Behind the Band Name: Dexys Midnight Runners

Formed in Birmingham, England in 1978, Dexys Midnight Runners (now Dexys), pulled their name from the drug Dexedrine, which was used as a “pep pill” by the 1960s.

Midnight Runners

The second half of the band’s name referred to the energy the Dexedrine gave as a stimulant enabling people to dance all night. They’re running (dancing) well past the dead of night.

[RELATED: Behind The Song: Dexys Midnight Runners, “Come On Eileen”]

Dexedrine

First marketed by Smith, Kline and French in 1937, dextroamphetamine, also known as Dexedrine, is a prescriptive medicine used to treat Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). A central nervous system stimulant, Dexedrine helped increase attention and decrease impulsiveness and hyperactivity in patients with ADHA.

Dexedrine has also been used as a cognitive enhancer and for athletic performance, and recreationally as a euphoriant or an aphrodisiac.

“Geno” and “Come on Eileen”

When the band first formed their sound was grittier, soulful post-punk. Their 1980 debut, Searching for the Young Soul Rebels, earned them their first No. 1 single in the UK with “Geno,” before they quickly slipped into the pop-explosion of music television (MTV) and the “second” British coming in the early ’80s.

By their 1982 follow-up album, Too-Rye-Ay, Dexys Midnight Runners had their biggest hit and pop explosion with “Come on Eileen.” A transatlantic hit for the band, the album peaked at No. 2 in the UK and No. 14 on the Billboard 200.

“Come On Eileen” also topped the Billboard Hot 100, and made the band part of the ‘second” British invasion of music of the 1980s, which was predominantly sparked by MTV and videos by artists like Eurythmics, Depeche Mode, Def Leppard, Duran Duran, Pet Shop Boys, and Modern English, among many others emerging from the UK at the time.

Throughout the early ’80s, the band had several lineup shifts with singer, co-founder, and key songwriter Kevin Rowland the only constant member throughout all its personnel changes, along with trombonist “Big” Jim Paterson, who has also appeared on all of Dexys’ albums.

Following the release of their third album, Don’t Stand Me Down, in 1985 and the only remaining core band members being Rowland, guitarist Billy Adams, violinist Helen O’Hara, and saxophonist Nick Gatfield, the band broke up in 1987. Rowland embarked on a solo career, releasing two albums—The Wanderer (1988) and My Beauty (1999)—before reforming Dexys again in 2003 with new and former members.

Dexys

In 2011, the band officially shortened its name to “Dexys” and started working on their album, One Day I’m Going to Soar, with Rowland, Paterson, Mick Talbot, Neil Hubbard, Lucy Morgan, and Pete Williams, who were all part of the band since its reformation in 2003, along with the addition of new vocalist Madeline Hyland.

Dexys released their fifth album, Let the Record Show: Dexys Do Irish and Country Soul, in 2016.

‘Too-Rye-Ay’ Today

Marking the 40th anniversary of the band’s second album Too-Rye-Ay in 2022, Rowland revisited the songs and remixed the entire album. Released as a box set, the newly remastered tracks were also accompanied by bonus live audio from Dexys October 1982 concert at the Shaftesbury Theatre in London.

Rowland, who was never happy with how the album was originally produced said it sounds the way it always should have, now.

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“For so long, I’ve felt that of our ’80s albums, Searching For The Young Soul Rebels and Don’t Stand Me Down were really good, but Too-Rye-Ay was lacking in something,” said Rowland in 2022. “But that’s all changed. The way Too-Rye-Ay sounds now, it’s right up there with the best of our work.”

He added, “I never want to repeat the same thing because ultimately, you’ve got to be true to the music and the inspiration behind it. It’s your job to honor the music, wherever it comes from. It’s not something where you should put it before a committee, and they decide how it should sound, though if you don’t do that, you probably won’t enjoy sustained success.”

Photo by Brian Cooke/Redferns