I don't remotely expect Dexy's to beat Wire, even though I much prefer their music (that said, I still like Wire a lot; I just love Dexy's). Anyway, I'm going to copy and paste my promotion from the first round matchup against The Slits, in the hope that somebody who hasn't read it already stumbles across Dexy's and sees in them even a fraction of what I do. They're one of my favourite bands from the post-punk era, and everyone who hasn't already should listen to their debut album, which has been on my chart for years. Apologies to anybody who has already read this:
Thumbnail. Click to enlarge.
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...
I don't remotely expect Dexy's to beat Wire, even though I much prefer their music (that said, I still like Wire a lot; I just love Dexy's). Anyway, I'm going to copy and paste my promotion from the first round matchup against The Slits, in the hope that somebody who hasn't read it already stumbles across Dexy's and sees in them even a fraction of what I do. They're one of my favourite bands from the post-punk era, and everyone who hasn't already should listen to their debut album, which has been on my chart for years. Apologies to anybody who has already read this:
a valiant effort to promote a good band. I never loved Dexy's as much as you clearly do, although I do love a handful of their songs. Wire, on the other hand, was and still is something special. Even the album they released this year is among the top of the heap. _________________ http://jonnyleather.com
I was only jesting. I don't mind the Slits losing that much, and Runners are great. I sincerely prefer Wire, that first three album sequence is incredible.
I was only jesting. I don't mind the Slits losing that much, and Runners are great. I sincerely prefer Wire, that first three album sequence is incredible.
Have you listened to the new one? It's really quite good. not Chairs Missing good, but not all that far off either _________________ http://jonnyleather.com
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