Letting Them Talk with Will Harris - Ep. 35 - Kevin Rowland (Dexys Midnight Runners)

This time I’m letting Kevin Rowland talk. He's been a recurring figure on the UK charts since the early ‘80s, and on the US charts… Well, okay, he hasn’t exactly made any headway there in quite some time, but even in 2026, the sheer inevitability of “Come on Eileen” has continued to keep the name “Dexys Midnight Runners” a familiar one. Rowland founded Dexys Midnight Runners in 1978, with the band releasing their debut album, Searching for the Young Soul Rebels in 1980. It was a massive success in the UK, climbing into the top 10 and spawning the #1 hit “Geno,” but neither managed to chart in the States. Knowing this makes it a little more startling that the band’s next album, 1982’s Too-Rye-Aye, spawned a song that topped the Billboard Hot 100…and, yes, of course, I’m talking about “Come On Eileen.” The album even made it to #14 on the Billboard 200 Albums chart…and they haven’t had another album hit the charts since. There’s just no accounting for taste, is there, folks? But just because Dexys’ albums haven’t charted doesn’t mean that they haven’t continued releasing them, albeit with some gaps in there while Rowland was recording solo LPs. During the course of our conversation, we talked about all of them at least briefly, including their latest album, Love, which is due for release later this year. You can check out the first single, “My Life in England, Pt. 1” right now, and it’ll give you an idea of what to expect from the band’s sound nowadays…which, to be fair, isn’t so dramatically different than it’s ever been. Yes, there’ve been some changes along the way, but Rowland’s voice is still immediately familiar even after all these decades. I’ve talked to Kevin a couple of times in the past, but it’s been long enough that I’d kind of forgotten that sometimes he’s got quick answers to questions and sometimes, if you ask the right one, he’s got lengthy answers to questions. Thankfully, I managed to ask enough in the latter category to result in an interesting conversation…but with that said, brace yourself for the occasional moments of silence as well, mostly because I wanted to make sure there wasn’t more to come. Well, that’s probably enough of an intro. It’s time to let Kevin Rowland talk.