The Too Rye Ay-era Gipsy look and fiddle sound may have given the impression of Irish heritage, but Dexy's are from Birmingham, ENGLAND.
Kevin Rowland is English-born, but his parents are Irish, and he has always considered himself Irish. The band's first single, "Dance Stance" (later retitled "Burn It Down") was an attack on anti-Irish racism as manifested in the "paddy jokes" once favoured by English stand-ups, and the chorus was a list of Irish literary figures, meant as ironic examples of so-called "thick paddies";
"Never heard about Oscar Wilde
Don't know about Brendan Behan
Don't think about Sean O'Casey
Don't care about George Bernard Shaw
Never heard about Samuel Beckett
Won't talk about Eugene O'Neill
Don't know about Edna O'Brien
Won't think about Laurence Sterne"
The cover photo of their first album, "Searching For The Young Soul Rebels", shows a picture taken from an Evening Standard article about Catholic families being burnt out of their homes in the Ardoyne area of Belfast.
Dexy's music has always dealt with Irishness. The concept for their sound draws as much from Van Morrison's "It's Too Late To Stop Now" live album as it does from 60s soul. I know they're perceived as one-hit wonders in the US but, in truth, they're anything but. Personally (and irony notwithstanding) I consider them to be amongst the best bands ever to have come out of the UK. Seriously. Top 10 GOAT material.
