Dexys Midnight Runners 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 "Come On Eileen" and "Geno", both of which peaked at No. 1 on the UK Singles Chart, as well as 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.
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.
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 soul group Dexys Midnight Runners, released on 11 July 1980, through Parlophone and EMI Records. Led by Kevin Rowland, the group 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.
Don't Stand Me Down is the third studio album by English pop band Dexys Midnight Runners, released in September 1985 by Mercury Records. The title of the album was inspired by a line in the album's song "The Waltz".
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.
"Carrickfergus" is an Irish folk song, named after the town of Carrickfergus in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. The Clancy Brothers' 1964 album titled "The First Hurrah!" includes this title. A somewhat differing version was released under the name "The Kerry Boatman", by Dominic Behan on an LP called The Irish Rover, in 1965.
My Beauty is a solo album by Kevin Rowland, lead singer of Dexys Midnight Runners. It was first released in 1999, eleven years after his solo debut The Wanderer. In the interim he had experienced problems with drug addiction. My Beauty is an album of cover songs, although Rowland rewrote several of the lyrics to reflect his battles against substance abuse. The album is notorious for its cover, which shows Rowland in drag and make-up, an image which Rowland also used during contemporaneous appearances at the Glastonbury and Reading festivals. During his appearance at Reading he was pelted with bottles thrown by the audience.
"To Love Somebody" is a song written by Barry and Robin Gibb. Produced by Robert Stigwood, it was the second single released by the Bee Gees from their international debut album, Bee Gees 1st, in 1967. The single reached No. 17 in the United States and No. 41 in the United Kingdom. The song's B-side was "Close Another Door". The single was reissued in 1980 on RSO Records with "How Can You Mend a Broken Heart" as its flipside. The song ranked at number 94 on NME magazine's "100 Best Tracks of the Sixties". It was a minor hit in the UK and France. It reached the top 20 in the US. It reached the top 10 in Canada.
"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.
A Rare Conundrum is the 11th album by Scottish folk musician Bert Jansch, released in 1977 in the UK. The album was first released by Ex Libris in Denmark in late 1976 as Poormouth with an alternative cover and a slightly different track list.
"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.
The Very Best of Dexys Midnight Runners is a best of compilation album by English pop rock band Dexys Midnight Runners, released in 1991.
One Day I'm Going to Soar is a 2012 album by Dexys, the band formerly known as Dexys Midnight Runners. It was the band's fourth studio album, but its first in 27 years. The album features, alongside Dexys' lead singer Kevin Rowland, 1980s Dexys members Big "Jim" Paterson, Pete Williams and Mick Talbot, new recruits Neil Hubbard, Tim Cansfield and Lucy Morgan, and guest vocalist Madeleine Hyland, who duets with Rowland on several songs.
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.
"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 English pop rock 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 is the group's first album of original songs since One Day I'm Going to Soar in 2012, and their first album in seven years since Let the Record Show in 2016.
