Dexys are an English pop rock band from Birmingham,with soul influences,who achieved major commercial success in the early to mid- 1980s. They are best known in the UK for their songs "Geno" and "Come On Eileen",both of which reached No. 1 on the UK Singles Chart,and achieved six other top-20 singles. "Come On Eileen" also topped the US Billboard Hot 100,and,with extensive airplay on MTV,they are associated with the Second British Invasion.
The Blue Ox Babes were an English pop group,formed in early 1981 by former Dexys Midnight Runners guitarist Kevin 'Al' Archer,together with his girlfriend Yasmin Saleh,guitarist Nick Bache and former Dexys keyboard player Andy Leek. Archer was keen to mix the soul sounds of his previous group with folk styles. To this end he recruited fiddle player Helen O'Hara to play on demo tapes of the new songs he had written. When former colleague Kevin Rowland heard these demo tapes,he invited O'Hara to join Dexys,and adopted a similarly folk-influenced sound for his own group.
Kevin Rowland is a British singer and musician best known as the frontman for the pop band Dexys Midnight Runners. The band had several hits in the early 1980s,the most notable being "Geno" and "Come On Eileen",both of which reached number one on the UK Singles Chart.
Warren William Zevon was an American rock singer and songwriter. His most famous compositions include "Werewolves of London","Lawyers,Guns and Money" and "Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner". All three songs are featured on his third album,Excitable Boy (1978),the title track of which is also well-known. He also wrote major hits that were recorded by other artists,including "Poor Poor Pitiful Me","Mohammed's Radio","Carmelita" and "Hasten Down the Wind". Per The New York Times,"Mr. Zevon had a pulp-fiction imagination" which yielded "terse,action-packed,gallows-humored tales that could sketch an entire screenplay in four minutes and often had death as a punchline. But there was also vulnerability and longing in Mr. Zevon's ballads,like 'Mutineer,' 'Accidentally Like a Martyr' and 'Hasten Down the Wind.'"
"Werewolves of London" is a song recorded by American singer-songwriter Warren Zevon,written by Zevon,LeRoy Marinell and Waddy Wachtel. It first appeared on Excitable Boy (1978),Zevon's third studio album,then it was released as a single by Asylum Records in March 1978,becoming a Top 40 US hit,the only one of Zevon's career,reaching No. 21 on the US Billboard Hot 100 in May.
"Poor Poor Pitiful Me" is a rock song written and first recorded by American musician Warren Zevon in 1976.
Helen O'Hara is a British musician. She was a member and violinist of Dexys Midnight Runners from 1982 to 1987,including performing on songs such as "Come on Eileen",and in 2021 rejoined the band.
Searching for the Young Soul Rebels is the debut studio album by English band Dexys Midnight Runners,released on 11 July 1980,through Parlophone and EMI Records. Led by Kevin Rowland,the band formed in 1978 in Birmingham,England,and formed a strong live reputation before recording their first material. Recorded during April 1980,the album combines the aggressiveness of punk rock with soul music,particularly influenced by the Northern soul movement.
Too-Rye-Ay is the second studio album by English pop band Dexys Midnight Runners. It was released in July 1982 by Mercury Records. The album is best known for the hit single "Come On Eileen",which included the refrain that inspired the album's title. It was the band's most successful album,debuting at number two on the UK Albums Chart.
BBC Radio One Live in Concert was a live album by Dexys Midnight Runners,recorded for the BBC in 1982 and released in 1995. It was the group's first official live album and remained their only official live album until the release of The Projected Passion Revue in 2007. The album is unique as it is Dexys' only live recording where the members of The Projected Passion Revue horn section are present alongside the Too-Rye-Ay strings. Immediately after this concert,the horn section left the group and formed The TKO Horns.
"Jackie Wilson Said (I'm in Heaven When You Smile)" is a song written and performed by Van Morrison and featured as the opening track on his sixth studio album,Saint Dominic's Preview. It was released by Warner Bros. in July 1972 as the first of three singles from the album and charted at number sixty-one on the US Billboard Hot 100. Both the music and lyrics are inspired by rhythm and blues singer Jackie Wilson and his song "Reet Petite",which is directly quoted in the song.
The Projected Passion Revue is a compilation album by the group Dexys Midnight Runners,comprising recordings made in 1981,between the group's first album Searching for the Young Soul Rebels and its second,Too-Rye-Ay. The album represents a stage in the group's development which built upon the blue-eyed soul sound of the original line-up,but came before the group's adoption of a significant folk influence.
"There,There,My Dear" is a song by English pop band Dexys Midnight Runners,released in June 1980 as the second and final single from their debut album Searching for the Young Soul Rebels. It peaked at number 7 on the UK Singles Chart.
"The Celtic Soul Brothers" is a song by Dexys Midnight Runners,written by band members Mickey Billingham,Jimmy Paterson and Kevin Rowland.
Close Your Eyes:A Collection 1965–1986 is a career-spanning compilation of Vincent Crane recordings. He was the founder and only constant member of British progressive rock band Atomic Rooster. As well as having 21 of its 37 tracks culled from all of Atomic Rooster's studio albums,it includes several rare and previously unreleased cuts from various Vincent Crane solo and side projects. As with all previous Castle Communications/Sanctuary Records Atomic Rooster CDs,it was compiled by music journalist Colin Harper,who also supplied a detailed biography.
The Wanderer is a solo album by Kevin Rowland,lead singer of Dexys Midnight Runners. It was released in 1988 as his solo debut,three years after the third Dexys album,Don't Stand Me Down.
Let's Make This Precious:The Best of Dexys Midnight Runners is a best-of compilation album by Dexys Midnight Runners,which also contained two newly recorded songs by the group,"Manhood" and "My Life in England ". Dexys had broken up in early 1987,and these two songs,recorded in 2003,were the first new Dexys material since the single "Because of You" in 1986. Nevertheless,the album was similar to the 1991 compilation The Very Best of Dexys Midnight Runners,as eleven of the sixteen older Dexys songs on it had also been included on that album. However,to record the two new songs,Rowland put together a new version of Dexys that featured prior members Pete Williams and Mick Talbot (keyboards) plus new members such as Lucy Morgan (viola) and Neil Hubbard (guitar),and the reformed band played a series of live concerts later in 2003.
Let the Record Show:Dexys Do Irish and Country Soul is a 2016 album by Dexys,the band formerly known as Dexys Midnight Runners. The album includes interpretations of Irish songs and other select compositions. It reached number 10 in the UK Albums Chart on 10 June 2016.
"This Is What She's Like" is a song by Dexys Midnight Runners,released on their third studio album Don't Stand Me Down in September 1985 by Mercury Records,and in November 1985 as a single. The song is credited to Kevin Rowland,Billy Adams,and Helen O'Hara,with production by Rowland and Alan Winstanley. The song,inspired by Rowland's relationship with O'Hara,includes spoken conversations between Rowland and Adams. Rather than answering Adams's repeated in-song question about what "she" is like,Rowland contrasts the "she" of the title with people who irritate him,for example those who put creases in their jeans,and members of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament.
The Feminine Divine is the sixth studio album by the English band Dexys,released on 28 July 2023 by 100% Records. The tracks were written by Kevin Rowland,Sean Read,Mike Timothy and Jim Paterson,and the album was produced by Pete Schwier and Toby Chapman. It was the group's first album of original songs since One Day I'm Going to Soar (2012) and their first album in seven years since Let the Record Show (2016). It is a concept album themed around Rowland's progress across three decades from being sexist to becoming a champion for women.
