Sex and Drugs and Rock and Roll

Yes I know, the title is a bit of a give-away for this Bandfriday post.  Who else but the one and only Mr Ian Dury, who graced The Liberties with his presence sometime back in the late 1970s - either '78 or '79.

Ian Dury and his band The Blockheads were a class act and while Norman Watt-Roy on bass was a colourful figure there really was only one person who we all came to see - the man in the pearly jacket.

Not only a great lyricist, Ian Dury was a fine stage actor too and he knew how to hold the audience in the palm of his hand.  In between the singing he had a whole repertoire of banter, expressions, gestures and props...old-style music hall blended with rock and roll, reggae, jazz and funk.  How could that not be good?!

Handcuffs, Mr Dury?

Now I realise Mr Dury would not be everyone's cup of tea - for one thing, his lyrics bordered on the risqué (and beyond) but he was a one-off, an original and when he got it right, it was good - lyrically and musically (like in Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick).  

One of the best things about Ian Dury's performance was that both him and the band looked like they were having fun - a lot of fun.  

It was well-known that Mr Dury had no time for the establishment's view of disabled people, in spite of the physical difficulties he had since contracting polio at the age of 7.  He wasn't afraid to write about it (and sing about) too - as in Spasticus Artisticus.  

A bit of sax is good

Wikipedia (Ed: seriously? Do we have to?) gets it spot on: "Dury's lyrics are a combination of lyrical poetry, word play, observation of British everyday life, character sketches and sexual humour".

I really do think the world is a slightly less creative place since Mr Dury's death.  I leave you with a harmless little ditty, from Bellericay Dickie :

(spoken)

good evening i'm from essex

in case you couldn't tell

my given name is Dickie, I come from Bellericay

and I'm doing very well