Kevin's Beauty

Dexys are back with a new album and single pencilled in for June. No 'Midnight Runners' bit this time, which I suppose underlines it's a new band/thing although the band changed every time first time around didn't it? Back in 1999 Kevin Rowland released a solo album, the infamous My Beauty. Kevin recorded twelve cover versions, re-writing the lyrics to some of them to deal with his battles with various addictions. Bruce Springsteen objected to the new lyrics and forced Kevin to pull his cover Thunder Road prior to release. It included the song here, a cover of a Hollies song. The album lives in the memory for two other reasons though- first Kevin appeared on the cover wearing a dress (a man's dress mind), make up, silky black knickers and stockings and suspenders. At the Reading festival that year he wore a white slip dress and was showered with bottles, some of which contained the traditional liquid of the Reading festival goer thrower. Second, it was widely reported to have sold only 5/50/70 copies (delete according to what you heard) in its first week on sale. Creation and Alan McGee (who released it) claimed to welcome this as evidence of its genius and the small mindedness of the record buying public, although rumours of total sales of only 500 can't have helped anyone at the time, least of all Kevin. Of course legend beats fact, as usual- it went on to sell over 20,000 worldwide.

I Can't Tell The Bottom From The Top