The year was 1980, the dawn of a new decade. Punk was on its last legs and had long ceased to be fun. England has elected M. Thatcher, what could be more natural than to blow to the counter-offensive. And the Dexys Midnight Runners did so in the truest sense of the word. With white soul and a whole lot of fun in their music, a style all their own was born. Wearing tweed coats and woolly hats, the fun and joy of life, with the outrageous energy of punk came back to the music scene. With "Searching For The Young Soul Rebels" they delivered one of the best and most innovative albums of the year. The Northern Soul was already the clear style specification for the early singles and on the first album original compositions replaced more and more the earlier cover versions