Ian Dury
New Boots And Panties

THE REVIEW

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.