Dexys Midnight Runners

Dexys Midnight Runners are a British pop group who achieved their major success in the early to mid 1980s. They are best known for their songs "Come On Eileen" and "Geno", both of which went No. 1 on the UK Singles Chart.

Kevin Rowland and Kevin "Al" Archer, both previously of The Killjoys, founded the band in 1978. "Big" Jim Paterson, Geoff "JB" Blythe, Steve "Babyface" Spooner, Pete Saunders, Pete Williams and Bobby "Jnr" Ward formed the first line-up of the band to record a single, "Dance Stance" in 1979.

The band's debut LP, Searching for the Young Soul Rebels, was released in July 1980. After the next single, "There, There, My Dear", was a hit, Rowland insisted on choosing the "Keep It Part Two (Inferiority Part One)" for the following single.

"Show Me" was released in summer 1981 and reached No. 16 in the UK. "Liars A to E" was released in October 1981, after which Rowland took the band in a new direction.

Too-Rye-Ay was released in 1982 and the album had a hybrid of soul and Celtic folk with the band attired in dungarees, scarves, leather waistcoats. The first single, "The Celtic Soul Brothers", reached number 45 on the UK charts but the follow-up, "Come On Eileen", became a Number One hit not only in the UK, but also in the United States, where it became the biggest-selling single of 1982. Sales in the UK alone amounted to over 1.2 million copies.[6]

The follow-up "Jackie Wilson Said (I'm in Heaven When You Smile)", a cover of a Van Morrison tune, also reached the top 5 in the UK singles chart.

After a two-year break, Dexys returned in 1985 with the album, Don't Stand Me Down, featuring Rowland, Adams, O'Hara and Nicky Gatfield together with various seasoned performers. The group disbanded the following year after a brief return to the charts with the single "Because Of You".

A greatest hits album, Let's Make This Precious, was released in September 2003, a with two newly recorded songs, "Manhood" and "My Life in England".

In February 2012, Rowland officially stated the existence of a fourth studio album for the band, with the name shortened to Dexys. One Day I'm Going To Soar,was released in June 2012 and the first single was "She Got A Wiggle".