The difference between then and now...the interviewer let him speak and make his point!

I was crippled as a teenager and ended up very angry in a wheelchair in 1975. This was the first song I heard that I really identified with. A great fuck you to all the walkie talkies... Still love it today

What a gentle, lovely man. He is missed.

I saw him sing this live in London in the early eighties and there was a bunch of guys in wheelchairs at the front screaming the chorus at the top of their lungs. Sometimes you've got to forget your knee-jerk reaction and understand when a message is coming from the heart.

Ian Dury, will never fade for me, a true true person unto himself, with all the good bits, and all the bad bits thrown in, unadulterated talent in its rawest form , fantasticus musicus

I've got Asperger's, so I'm legit Spasticus Autisticus, and I ain't even remotely offended by the song. I bloody love it!

The guy was ahead of his time. He challenged the unwritten rule that disabled should be seen and not heard. For goodness sake they should never actively protest and make the “normal” uncomfortable. Love ya man

I am 55 with lifelong epilepsy and when I heard this for the first time last month, I felt fucking great! Added to my playlist. Nobody gets to tell me what songs I can and can't listen to. Discovering the back story makes the listen even more incredible.

Ian you were a true legend. If only we had more like you.

Ian is a very natural honest speaker. This is an excellent interview!

From one Polio Spaz to another RESPECT IAN!!!! You make me smile from ear to ear.

Love the bus driver's prayer at the end, brilliant! Never a dull moment with the great Ian Dury. Bloody shame he died so young.

Ian said this about the song: “I’d written this in the Year Of The Disabled”. I as going to start a band called Spastic & The Autistics, because the word ‘spastic’ is a swear word. There was that girl group Bananarama who used to talk about “Spazz Dancing”. Their ignorance is their own affair. I wanted to do something for the Year Of The Disabled so I wrote ‘Spasticus Autisticus’ knowing it would be unacceptable to the BBC. They banned it as they did ‘Wake Up And Make Love To Me’ and ‘ Sex And Drugs And Rock And Roll’. They actually don’t BAN it. They just don’t play it. Apparently you could only play it after dark, with written permission. I did about 140 interviews related to the song that year. It was a war cry for my brothers and sisters who are disabled. Only a spastic could understand that. It’s not describing a condition. It’s just being spirited”

Be the best of yourself, this song is such a noble gesture. Ian really did give everything of himself. Pity we don't have anything so 'imperfect' today.

I'm autistic and I love it! And the song LOL

What a spot on, great guy.

Genius..and i quite enjoyed the comprehensively unhysterical flannelled balanced presenter.

I'm not autistic but i've adored Ian Dury since I was 12 yrs old & now 54.I was always attracted to him.What a wonderful smart Master of Cockney rhyming slang.What a handsome young man he was & his songs were smart,funny.Sometimes thought provoking ;) but altogether an absolute genius.Love & miss you XXX

A sad loss when Ian Dury died.

Good that it was performed at the Olympic ceremony hosted by the UK, if only Ian lived to have seen that.

what a treat to hear Ian say "the bus drivers prayer"

The truth of the matter is: Ian Dury was ahead of the curve, it wouldn't be a problem in 2020. Rip bud.

such a great great song....Always loved it...Ian is the best

If anyone had a right to sing about disabilities, it was Ian Dury.

Music is Art, and Art should never be censured, if a man who has lived through an age where disabled people were openly abused, has the bravery to challenge preconceptions, then the problem lies with the one's who are offended, not with the message.

Reasons to be cheerful, miss you ian r.I.p .

I was diagnosed as autistic as a small kid . I think there should be more awairenes.

A lot of Anger in this song...you don't have to suffer to appreciate it!!! Anything can hold any body back..and I can see this song is a way of clearing the Air....with positive Anger...and why not???

Cool. Well ahead of his time. Well done ID!

A true hero. I have my copy of the single. The poem on the sleeve sums up disability perfectly.

Wow! What an intelligent, compassionate and talented man!

still miss this geezer , a true talent !!

Very sympathetic host, I enjoyed that.

Pure genius. Reasons to be cheerful part three.

When he mentioned his dad I immediately thought of My Old Man, one of my favourite Ian Dury songs

Bob Greaves was one of the greatest TV presenters ever, and thank heavens he was allowed to interview the genius Ian.

Ian Dury man, what an absolute legend.

What a great bloke, how can you be offended by the song, Noticed it was even at Para Olympics in 2012!

I am a father of two boys, and my younger son has autism. As Ian said, it was very frightening when my wife and I discovered it but we learned to live with it. I believe that, among other things, it made me a better person. To all Spasticus Autisticus out there, I love you all and wish you all the happiness in the world. ❤

How many people have said they love it I’m disabled mentally and physically it’s a prefect song I can’t even think of a song that stands up for us

I'm a total spasmo and I love this song!

The best poet who ever lived.It's as simple as that.

I think its always the non-disabled people that complain about stuff like this, as they tend to think that people with disabilities dont ever laugh about themselves or think in this way. Which is nonsense.

love love love love love you till my dying day, Ian xxxx

God Bless Ya Ian !

The bus drivers prayer was brilliant!

The man was thirty years ahead of his time. Today his song would be celebrated as "liberating".

Way ahead of his times, I get it!! Rest in Peace Ian.

He was the best, very clever, the very best. God rest his soul.

Saw Ian and the Blockheads at Town & Country Club in London in the 80s. Definitely best live music gig I went to - great crowd and atmosphere. When they performed this song, everyone sang along and it was clear : this was a protest against being patronised, insulted or ignored. Consider the 80s - "spastic" was commonly used as an insult and autism wasn't known about in "normal land". Ian repeats the title many times for a reason. Heard, seen, included.

A great song!! Gave me a lot of joy as a kid

I love this song!

And in full circle it was sung by disabled people at the Paralympic Games opening ceremony in 2012. A fitting tribute to his brilliance.

Clever man Ian Dury, fans should check out his son Baxters music.. it's very good.

I always thought the line “You can read my body but you'll never read my books” in itself explained more or less everything being that the average normal Norman will never be anywhere near as smart as the average Spasticus. I'd reckon most of those that took real offence to this either did so on the back of the title alone or must have been the average normal Normal to whom Spasticus speaks.

You were brilliant Ian Dury! 😎🌹🎶🎶🎶🎶🎶

Thansk for sharing this; great memory.

that busdrivers' prayer is great!

The irony (or maybe not) is this song united disabled people across the world. Whenever they got together they would belt it out and sing at 140Db

Wish I had been able to see him live. Love all his tunes.

This was a hit song on WMSE in Milwaukee when we first rec'd the album, but then we were told to take it off the air and pull it from our library.

Love you matey May you be sailing on the great ship in the sky

How the offence of then was then embraced for the Paralympic Games in London.

A master with lyrics and rhythm and diamond geezer

ian was a great artist

legendary ... what a talent

Love Ian Dury, a definite one off.

Good song.

Ahh! You gotta love him!

One of the most loveable people ever.

I’m autistic and I love this song.

LMAO at the prayer he did have a sense of humour

I’m a “Blockhead ‘ for life ! I’m 61 and login’ it . Still miss ya mate .........

I think he was an amazing man very intelligent probably too intelligent for the average complainer

Google ; ian dury is my childhood legend.

Man was a legend

smart man

a legend

Legend sadly missed xxx

Imagine in today's PC world if someone wrote a song like this!

Uno de mis cantantes favoritos es Ian Dury y también Niina Hagen.

RIP man!

"Today I shall mostly be wearing grey"

Oh man, did he ever wield a mighty pen.

This song rocks!

Crouch End! Oh gosh darling. You were awesome.

very underrated was Ian and the blockheads. should of been bigger

Great Great Ian

ian was our king :')

Top bloke

He was a cool geezer.

Good work H. As always .... Thx.

legend

Beautiful 👍

I miss this man

Most outrageous and crazy song ever written😫 😜

I first heard this on an alternative radio station in Pittsburgh, PA when I was driving in the rain in the winter... I thought it twisted and brilliant. Thanks for posting the interview...he talks about this tune and its conception and fallout in quite a few interviews. Wish he was still with us....

Just watched the biographical film, "Sex, Drugs and Rock N Roll" and was intrigued enough to search out real footage of him. A rhyming genius and great entertainer.

Miss you.....

Years ahead of his time