"Dear Robin,

I'd try to explain, but you'd never see in a million years..."

from "There, There, My Dear'' on the album, "Searching for the Young Soul Rebels" by Dexy's Midnight Runners.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Searching_for_the_Young_Soul_Rebels

If enjoyed 'Come On, Eileen' in the 80s, but you haven't heard 'Searching for the Young Soul Rebels', you should give it a listen.

I got 'Too-Rye-Ay' when it came out, based -- of course -- on the teenage radio erotica of 'Come On, Eileen' and I listened to 'Too-Rye-Ay' a lot.

When I went looking for more of the same, I found 'Searching for the Young Soul Rebels'.

Which I did not like.

(As an aside, I also did not enjoy 'Don't Stand Me Down', but that's a story in itself.)

For several years, I had a tape that was 'Too-Rye-Ay' on one side, and 'Searching for the Young Soul Rebels' on the other side, and sometimes I would listen to 'Searching...', but usually I would fast forward through it.

I think -- as someone who grew up surrounded by country music and bluegrass -- I had a better understanding of the banjo and fiddle music of 'Too-Rye-Ay' and the more rural feel of the album, and that the horns and the urban, pseudointellectual vibe in 'Searching...' didn't appeal to me as much.

Until, one day, I realized that I was listening to 'Searching..' a lot more than I was listening to 'Too-Rye-Ay.' (And -- also -- that I really dig rock bands with horn sections.)

So -- as it turns out -- 'Searching for the Young Soul Rebels' is one of my favorite albums.

(Granted, Kevin Rowland is not nearly as smart and insightful as he thinks he is, but I think the teenage angst in 'Searching...' is sincere -- even if he was 23.)

#DexysMidnightRunners #dexys_Midnight_Runners #80sMusic #80s #SearchingForTheYoungSoulRebels
#KevinRowland

Kevin Rowland: Dexys, addiction & speaking out

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#CrispinFlintoff

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WzAd9QoTRwI

"I got a job selling menswear in C&A in Oxford Street.

The lady who interviewed me seemed very positive and had a good vibe about her. She told me the company philosophy was about providing good-quality, stylish clothes at affordable prices, so that everybody would have the opportunity of dressing well, regardless of budget.

I loved that idea! She said it was a Dutch firm, but very international, and that they had a progressive approach towards staff and that there were good prospects for those prepared to work hard. It sounded great.

But my experience in the store was very different. On my first day, the menswear department supervisor, Mr George, gave me a booklet describing what was expected from me as a C&A employee. Being serious about the position, I asked him if I could take the booklet home to study it. He said, 'No,' in what I took to be an authoritative, yet petty tone.

'Staff rules state that these booklets must remain here.'

I decided he was a berk and within a short space of time, I realised that this company was anything but what it said it was.

For the summer sale, instead of reducing their current stock, as many retail outlets do, they brought in the cheapest, nastiest-looking casual jackets I'd ever seen, specifically for the sale. These 'windcheaters' were badly made Terylene and absolute rubbish. It was obvious this firm was just interested in making money, and not the philosophy that the personnel lady had sold me.

I complained to my immediate supervisor, Mr Hale. 'I thought C&A was about selling good-quality clothes at prices affordable to everybody. Why are we selling this crap?'

"The company is just making some money in the sale,' he said.

I didn't like it. During a moment when the other assistants were busy, I took one of the rubbishy, off-white jackets into the changing room, took out my black pen and wrote the word CRAP right across the back of it, in big letters. Then I put it back on the hanger, at the front of the rail so the writing was clearly visible to any customers.

About an hour later, Mr Hale was standing with my main boss, Mr George. They were holding the jacket I'd defaced and looking at me.

It was obvious I was the culprit.

I began to hate the company and started to look for ways to amuse myself.

C&A brought a German guy over from Hamburg to work in the menswear department. They often brought trainee executives onto the shop floor, to give them some store experience before they went on their management path. This fellow was decent and about 27 years old.

He had only a basic grasp of the English language. On his first day he came over to introduce himself to me in his strong German accent.

Looking at the C&A name badge on my jacket lapel, he said, 'Hello, Mr Rowland, my name is Gerhard Lange.'

'Hello, Gerhard,' I said.

Seeing the letter 'K' before 'Rowland' on my badge, he said, 'What does this "K" mean?'

'What does it mean?' I said. 'It doesn't mean anything, it's my initial for my first name.' I was playing for time and sensing an opportunity for fun.

'Yes, but what is the first name?'

Ah, you're asking, what is my first name?'

'Yes!' he replied, earnestly.

'Kunt,' I said.

'Kunt?' He'd never heard the word - he'd only been in the country five days.

'Yes. Kunt Rowland is my name,' I said.

Very good. I am pleased to meet you, Kunt.'

Nice to meet you too, Gerhard.'

We were both working on the trousers section and he was senior to me. Sometimes he would shout instructions across the busy store, 'Kunt! Please come and help me with these trousers!'

Or if he was feeling impatient with me, he would say, 'Come on, Kunt, hurry up!'

Old men and women would look up, startled and unable to believe what they were hearing."

— Kevin Rowland: Bless Me Father, pp. 112-114

#KevinRowland #work

"Dad was different around other people. A couple of years prior to this when I was still at school, I had wanted to go to a boxing club. I asked Dad and he said, 'No, go in the front room and do some homework.' I went in the front room and, after a bit of daring from Pat, decided to leave the house, via the front-room window. I went to the boxing club and enjoyed it.

The guy who ran the club gave me a lift home in his truck. He pulled up outside the house and we chatted for a couple of minutes.

I could see Dad watching us from the front window. When I got inside, expecting at least a serious telling-off, if not a belting, Dad just said, 'Where did you go?'

I said, 'to the boxing club.' He didn't say anything else. I think it was because another adult, an outsider, was involved. In retrospect, I wish there had been more outsiders involved. It would have been better for me. Dad had way too much control, and as a family, it was stifling and claustrophobic, certainly as far as I was concerned.

I had, by this time, lost trust in my own perception. I made my decisions based on what I thought were other people's values (Dad's, mainly, but also other members of the family, as well as outsiders). If I was asked a question, I would have to think about who was asking it and what answer they would want to hear, or what answer would get me the least stressful outcome. It was confusing. And bloody hard work. I had become an over-thinker - inevitable in those circumstances. Looking back, I see that I felt there was no way out. My situation was internal. I was defective. That feeling would increase in intensity in the years that followed."

— Kevin Rowland: Bless Me Father, pp. 102-102

Sums up a lot of how I acted as a young man.

#KevinRowland

Happy 72nd birthday to Kevin Rowland, Born today 17th August 1953

"I own records that have the power to make me cry. "

#photooftheday #kevinrowland #ClassicRock #music #MusicSky #photography

📸Marie-Thérèse

Searching for the Young Soul Rebels is the debut studio album by English band Dexys Midnight Runners, released on 11 July 1980, through Parlophone and EMI Records. Led by Kevin Rowland, the band formed in 1978 in Birmingham, England, and formed a strong live reputation before recording their first material. Recorded during April 1980, the album combines the aggressiveness of punk rock with soul music, particularly influenced by the Northern soul movement.

Mojo has summed up the sound of the album as "an energetic mix of pop, Northern soul and punkish attitude." The band intended to create a brassy sound mixed with the aggression and intensity of punk rock...

The album cover features a photograph of a 13-year-old Irish Catholic boy carrying his belongings after being forced from his home in Belfast, Northern Ireland because of civil unrest in 1971... - Wikipedia

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IV6WFnLUl10&list=PLMNMmvIC2uGbPFFA0xCO5003NgyjTvLiO&index=1

#dexysmidnightrunners #soulmusic #thetroubles #antiirish #kevinrowland

#MorningCoffeeAlbum

Don't Stand Me Down - Dexys Midnight Runners

I wish I knew where Mrs H got this album from. It has a sticker on the back reading "Promotional Copy Not For Resale".
The follow-up to the highly successful Too-Rye-Ay, this album was considered a failure at the time (1985), and the band split two years later.
This is my first listen, and I'm really enjoying it.

#nowPlaying #dexys_midnight_runners #KevinRowland #music #vinyl