Coming back after the compulsory bap (EDIT : nap. See? I need it) break to advertise the wonderful band that was The Slits. Awful draw too, against a great band. But we're confident and we're going to win this. I heard it through the grapevine.
As you all well know, The Slits were a British punk postpunk band, comprising the likes of Ari Up (who sadly passed away three years ago), PalmOlive (formerly of The Raincoats, another awesome postpunk band), and Viv Albertine. On the strength of Cut, their debut, alone, I chose to nominate them because it's a ground-breaking record with a unique style.
Behold that sublime artwork:
Thumbnail. Click to enlarge.
which says a lot about The Slits. Raw, almost primitive-sounding songs, still absolutely sexy.
OK, I guess I better get to promoting my nomination. As much as I love The Slits (and I really do, the evidence is right there on my chart), I don't think they're any match for the mighty Dexy's. It might be local pride (they're from Birmingham, as am I) but I genuinely believe that for the three-year period between 1979 and 1982 they were one of the best and most exciting bands in the world (and they were none too shabby after that, either).
Mixing the horns of soul with the anger, urgency and innate British/Irish working class pride and wit of punk, whilst maintaining the raw passion of each of those genres, Dexy's followed up on two amazing singles ('Dance Stance' and UK #1 'Geno') with one of the greatest debut albums of all time, the incredible Searching For The Young Soul Rebels. Here are a few choice cuts from one of my absolute favourite albums:
Following that album Dexy's continued to hone their sound and released what is, to my mind anyway, three of the most perfect minutes in pop music history, and the band's masterpiece:
Though the Dexy's of 'Plan B' never put out an album proper, a compilation of the singles from 1981 and a live show from the same period, name The Projected Passion Revue, was released five years ago, and is a great document of a band at the absolute peak of their powers.
Following on from this, many in the band left due to constant personal disputes and power struggles with lead singer and songwriter Kevin Rowland. He responded to this treachery and disdain for his pure soul vision (OK, that's probably a bit harsh, and certainly completely biased due to my near deification of Rowland) by hiring an entirely new band, and adding three fiddle players - known collectively as The Emerald Express - to help pursue his goal of crafting a lasting piece of Celtic soul. The influence of Rowland's Irish roots had already been pretty explicit prior to this - with 'Dance Stance' referencing numerous Irish writers and 'I Couldn't Help It If I Tried' being written about growing up Irish in England - so it seemed a perfectly natural route for him to take. What few could've predicted was the assurance and pure quality of the music that this particular incarnation of the band would go on to release, putting out a record that could quite justifiably be called the equal of their debut, Too-Rye-Ay.
'Plan B'(notice the difference on the album version, with the extended intro - actually just an interpolation of a previous b-side - and emphasis on strings over horns)
'Jackie Wilson Said'(if ever a cover version made complete and utter sense it is this one, with Dexy's paying tribute to king of Celtic soul himself, Van Morrison)
After two near perfect albums and a string of excellent singles, Dexy's began to fall apart. Most of the horn section, feeling increasingly sidelined by the prominence of the fiddles, left (a recurring theme in the band's history), and only four of the members who had contributed to Too-Rye-Ay - and only Rowland from Young Soul Rebels days - were still around come the recording of their third album, Don't Stand Me Down. They refused to release any singles from the album, and it was a total commercial failure. That said, I think history will be extremely kind to this challenging (for fans of the band's first two albums, and especially thanks to the meandering spoken word ramblings in Rowland's native Brummie accent that are peppered throughout), emotional album. It is all built around the 12-minute epic 'This Is What She's Like', one of the band's many minor masterpieces, and undoubtedly one of their very finest moments.
They split up and got back together and split up and got back together and various members have various projects and if you're lucky you might one day see Kevin Rowland jumping and jittering and preaching - as though possessed by his idol Geno Washington - his message of soul, and the power of love above all else. Or you might forget about the band the minute you finish reading this; dismiss them as some one-hit wonder (or two-hit wonder, if you're British) who somehow managed to trick people into thinking that they were anything more than some derivative pub rock band harking back insincerely to an era that was probably better off left alone. Really I just hope that one user gives this band a chance and sees in them what I do. Now, I think I've gone on for long enough avoiding the elephant in the room...
Dexys, easy, as much as I like the slits. I will never ever forget the first time hearing "burn it down" and Searching for the Young Soul Rebels. A game-changer
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