Your classic song with a Celtic fiddle part and a lot of tempo changes of the day is “Come On Eileen” by Dexys Midnight Runners. It was released in the UK in June of 1982 and in early 1983 in the U.S., climbing to #1 on the UK Singles Chart, the Billboard Hot 100, and the Cashbox Top 100. It also hit #1 in Ireland, Australia, Belgium, New Zealand, South Africa, and Switzerland. Not bad for a song that didn’t sound like anything else in the synth-heavy early ’80s.
There was nothing on the radio (or MTV) before or since that sounded anything remotely like “Come On Eileen.” The song had plenty of fiddle, acoustic guitar, banjo, and piano but no electric guitars or synthesizers. Unlike the cold and calculated synth pop of the time it had heart and it had soul. It also had three different key signatures (F Major in the introduction, C Major in the verses, and D Major in the choruses and bridge) and multiple tempo changes, including a long accelerando bit in the middle. To my ears it sounded a bit Irish, probably because it was. It was an unusual song for an unusual time and it caught the fancy of music lovers the world over.
“Come On Eileen” was written by the band’s lead singer Keven Rowland, trombone player Jim Paterson, and guitarist Al Archer. It was actually the fifth single from their Too-Rye-Ay album in the U.K.; the first was “Plan B” (reached #58 in the U.K.), the second was “Show Me” (#16 in the U.K.), the third was “Liars A to E” (failed to chart), and the fourth was “The Celtic Soul Brothers” (#45 in the U.K.). None of those songs were released as singles in the U.S. They’d previously had a #1 hit in the U.K. with 1980’s “Geno;” that one, too, was not released in the States.
Dexys Midnight Runners hailed from Birmingham, England’s second-largest city. They started out as an R&B group influenced by the region’s Northern Soul scene but eventually infused their music with folk and Celtic sensibilities. They also developed a penchant for dressing like “a raggle-taggle mixture of gypsy, rural Irish, and Steinbeck Okie,” as one critic put it. It was certainly distinctive and prominently on display in their lively video for “Come On Eileen.” That video, directed by Julien Temple, was all over MTV at the time. It was one of the most popular videos of the classic MTV era and one of the more memorable songs of that or any decade.
The band failed to chart any more hits after “Come On Eileen.” Dexys went through a number of major lineup changes, eventually breaking up in early 1987. Kevin Rowland tried for a solo career, to little success, and reformed Dexys in 2003. They’re currently working on their sixth studio album, which they hope to release sometime this year.
