Song:Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick
Album:Sex & Drugs & Rock 'n' Roll: The Best Of Ian Dury & The Blockheads
Though they were very popular in England, Ian Dury was more of a cult figure in North America. If you liked some of the New Wave music from England in the late 70s, you'll want to add him to your listening list. Certainly Dury was a very unlikely pop star. He was born May 12, 1942 in Upminster, Essex, England. Dury contracted polio at age 7 and attended a school for the disabled. He studied at the Royal College Of Art and became an art teacher at Canterbury Art College in 1967. Dury formed the group Kilburn And The High Roads in 1970 and though they released a couple of albums, they split up in 1975. Dury and partner Chaz Jankel decided to start a new band in 1976 and brought sax player Davey Payne with them. Drummer Charley Charles, bassist Norman Watt-Roy, keyboard player Mick Gallagher and guitarist John Turnbull were all from a band called Loving Awareness. They recorded an album but record companies weren't biting. Dury's manager's office was next door to the new label Stiff Records. They signed Dury and Sex & Drugs & Rock 'n' Roll became a rock anthem. Like their other songs, Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick was a number one hit in England but the group was never more than a cult item in the US. Maybe Dury's sense of humour doesn't translate well. But their music and Dury's stage presence is excellent and this Rhino comp has all their hits. Jankel moved to the US to persue a solo career in 1980 and then Dury ended The Blockheads in 1982 and signed a solo contract with Polydor. Neither of them were successful. They would reunite occasionally. Ian Dury was diagnosed with cancer March 1996 and reformed The Blockheads. He died Mar. 27, 2000 at age 57 and The Blockheads continue to tour as a tribute to him. A biopic called Sex & Drugs & Rock 'n' Roll starring Andy Serkis (Lord Of The Rings) as Ian Dury is scheduled for release in 2009. And an Ian Dury biography will be published next year. Here's Ian Dury & The Blockheads performing Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick on Top Of The Pops 1978.
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