Dexys Midnight Runners

Dexys (known as Dexys Midnight Runners from 1978 to 2011) 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.

During the late 1970s and early 1980s, Dexys went through numerous personnel changes over the course of three albums and 13 singles, with only singer/songwriter/co-founder Kevin Rowland remaining in the band through all of the transitions and only Rowland and "Big" Jim Paterson (trombone) appearing on all the albums. By 1985, the band consisted only of Rowland and long-standing members Helen O'Hara (violin) and Billy Adams (guitar). The band broke up in 1987, with Rowland becoming a solo artist. After two failed restart attempts, Dexys was reformed by Rowland in 2003 with new members, as well as a few returning members from the band's original lineup (known as Dexys Mark I). Dexys released their fourth album in 2012 and a fifth followed in 2016.

Dexys Midnight Runners were founded in 1978 in Birmingham, England, by Kevin Rowland (vocals, guitar, at the time using the pseudonym Carlo Rolan) and Kevin "Al" Archer (vocals, guitar). Both had been in the short-lived punk band the Killjoys. Rowland had previously written a Northern soul-style song that the two of them sang, "Tell Me When My Light Turns Green", which became the first Dexys "song". The band's name was derived from Dexedrine, a brand of dextroamphetamine used as a recreational drug among Northern soul fans to give them energy to dance all night. Rowland later said of recruiting members for the band that "Anyone joining Dexys had to give up their job and rehearse all day long ... We had nothing to lose and felt that what we were doing was everything." "Big" Jim Paterson (trombone), Geoff "JB" Blythe (saxophone, previously of Geno Washington's Ram Jam Band), Steve "Babyface" Spooner (alto saxophone), Pete Saunders (keyboard), Pete Williams (bass) and John Jay (drums) formed the first lineup of the band, which began playing live at the end of 1978.

By the middle of 1979, Bobby "Jnr" Ward had replaced Jay on drums. Clash manager Bernard Rhodes then signed them and sent them into the studio to record a Rowland-penned single, "Burn It Down", which Rhodes renamed "Dance Stance". In response to Rhodes' criticism of Rowland's singing style, Rowland developed a "more emotional" sound influenced by General Norman Johnson of the Holland–Dozier–Holland band Chairmen of the Board and the theatricality of Bryan Ferry.

After a series of dates opening for the Specials, who wore suits on stage, Rowland decided that his band needed its own distinct look. Borrowing from an outfit that Paterson had worn to rehearsals, Dexys subsequently dressed in donkey jackets or leather coats and woolly hats, a look described as "straight out of De Niro's Mean Streets". In January 1980, Rowland said of the band's sound and look, "we didn't want to become part of anyone else's movement. We'd rather be our own movement". Image became very important to the group: Rowland said, "We wanted to be a group that looked like something ... a formed group, a project, not just random."

"Dance Stance", which Rhodes produced, was released on Oddball Records, which Rhodes owned, and which was distributed by EMI. Although it was named "single of the week" by Sounds, it stalled at number 40 in the British charts, which EMI and Rowland believed was due to Rhodes' poor production. Rowland said, "We learned that early on, that the wrong producer can totally screw your record up." As a result, Dexys fired Rhodes and signed with EMI, and EMI immediately put Pete Wingfield in charge of their production. Saunders and Ward left the band, replaced by Andy Leek (keyboards) and Andy "Stoker" Growcott (drums).

Building on the unexpected success of "Dance Stance" (aka "Burn It Down"), Dexys' next single, "Geno" – about Geno Washington – became a British Number One in 1980. It featured the band's "Late Night Feelings" imprint on the single, which became a trademark of the band's records on EMI. Rowland wrote about Washington as he had seen one of his performances aged 11 with his brother. The success of the song prompted Washington to make a return to live performance, but it also prompted the departure of Leek, who said he didn't want to be famous. Pete Saunders returned to the band temporarily, replacing Leek, to record their debut album.

Dexys' debut LP, Searching for the Young Soul Rebels, which featured "Geno", was released in July 1980. The label of the album also included the band's "Late Night Feelings" imprint, and the album's sleeve featured a photograph of a Belfast Catholic boy carrying his belongings after moving from his home during the Troubles; the Irish-descended Rowland explained that "I wanted a picture of unrest. It could have been from anywhere but I was secretly glad that it was from Ireland." Of the album's title, Rowland said "I don't know ... I just liked the sound of it, really." Of the songs on the album, only two ("Geno" and "There, There, My Dear") were written by Rowland (lyrics) and Archer (music) together; producer Pete Wingfield hadn't liked Rowland's lyrics on their third co-composition ("Keep It") and had instead turned those lyrics into a separate song ("Love Part One"); Blythe wrote new lyrics for the version of "Keep It" on the album. The same month, Rowland imposed a press embargo on the band; instead, Dexys would take out ads in the music papers explaining the band's position on various issues. This was a response to some less than complimentary opinions from some music press writers; for example, the NME's Mark Cordery accused the band of "emotional fascism" and described their music as a perversion of soul music with "no tenderness, no sex, no wit, no laughter".