The Patrick Hamilton Appreciation Society discussion
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Dexys/Dexys Midnight Runners
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£40.50 per ticket which is pretty good considering
If it's anything like as good as the last time they played The Dome then I'll be happy.
Just realised it will be one day short of being the ten year anniversary of the last time they played the same venue. Coincidence?
I was just saying to the spouse that it’ll be ten years in September next year since we last breathed the same air as Dave Ruffy (what a man!) in Edinburgh. I missed out on the Duke of York week residency in April 2013 as Uncaring Capitalist International Inc (Monaghan chapter) had just made me a redundancy statistic, and having food just slightly trumped the expense of transport and several nights in London. I’d probably have been able to wangle at least one guest list entry due to *cough*a connection*cough*.I’ll be on the ‘net at 0955 tomorrow ordering three for Glasgow on 22.09.22. I consider that to be a sort of base camp, and any further participation in the caper will depend on strict planning and tightly-coordinated logistics. The tales I can tell about 2003…
Mod
I love Dave Ruffy. Heck I love The Ruts/Ruts DC. Were you conversing with the great man David?
Glasgow will be wonderful. I look forward to discovering if you manage to make any of the other shows.
2003 was memorable for me as I had two year old and a newborn so no gadding about for this young turk back then. I envy you your tales of the road.
I met The Great Ruffy after the Barbican gig in September 2012. We talked about cheap rail fares for over-50s! John McKenzie was having an ale with us too, but his subject was Fender and Squier basses, a subject dear to my heart. I was very sad to hear of his death from cancer last year.
https://amp.theguardian.com/music/202...
Both splendid people, delighted to meet the fans, and proud to be part of the Dixons’ constantly-expanding alumni honours board.
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No suprise he is a lovely person.
Should you ever meet Captain Sensible ask him about public transportation - he's loves trains, buses etc and will wax lyrical at some length
Top Dexy and fellow RNR scribe Eddie told me he and his equally-devoted brother have Glasgow tickets, and on my asking how he got them before 10am tomorrow, he responded:“There's a presale for fans. Sorry assumed you knew. You had to pre order the album on the Dexys record company website and that entitled you to the presale.”
On the cost:
“£40 to £48 plus all the usual rip off additional fees. The pre sale has been a right frustrating palaver.”
I feel his pain. I am resigned to the fate of never being able to buy tickets online for anything without roaring some quite baroque profanity and often setting new (unverified) records in Fling The Laptop. I hope not to set a new PB at 1000 tomorrow.
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I am sure you will be fine. They’re popular but not that popular
Well, three tickets for the Glasgow show are somewhere in the ether for a layout of (call it) £165 including those mystery handling charges. Daughter 1, who dashed from Edinburgh to Newcastle with me in an unplanned impromptu To Stop The Burning tour decision in November 2003, is already excited, 387 days in advance.
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I glance at the band Wikipedia page regularly, just in case someone has put an unnecessary apostrophe in the band’s name. This is what’s listed under current members. Pete’s among the former members. Yikes. No Ruffy either. Goddam.
Current members
Kevin Rowland – lead vocals, bass, guitar, piano (1978–1987, 2003–present)
Jim Paterson – trombone (1978–1982, 1985, 2005–2016, 2021–present)
Helen O'Hara – violin, vocals (1981–1987, 2016, 2021–present)
Lucy Morgan – violin, viola (2003–present)
Sean Read – keyboards, sax, guitar, vocals (2013–present)
Michael Timothy – keyboards (2013–present)
Andy Hobson – bass (2013–present)
Billy Stookes – drums (2016)
Mark Kavuma – trumpet (2016)
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Or something
Yeah, that's a shame about Dave and Pete
Had lunch today with some old pals. One of them, usually in the know, said that he’d heard that the ‘22 tour was four musicians performing with backing tracks. I find this hard to believe because of the past live reputation and the freedom with a live band to extend This Is What She’s Like to 22 minutes as long as cues are built in.
I’ll be very disappointed if this is sweet stolen info that turns out to be true.
I’ll get my people on the case and report in.
Mod
Here's hoping this turns out to be inaccurate intel
I’ll take pre-recorded backing tracks over trotting out those stupid holographic reproductions of performers/bands which seem to have become an acceptable substitute for live performance in recent years. Not sure how much further than that the goalposts can be moved...
In an interview of which part two is due to appear this week, Kevin mentions ‘four of us, plus others’ which offers a bit of hope. https://thenewcue.substack.com/p/the-...
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Interesting interview too
Yes, and in the usual Rowland way, a ‘part two’ will follow. It’s heart-warming to see him give so much credit to Jim, whose side of the break-up story I know, and it more or less concurs with Kevin’s. They’re almost inseparable musically, have major fall-outs, but have some sort of almost-familial link that draws them back together.
Terrific, and unexpected news that there’s new material in the offing too!
Now I just need to know that there are going to be real people onstage giving their all in a year’s time.
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"Now I just need to know that there are going to be real people onstage giving their all in a year’s time. "
Surely to goodness there will be
As I said the other day, the band’s Wikipedia page does show a number of players still considered as members (eg Michael Timothy who took over from Merton Mick and Andy Hobson who replaced John McKenzue RIP for the 2013 shows), and a few names new to me who I’m hoping will be strumming and beating and bowing for me 366 days from now. I think Too-Rye Ay needs more than one fiddle, and given Lucy’s tenure from 2003 onwards, it’s comforting to see her name there. Currently listed:
Kevin Rowland singing, dancing, strictly-regulated, self-impised charisma levels
Jim Paterson - trombone
Helen O'Hara - fiddle
Lucy Morgan - fiddle
Sean Read - saxophone and keyboards
Michael Timothy - keyboards (“I am not a keyboard player, I am a Hammond player” Mick Talbot)
Andy Hobson - bass
Robert Taylor (presumably drums, but Billy Stookes is given that honour elsewhere on the Wiki page)
Mark Kavuma (trumpet)
Mod
That line up, if that's how it turns out, seems about right in terms of sound. Perhaps with a bit more brass?
There was only Paul Taylor (ex-Bureau) on trombone in 2003 and that worked, even on the phat brass songs like Geno, Let’s Make This Precious, and Listen To This, although I suspect that Volker Janssen was doing a bit of augmentation via a keyboard. Big Jimmy was on his own in 2012/13, with Sean Read blowing a bit of alto when required, and it was pretty sensational, especially from the front row of the Shepherd’s Bush Empire (‘O2’ my arse).Those two are obviously still in the frame, and with a trumpet added as the current members’ list suggests - not a feature since the embryonic 1979 pre-Dance Stance days - I think we’re well-covered.
Should we go for a fluid 3-5-2 or a more orthodox 4-4-2 though? The head coach will have something up his perfectly-cut sleeve, I have no doubt.
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I can see Kev, maverick that he is, going for a midfield diamond
Either a 4-3-1-2 or a 4-1-3-2?
Or maybe even a 3-3-1-3?
No way he's going 4-4-2
I like that. Sean Read the key man as the “10”/“in the hole” rôle, or might the new trumpeteer add sharpness, feeding off the wily runs of twin strikers Morgan and O’Hara?
Interesting times ahead, Gary.
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And lest we forget Kev, the wily old midfield general for whom the first two yards are in his head
Good recruitment, careful selection, flawless preparation (Rowland’s rehearsals are control-freakery exemplified, I am told), and match fitness to ensure endurance, yea even unto extra time. Salute The General. Let’s Make This Precious.
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That’s awful news. He flew in from NI to join us at the fan-organised Birmingham celebration of the 30th anniversary of SFTYSR’s release in July 2010. He was very surprised at his ‘celebrity’ status, and made many friends. He was a lovely man. I’ll have somewhere, in a disorganised archive, a midlands tv clip of Tony and a delighted Kevin Rowland meeting for the first time in a café.
“Leisure is only sweet after work well done”.
Thanks, Nigey. That’s it. Brighton rather than Brum then. The “NeilKOR” who commented below is Neil Warburton who founded the Dexys’ fanzine Keep On Running, and who met and looked after Tony on his 2010 visit. Sadly, Neil died in 2018. Kevin sang an a capella Lean On Me (Bill Withers) at Neil’s funeral. In endless time, endless art.
David wrote: "40 years on from Too Rye-Ay, Kev’s been involved in making it sound like he always thought it should..."I know chances are slim, but I’ve been giving it a lot of thought and will feel a tinge of disappointment if the opening line to Eileen isn’t changed to “Poor old Ronnie Kray...”
I had to put my morning coffee sharpener down to save me spluttering it all over the room there, Mark!Bravo.
…and in case you missed the news in Mojo (Feb 22 issue)Dexys are working on a new LP. “It’s not like a story,“ says Kevin Rowland, “But there is a unifying thing holding it together…there’s a couple of songs that are pretty much finished and demoed to a really high standard”.
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New LP you say David
Joy is unconfined
David wrote: "…Dexys are working on a new LP. ..."Very good news, especially considering the strength of the two most recent albums.
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https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast...
Listening now. Kevin on great form.
In his ‘heyday’ I’d say. ;)
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The first memoir from a member of the enigmatic group Dexys Midnight Runners, in What’s She Like, Helen O’Hara provides a vivid account of her euphoric experience of recording and touring the album Too-Rye-Ay, which included the global smash hit single ‘Come on Eileen’, and shares the full inside story of the making of what many consider to Dexys’ masterpiece album, Don’t Stand Me Down.
Helen’s story begins in Bristol, where at a very young age she decided, quite definitely, that she was going to be a professional violinist. Growing up with a love of classical and pop music, she played in youth orchestras but couldn’t see any female instrumentalist role models in popular music, never mind violinists. Undeterred, she forged her own path. She played in two Bristol-based bands, Gunner Cade and Uncle Po, but when neither worked out, she retreated back into classical music, studying violin at Birmingham Conservatoire which is where she met with Dexys Midnight Runners and her unique skill set came to the fore, catapulting her to international success.
After Dexys split up in 1986, Helen started a long working relationship with Tanita Tikaram, recorded two solo instrumental albums and worked with Nicky Hopkins and Graham Parker amongst others, before retiring from music to raise a family in rural Kent. After a 23 year break, with her two sons grown up, Helen had a restless desire to open her violin case once more. Low on confidence, she forced herself back into the fold, moved to London, started busking and immersed herself in English folk dance music before re-connecting with Dexys and Tanita Takiram and successfully restarting a professional music career.
Short of her own role models when she was growing up, Helen became one herself, inspiring other young women to take up the violin and seek out a career in music. A prodigious talent, combined with single-minded drive and determination, she carved out her own path in life and her story is an inspiration to us all. In her own words, she finally answers the question posed by Kevin Rowland in the lead song on Don’t Stand Me Down in 1985: this is what she’s like.
What’s She Like will be officially released on 19th August 2022. However, if you want to be amongst the first to read it, signed and numbered advance copies will be made available in late June exclusively from this website at standard cover price...
http://www.route-online.com/all-books...
I’m in the queue. Thanks for the heads up.
Helen O’Hara’s memoir sure strikes as one to look forward to. I’m sure there’s a fascinating story there, and I don’t know the merest fraction of it... so... will pre-order toot sweetly.
I’ve just pre-ordered What She’s Like from:http://www.route-online.com/all-books...
Signed, numbered, and I think available to pre-ordering customers two months before the official release.
I’ll be slightly aggrieved if I’m sent a review copy!
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I will wait until it's published before taking the plunge
Really looking forward to discovering what you make of it David
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Guessing the whole tour is off
From the email…..
Dexys have released the following statement:
'As many people familiar with Dexys will understand, a lot of work and detail was planned for these shows. Unfortunately, Kevin is recovering from a motorbike accident and some health issues that will take some time to recover from. We had tried to keep the tour on track right up to this week, but now it is clear that that there won’t be sufficient time to do the work needed to deliver the show as we had envisaged.
Dexys feel awful about cancelling and are immensely sorry for the inconvenience caused.
Apologies first and foremost to the fans who have bought tickets and already made travel arrangements, and to the team, promoters, staff, agents, the ticket vendors, venues and all who have worked so hard.
We did consider postponing the tour until next year, but we already have plans for 2023, and we promise that when we next tour, and, it won’t be long, we will do plenty of material from Too Rye Ay as it should have sounded.'
That’s a shame... I’m sure many were looking forward to that (even if none of them were here, stateside).Meanwhile, I’ve just bought tickets for the first gig I’ll have seen since Richard Hawley in Brighton, before the world stopped spinning. Seeing John Cooper Clarke here in NYC in early October.
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Looking forward to discovering how much you enjoy it
Saw him in 2018 and 2019, so I’ve a good idea about what I’m in for. Although these dates seem to be in promotion of his autobiography, so hoping for a lot of that to be incorporated into the show.Either way, it’s gonna be a blast, I’m sure.
The latest Mojo (Bruce Springsteen on the cover) has a good, insightful interview with Kevin Rowland, still recovering in Thailand from leg injuries sustained in his Dylanesque motorbike accident) about the imminent re-mixed Too Rye-Ay. Contributions too from Kevin Archer, Jim Paterson, Helen Bevington, and Pete Schwier, the mix-man behind the eventual unlocking of the album's true magic. I read it on Pressreader, so can't provide a link. I'll hum this tune forever, though.
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I can get Mojo digitally from my library
The Patrick Hamilton Appreciation Society
Books mentioned in this topic
Bless Me Father: A life story (other topics)Bless Me Father: A life story (other topics)
Bless Me Father: A life story (other topics)
What's She Like (other topics)
Season of the Witch: The Book of Goth (other topics)
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Authors mentioned in this topic
Kevin Rowland (other topics)Kevin Rowland (other topics)
Pauline Murray (other topics)
Helen O'Hara (other topics)
“Hope you're safe and well. Went to see the Specials last night at Usher Hall and support band was Pete Williams and his band.”
Top bill!