| Don't Stand Me Down | ||||
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 13 September 1985 | |||
| Recorded | 1984–85 | |||
| Genre | New wave, blue-eyed soul | |||
| Length | 46:28 | |||
| Label | Mercury | |||
| Producer | ||||
| Dexys Midnight Runners chronology | ||||
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| Alternative cover | ||||
 The 2002 "Director's Cut" reissue | ||||
| Singles from Don't Stand Me Down | ||||
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Don't Stand Me Down is the third studio album by English pop band Dexys Midnight Runners, released in September 1985 by Mercury Records. The title of the album was inspired by a line in the album's song "The Waltz".
The album was released three years after their second album, the internationally successful Too-Rye-Ay. At the time, Dexys' lineup had been pared down from ten members to just four: vocalist/guitarist Kevin Rowland, guitarist Billy Adams, violinist Helen O'Hara, and saxophonist Nick Gatfield, the last of whom left the band after the recording sessions were completed.[1] These four members are pictured on the original album cover in suits (and, for the men, ties), in what Rowland referred to as an "Ivy League" or "Brooks Brothers" look.
The album was a commercial failure upon release, and its rejection by both critics and the public resulted in the group's disbandment in 1987. The album was later described as a "neglected masterpiece" by Uncut,[2] and was selected as one of the 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die. In 2002, EMI and Rowland co-operated on a remastered "Director's Cut" edition of the album, which included an additional song added to the tracklist and expanded liner notes.