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Charlie Gillett - Kevin Rowland

- Source: Boot Sale Sounds

Another cassette of a Charlie Gillett radio show from the 80's featuring Dexy's Midnight Runners front man Kevin Rowland choosing some of his favourite records which include songs by Marvin Gaye, Curtis Mayfield etc. "Rowland was born in Wolverhampton, England on 17 August 1953 to Irish parents. His first group, Lucy & The Lovers, were influenced by Roxy Music and turned out to be short-lived. His next project, punk rock act The Killjoys, were slightly more successful, releasing the single "Johnny Won't Go To Heaven" in 1977. Alienated by the punk scene, Rowland, together with Killjoys guitarist, Kevin Archer, decided to form a new soul-influenced group, Dexys Midnight Runners. Many of the group's songs were inspired by Rowland's Irish ancestry and were recognisable through Rowland's idiosyncratic vocal style. On forming the band Rowland thought it was "important to have a vocal style", he later recalled, "and I had the idea of putting that 'crying' voice on", partly inspired by General Johnson of Chairmen of the Board.

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#135 Dexy's Midnight Runners - Too-Rye-Ay (1982)

- Source: MOG

"Come On Eileen" was a huge hit in the U.K. as well as the U.S. for Kevin Rowland and the rest of the Dexy's Midnight Runners back in the early 80s and for years I assumed, like many other bands of that era, they were just a one-hit wonder.

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