These guys are an English pop band, most known for this song and Geno which both hit number one on the charts. Let's start at the beginning. It was formed by two guys who had been in The Killjoys (a band) before and named the band after a popular drug in the soul scene at the time. The drug was dextroamphetamine. The midnight runners part of the name is a nod to how the drug makes you feel. All the other guys joined the group and they released their first album, but unfortunately after that most members quit the group. It was actually due to Rowland (one of the founders) basically taking over everything and having strict rules about what the band would and wouldn't do. I probably would have quit too. The members that quit ended up in other bands, including The Blue Ox Babes and The Bureau. Rowland however continued this group with new members, and new strict rules to go with them. After a dispute with the record company, Rowland brought in even more new members who played different instruments as he went in a new direction to weasel around the record company. It's with this group that Come On Eileen was released in 1983. After basking in their fame, the brass section of the band got fed up with the fiddles and left the group and formed the TKO Horns. After a two year break Rowland and what was left of the Dexys released another album. Because of Rowland's rules, the album tanked and the group disbanded in 1986. After that Rowland had an almost nonexistent solo career and tried (and failed) to form the band again. In 2003 Rowland succeeded in creating and incarnation of the band, a six piece group with the shortened name of Dexys. As of now there has been another album released and they have been touring. It's quite a history this group has, but what interests me the most is how many groups formed from the previous members of this one. It's astronomical by any standards. This group also stands as a lesson to anyone who wants to have complete creative control over other people. Clearly Rowland has not had the best of luck by enforcing his rules, but I guess we'll see what happens with this new version. So there you go: four current members, 39 previous members and possibly the weirdest tale of a band I've seen yet.
Peace.
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