Razzle in my pocket is my favourite Ian Dury song.

His next album is Do it Yourself which is also chock full of Great songs. Absolutely worth a full listen 😊

You must give Ian’s “hit me with your rhythm stick” a go. The bass is to die for.

The importance of Chaz Jankel (guitar, keyboards, piano) on Ian's music is very much underrated. Everytime you feel the funky undertow in these songs, there's a bit of Chaz there.

Both sides of the single are aces. If you have the time check out Razzle in My Pocket, a true sounding tale of Ian ? going into a corner shop or news agent and boosting a copy of Razzle, the UK porny mag and other stuff and what happens when he gets caught . SnDnRnR is a stone classic with a brutal groove Chaz plucking n snappin them strings. Norman and Charlie are just nailing it down.

Memories.... A special memory on a tangent is when I came to know that Ian Dury were good friends with the jazz trumpeter Don Cherry (also the steph father of Neneh Cherry who grew up with him). The "Cherrys" lived part time out in the woods very close to where I grew up in the south of Sweden. They were very generous with making/hosting cultural events (music, art, theater) and especially wanted to include children in these events. Ian Dury never came though...

Ian Dury ( rhymes with jury) was always fun. A little bit tongue in cheek. I only knew his singles and radio plays, didn't invest in his albums, but I liked what I heard. His popular singles were Hit me with your Rhythm Stick, and Reasons to be cheerful. Both great fun tracks. His accent is pure London. ( take note Dick van Dyke!) So is his humour. Wondering now whether to backtrack on your reviews of his other stuff.

Love Ian Dury - such a geezer!

May I add another recommendation that you don't miss out on What A Waste, which is absolutely feckin' *BRILLIANT*, Ian Dury's best song for me (and there's a lot of competition for that accolade). It was, as others have said, part of the sessions for this album, and was a hit in the UK. Pretty please!

Here is a suggestion I have rarely seen on KZfaq - Amon Tobin. He is one of my top three artists of all time. It is very hard to describe his music, but I note it is classified as "Electronic, IDM. nu jazz, trip hop, drum and bass, musique concrète, experimental" on Wikipedia. To that I would add bossa nova... :) Here I shouldn't have any particular song request as his vast, twenty plus year catalog of music is both macroscopic and microscopic in an endless Mandelbrot fractal, looping in and out of itself. It is forever changing yet always very much Amon Tobin! Here I would recommend Spotify over KZfaq as he is underrepresented on KZfaq. Ok, "At the end of the day" could be a nice, representative start, even if "Nova" may be more "semi-mainstream". Someone said it could be heard as Jean-Michel Jarre and Roxy music mixed with jazz-fusion inside a muted helicopter. Please!

A bit of an anthem for a generation is this one 😏

Brilliant song and album

Great song - IIRC it was his second biggest single, after "Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick". I also love how his thick north London accent comes out in his singing and fits so well with his often hilarious lyrics. A lot of singers "bland down" their accent when they sing, but with Ian it really suits the music (another great London musician whose accent comes through in his singing is Billy Bragg, who would be well worth a listen).

Thanks for reviewing this album, JP. I'd heard it a couple of times before but really enjoyed your detailed breakdown of the music, lyrics and themes.

Ian Dury meets Chaz Jankel - magic ensues...

Chaz Jankel man! His club classic "Glad to know you" will/may/should get you groovin after this...

Really enjoyed your reactions to each track on this brilliant album. Please don't stop here though, there is so much more. A lot of singles were not on albums. Reasons to be cheerful (part 3) and the B-side Ain't Half Been Some Clever Barstards are great fun. Check out a live performance, This one of What a Waste from mid 80's really shows the tightness of the band, full of ad-libs from Dury. kzfaq.info/get/bejne/oNedfJd7ybfLYIk.html

Been waiting for you to get to this one, an absolute classic!

Very good indeed!

Although only intended to be a non-album single, "Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll" was included on some vinyl copies of New Boots and Panties!! My copy of the album included this track when I acquired it in 1978 and I think it ideally opened the B-side of the album, preceding "Clevor Trever". I think it's an integral part of the album with that laid back, funky sound you get on tracks like "Wake Up and Make Love with Me", "I'm Partial to Your Abracadabra", "My Old Man ", "Clevor Trever" and "If I was with a Woman". Justin, if you want to find this kind of sound, go for the next LP from Ian Dury & the Blockheads, the fantastic Do It Yourself (recorded in 1978 and released in 1979).

Being a literature major I appreciated the Walter Mitty reference when I first heard this. Another reference not un the song comes to my mind too. J Alfred Prufrock asking "Do I dare to eat a peach?". And the answer of course is, yes!

This stupid song always makes me smile. Awesome groove. I can't even remember the first time I heard it but sometimes back in Jr High (late 70s) but it's forever etched into my brain as the ultimate ear worm.. How fun is this song?

AAh yes, My diet during the entire 80s! Wow I had a great time. It was all my brain and body needed, Apparently.

My late teenage anthem! This is the 'Cherry' on top of your slice of cake, and that guitar is fun to play along with also. Now you have to "Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick"! Peace, funk. Love strut. Harmony on the whole.

Razzle in my Pocket is perhaps Ian Dury's funniest song its so well told. (Razzle was an adult magazine)

This is one of those songs where I can remember the 1st time I heard it. I was at my 1st talking head's concert in 1978 and after the concert when we were leaving they were playing sex and drugs and rock and roll on the PA system .

When 👂 hear this great music now it’s time to hear reason to be cheerful part 456

Essex boy , the Essex accent very rare in a song

Apologies if you've already covered it (I can't find it but that's probably my "bad") but check out What A waste By Ian Dury & The Blockheads. One of his best songs.

The band is in such a groove here, that the lyrics could be from the back of a cereal packet without doing any damage. Happily they're not. 😁

A fun little ditty.

I think you got the meaning to the lyrics spot on. There is more to life than going to work every day

That walk back in the day - we called that truckin'. For example, from 10CC - "I was walking down the street / concentrating on truckin' right." - Dreadlock Holiday Also, google Keep On Truckin' image. Classic

In London around Ian Dury's time they would call that strut a 'bowl'. You'd be 'bowlin' down the road' - a determined walk

One of his greatest

Please listen to 'Do It Yourself ' next. Great album, great songs. I recommend the deluxe edition with a lot more fabulous tracks on it.

I’m glad you enjoyed this fun song.

Awsome , simply brilliant 👏 😀

Hey JP in doing the Ian Dury albums you have missed his highest ranking single of all time "Hit Me with Your Rhythm Stick" - if you have an opportunity its a great song to do

I have thoroughly enjoyed listening to this album. I am, of course, familiar with this song and all their other singles, but there were quite a few album tracks that were new to me. I would like to suggest, "Hit Me with your Rhythm Stick" for the next reaction (What a bassline from Norman!).

Love the song as I did when I didn’t even when I didn’t know what it was about (age 7). Life is too short for doing things you don’t like though 🎉😂

I used to have this on a tape mix I called "Walking Music" there is a cool coincidence. It also had "Walk On The Wild Side" Lou Reed & "Walking In The Rain" Grace Jones. & Yes "Do it Yourself" next please.

Justin before you finish with Ian Dury you have to check out the tracks Hit Me With Your Rythym Stick, What A Waste and Reasons To Be Cheerful (Part 3).

You'll be happy to know that Ian does reggae too. "You're More Than Fair" was the B-side to "Sweet Gene Vincent" on the single release. "Razzle" is a great little track as well. These were part of the extra tracks on the CD release of New Boots...

His vocals are kind of artfully artless. The matter-of-fact tone and London street-smart language almost masks the sly literary references he slips in. Clever as well as catchy.

This is the song that should have been used in THAT spider man 3 sequence.

Nice!

Do the robot strut. Love it

A classic! An Aor staple at the time.

This is a suggestion I don't usually make, you need to investigate live Ian Dury & the Blockheads. As spectacular as they were on album, they were better on stage and Ian's stage presence was unique. There's another dozen or so songs in their catalog that are top shelf, unfortunately, no complete album ever came up to the standards here.

Ah, this is apparently the only song on this album that I heard on the radio.

Justin, that was a really good review. Who cant resist a bit of Sex and Drugs and Rock n Roll sung by Ian.

What... no "Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick"? You've gotta be kidding, right?

Ian had a great band and rhythm section . Catchy ain''t it? haha You can buy tee shirts in the uk which say ""Sex and drugs and sausage rolls"! I think Ian would laugh.. possibly.

JP, you do realise you're 8 stops short of Upminster?

Amazing song from a killer album. Thanks Jp

I don't get Ian Dury, the background music is repetitive and he doesn't actually sing. If you want genuine talent, creativity, British eccentricity and humor then try Robyn Hitchcock. He worked with The Soft Boys and The Egyptians. He's been releasing albums since 1979 and still going. "His musical and lyrical styles have been influenced by Bob Dylan, John Lennon, Syd Barrett, Captain Beefheart, Martin Carthy, Lou Reed, Roger McGuinn and Bryan Ferry." Wikipedia

You mean like the John Travolta strut from the beginning of Saturday Night Fever? I'd love to see that footage with this played over it!

Very groovy. My sister here in Holland had the single…side B :Hit me with your rhythmsticks

"You're walking down a city street..." You're wearing new boots and panties! :0)

"Sex, Drugs, Rock n Roll" by Shotgun Messiah is the go to Sex, Drugs, Rock n Roll song. Just sayin'. 😛