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Rating:
I begin by saying that this is not exactly a review of this album. It might not even be exactly a review of all of Ian Dury's music. This is a review of Ian Dury.
Ian Dury, character, icon, monster, musician, misfit.
Our man didn't have an easy life. At the age of 8, polio rendered him forever crippled. Crippled. One leg shorter than the other. He tried to hide the infirmity, but at the same time, his lyrics (among the most brilliant ever written in English) continually reference a universe of lesser, excluded, outcast people (see "Common As Muck," "There Ain't Half Been Some Clever Bastards," et al.). Finally, after much obscure struggle, achieving success and a respectable music career, he also had to die of liver cancer at 58. No. He wasn't very lucky.
Ian was a great Englishman. That type of original, ingenious, and unconventional character that grows particularly lush in those rain-soaked lands.
He exploded in the punk era but wasn't punk. He had the energy, the drive, the iconoclasm. Yes. We remember the photos where he had the Union Jack painted on his teeth. He was an outsider, a rebel. But he wasn't punk. Imagine that Dury's musical references are mostly traceable to the '50s: raw rock'n'roll, traditional and music hall tunes. Yet it's not that simple. His songs are strange beasts, containing a bit of everything, even '70s disco, but all in a dirty, unrefined form. Raw. Very raw. A mix that allows him to transcend every genre.
For example: the opening track of New Boots And Panties, "Wake Up And Make Love With Me," a fun and absolute anthem to sex, is built on a clear funky/disco rhythm. Yet it doesn't seem "just" a disco track. It actually sounds like a classic Ian Dury... "Sweet Gene Vincent" is a tribute to '50s rock'n'roll and, not surprisingly, is divided into two parts, reflecting the two most common genres of that era: the ballad and the frenzied rockabilly.
The album still offers us the irresistible nursery rhymes of "I'm Partial To Your Abracadabra," "Billericay Dickie" (hilarious), and especially "Clever Trever," then the moving and comical "My Old Man" (a tribute to his father in which Dury really tells of his father's work as a London bus driver, double-decker first, and as a chauffeur for the wealthy later) and the "sui generis" punk of "Plaistow Patricia."
As we were saying, the remarkable lyrical abilities of our man. Naturally, the linguistic universe to which he belongs, filled as it is with slang references to the English and particularly cockney world, is not easily accessible. However, many suggestions can be grasped just from the titles, and moreover, the music and especially Dury's interpretation allow for enjoyment and appreciation by everyone.
Apart from the tracks contained in New Boots And Panties, the discography is filled with notable gems such as "Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick," "What A Waste," the well-known "Sex And Drugs And Rock'n' Roll," "Reasons To Be Cheerful," and the aforementioned "Common As Muck" and "There Ain't Half Been Some Clever Bastards."
5 stars. To Ian Dury.
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
03 I'm Partial to Your Abracadabra (03:13)
I'm partial to your abracadabra
I'm raptured by the joy of it all
So stop me where you start
The cockles of his heart
The panties sends it right up the wall
Please, please, stop it, it likes it
Tickles it to death either way
These lovely boots exist
To drive it round the twist
The call of nature must be obeyed
Glad it's over, but this is worse
Could hardly say it had been coerced
Stop it cos it likes it, it's worse
I'm partial to your abracadabra
The unforeseen erogenous zones
Stop, it insists
Slap it with your wrists
It likes it when you leave it alone
There's been a manifestation
Nature made it answer the call
It simply can't resist
Boots and pants like this
Abracadabra for all
Glad that's over, but this is worse
Roll it over, too perverse
Stop it cos it likes it, it's worse
I'm partial to your abracadabra
I'm partial to your abracadabra
I'm partial to your abracadabra
I'm partial to your abracadabra
I'm partial to your abracadabra
I'm partial to your abracadabra
I'm partial to your abracadabra
I'm partial to your abracadabra
04 My Old Man (03:40)
my old man wore three piece whistles
he was never home for long
drove a bus for London Transport
he knew where he belonged
number 18 down to Euston
double decker move along
double decker move along
my old man
later on he drove a Roller
chauffeuring for foreign men
dropped his aitches on occation
said Cor Blimey! now and then
did the crossword in the Standard
at the airport in the rain
at the airport in the rain
my old man
wouldn't never let his guvnors
call him Billy, he was proud
personal reasons make a difference
his last boss was allowed
perhaps he had to keep his distance
made a racket when he rowed
made a racker when he rowed
my old man
my old man
my old man was fairly handsome
he smoked to many cigs
lived in one room in Victoria
he was tidy in his digs
had to have an operation
when his ulcer got to big
when his ulcer got to big
my old man
seven years went out the window
we met as one to one
died before we'd done much talking
but relations had begun
all the while we though about each other
all the best mate from your son
all the best mate from your son
my old man
my old man
07 If I Was With a Woman (03:23)
If I was with a woman she'd wonder what was happening
Little things would slowly go askew
If I was with a woman I'd make her quite unhappy
Specially when she did not want me to
If I was with a woman I'd make believe I loved her
When all the time I would not like her much
If I was with a woman she'd soon become unsettled
I'd show her but I would not let her touch
Look at them laughing
Look at them laughing
Look at them laughing
Laughing, laughing
If I was with a woman I'd never ask her questions
But if she did not want me to I would
If I was with a woman I'd offer my indifference
And make quite sure she never understood
If I was with a woman I'd threaten to unload her
Every time she asked me to explain
If I was with a woman she'd have to learn to cherish
The purity and depth of my disdain
Look at them laughing
Look at them laughing
Look at them laughing
Laughing, laughing
I've been with a woman, she took away my spirit
No woman's coming close to me again
I've been with a woman, she took away my spirit
No woman's coming close to me again
Look at them laughing
Look at them laughing
Look at them laughing
Laughing, laughing, laughing, laughing, laughing
Laughing, laughing, laughing, laughing, laughing...
08 Blockheads (03:29)
You must have seen parties of Blockheads
With blotched and lagered skin
Blockheads with food particles in their teeth
What a horrible state they're in
They've got womanly breasts under pale mauve vests
Shoes like dead pigs' noses
Cornflake packet jacket, catalogue trousers
A mouth what never closes
You must have seen Blockheads in raucous teams
Dressed up after work
Who screw their poor old Eileens
Get sloshed and go berserk
Rotary accessory watches
Hire-purchase signet rings
A beauty to the bully boys
No lonely vestige clings
Why bother at all about Blockheads?
Why shouldn't they do as they please?
You know if it came to a brainy game
You could baffle a Blockhead with ease
How would you like one puffing and blowing in your ear-hole?
Or pissing in your swimming pool?
Bigger brained Blockheads often acquire
Black and orange cars
Premature ejaculation drivers
Their soft-top's got roll-bars
'Fill her up,' they say to Blockheads
'Go on, stick it where it hurts'
Their shapeless haircuts don't enhance
Their ghastly patterned shirts
Why bother at all about Blockheads?
Superior as you are
You're thoughtful and kind with a well-stocked mind
A Blockhead can't think very far
Imagine finding one in your laundry basket
Banging nails in your big black dog
Why bother at all about Blockheads?
Why should you care what they do?
Cos after all is said and done
You're a Blockhead too
Blockheads
Blockheads
Blockheads
(oi oi)
Blockheads
(oi, oi)...
09 Plaistow Patricia (04:13)
Arseholes, bastards, fucking cunts and pricks
Aerosol, the bricks
A lawless brat from a council flat, oh-oh
A little bit of this and a little bit of that, oh-oh
Dirty tricks.
From the Mile End Road to the match-stick Beacontree
Pulling strokes and taking liberties
She liked it best when she went up west, oh-oh
You can go to hell with your 'well, well, well', oh-oh.
Who said good things always come in threes ?
Reds and yellows, purples, blues and greens
She turned the corner before she turned fifteen
She got into a mess on the NHS, oh-oh
It runs down your arms and settles in your palms, oh-oh.
Keep your eyeballs white and keep your needle clean
Plaistow Patricia, Plaistow Patricia
Plaistow Patricia, Plaistow Patricia.
Her tits had dropped, her arse was getting spread
She lost some teeth, she nearly lost the thread
She did some smack with a Chinese chap, oh-oh-oh
An affair began with Charlie Chan, oh-oh.
Well, that was just before she really lost her head, aow
Now she owns a showroom down the Mile End Road
And her outer garments are the latest mode
There's a Siamese cat in the council flat, oh-oh
The finest grains for my lady's veins, oh-oh.
And when it gets out of order, she goes away for a bit
Plaistow Patricia, Plaistow Patricia
Plaistow Patricia, Plaistow Patricia
Plaistow Patricia, Plaistow Patricia
Ohh, go on, girl.
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