Ian Dury could be a right bastard apparently – but it’s hardly surprising. He caught polio at seven and was forced to wear a leg brace as his leg was paralyzed and his left arm withered away. He was sent off to a school for the disabled where he experienced torturous abuse and then to a grammar school where he had to endure more of the same – sexual, mental and physical abuse. I think that would turn me into a right bastard too.
I first bought this album about 20 years ago. It’s a complete meld of funk, punk, pub rock, music hall, jazz and rock n roll. Recorded with a band who would go onto become The Blockheads – Chaz Jankel, Norman Watt-Roy and Charley Charles – who created something wonderful behind the words.
Dury’s lyrics are ridiculously clever, poignant and at times filthy – try reading them when you listen to a track. My Old Man for instance just drifts in and drifts out but it’s a beautiful little tribute to his dad. Plaistow Patricia is just squalor and addiction and it’s fucking magic
He was a true original and this was his crowning moment – and his son, Baxter, gets to share the cover in his flares.
Ian Dury – New Boots And Panties. Press play.