Searching for Dexys Midnight Runners: The Last Gang in Town

by Nige Tassell

'Skilfully written, engaging and sensitive' HELEN O'HARA

'Hugely readable' MOJO

'A compelling, moving book' THE TIMES

In the early 1980s, the pop charts were dominated by musicians tarted up in Day-Glo colours, who fought it out for coverage on our TV screens and magazine pages. Dexys Midnight Runners did things differently. They were surly. They were serious. They were ambitious, but success had to come on their terms. They were a disciplined outfit, a gang with a defined to make music so pure that it couldn't fail to elicit a deep emotional response from anyone within earshot.

And they managed it. This motley crew - in woolly hats and donkey jackets for their first coming; all dungarees and copious body hair for the second - gate-crashed the charts, scoring number-one hits around the globe. But being in Dexys wasn't all sunshine and roses. Many members came, many members went. Some returned unexpectedly as being part of this particular gang was a way of life; it was everything.

Nige Tassell, author of the Penderyn Prize-shortlisted Whatever Happened to the C86 Kids? employs his skills of detection to go off in search of the dozens of members who - for however brief a period, and to whatever level of success - have been a part of Dexys Midnight Runners. These are the people who gave the band its sound, its soul, its substance. But whatever happened to them?

Genres: Music

355 pages, Kindle Edition

Published June 6, 2024

Reviews

[Stephen · Rating 4 out of 5]

enjoyed the searching for dexys midnight runners as the author tries to track down all living members of the band and discusses their life prior and post dexys. very interesting about music in late 70's and mid 80's as a melting pot.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

An honest and revealing insight to the complexities of a diverse set of dedicated musicians who understood Kevin Rowland’s various visions, and spared no effort in making it all work to spectacular, timeless effect. A point was deducted for referring to Portsoy as being in ‘the Scottish Highlands’, but this has been re-instated as soul brother Tassell references Portsoy’s true position in Banffshire beloved of its natives, including Big Jim and me.

[Joe O'Donnell · Rating 3 out of 5]

Clearly modelled on “The Fallen” by Dave Simpson - the book that attempts to trace the many minions who toiled under the iron fist of Mark E. Smith’s authoritarian regime - “Searching for Dexys Midnight Runners” sees Nige Tassell trying a similar trick by tracking down all of Kevin Rowland’s former band members. And there are a lot of them to track down, as Rowland tended to burn through musicians at an astonishing rate in his mission to radically reinvent Dexys with each new album. It is to the credit of the author Nige Tassell’s determination and research skills that he manages to locate and talk to the vast majority of them.

While I adore Dexys, and yield to no one in my devotion to Kevin Rowland’s wayward genius, unfortunately I found this book a little repetitive. This is because, in contrast to traumatised ex-Fall members interviewed in “The Fallen”, most of the former Dexys Midnight Runners questioned here have largely positive memories of working with Kevin Rowland. Though this indicates Rowland is a decent skin (notwithstanding his evident eccentricities), it doesn’t make “Searching for …” a riveting, dirt-dishing read. Nige Tassell’s project also suffers from not having the direct input of Kevin Rowland, as he is apparently working on his own account of his time leading Dexys.

“Searching for …” is probably best suited for Dexys completists, as it otherwise doesn’t quite capture Kevin Rowlands’s perpetual tightrope walk between ridiculousness and sublime genius.

[Craig White · Rating 4 out of 5]

One Day I'm Going To Sure......
......hope to see a 2nd volume (or a stand alone book) covering Dexys' career from 2003 to the present, A time, if not as commercially successful, certainly as interesting and productive (on and off), and crying out to be dealt with. The 1st phase, as covered by this fine book, is a well ploughed furrow, of which this should signify a full stop to save overkill.
Having said that, I did enjoy this book, comprehensively researched and entertainingly executed, providing previously unheard impressions of those who were members of Dexys Midnight Runners, and of the methods employed to produce three iconic, brilliant albums. A labour of love type 'search' to include all these individuals is set out in more or less chronological order, with one or two 'no shows' (one of which would be a crucial inclusion, he did, though, receive an appropriate tribute during the recent Glastonbury show). The stories they tell overlap occasionally, and we can be pretty certain that the full picture is painted (more or less) in these accounts when they are collated like this. I did learn one or two things I didn't know, but as I say, I think literature can't really have anything more to relate regarding Phase 1 Dexys.
I would say that if you're a Dexys book completist, you won't find out a great deal more than what's already out there, but if you're not....knock yourself out, you'll love this! Personally I enjoyed it, maybe down to the expertise of the telling, but c'mon, let's get this straight from the start and get phase 2 down on paper!

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not sure I can be objective about this.

I’ve loved Dexys since those first notes of Geno in 1980, even bought Don’t Stand Me Down on cassette tape when it came out and was mocked mercilessly for doing so.

Finally got to see Kevin and the band play live at Glasgow Kelvingrove in June 2024 with Judith.

The story of the fractious relationships between band mates is compelling and distressing.

Really looking forward to Kevin’s biography now.

[Paul Edgingtob · Rating 5 out of 5]

For me this was a five star as I'm a big Dexy's fan.
Fascinating to hear what the band members went on to in the years following and learning about the very diverse backgrounds they lhad.
Some super talented guys made up the band though in essence they were just some blokes in Birmingham who would meet in the cafe.
All very late 70s/early 80s and full of nostalgia.
Would very much recommend.

[Ipswichblade · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nige Tassell writes such great books about football and music and this is no exception. Nige tries and in most cases succeeds in speaking to past members of Dexys Midnight Runners who all have an interesting tale to tell.

[John Morton · Rating 2 out of 5]

You can tell the author has put a lot of work into this but it's too fractured for me. Giving a chapter for each band member just didn't cut it for me though, but I'm sure diehard fans will appreciate it.

[Neil Terence · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just a brilliant piece of journalism bringing back to life the greatest band

[Keith Astbury · Rating 5 out of 5]

Searching For Dexys Midnight Runners is basically the Kevin Rowland equivalent of The Fallen whereby the author, Nige Tassell, attempts to track down former members of the brassy Brum outfit. Tassell has previous for this kind of thing of course in that he wrote the C86 book that was published a year or so ago. This one isn't quite as good as that but is both very informative and enjoyable all the same. And it encouraged me to play some of their old stuff, especially the fabulous Searching For The Young Soul Rebels - surely one of the greatest debut LP's ever. The horns on the opening Burn It Down are especially fabulous - in fact, I've become a bit obsessed with it x