Back in 1980 in a sweaty club...amidst the mod revival, new wave, northern soul and Two Tone came an urgent, vital new band fusing all those sounds. Dexys Midnight Runners wore woolly hats and donkey jackets like New York stevedores a la Scorsese's 'Mean Streets'.
They spoke of passion and purity and truth and they put their money where their collective mouth was. That mouth was Kevin Rowland, owner of one of the finest most distinctive soul voices of the last thirty years. He had a vision, he had attitude, he was sincere, cantankerous, and intense. He had the nous to assemble one of the finest bands this land has ever known...and they penned incredible pop tunes. We took to Dexys in our droves.
The fat, fuggy brass of 'Geno', the upbeat and uplifting likes of 'Breaking Down The Walls Of Heartache', 'There There My Dear' and 'Plan B' were authentic, edgy and exhilarating anthems...something to believe in, in those dark Thatcherite times...
By 1982, Rowland and a new line-up Dexys were in dungarees and playing fiddles but the message, the drive, the mission was still the same. The album, 'Too-Rye-Ay', was a masterpiece. OK, so 'Come On Eileen' got a tad annoying after being heard at every wedding reception, pub and youth club disco, but it was a cracking tune. As was the rousing, grin-inducing likes of 'The Celtic Soul Brothers' and Van Morrison's 'Jackie Wilson Said (I'm In Heaven When You Smile)'.
So was the aptly chosen title track of this 'Best Of' compilation...although why they've chosen to use a lacklustre BBC live session version of the song rather than the far superior, vital and fresh album rendition is a mystery. Ditto with the normally immense and emotive 'Until I Believe In My Soul'. These two tracks are the only blemishes on an otherwise fine album - even taking into account the soppy 'Because Of You' - theme to naff BBC sitcom 'Brushstrokes', whose main character now advertises Flash bath products. Elsewhere, 'This Is What She's Like', 'My National Pride' and 'I Love You (Listen To This)', taken from 1985's 'Don't Stand Me Down' - Dexys reinvented as clean cut Ivy League squares - are epic tunes of audacity and vision.
And that was that. An acrimonious split. A stuttering solo career. Rowland's drug, mental health and money problems looked to have put the soul visionary out of action. The ego had crashlanded. Fans hopes were dashed when Rowland returned a few years ago, wearing a dress and singing cover versions. All seemed lost forever...
Until now. Dexys are back, they're touring and the two new tracks here show great promise. 'Manhood' is fantastic. Stringswept, upbeat, catchy...with a less arrogant, more vulnerable Rowland singing "my life has felt like one long fight". 'My Life In England (Part One)' meanwhile, is an undisputedly pop, synth-tinged autobiographical tale of this truly talented man.
With this album, new material and an autumn tour, the Dexys story would seem not to be over just yet. Welcome to Kevin Rowland's new soul vision...
by Gary Crossing