Vinyl Record

Dexys Midnight Runners - Searching for the Young Soul Rebels

Buy Dexys Midnight Runners' Searching for the Young Soul Rebels on 140g recycled black vinyl LP, featuring Geno and There, There, My Dear.

LP · 1980 · Parlophone

Available from Kilmorna Collection in Listowel.

Buyer notes: 1980 LP on Parlophone, currently available from the Kilmorna Collection vinyl shelf. Pay for pickup in Listowel, ship within Ireland from EUR 5.95 per record or outside Ireland from EUR 12.00 per record.

Searching for the Young Soul Rebels arrived in 1980 with a sound and attitude that seemed fully formed. Dexys Midnight Runners drew on Northern soul, rhythm and blues, punk discipline and the drama of brass-band arrangements, but the album never feels like a museum exercise. Kevin Rowland's voice is searching, confrontational and vulnerable, pushing against the horn lines and clipped rhythm section as if every song were an argument that had to be won. Burn It Down sets out the group's refusal of easy cultural labels; Tell Me When My Light Turns Green and There, There, My Dear turn urgency into tightly controlled ensemble playing; and Geno transforms admiration for Geno Washington into a propulsive statement of identity. Instrumental passages and slower moments keep the record from becoming one continuous charge, revealing careful sequencing beneath its rough-edged exterior. The album's monochrome visual world and street-level intensity remain inseparable from the music. On 140g recycled black vinyl, it is an essential debut that connects British post-punk restlessness with a passionate, highly personal understanding of soul.

The record established Dexys as a band with its own rules: rigorous presentation, emotional directness and a horn-led sound that stood apart from prevailing guitar music. Its relationship with soul is active rather than nostalgic, using older forms to express contemporary frustration and ambition. The number-one single Geno sits inside an album whose depth and consistency extend well beyond its best-known track.

This pressing presents the original eleven-track album on 140g recycled black vinyl. It contains Geno, There, There, My Dear and the full debut-album sequence, making it the foundational Dexys record for a collection. Because recycled compound is used, small variations in the appearance of the vinyl are a normal feature of the edition.

Punchy brass, taut bass and drums, organ colour and Kevin Rowland's intensely expressive vocal create a restless blend of soul drive and post-punk economy.

Recommended for: Listeners exploring the meeting point between Northern soul and British post-punk; Collectors seeking landmark UK debut albums from the turn of the 1980s; Fans of horn-led arrangements and emotionally exposed lead vocals; Anyone who knows Geno and wants the deeper, more varied album around it.

Does the album include the original version of Geno? Yes. Geno appears as the fifth track in the original eleven-song album sequence presented on this vinyl edition. How would you describe the record's musical style? It combines Northern soul and rhythm-and-blues influences with the urgency, economy and independence associated with British post-punk. What is the specification of this vinyl edition? The complete album is pressed on 140g recycled black vinyl; minor cosmetic variation is a normal result of using recycled material.