Kevin On The Unofficial Dexys Book

Kevin - on the unofficial Dexys book.

I really enjoyed doing a 3 night stint at BB6Music a few weeks ago. Great radio station and people, totally music driven.

One negative experience was on coming out after the 3rd programme, a guy came up to me and asked me to sign something. No problem, I thought. He passed me a book on Dexys and made a comment on it. I'd obviously heard about the book but hadn't read it as a matter of principle. I said to him; "Don't know mate, ive never read it and don't intend to" He said; "Oh, but you wrote the foreword to it" and passed it to me, and there in within the foreword, in the first few pages, was quote a from me.

Like I said, I haven't read the book and I don't intend to. I cant take seriously a book about Dexys that didn't interview myself, Jim Paterson, Kevin Archer, Helen O Hara or Billy Adams. If someone I meet mentions it to me, I immediately say "Don't tell me anything about it, I don't wanna know". And I don't, so please don't write anything about it here. I don't wanna be upset by it. And in case the assertion is made that I was offered the opportunity to be interviewed, yes I was, its true, but far too late to give it serious consideration.

I was approached a few short weeks before the book was to be delivered for printing. The bulk of the book had been written by the time I was approached. I was told that previous efforts had been made to contact me, but that I was 'hard to reach'. That's not true. It's easy to find a way to some sort of representative of any artist, including via their label (or ex-label in my case) EMI, which is how I was finally contacted by the writer.

I pondered the request for an interview for a few days and took advice, then decided not to get involved. The general opinion from those I trust, was that by giving an interview, I would lend the book credibility. So I didn't. But it pains me to know that at least one person thought I had been involved with it. Still, that's life, as the great Esher once said. :}

2:49 PM - 26 Comments - 17 Kudos - Add Comment

Kevin - on the unofficial Dexys book.

I really enjoyed doing a 3 night stint at BB6Music a few weeks ago. Great radio station and people, totally music driven.

One negative experience was on coming out after the 3rd programme, a guy came up to me and asked me to sign something. No problem, I thought. He passed me a book on Dexys and made a comment on it. I'd obviously heard about the book but hadn't read it as a matter of principle. I said to him; "Don't know mate, ive never read it and don't intend to" He said; "Oh, but you wrote the foreword to it" and passed it to me, and there in within the foreword, in the first few pages, was quote a from me.

Like I said, I haven't read the book and I don't intend to. I cant take seriously a book about Dexys that didn't interview myself, Jim Paterson, Kevin Archer, Helen O Hara or Billy Adams. If someone I meet mentions it to me, I immediately say "Don't tell me anything about it, I don't wanna know". And I don't, so please don't write anything about it here. I don't wanna be upset by it. And in case the assertion is made that I was offered the opportunity to be interviewed, yes I was, its true, but far too late to give it serious consideration.

I was approached a few short weeks before the book was to be delivered for printing. The bulk of the book had been written by the time I was approached. I was told that previous efforts had been made to contact me, but that I was 'hard to reach'. That's not true. It's easy to find a way to some sort of representative of any artist, including via their label (or ex-label in my case) EMI, which is how I was finally contacted by the writer.

I pondered the request for an interview for a few days and took advice, then decided not to get involved. The general opinion from those I trust, was that by giving an interview, I would lend the book credibility. So I didn't. But it pains me to know that at least one person thought I had been involved with it. Still, that's life, as the great Esher once said. :}

4:49 AM - 4 Comments - 2 Kudos - Add Comment

KEVIN BLOG 5 - Van Morrison

It was during the boiling hot summer of 1976 that I first heard it. Punk was about to happen, but this album, showed me something really different. Before that, Van Morrison had been, in my perception, some American type singer..songwriter; long hair, jeans, country rock kinda thing. No thank you very much sir, not my cup of tea. Then I heard Astral Weeks. What was it? I couldn't understand it, it sounded bizarre and tuneless at first, as if he was making it up as he was going along. Oddly, it happened that I heard the whole album three times that same evening.

The circumstances were: I was in a wine bar in Birmingham my girlfriend. It was a lovely hot night and we spent the whole evening there. The woman running the bar, was clearly very into the album, she had it on an 8 Track cartridge machine {popular in the 70s} and instead of stopping when it came to the end of the record, she let it go around and around. The process in my head went something like this; the first time I heard it; I thought, it sounds like he is just making up the words and the tune, as he goes along, crazy. The second time, I thought, there's more to it than I first realized. I was starting to hear some melody in it, by the third time, I knew there was something powerful going on.

That was how I got into Astral Weeks, Van Morrison's first masterpiece. The long term effect it had on me, is something else entirely. That, and one of his other great works of genius; Its Too Late To Stop Now, brought my understanding of what music could be and mean, to another level. They showed me some of what was possible with music. Those records expanded the boundaries. I related to the pain and I'd never heard music that touched me so deeply. I hadn't known that music could express and mean so much, and be so serious. The seriousness suited me, that's how I felt. People were always telling me to cheer up.

I hadn't known that music could take me beyond where Rock N Roll, straight Soul, Bob Dylan and even the great Roxy Music had {which was a pretty good place anyway} took me. This was more than Rock N Roll, this was something else. It was genius. That word is used a lot, im not talking about the kind of genius that writes loads of songs or plays loads of instruments, though Van does do those things, im talking about the kind of genius that goes to musical places where others don't and where it must be said, quite a few people maybe don't even know exists! Some people listen to Its Too Late To Stop Now and say "yeah, its nice". Nice isnt a word that describes it for me. Its a mystery to me that others dont hear what i hear in it, but then maybe they get from some other record, what i get from Astral Weeks and Its Too Late To Stop Now.

6:44 AM - 25 Comments - 25 Kudos - Add Comment

KEVIN ON THE RADIO

Kevin sits in for Marc Riley on BBC 6 Music for 3 nights starting on Valentines Day (14th, 15th, 16th Feb) at 7pm til 9.30pm.

He'll be playing some of his favourite music from the past 4 decades and talking to legendary producer Trevor Horn and Paul Gorman, writer of "The Look"

2:39 PM - 12 Comments - 12 Kudos - Add Comment

DEXYS

Its called Dexys. Its not called Dexys Midnight Runners. It used to be called Dexys Midnight Runners, now its called Dexys. Everything up to this point was Dexys Midnight Runners, everything from here on in, is Dexys. The reason is; to signify that its different from what was done in the past, but connected.

What is it? Dexys is a musical project right now, it's not a group in the traditional sense. Different people will be brought in as required. There is no set line up. I can never see a time when i would want to be limited to working with the same people.

I realize now, as i look back, that Dexys Midnight runners wasnt really, over the whole period, a group either. Of course it was always meant to be, it just didnt work out that way. Whenever one line up would break up, i would work hard at forming a new one, or replacing people, as the case may be, but with the benefit of hindsight, its obvious that DMR was a series of musical line ups, rather than one group. Thats not to say that the people in it didnt give their all, almost all of them did. But when i look at the whole period, the three albums, the shows, and even the tour in 2003; i can see that it wasnt a group in the usual , sense. A group or band has a set line up, like Madness or U2. Its almost like DMR had a will of its own. When one musical project ended, or had maybe peaked, the line ups usually seemed to break up. This was never intentional or conscious, but thats the way it worked out. It was always alot of hard work finding new players, it certainly would have been easier if it had been just one group, instead of a series, but the positive result of it, is that generally it didn't get stale. There were three different albums {by pretty much three different groups}, and those albums couldnt have all been made by any one of the groups. It wouldnt have been possible for any one of the line ups to do all three. But at least the albums and stage shows werent all saying the same thing. And that leaves me free to go anywhere i want to now. One thing is certain though, it wont be backwards. I have no desire to say the same thing again, that would be the end for me. Dexys is not about that and DMR never was. It was always about trying to move forward. We took components from everywhere, but we were completely opposed to resting on our laurels, and its the same now.

9:58 AM - 46 Comments - 24 Kudos - Add Comment

Shilpa

is classist.

3:59 PM - 4 Comments - 2 Kudos - Add Comment

On last nights programme

{Big Brother}, Dannielle DID make a racist comment.

9:10 AM - 5 Comments - 1 Kudos - Add Comment

KEVIN BLOG4 - I don't think it's racism at all

Im talking about Big Brother of course. For you those that don't live in Britain, the press here are full of it. An Indian actress, Shilpa, has clashed with 3 girls and a bloke in the house and its being billed as racism in the papers. I don't think its anything of the sort. What I think it's about, is class differences. I suspect that those 4 {Jade Danielle, Jo and Jack} have banded together because they feel insecure around the other 4 housemates, who are much more sophisticated, educated, travelled, successful and confident. I don't like the way Jade and crew carry on, sometimes im cringing as im watching, thinking 'shut up!' But a part of me feels for them too, because they are the kind of people I grew up with and the kind of people I come into contact with every day. They're not BAD.

I don't really think its bullying either {Another accusation, and im sure im going to encounter plenty of wrath for saying this stuff, but I only have my point of view, and I know Endemol, the makers have apparently been inundated with complaints, but I can only go by what I see, not what other people say}, I think Shilpa is a bit of a drama queen. Am I racist for saying that? No, I don't think so. Those 4 have done the same, they've said they don't like her. Is that racist? No. She just happens to be Indian. They said they didn't want to eat the chicken she cooked, because it was under cooked, not because she is Indian. They feel she looks down on them, maybe she does. If they talk about her culture in any negative way, its because they don't like they way she operates within her culture, not that they don't like her culture. Its not about her race, its about her. It's a clash, a clash of cultures, between an Indian actress {and her enlisted cohorts; Dirk, Jermaine and maybe Cleo too. Ultimately Cleo sides with Shilpa} and 3 English working class girls and a boy.

Watch Endemol break that four up. Its inevitable. They always do, they always side with the middle class. Last year was the same when Makobi {I think that's her name, an African woman} had a culture clash with 3 or 4 working class people on the show. The press levelled some criticism and Endemol came up with some bogus rule break, so that two of the working class group couldn't nominate that week, ensuring that their crew would be well and truly broken up. Watch them tonight or tomorrow, I bet they'll do the same thing with this 4. They're so afraid of being seen as racist, which is bizarre considering how the whole premise of the show is exploitation. Also, they are embarrassed by the working class of their own country, except of course when they can make one of them a star, like Chantelle, or Jade, but in the case of Jade, it's backfiring on them so far.

The way that company operates is a unfathomable mixture of pretend political correctness and crude exploitation and manipulation, but when they leave the guests alone and allow the clever format to do its thing, it can be great TV, when they manipulate it, as they so often do, its bullshit.

If your thinking of replying to this and saying Big Brother is a capitalist distraction..opium for the masses plot, designed to keep us numb, while they steal our money and exploit us etc, no need, I already know your point of view.

:}

11:09 AM - 18 Comments - 9 Kudos - Add Comment

KEVIN BLOG 3 - More thoughts

Also, I think this country will learn from the Iraq war. I think any future British government will think very hard before entering us into any more wars. I don't think there will be any more wars for us, which is great!
Things have changed so much for the better. Before the Iraq war, 1 million people marched in London, in opposition to the war. That was the biggest protest this country has ever seen, and it never would have happened before. The press had such a tight grip on the people. My dad told me that he used to watch the press whip the people up into a patriotic frenzy whenever there was any international conflict {He's Irish and felt separate from it}. That wouldn't happen now. People have woken up, and any British government, having seen the reaction to this war, will think twice before jumping into another one. That is change, real positive change.
We are outgrowing that kind of thing. We are moving beyond it and towards the things that matter in life; love beauty, honesty. We are realizing that it's not about power, and in fact you cant get power or peace of mind from trying to dominate others. In fact, its not possible to dominate others, as we're finding out in Iraq. We are realizing {albeit slowly, but look at the progress and change since the second world war} that its about love, and that you cant have love with one person, while your hating someone else. Big lessons, very hard to learn, but achievable, for me, I believe. And clearly many others have already learned them and are learning them. Big changes are happening.

5:55 AM - 14 Comments - 11 Kudos - Add Comment

Kevin Blog 2 - Iraq and Tony Blair

Im sickened and saddened by the way Saddam Hussein was lynched. It was disgusting. America is trying to distance itself from the affair and Ive no doubt Britain will soon do the same, but neither of then can deny responsibility. The Americans held him, handing him over to the Iraqis only a few days before his death. Everybody knows the Americans wanted him dead. I find what he did and stood for, abhorrent, but I think we as a country are coming out of this looking very grubby, and sectarian nature of Saddam's lynching is fuelling civil war in Iraq.

Britain and the US invaded Iraq in our names. How dare Tony Blair speak for me? Im still in shock about what this Labour government have led us into. I was so happy when they came to power in 97. Ive been a life long labour voter, but now I hate what Tony Blair has done - led us into an illegal war without the support of the country. Im also concerned that he may just take the labour party down with him. Labour are behind the torys in the polls and no one seems to care! Gordon Brown is in my opinion, a good man and will make a great prime minister, but if Blair doesn't go very soon, I cant see Brown even getting into power. The longer Blair stays around, the more unpopular Labour become, and the more unpopular Labour become, the less likely it is that Brown will be able to lead the party to victory in the next elections.

Tony Blair seems unable to let go. Im only guessing, but I wonder if he finds it hard to face the fact that his premiership has been massively tainted by his leading us into Iraq. Nothing he does between now and the time he stands down can change the country's negative perception of him. But the guy just carries on. It amazes me that the Labour party don't stand up to him! What's the matter with them? Can't they see what's happening?

7:02 PM - 12 Comments - 10 Kudos - Add Comment