Dexys Midnight Runners’ lead singer Kevin Rowland 1999 covers album My Beauty is being reissued on CD and Vinyl to mark its 21st anniversary.
At the time of its original release, the record was met with an unfavourable response from critics but has come to enjoy cult status in the following years.
My Beauty features 12 interpretations of songs chosen by Kevin and adapted to make the lyrics more directly reflective of his life; resulting in an autobiographical concept record about his battle and recovery from addiction, and his own struggle with self-esteem.
The release was accompanied by eye-catching visuals from the star, who chose to wore men’s dresses for the promotion – a radical look for the era – which was undoubtedly partly responsible for the frosty reception.
Only ever released on CD, the album has been remastered with its full intended tracklist on CD and colour vinyl, with sleeve notes by Q Magazine Editor Ted Kessler.
Two new videos have also been filmed – the first, Rag Doll, is mimed by a young man in make-up, dressed in a gender-fluid way, who, by the end of the video, is revealed to be Kevin’s grandson Roo
The visual marks the end of a painful chapter for Kevin, and finally marks the acceptance of his androgynous style in society.
The tracklist is as follows:
- Greatest Love Of All (George Benson)
- Rag Doll (The Four Seasons)
- Concrete And Clay (Unit 4+2)
- Daydream Believer (The Monkees)
- This Guy’s In Love With You (Herb Alpert)
- The Long And Winding Road (The Beatles)
- It’s Getting Better (Mama Cass)
- I Can’t Tell The Bottom From The Top (The Hollies)
- Labelled With Love (I’ll Stay With My Drams)
- Reflections Of My Life (Marmalade)
- You’ll Never Walk Alone
- Thunder Road (Bruce Springsteen)
The album is due for release on September 25th. Pre-order here.
