LEGENDARY band Dexy’s Midnight Runners are playing a Birmingham homecoming gig and former Rowley Regis Grammar School pupil Pete Williams will be joining them.

The name has been streamlined to Dexys but the band, which has had various line ups over the years, now includes mad music genius Kevin Rowland along with Mick Talbot, Pete Williams, Jim Paterson, Lucy Morgan and Neil Hubba.

The original band were one of the most successful of the 1980s fusing soul and folk like never before but also legendary for their falling outs and creative differences.

However, since reforming the band have been in stunning form releasing the acclaimed album One Day I’m Going To Soar, the follow up to their classic Don’t Stand Me Down.

The songs chart Rowland's childhood memories through to his failed attempts at love and a displaced sense of national identity whilst musically they are tinged with a classic soul sound and, more specifically, the Memphis style of Al Green.

Their live performances in London have got the cool set buzzing but the homecoming gig on September 12 at the Symphony Hall, a venue which was built between them splitting and reforming, is set to be one of the concerts of the year.

The band will be performing the album in its entirety and then digging out some of their classic back catalogue which includes the song that launched a thousand Brummie marriages - Come On Eileen.

Other hits included Geno, Because of You and Jackie Wilson Said Jackie Wilson Said (I'm In Heaven When You Smile) The songs which chart Rowland's childhood memories through to his failed attempts at love and a displaced sense of national identity are, as previously promised in interviews, "lyrically autobiographical" while, musically, the songs see Rowland continue his love affair with classic Soul music and, more specifically, the Memphis sound of Al Green. "One Day I'm Going To Soar" has already been hailed by many as one of the albums of the year and a fitting addition to Dexys' legacy of work.