Dexy's on Jools

Well if ever a thread said more about the posters than the artist...... Basically a few clear divides emerge: - Stu, who like them until the dress incident. What does that say about Stu I wonder? Not especially empathetic to mental ill health or just plain dislikes individuality and differentness? Likes to go along with the crowd if he thinks the crowd will like him for it. Had to highlight the dress as the issue and not the fact that both solo albums were poor. Interesting to say the least. - BigH et al who persist with their barely ill-disguised contempt for most things under 40 years old or not creating music of similar genre to that over 40 years old. Amazingly don't expect to be challenged when their posts are the equivalent of a teenager stamping their feet and yelling "I don't like it and therefore it's rubbish!". There's plenty of music I don't like. That doesn't mean it's rubbish or not worthy of appreciation. It means that chemically, viscerally and emotionally it leaves me cold. Often I still own the stuff and learn to love it. More often I do not. It doesn't make it rubbish though. Interesting to note that those taking this stance with maybe one exception are unable to express why it was rubbish beyond KR having aged badly (have YOU ever done hard drugs? Doh!) and oh yes, that again, not being to their taste. The other arguments were what exactly? Oh yeah. Come On Eileen got on my nerves. Big deal that one. KR rightly sees the song as a great song but a millstone. Little wonder it's been reworked into an 8 minute plus soul stomper live recently. On the other hand perhaps the real tragedy of COE was that it enabled a generation of people to never envisage how they could ever like DMR or appreciate the depth of the songwriting and it obliterated the vastly superior songs of that era such as Plan B, Show Me and so on. The comments about musicianship are laughable and mostly beneath contempt. They were never great musicians. Really, in terms of what? 8 minute wank fest guitar solos? Virtuosity? Timing? Definition please! Personally for me a great musician required great songs and needs to have something to say that isn't just a pastiche or a repeat. Thus Mark Knopfler. Great musician on Making' Movies as the songs did the work. On thr rest. Nooo. Oh, guess what. That doesn't make them rubbish. It makes them occasionally not to my taste. Mick Talbot - not a great musician? Jim Paterson - not a great musician? Vincent Crane - not a great musician? Oh that's right you thought DMR were one band didn't you. Actuality it's fair to say that there have been, what, 6 different bands. There are 2 things that unite those bands. The voice at the front of them and the exemplary level of musicianship across the years. Kevs vocals? An acquired taste? Absolutely. They're either the way in or the exit door. I get that. It doesn't make him not a great singer. History is littered with people who pompous oafs claimed should be disregarded as they could not sing and thus we should not listen to them. Bob Dylan anyone? Jagger? Nina Simone? What a pointless embarrassing argument. If you don't like his vocals then man up and damn well say so. Respect for that. However, claiming he was off and out of time on Later makes you look a little in need of the audiology department and a bit of surgery for the old shoulder chip. Let's be clear here. I have my doubts about the new album. Uncut gave it 4 stars and ludicrously suggested it might even be better than Don't Stand Me Down. That argument falls on two counts. One, DSMD is a flawed masterpiece. Two, several new songs sound like bridges within a theatrical flow. Mojo gave it 5 stars. They are basically now Sounds from the mid 80s and not to be trusted. However, generally the music press tend to miss great albums rather than over-rate good ones. There are ample example of both but I'll stick with my assertion. There was also an excellent point about the songs loading more theatricality in than rock music can usually bear and somehow getting away with it. Word magazine on the other hand I think nailed a couple of things. The songs as recorded may lack dynamics and arrangements that allow them to soar. I certainly thought do when I traveled through the whole of the album via ITunes preview. I even texted my sister to say so. However, they have some live gigs under their belt and the songs now breathe and soar. Later was evidence of that. My point here is not that good is defined by writers but that people with a better knowledge than you or I have pretty much nailed the plusses and minuses. If you don't like it that's fine but the reasons given embarrass those posters. I see nobody noted that Dexys - a band with a reputation severely dented by KR solo outings and with absolutely no chance of a hit single and an audience that fell away hugely got the loudest cheer of the night during the live 30 minute segment for a brand new song. As you don't get notice of who is on the programme those people are clearly very stupid indeed or were cheering ironically at the bum noted and appalling attempts to vocalise. Now, back to specifics. Name the songs and the moments in the songs where he is off key; out of time or a musician hits a bum note... Breath baited... PS: The person who baited about my post signature needs to get a life and recognise when things are done with humour. Their failure to recognise that is perhaps a key to why they don't get Dexys as currently constituted.

I think maybe some people need to read back what they actually wrote and reflect on whether it was actually just saying they don't like KR or whether they said quite a lot more. Do you really want me to note you at the level of quoting it back at you. It's also worth nothing that homelessness has little to do with what money you have coming in; that KR was most certainly a difficult personality but has clearly got enough insight in the past decade to go way beyond that. Disliking who he was is fine. Not recognising who he is now is just not paying attention.

Amusingly Guido you were not one of the people I was aiming my comments at although you seem to have misinterpreted my comments re: background. FGR will probably not win the BSBP next season. Play offs at best. Quite liked then this season. One of the few teams in a false position although the 6 points we lost to them turned out to be critical. And no Dave I don't run the fan club Stus' comments were genuinely interesting representing as they do the majority of people who "got" at least one of the first two albums but who were lost by the third. What I don't get is why not just say that and leave it there? That would be fine, but to have a go because a man wore a dress FFS. I'm afraid if that's the angle we could start a whole thread on the dress sense of Bowie, Gabriel and many others over the years. Why not just accept that bad albums get made and move on without trying to ascribe them to some sort of defective personality. Similarly the posters with their "I don't like Dexys so therefore fhey're poor musicians and terrible live because I say so" position. I mean, come on. Is that it? Is that the best so called nature adults can do? These are of course the same ppl forever harping on about how poor the music press is etc. Oh the irony. Most amused about the 1,000 words comment. Sheesh. Passionate about music? You don't want that around a hi-fi forum do you???

As opposed to 1,000 words on what Tom? There's either room for all sorts of views or there isn't.

Not sure I'd ever buy an album because the instruments were uncompressed and well separated but yes I have been shocked at just how good it is Whole family adore it and 7 year old is now well versed in a few swear words. iTunes preview wrongly led me to believe it was a dud. What amuses me is the comment I think earlier on this thread that KR is somehow a minor talent. That's 4 great and hugely different albums over 30 years now. Nick Drake is revered for three albums that are in fact poorly produced; much enhanced by other people contributions and very inconsistent. If there's one thing I've learnt on here it's never to trust the consensus. This is the place that told me Jonatha Brooke and Jellyfish were good whereas they were really middle aged blokes idea of what pop music ought to sound like and just well played and dull. Give me a real individual any day.