Customer Reviews

Too-Rye-Ay

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This remastered Dexy's Midnight Runners is a must own. The new version is a much more clearer and enhanced sound than the original. Still the same good, fun lyrics by Kevin Rowlands the headman of British Alternative group. They made the 80s so much fun. It was the time of the British invasion with all those long and forgotten, like- the Police, Madness, Chris DeBurgh making a sweep of memorable hits that kept the airwaves jumping. If only they could turn back the time when music meant something before the downslide. Oh, dream on, dream on.

If you can only remember Dexy's Midnight Runner for only 'Come on Eileen' then you're missing the real talent of this group. This is better than their original because it has added tracks with some of their best songs. So if you're deciding on which one this is it. I believe there had been a bit of confusion because of the name is the same on both. The original is the IMPORT version with only 10 tracks. Just look for ORIGINAL RECORDING REMASTERED for the best listening enjoyment. The group is a little Brit soul with some rhythm and blues mixed in. The lyrics are fun and whimsical like that of Madness. Something of British Ska. It's reflected in 'The Celtic Soul Brothers.' Do I sense a bit of Commodore-mania there in 'Jackie Wilson Said.' The lyrics in 'Let's Make This Precious' and 'Until I Believe in My Soul' are romantically beautiful. I do believe the music industry has been missing something here. If you can still get this album while you still can. Getting good songs could be the thing of the past. Dexy's Midnight Runners is just one fo those groups that deserve billing like the Beatles or the Commodores. Their music you won't be disappointed.

There is something haunting about Dexy's Midnight Runners beyond "Come on Eileen" which is perhaps one of the greatest pop songs of all time (in my top ten for sure), but the youthfulness and confidence of a brash and innocent sound stirs something inside of me and perhaps you too? Kevin Rowland has one of the best voices I have ever heard a true talent. Ska, soul, pop it is all here and I am so glad I finally got this CD. I very much recomend it. It is a shame they did not do more, they were really good

While most people don't even remember the name Dexy's Midnight Runners past the song Come On Eileen, anyone brave enough to listen to the whole album will be shocked and amazed. In a a good way. The songs on the album flow into one another, and create an amazing soundscape straddling everything from rock to soul, to ska. In fact, this is probably the earliest example of what was to become ska I have heard, since I think this album pre-dates or at least laps most of Madness's releases. British Ska maybe? UK soul with flavors of old time rhythm and blues? All of the above. Be impressed, MR & DMR is where it's at.

I have a few CDs that are as good as this one, but none better. It's as perfect a CD as could ever be hoped for.

I didn't particularly like "Come on Eileen" when it was big, but someone (who???) gave me this tape to listen to one night in college and that was it. I could be found on many a night with it on my headphones at RISD's architecture studio. I still have the same cassette and I still love it to death. Sorry to whoever lent it to me... man so I owe you one! If you haven't heard this, do yourself a favor and give a shot, you will not be sorry!

Most everyone has just heard "Come On Eileen" but the rest of this effort is truly classic. Feel good music with punching horns and soulful rhythms abound here. "Let's Make This Precious", "Plan B", "Jackie Wilson Said", I'll Show You" all are lively, energetic neo-soul classics. Kevin Rowlands singing leaves is far from perfect but it seems to fit these tunes. "All In All" is a brilliant ballad as is "Old". The extra songs are a bonus.Give this a try as there is so much more than "Come On Eileen".

Too-Rye-Ay being the Dexys Midnight Runners 1982 release and their 2nd studio album is mostly remebered for having the smash hit "Come on Eileen". However, this is no one trick pony and contains the great track "Let's Make This Precious". The booklet has very well-written linernotes by Richard Smith but the booklet contains no lyrics. The cover is a classic and is really nice. 4/5.

If you know Dexy's Midnight Runners, it's probably from their 1982 smash "Come On Eileen". And why not? It's brilliant, a perfectly incandescent gem of a song simply bursting at the seams with new wave rock n' roll energy, Celtic conviviality, and blue-eyed soul fervour. That pretty much describes the album from which that one-hit-wonder was drawn, TOO-RYE-AY.

What is the most identifiable element of Dexy's Midnight Runners' sound? Is it the Stax-like horns that bolster these cuts with their taut R&B charts? Is it the Irish gypsy fiddle of Steve Brennan and Helen O'Hara? How about Billy Adams' sprightly banjo? Their bedraggled, dungareed street image is certainly distinctive as hell. Or it could very possibly be bandleader and songwriter Kevin Rowland's off-kilter vocals that sound like the common ground between Ric Ocasek, Joe Strummer, and Van Morrison (wherever that may be).

Speaking of Van Morrison, Dexy's fusion of rock, soul, and Irish folk certainly owes much to the Man's work - they cover his "Jackie Wilson Said" on TOO-RYE-AY as a matter of fact. But especially toward the end of the album as the songs start to get longer and blend into one another, that same indefinable, searching quality emerges in Rowland's songwriting as he emulates Van's incantory talk-singing. This is especially evident in the album's shortest ("I'll Show You") and longest ("Until I Believe in My Soul") songs, the latter of which is probably the best song on the album this side of "Come On Eileen". Combined with the prominent fiddle alongside the R&B elements TOO-RYE-AY actually reminds me of Morrison's INTO THE MUSIC, and that's compliment, since INTO THE MUSIC happens to be one of my favourite albums ever. But that's not to say that Dexy's Midnight Runners are derivative. They have a sound all their own, and make no mistake - you'd never mistake a song like "The Celtic Soul Brothers" or "Plan B" for anything but Dexy's.

Evidently, Dexy's Midnight Runners only have two other albums: SEARCHING FOR THE YOUNG SOUL REBELS and DON'T STAND ME DOWN. And if they're anywhere near as good as TOO-RYE-AY (and everything I've heard, in terms of reviews and listening both, has been indicative of the affirmative) I'll be going after them in the not-too-distant future.

In the U.S., Dexy's Midnight Runners were a one hit wonder of the first order, but in the UK, they charted hit after hit after hit in the early 80's. Pick up this album, or better yet, pick up "Let's Make This Precious," and you'll see why. You won't regret it.

But please, let's not get into an argument about who "invented" ska here. To claim that either DMR or the Clash invented ska is absurd. Ska - like reggae, its cousin, a Caribbean/American form of popular music characterized by its hybridization of U.S. American R&B with an Afrocentric rhythmic sensibility - was huuuuge among British youth in the 60's and 70's, and found a niche audience in the burgeoning punk scene in London. Bands like the Clash (and hundreds of others) anglicized ska/reggae, creating from it their own "rebel music," but it was also swiftly aestheticized and adopted/assimilated by any number of punk subcultures, including, ironically, an often-sinister brand of racist skinhead. But whatever.

ok, so we all know the one song that made the charts, but that is not typical of the entire album. it is really hard to place what genre to place this in. its a cross between top 40, old r&b,and maybe a little folk. if you like this album, i strongly recommend DMR's live BBC radio concert.

Great album from Ireland. An oldie but goodie. "Come on Eileen" is of course the best song on the album, which you just have to sing along with when you hear it. It's still getting a lot of air play on the radio, etc.