My Beauty

My Beauty
Studio album by Kevin Rowland
Released	September 21, 1999
Genre	Rock
Label	Creation
Kevin Rowland chronology
The Wanderer (1988) My Beauty (1999)

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[1]
NME	[2]

My Beauty is a solo album by Kevin Rowland, lead singer of Dexys Midnight Runners. It was released in 1999, 11 years after his solo debut The Wanderer. In the interim he had experienced problems with drug addiction. My Beauty is an album of cover songs, although Rowland rewrote several of the lyrics to reflect his battles against substance abuse. The album is notorious for its cover, which shows Rowland in drag and heavy make up, an image which Rowland also used during contemporary appearances at the Glastonbury and Reading festivals. During his appearance at Reading he was pelted with bottles thrown by the audience.^[3]

The album was supposed to have 12 tracks, but the song "Thunder Road" (written by Bruce Springsteen) was pulled from the album at the last minute due to Springsteen not approving to the lyrical re-writes done by Kevin Rowland. The promo CD distributed (to radio/press) prior to the official album did have all twelve tracks.

The album was released on Creation Records, on the initiative of label boss Alan McGee, who was a fan of Rowland's work. Upon release the album received mixed reviews, it has been reported that the album was one of Creation's lowest selling albums shifting only 500 copies. But in fact the album actually sold over 20,000 worldwide.^[4]

Track listing

1. "Greatest Love of All" (Linda Creed, Michael Masser)
2. "Rag Doll" (Bob Crewe, Bob Gaudio)
3. "Concrete and Clay" (Tommy Moeller, Gregg Parker)
4. "Daydream Believer" (John Stewart)
5. "This Guy's in Love with You" (Burt Bacharach, Hal David)
6. "The Long and Winding Road" (Lennon/McCartney)
7. "It's Getting Better" (Barry Mann, Cynthia Weil)
8. "I Can't Tell the Bottom from the Top" (Guy Fletcher, Doug Flett)
9. "Labelled With Love (I'll Stay With My Dreams)" (Chris Difford, Glenn Tilbrook)
10. "Reflections of My Life" (Junior Campbell, Thomas McAleese)
11. "You'll Never Walk Alone" (Oscar Hammerstein, Richard Rodgers)

References

1. ^ Allmusic review
2. ^ NME review
3. ^ [1] "Somebody give me a bottle!", Independent on Sunday, 03 September 2006.
4. ^ http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2010/sep/21/alan-mcgee-creation-records