| rdfs:comment
| - Dexys Midnight Runners is one of the rock musicians, or in this case, the entire band, of the 1980s that Francine slept with in an attempt to start her own business in "Finances With Wolves". Lead singer Kevin Rowland is voiced by Seth MacFarlane. Peter Mackenzie also provided a voice.
- A British New Wave group founded in Birmingham in 1978, Dexys Midnight Runners are probably one of the best known One Hit Wonders of all time, although to label them as such would be a misnomer. The band that brought us the ridiculously catchy single "Come On Eileen" was created by Kevin Rowland and Kevin "Al" Archer, two guitarists who had previously been members of a a Birmingham punk group called the Killjoys. Fans of soul music, this duo created Dexys Midnight Runners as a horn-driven Northern Soul outfit which achieved success with its early singles "Geno" and "There, There, My Dear" and their seminal album Searching for the Young Soul Rebels.
- Kevin Rowland formed Dexys Midnight Runners in Birmingham in 1978, naming them after dextroamphetamine, a popular recreational drug among Northern Soul fans. In autumn of 1979, they signed to Bernie Rhodes' Oddball label, having rejected an offer from Jerry Dammers to record for 2-Tone (although they later supported the Specials on tour). At this time, drummer John Jay was replaced by Bobby Ward (previously in Subway Sect, and who had appeared on that band's first Peel session in 1977). Rowland himself had been in the Killjoys, who recorded two sessions in late 1977-early 1978.
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| abstract
| - Kevin Rowland formed Dexys Midnight Runners in Birmingham in 1978, naming them after dextroamphetamine, a popular recreational drug among Northern Soul fans. In autumn of 1979, they signed to Bernie Rhodes' Oddball label, having rejected an offer from Jerry Dammers to record for 2-Tone (although they later supported the Specials on tour). At this time, drummer John Jay was replaced by Bobby Ward (previously in Subway Sect, and who had appeared on that band's first Peel session in 1977). Rowland himself had been in the Killjoys, who recorded two sessions in late 1977-early 1978. December of that year saw the release of the band's first single, 'Dance Stance', on Oddball. However, the band objected to Rhodes' interference with the mixing, and signed direct to EMI, which was the parent company. (Nevertheless, the single went on to make number 40 in the UK charts the following January, leading to a February appearance on Top Of The Pops.) Bobby Ward's brief stint on drums came to an end, being replaced by Andy Growcott. At this stage of their career, they played covers of Northern Soul standards such as 'Hold On I'm Coming' (the Sam and Dave number), and wore woolly hats and utilitarian clothing reminiscent of New York stevedores. Their one and only Peel session in February preceded the release of a tribute to soul singer Geno Washington, 'Geno,' a version of this appearing on the session. The single peaked at number 1 in the UK charts in 1980. 1980 was a turbulent year which saw most of the band quitting: Rowland had a less than satisfactory relationship with the music press, as their debut LP Searching For The Young Soul Rebels garnered mixed reviews. In fact, he imposed a press embargo, electing to state the band's position in music paper advertisements, and, against EMI's wishes, chose 'Keep It Part Two (Inferiority Part One)' to follow up their second big hit, 'There, There My Dear.' It flopped, after which Rowland took on a host of new members, changed the image to a gypsy style, signed to Mercury, and recorded the 1982 album Too-Rye-Ay, which ditched the soul sound for one of Celtic folk and Van Morrison influences (as evidenced by their covering 'Jackie Wilson Said', from his 1972 LP 'St. Dominic's Preview.') 'Come On Eileen' was a number 1 hit in the UK, and even made the 1982 Festive Fifty (yearly chart) despite JP never having played it. Peel was co-hosting 30 September 1982 (TOTP) when a picture of darts player Jocky Wilson was projected behind the band during their performance of 'Jackie Wilson Said.' This is believed to have been a deliberate prank.
- A British New Wave group founded in Birmingham in 1978, Dexys Midnight Runners are probably one of the best known One Hit Wonders of all time, although to label them as such would be a misnomer. The band that brought us the ridiculously catchy single "Come On Eileen" was created by Kevin Rowland and Kevin "Al" Archer, two guitarists who had previously been members of a a Birmingham punk group called the Killjoys. Fans of soul music, this duo created Dexys Midnight Runners as a horn-driven Northern Soul outfit which achieved success with its early singles "Geno" and "There, There, My Dear" and their seminal album Searching for the Young Soul Rebels. After seveal changes in their line-up, including the integration of strings into the group to create a fusion of Irish folk and soul music (heavily influenced by the work of Van Morrison) described by Rowland as "Celtic Soul", Dexys released a second album entitled Too-Rye-Aye, which contained the enormously successful single "Come On Eileen", the group's only American hit. This was followed up by several further singles, a whiddling down of the band from Loads and Loads of Characters to a quartet (Rowlands, Helen O'Hara, Billy Adams and Jimmy Patterson) and a third album, Don't Stand Me Down, which turned out to be a commercial failure (mostly due to Kevin Rowland's refusal to release a single before the album was released and the song eventually issued as a single, "This Is What's She's Like", was twelve minutes long), but is considered to be the band's ultimate artistic triumph. The band eventually broke up a short time later. After a few solo efforts (most infamously the My Beauty Cover Album) and years spent battling personal demons, Kevin Rowland got the band back together in 2003 under the abbreviated name "Dexys". A new studio album, One Day I'm Going To Soar, is scheduled for release in June 2012... 27 years after Don't Stand Me Down, their last studio album. Notable songs include:
* "Dance Stance/Burn It Down"
* "Geno"
* "Show Me"
* "Come On Eileen"
* "Let's Make This Precious"
* "Because of You" (the theme song from the Britcom Brush Strokes)
- Dexys Midnight Runners is one of the rock musicians, or in this case, the entire band, of the 1980s that Francine slept with in an attempt to start her own business in "Finances With Wolves". Lead singer Kevin Rowland is voiced by Seth MacFarlane. Peter Mackenzie also provided a voice.
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