There are probably more former members of Dexys, previously Dexys Midnight Runners, than in the average marching band. The total currently stands at 46 and there may well have been others who were overlooked when the list was compiled.
Singer, guitarist, songwriter and frontman Kevin Rowland has been the only constant member. He co-founded the band with guitarist Kevin ‘Al’ Archer in 1978.
“We’ve always had a small group of core members,” Kevin explained. “But these people changed over the years. Right now, it’s myself, violinist Lucy Morgan and keyboardist/sax player Sean Read.
“The wider membership always seemed to be changing. This wasn’t deliberate, it was just the way things worked out.”
Now 62, Kevin was born in Wolverhampton. His Irish parents returned to their homeland when he was one. They moved back to Wolverhampton three years later and then on to London when Kevin was 11.
Heavily influenced by the glam rock/new wave band Roxy Music, Kevin’s first group, Lucy & The Lovers, was a short-lived project. He then explored punk rock with The Killjoys before co-founding Dexys.
“We regarded ourselves as a soul band. I thought it was important for us to have a distinctive vocal style. I loved Chairman of the Board’s songs and adopted a ‘crying’ sort of voice like their lead singer, General Johnson.”
Dexys’ first single, Dance Stance, was a top 40 hit. Their second, Geno, topped the UK chart.
“Many articles about us neglect the early success. They just concentrate on Come On Eileen. It’s true that this song was easily our biggest hit. It was a number one in Britain and America and massively popular throughout the world. 
“But a lot of writers have us categorised as one-hit-wonders which is definitely not true. We had eight UK top 20 singles and the new LP is our fourth top 20 album.”
The VH1 music channel is among those to list Dexys as one-hit-wonders. A poll commissioned for the channel had Come On Eileen as number three on a chart of the All-Time Greatest One-Hit-Wonders.
“It was also number one on their ‘Greatest One-Hit-Wonders of the 1980s.’ I suppose I shouldn’t complain. The royalties from Come On Eileen have paid a lot of bills and the song is always played on those one-hit-wonder shows.”
Despite being their greatest success, Come On Eileen eventually led to Dexys disbanding in 1987.
“I didn’t handle things at all well. I was fine as an outsider knocking on the door but got lost once the door opened. I also had issues in my personal life. Drugs played their part and we made an album which had very mixed reviews. In the end, I just decided to break up the band.”
The next 16 years saw Kevin embark on an unsuccessful solo career. His albums, The Wanderer and My Beauty, were commercial failures. He became bankrupt and spent more time in rehab than the recording studio.
“It was a really bad period in my life. I had depression, drug addiction, you name it. Some people romanticise the idea of a suffering artist. I can tell you there is no romance in it at all.”
Reforming Dexys in 2003 got Kevin’s life back on track. The release of a greatest hits album and a successful concert tour was the start of a new road which has led to the UK top ten hit Dexys are currently enjoying with their fifth studio album, Let The Record Show: Dexys Do Irish and Country Soul.
“I’ve had the basic idea for this album for more than 30 years. The only difference now is the concept has widened to include songs I’ve always wanted to record such as You Wear It Well, To Love Somebody and Both Sides Now. Had the album been made 30 years ago, it would have been exclusively Irish songs.”
Does the album mark a new chapter in the band’s musical style?
“It’s a collection of songs which I felt was right for us to do now. Each track is our interpretation of the song so we bring Dexys style to them rather than the other way round. I realise the album is very popular but I don’t see this kind of music as the way forward for us. I’m sure we’ll return to original Dexys songs for our next album.”


in 
brief


Jimmy Barnes


Most readers will probably be unfamiliar with Jimmy Barnes. But the man born in Glasgow 60 years ago has just equalled an Australian chart record previously held jointly by Madonna and U2.
Jimmy’s latest solo album, Soul Searchin’, shot straight to top spot on the ARIA chart giving him his eleventh number one. If the four chart-toppers he recorded as the lead singer with rock band Cold Chisel were added to the list, Jimmy would be way out on his own as the most successful artist in Australian album chart history.
Unfortunately, neither Cold Chisel nor Jimmy as a solo artist have made much impact on the world-wide music scene. Apart from New Zealand and the very occasional exception elsewhere, none of Jimmy’s singles or albums have enjoyed any significant international success.
If you would like to check out his music, much of it is available to hear on YouTube. Type Jimmy’s name in the website search box and take things from there.


Usher


R&B star Usher Raymond has released two new singles. No Limit and Crash are both expected to feature on his forthcoming eighth studio album, Flawed. 
No release date has yet been announced for the album. This is no great surprise as the record was originally expected two years ago when Usher supposedly promoted it on an arena tour called “The UR Experience.”
He was obviously dissatisfied with the album at that time. Nothing has been confirmed but rumours are now spreading that Flawed may finally be released next month.
No videos for his new singles have been made available as yet. An audio posting of No Limit, which also features a verse from rap star Young Thug, is at www.youtube.com/watch?v=2MgDVZeAQK8 while Crash can be heard at www.youtube.com/watch?v=iU3Omj2LqPQ
In other news, Usher will soon be seen on the big screen playing Sugar Ray Leonard in Hands of Stone, the film biography of Panamanian boxing champion Roberto Duran. The movie premiered at the Cannes Film Festival last month and will hit cinemas on August 26.


Justin Bieber


Justin Bieber has set yet another UK chart record. His track, Sorry, was the second of three number one singles from Justin’s current album, Purpose. It has now become the first song to pass the 100 million streams mark.
The Canadian superstar became the initial recipient of the Official Chart Record Breaker Award earlier this year. It was given in recognition of Justin being the first artist to hold the top three positions simultaneously on the UK singles chart. He achieved the feat with Love Yourself, Sorry and What Do You Mean in the chart for January 8-14.
What Do You Mean and Love Yourself are also near to 100 million streams. Justin should soon set more records as the first artist to have two and then three songs pass the 100 million barrier.
In other news, Justin was deeply affected by the senseless murder of singer Christina Grimmie. He had known her for some time as she was a close friend of Selena Gomez, Justin’s former girlfriend. He dedicated his track Purpose to Christina and had to wipe away tears while performing the song during a concert in Winnipeg.


Alex Wiley


Chicago rapper Alex Wiley has just released his latest mixtape, Tangerine Dream.
Some of the music was inspired by the German electronic band of the same name. They were formed in 1967 and are still performing today.
The new mixtape can be heard and downloaded for free at www.datpiff.com/Alex-Wiley-Tangerine-Dream-mixtape.788609.html 
It is the follow-up to last November’s Village Party 2: Heaven’s Gate which is among the postings at (no www.) soundcloud.com/alexwileymusic