Dexys Midnight Runners: Searching For The Young Soul Rebels [PARLOPHONE]

Why you'll love it

Back on vinyl from Parlophone. Kevin Rowland's debut fused the attack of punk with Northern soul, reached number 6 on the UK Albums Chart and carries 'Geno,' a UK number one. It's also in 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.

This edition

• Back on vinyl from Parlophone
• The original 11-song running order, opening with 'Burn It Down'

About the album

Kevin Rowland had already been through a Birmingham punk band, the Killjoys, when he told Kevin 'Al' Archer on a hot night in July 1978 that he wanted to form a great group, wear great clothes and make soulful music. They auditioned 30 to 40 people, settled on eight, named the band after Dexedrine (a favourite of the Northern soul crowd) and rehearsed for about nine hours a day. Rowland turned down a deal with Jerry Dammers' 2 Tone label after supporting the Specials, and the band recorded this album in April 1980.

You can hear all that rehearsal in the horns, which hit like a brass section with something to prove, and in Rowland's voice, pleading one minute and preaching the next. The album title comes from a line in 'There, There, My Dear,' 'Geno' closes the first side, and side two finds room for 'Thankfully Not Living in Yorkshire It Doesn't Apply.' Yorkshire, to its credit, has never held it against them.

Tracklist

Listen

Out September 25, 2026 on Parlophone (cat# 1197711), a reissue of the 1980 album.