Yes, after the customary void, the Runners are back with an absolute gem. First came the power and soul of "Geno", then a break, then the Irish tinge of the Too Rye Aye album and "Come On Eileen", another break, and now, a hybrid of the two with Kevin Rowland's distinctive wail over the top. If this doesn't hit number one I'll eat my words. (Mark Booker, No 1, November 9, 1985)
Kevin Rowland's in this pub with this bloke called Bill who keeps saying, "Tell me what she's like" to him, right? "I'm trying, Bill, I'm trying", Kevin replies - trouble is there's this half baked Irish showband with a doddery old fiddle player blaring away in the corner so Kevin can hardly hear himself think. And anyway he's getting quite drunk and so keeps losing himself in the middle of sentences and howling along with the showband but not quite getting the words right or the tune for that matter. Bill never does find out what she's like (whoever "she" might be) and Kevin wakes up next morning with a massive hangover and the awful, dawning realisation that last night he made this simply ludicrous pop disc... (Tom Hibbert, Smash Hits, November 6, 1985)
Prefixed "An Extract From...", this is the single Kevin vowed would never be. But since the massed ranks of the lost soul rebels and intense emotion circle devotees have been conspicuous by their absence in supporting the Don't Stand Me Down LP - here it is. It's deftly edited from the full track and consists of a barrage of barbed poison arrows aimed at easy targets, while attempting to describe the love of his life. It's a curious and stodgy updating of Van Morrison's Caledonian soul vision of over a decade ago, but it has charm. It's the sort of thing you'll adore for five minutes and hate equally soon after. (Mike Gardner, Record Mirror, November 9, 1985)
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