Review: 'Dexys: Nowhere Is Home'

If the name Dexy's Midnight Runners rings a bell at all in the United States, it's because of their 1982 worldwide hit "Come On Eileen." While that Celtic rock tune hit #1 in the U.S., the band was a one-hit wonder here. But they did have a few other hits in the U.K. and in the first part of the 1980s the band had a reputation as a band that was filled with talent and just as much pointless drama.

The band was formed in 1978 by Kevin Rowland and Kevin Archer out of the wreckage of a band named the Killjoys. Rowland was the creative force of Dexys and his drug problems and anger drove the band through three albums with three quite different looks and lineups. By 1985, Rowland was launching an unsuccessful solo career and battling a serious drug addiction. The band reformed briefly in 2003 for a tour and to release a greatest hits album. But it's fair to say that in most people's minds, Dexys Midnight Runners was nothing more than the answer to a musical trivia question.

So the decision in 2011 to permanently reform the band and record a new album with the shortened moniker of Dexys seemed like a bit of a creative joke. But in 2012 the album "One Day I'm Going To Soar" was released and it made it to #14 on the U.K. album charts. The reviews for the quirky jazz/pop fusion album were positive and the band played nine shows in London's West End at the Duke of York's Theatre.

Those shows provide the basis for the documentary "Dexys: Nowhere Is Home," which premieres on BBC4 on Saturday, March 21st. The 90-minute film is primarily focused on the performances, interspersed with interviews with Rowland and original band members Jim Paterson and Pete Williams.

I'm not sure the film will matter to anyone who isn't at least somewhat familiar with the band, although the performances are certainly ambitious and quirky. And that ambition combined with reflections on where Dexy's Midnight Runners went wrong paints a surprisingly charming and compelling look at the remains of a band that most people only think about when they listen to an oldies radio station.