A train journey this weekend, hopefully to watch Everton avoid relegation (Spoiler - they did!), so the streaming choices may be a bit haphazard. Not this first one, though - Dexys' debut album, a hit at the time, a frequent pleasure ever since and for me their finest hour.
Dexys arrived towards the end of my university days and I remember them opening my ears to a new soul sound, to which I'd previously been resistant.
The album opens with the magnificent Burn It Down, Kevin Rowland's celebration of his Irish roots, which was the band's fits chart hit as Dance Stance - without the radio dial opening and the swearing. Tell Me When My Light Turns Green is another great song, horn laden and delivered with passion, while The Teams That Meet In Caffs feels like a bit of an interlude, a horn section instrumental followed by the much slower I'm Just Looking, which doesn't, for me, have the impact of what's gone before. But Geno changes the mood, a number 1 hit, still sounding fantastic.
The second half opens with 70s soul cover Seven Days Too Long, which the band really takes and makes their own. Once again, the pace slows with I Couldn't Help It If I Tried (I'm still waiting for the jump which was on the home taped version I had in 1980) and once again, I'm not sure the slower stuff shows Dexys at their best Thankfully Not Living In Yorkshire, It Doesn't Apply follows - high energy, high pitched and a great song, then it's the much more laid back Keep it, a solid album track but not a stand out here. Middle of the second side, traditionally where you experiment and Love Pt 1 has Rowland's spoken poetry over a faint sax motif, and it's OK, neither embarrassing nor inspiring. But final album track There, There My Dear is inspiring. Probably my favourite Dexys single and a bitter tirade against those in the music industry, it's a stunning high point to finish on.
This really is a debut where the band set out their stall, tell you what they're all about, and if you like it, great. if not, they don't care. It wasn't their most successful album (1982's Too-Rye-Ay would massively outsell it) but for me, their finest.
4* - a great album, with its highs and lows but never anything less than a fine listen.
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