A good friend named Eileen ...

Dexys Midnight Runners is an English group founded in 1978 in Birmingham by Kevin Rowland and Kevin Archer, both former members of the punk group Killjoys. The name of the group comes from an allusion to the hallucinogenic substance Dexedrine (amphetamines). Their first single "Dance stance" was released in 1979 under the label "Oddbal Records" and was a resounding success. It was mainly the following year, in 1980, that things accelerated with the release of the single "Geno", produced by EMI, which topped the charts. The album "Searching for the young rebels" was released in the aftermath and met with great commercial success. But strong tensions are already emerging within the group which is rapidly imploding. In 1981, an almost completely renewed group released the titles "Plan B, Show me" and "Liars A to E". Unfortunately, without success. And it was in 1982 that success came back in force with the album "Too-Rye-Aye", clearly more oriented Celtic rock and which contains the planetary hit "Come on Eileen". This colossal success will be followed by a 2-year break which will unfortunately be fatal to the group, despite the release in 1985 of the album "Don't stand me down", followed some time later by "Because of you" which will be their ultimate success. To discover or rediscover. Discography (among others ...) :

• Dance stance 1979

• Geno 1980

• There, there my dear 1980

• Seven days too long 1980

• Plan B 1981

• Show me 1981

• Liars A to E 1981

• The Celtic soul brothers 1982

• Come on Eileen 1982

• Jackie Wilson said (I'm in heaven when you smile) 1982

• Let's get this straight (From the start) 1982

• This is what she’s like 1985

• Because of you 1986

• Manhood 2003

• Now 2012

• Lost 2012

• She's got wiggle 2012

• Incapable of love 2012

• Curragh of Kildare 2016

• You wear it well 2016

• Grazing in the grass 2016

• Both sides now 2016

• Carrickfergus 2016

Clips :

1979 ... very "late 70's" beginnings with a Ska-inspired background. At this stage, nothing exceptional but the basics are pretty good so there is something to hope for next ...

1980 ... there was reason to hope, the proof with this title ! A first big hit that smashes them from the shadows to the light

1980 ... a suite that spins at 200 km/h but which will not necessarily have the same level of success as the previous title. Like what should not be confused speed and precipitation ...

1980 ... an overspeed that we find on this new title. A title which will only come out of Canada, hence an impact on the general public of the most limited...

1981 ... we calm down a bit on overspeed to return to a tempo a little more classic. Phew, we were afraid !

1981 ... anyway, among them, the words calm and prudence do not exist in their jargon, it is obvious. It started again !

1981 ... the exception that makes the rule. Here they are, finally, in 'posed' mode and well, that's not bad. No luck, the title will go almost unnoticed. Frankly a pity !

1982 ... there is nothing to do, their trademark will remain overspeed to the end. We will not do them again, it's clear !

1982 ... then this title arrives ! This time, the overspeed will work miracles and simply offer them the biggest success of their entire career. They simply sign here one of the biggest Dance hits of the 80s, just that. MAS-TER-FUL !

1982 ... a nice suite but which absolutely cannot compete with the previous gem. Difficult to bounce back from such a title ...

1982 ... a BIG year 1982 with a plethora of titles, ranging from exceptional to very good. On this title there, just like its predecessor, we would rather be in the 2nd category ...

1985 ... we are approaching the end slowly but surely. Five years spent at the top, it's already not bad, many groups would largely tell ...

1986 ... a nice folk ballad as an end. Not really in tune with the times but why not. They never did anything like the others, there was no reason why they should change !

2003...and no, it's not quite the end. Just when we thought the adventure had come to an end, here they are back 17 years later. Who would've believed that...?

2012...they come back and then they leave for almost 9 years. The group does not know in the end if they should come back for good or not. Only them can answer the question...

2012...this time the return will be accompanied by a new album, which really changes the situation. Especially since the album is a real success, which doesn't spoil anything, quite the contrary !

2012...who would have thought that the band would be able to rise from the ashes in such a spectacular way ? Not many people, that's for sure..

2012...the level of inspiration is impressive to say the least, especially for a group from the 80s. But as they say, talent is not lost overnight...

2016...and here they are again 4 years later this time in revival mode of old standards brought up to date. A good idea on paper but which will not really bring the expected success...

2016...they revisit here Rod Stewart's title dating from 1972 and although their version is nice, it will struggle to compete with the original version...

2016...it's the turn of Hugh Masekela and his title dating from 1968 to be brought up to date. Nice once again, efficient once again, but not enough re-orchestration to go beyond the original unfortunately...

2016...here comes now the revisited version of Joni Mitchell's title dating from 1969. Even if this album of covers will not really know the same level of success as their previous album, the fact remains that it allows the group to continue to exist. Isn't that the main thing...?

2016...we end with finesse with this revisited version of an Irish folklore title dating from 1964. And again, ending is a big word because we know that they will surely come back later...