Flashback: "The Celtic Soul Brothers"

Dexy’s Midnight Runners were one-hit wonders in the truest sense of the word.  They hit #1 in the spring of 1983 with “Come On, Eileen” and never hit the U.S. Top 40 again.  However, what you might not know is that their one and only hit song was almost not their only hit single.

The opening track from their “Too Rye Aye” album, “The Celtic Soul Brothers” is somewhat of an autobiographical song according to singer & co-writer Kevin Rowland.  It made it to #86 in the summer of 1983 before inexplicably stalling out.  It also appeared on the soundtrack to “Breathless”, which was released that same year and starred Richard Gere.  Unfortunately, the movie was not a huge box office success and, therefore, did little to help the song’s chart run.

Despite its lack of chart success, the song did have one other claim to fame.  It was supposedly the inspiration for Roddy Doyle’s 1987 novel “The Commitments”, which was later made into the movie of the same title.

It’s also a damn catchy little ditty.