They Can't Take My Personal Dignity

Legend has it, that Alan McGhee let Kevin Rowland record My Beauty because after 10 years in the addled wilderness, no-one else would touch him with a bargepole, and McGhee felt a bit sorry for his fallen idol.

Legend has it that My Beauty sold a minimal amount, about 500 copies if my ever unreliable memory serves me right (this could be a fact, I just don't know how to check it).

It is fact that Kevin Rowland was bottled off stage at Reading, because he was wearing a skimpy dress, was heavily made up, and was singing Whitney Houston songs.

Fact or legend, these are just three reasons why My Beauty is an album that makes me wince. Born from Rowland's struggles with all kinds of substances and monumental set-backs before, during and after Dexys, it's a selection of covers that were chosen to represent where he'd got to in his life – which means You’ll Never Walk Alone and The Long And Winding Road, sandwiched alongside a flamenco-ed up Concrete And Clay, apparently. Lyrics were changed where deemed necessary, to make the songs more personal. In theory, it sounds like an ego fuelled car crash of pile up proportions.

But in practice, it's an exercise in naked soul bearing that's almost too much to take. Almost, but not quite, because initially, there's nothing more entertaining than watching someone open the curtains, letting us peer in. For truly, we are dirty swines. But it stands up beyond voyeuristic amusement and artistic exorcism, as the remarkable, unmistakable voice is still there, dripping in pathos, and ultimately we get a happy ending, because Dexys reformed four years after it was released.

My Beauty was deleted long long ago, but I daresay it’s out there somewhere if you look hard enough. Even if you can’t find it, rest easy in knowing it served its rehabilitative purpose, and have a listen to these beauties.

Kevin Rowland – The Greatest Love Of All

Kevin Rowland – You'll Never Walk Alone