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One week before the release of "Don't
Stand Me Down" Kevin Rowland and Billy Adams appeared on Richard Skinner's "Saturday Live" show on Radio
One for an extended interview and preview of several of the album's songs. The resulting interview gives a unique snap-shot
of the moment in time before it all went wrong for Dexys Midnight Runners' third album. The pride felt by the band
in the product they had finally completed is audible and the optimism that it will be well-received is shared by Richard Skinner
himself. The band are gearing up for live shows to promote the album with a line-up which Rowland explains are permanent band
members on long-term contracts. This is a group which had enjoyed phenomenal success with their previous album and the
hit single "Come On Eileen" ready to launch their latest offering on the record-buying public oblivious to the apathy
which would greet it and the negative response it would receive from various sections of the music press. Eventually, of course, public opinion would shift and the critical acclaim which
the album deserved on its release would be received retrospectively, but that was all a long way off back on September 7th
1985.
The following
month Richard Skinner interviewed Kevin Rowland again, this time on BBC TV's long-running music show "Whistle Test".
Although just three weeks had elapsed, the tone of this interview was quite different from the previous encounter. With the
album now released, early sales already suggested that it was not going to be a commercial success worthy of the time and
efforts expended on it and the critical back-lash was now in full swing. Richard Skinner's questioning was
far more confrontational than before and Kevin Rowland had reverted to his evasive and defensive approach to
interviewers.
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