to legend, Rowland organized (or at least encouraged) shoplifting expeditions to make ends meet.

Dexy's didn't take long to release their first single; "Dance Stance" (aka "Burn It Down"), an attack on antiIrish discrimination, appeared on EMI in 1979, but only scraped the lower reaches of the charts. However, their next single "Geno," a tribute to Americanborn soul singer Geno Washington (who'd made his career in the U.K.), went all the way to the top of the British charts in early 1980. Dissatisfied with their share of the profits, the band stole the completed master tapes of their debut album, Searching for the Young Soul Rebels, and successfully reworked their deal. When the album was released later in 1980, it caused a sensation. With their bright, tuneful, hornheavy take on Memphis soul (which predated Paul Weller's similar transformation of the Jam), Dexy's were hailed as British rock's return to an organic, soulful sound in the postpunk/new wave era. Their third single, "There There My Dear," became a Top Ten hit, but Rowland insisted on following it with the inadvisable single choice of "Keep It, Part Two," which flopped. This was the last straw for most of the band, which had grown tired of Rowland's controlfreak leadership and restlessness. Archer left to form the Blue Ox Babes, and most of the rest of the group wound up in the Bureau, leaving only trombonist Paterson with Rowland.

Rowland and Paterson regrouped Dexy's, adding guitarist/banjoist Kevin "Billy" Adams (again renamed), drummer Seb Shelton (exSecret Affair), keyboardist Mickey Billingham, alto saxophonist Brian Maurice, tenor saxophonist Paul Speare, and bassist Giorgio Kilkenny (who replaced Steve Wynne). After the 1981 single "Plan B" (which featured a new wardrobe of boxing boots and ponytails), the new lineup left EMI and signed to Mercury. Their first single for the label, "Show Me," became a Top 20 hit, but the followup "Liars A to E" flopped, and Rowland considered modifying the group's approach. Allegedly, he heard a demo tape of Archer's folkinfluenced Blue Ox Babes material, and decided to reinvent Dexy's in a similar fashion. He infuriated the Babes by not only borrowing from their sound, but recruiting violinist Helen O'Hara out of their lineup; he also added Steve Brennan and Roger MacDuff on the same instrument. The second Dexy's album, TooRyeAy, was released in 1982, and while their soul sound was still easily audible, it was now sitting alongside a strong Irish folk influence, making for a striking hybrid. The makeover was accompanied by yet another wardrobe change, this time to a scruffy gypsy/hobo image that wound up changing the standard of acceptable dress at many a restrictive London club. Dexy's introduced their new sound on the single "The Celtic Soulbrothers," which was a mild success; however, the followup "Come on Eileen" was a smash, becoming their second British number one. A few months later, helped along by the group's highly visual, MTVready appeal, "Come on Eileen" broke in America and went all the way to number one there as well. With their new, folky direction thus established, the entire horn section (even the loyal Paterson) departed in the summer of 1982, as did keyboardist Billingham. Unfortunately, at the peak of the group's success, the rest of the lineup proved unstable as well, due in part to rifts with Rowland; eventually, the core of the group was whittled down to Rowland, guitarist Adams, and violinist O'Hara.

Rowland took Dexy's to New York to work on the followup album, which slowed by his perfectionism took a year and a half to record. In the meantime, EMI released the singles compilation Geno in 1983. Paterson rejoined the group when Rowland decided to blend his soul and folk phases more thoroughly, and the rest of the instrumentation was filled out by hired session musicians. When Don't Stand Me Down was finally released in 1985, Rowland insisted that no singles were to be pulled from the album, wanting it to stand as a cohesive piece of work in the manner of '70s LPs. As a result, it sold much more poorly than expected, and wasn't helped by lackluster reviews that slammed Rowland's attempts at Van Morrisonesque poetry. After a few weeks, a panicked Mercury who'd spent quite a bit of money to make the record released "This Is What She's Like" as a single, but the damage was already done. One last single, "Because of You," charted in 1986 after being used as the theme to a British TV show, but with Don't Stand Me Down having bombed, the group disbanded. Rowland mounted a solo career and returned in 1988 with The Wanderer, a mellow record flavored with country and loungepop, which failed to sell. A disheartened Rowland spent the next few years in a deep depression, fighting off bankruptcy and cocaine addiction. In 1996, he signed with Creation as a solo artist, but in typically idiosyncratic fashion, his comeback effort was an allcovers album; My Beauty was released in 1999 and sold abominably, probably not helped by Rowland's new wardrobe of dresses and suspenders. Meanwhile, skapunk revivalists Save Ferris covered "Come on Eileen" for a U.S. hit in 1997, a testament more to the song's enduring popularity than to the imagination of their rearrangement.

- Steve Huey, All Music Guide