Andy Leek continues to strive for recognition of his music beyond his six months with the classic first Dexys Midnight Runners line-up. Prior to that, the teenager had played with experimental punk band The Wailing Cocks, while Beggars Banquet snapped him up for a one-off single in 1980, Move On (In Your Maserati). Midnight Music followed, shorn from a week’s studio time but rejected by Beggars back in 1982. One song, Twist In The Dark, was immortalised by Abba’s Frida for her solo album Shine in 1984, via a recommendation from mutual friend Kirsty MacColl. Alas, the rest gathered dust.
Leek retained some of Dexys’ soulful intensity, but he was only 16 when he left the band and seemed to favour contemporary music such as Tears For Fears. It’s a bright, likeable collection and, while the title track might dig at Dexys’ frontman Kevin Rowland, Leek’s true skill lay in plaintive ballads such as Woolfson Hall, a tribute to the abode he shared with his girlfriend in Glasgow.
All in all, Midnight Music endorses the view that Leek has been something of a lost talent, who would later work with George Martin and enjoy a No 1 hit in The Lebanon. But that’s another story… This is available from www.andyleek.com.
