Music: Dexys

Turn back the clocks as this iconic band storm the Brighton Dome

One of the more ‘welcome’ reunions of recent times has been that of Dexys Midnight Runners (and to emphasise, this is not all about cashing in), a band out of Birmingham, who for a few years at the beginning of the 80s were one of the best as well as most popular bands around. They dominated the charts with hit singles such as ‘Geno’, ‘Come On Eileen’, ‘There There My Dear’, ‘Jackie Wilson Said’ and ‘The Celtic Soul Brothers’.

Image was always a big part of the band’s appeal, and this has changed regularly over the years; from donkey jackets or leather coats and woolly hats to hooded tops, boxing boots and pony tails, right up to the Too-Rye-Ay look that saw the band attired in dungarees, scarves and leather waistcoats – a scruffy, right-off-the-farm look. Rowland had said of the image: “These are my best clothes. Again it just feels right for the music. Everybody else is dressing up sort of straight-laced and we come in wearing these and it’s like, y’know, here we are…a bit of hoedowning is even possible! We wanted to be a group that looked like something… a formed group, a project, not just random.”

Rowland and the band weren’t able to follow up these successes; many members left and strange musical decisions were made, with Rowland’s reputation as ‘difficult’ affecting both his music and his personal life. In the end they came out with Don’t Stand Me Down in 1985, considered by some to be a nu-soul classic, but a commercial failure, not helped by Rowland’s initial refusal to release a single from the album. For this period the look featured ties, pin-striped suits and neatly combed hair – a musical and stylistic approach that Rowland has described as: “so clean and simple; it’s a much more adult approach now”.

The new album, only the fourth in Dexys’ career, finally arrived this year; One Day I’m Going To Soar made it to number 13 in the charts. It’s a triumphant return to form, and their live shows are apparently as good as they always were. Ever the perfectionist – the ‘James Brown of UK indie soul’ – Rowland has seemingly fought off many of the demons that plagued him for much of the ‘80s and ‘90s. “I want to get everything 100 percent right, and know that it’s the best I can do and every note is there for a reason. The only way I can be satisfied is to make the record I’m hearing in my head on my own terms.” The look? It’s speakeasy ‘20s and ‘30s gangster glam.

Concert Hall, Brighton Dome, Thursday 20 September, 7pm, £25