(1982) Dexy's Midnight Runners are a British New Wave and Northern Soul band who achieved their major success in the early-mid 1980s. Kevin Rowland (vocals, guitar) and Kevin 'Al' Archer (vocals, guitar) founded the band in 1978 in Birmingham, England, naming the band after Dexedrine, a recreational drug popular amongst Northern Soul fans at the time. Big Jim Paterson (trombone), Geoff 'JB' Blythe (saxophone), Steve 'Babyface' Spooner (alto saxophone), Pete Saunders (keyboard), Pete Williams (bass) and Bobby 'Jnr' Ward(drums) formed the first line-up of the band to record a single, 'Dance Stance' (1979). The song only reached number 40 in the British charts, but the next single, 'Geno' -- about Geno Washington -- (featuring new recruits, Andy Leek (keyboards) and Andy 'Stoker' Growcott (drums)) was a British Number One in 1980. The band members were disappointed with their share of the profits, and soon stole the master tapes of Searching for the Young Soul Rebels, their debut LP, in order to renegotiate the deal. The album was released later in 1980 and became a massive success. After the next single, 'There There My Dear' was a hit, Rowland insisted on choosing the uncommercial, 'Keep It, Part Two' for the following single. It was a failure, and most of the band members quit, angered over continual personality problems with Rowland. Archer eventually formed The Blue Ox Babes, while Blythe, Williams, Stoker and Mick Talbot (ex-Merton Parkas, who had recently joined on
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