Bless Me Father: A Life Story | Kevin Rowland

SIGNED BY KEVIN!

Oh Kevin, where would I be without you? Donkey jacket, duffel bag, beanie worn on the back on the head - for a while this was my uniform and 'Searching for the Young Soul Rebels' my soundtrack. Those stabs of brass, Rowland's hiccuping vocals, that Mean Streets look - it was totally captivating. And no, I didn't adopt the dungarees, neckerchiefs and waistcoats of the Too-Rye-Ay period, nor the preppy Ivy League look of Don't Stand me Down, but the music followed me, stayed with me and stuck inside. Let's face it, Rowland could sing a bus timetable to me and i'd probably cry.

This is Kevin Rowland's story, in his own words, unvarnished and true to his core.
From the juvenile courts of his troubled teenage years to coming of age in the early days of the New Romantic scene in the late seventies, he looks back on those times that shaped him. An unwavering passion for music, a keen sense of fashion and style and an unstoppable drive was to propel him down a path that led to huge chart successes with Dexys Midnight Runners in the early eighties. However, despite being celebrated as a creative genius, inner turmoil was never far away. and a series of self-sabotaging events followed, including a serious cocaine addiction, leaving him bankrupt and adrift in the nineties.

Always resilient in the face of adversity, Kevin found his way back. Through intense stints in rehab, embracing self-reflection and exploring gender fluidity with his pioneering project My Beauty, he charts his return to health, sobriety and stability. culminating in Dexys' triumphant appearance at Glastonbury in 2024.

Vividly detailed, with a rare degree of self-insight, Bless Me Father is a deeply personal account that takes you inside the at times complicated and always compelling world of one of the great mavericks of British music.

Size: 241 x 164mm (hardcover with dust jacket)

Pages: 400 (16 pages of photographs)

Publisher: Ebury