Tag: Ian Dury

Ian Dury with the Blockheads – What A Waste

There are some artists you don’t discover until years later, and then you wonder how they managed to stay off your radar for so long. That was Ian Dury for me. While he was a major figure in Britain during the late 1970s, his music never received much attention here in the States. Once I started listening, though, I realized I’d been missing out on one of the most original voices of the era. This is one of those songs that hooked me right away, especially because of that irresistible groove.

It was released in 1978 as Ian Dury’s second solo single, and it featured The Blockheads, one of the tightest backing bands of the time. The song was written by Dury and Chaz Jankel, whose guitar and keyboard work helped shape the band’s sound. It was produced by Laurie Latham and appeared on the American version of the album New Boots and Panties!!, although it had originally been released as a stand-alone single in the UK. By this point, Dury had already built a reputation for mixing pub rock, funk, new wave, and rhythm and blues into something entirely his own.

It is built around one of the best bass lines you’ll ever hear. Norman Watt-Roy’s bass drives the entire song, locking in with the drums to create a groove that’s impossible to ignore. Over the top, Ian Dury delivers a half-sung, half-spoken vocal, rattling off humorous observations about all the things he could have become. His lyrics are clever and self-deprecating. It doesn’t fit neatly into rock, punk, or new wave, and that’s exactly what makes it so much fun.

The song peaked at #9 in the UK in 1978, but it wasn’t a huge hit outside the UK; it has become one of Ian Dury’s signature songs and a favorite among fans. Looking back, it’s easy to hear why so many musicians admired The Blockheads. They were an incredibly talented band capable of blending funk, rock, jazz, and soul into a sound that was unlike anyone else at the time.

I love songs that have a great groove, and this one has it from the first note. Norman Watt-Roy’s bass line is perfect, and it’s the first thing I notice every time I hear it. The whole band is outstanding, but that rhythm section keeps everything moving while Ian Dury does what Ian Dury did better than anyone else. His songs never sounded like anyone else’s. They’re funny, quirky, and full of personality. I wish I’d discovered him years earlier, but better late than never. If you’ve never gone beyond Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick, give What A Waste a listen. I have a feeling you’ll end up exploring a lot more of Ian Dury and The Blockheads, just like I did.

What A Waste

I could be the driver in articulated lorry
I could be a poet, I wouldn’t need to worry
I could be the teacher in a classroom full of scholars
I could be the sergeant in a squadron full of wallahs

What a waste!
What a waste!
What a waste!
What a waste!

Because I chose to play the fool in a six-piece band
First-night nerves every one-night stand
I should be glad to be so inclined
What a waste! What a waste!
Rock’n’roll don’t mind

I could be a lawyer with stratagems and ruses
I could be a doctor with poultices and bruises
I could be a writer with a growing reputation
I could be the ticket-man at Fulham Broadway station

What a waste!
What a waste!
What a waste!
What a waste!

Because I chose to play the fool in a six-piece band
First-night nerves every one-night stand
I should be glad to be so inclined
What a waste! What a waste!
Rock’n’roll don’t mind

I could be the catalyst that sparks the revolution
I could be an inmate in a long-term institution
I could lead to wild extremes, I could do or die
I could yawn and be withdrawn and watch them gallop by

What a waste!
What a waste!
What a waste!
What a waste!

Because I chose to play the fool in a six-piece band
First-night nerves every one-night stand
I should be glad to be so inclined
What a waste! What a waste!
Rock’n’roll don’t mind

Chose to play the fool in a six-piece band
First-night nerves every one-night stand
I should be glad to be so inclined
What a waste! What a waste!
Rock’n’roll don’t mind
What a waste! What a waste!
Rock’n’roll don’t mind

Stiff Records Week – Ian Dury – Sweet Gene Vincent

Shall I mourn you decline with some thunderbird wineAnd a black hankercheif?I miss your sad Virginia whisperI miss the voice that called my heart

This song serves as a tribute to the American rock ‘n’ roll singer Gene Vincent, whom Dury was a fan from his teenage years. Dury’s love for Vincent began after hearing “Be-Bop-A-Lula” in the 1956 film The Girl Can’t Help It, and he remained a devoted fan throughout his life.

If you had to write a song about a great rock and roll legend…Vincent would be the guy. To get it right…Dury spent six weeks researching Vincent’s life, reading two biographies to write the song’s lyrics. His songwriting partner with this song was Chaz Jankel. Jankel has said he had to cut out a lot of lyrics otherwise it would have lasted 15 minutes. He also had references to some of Vincent’s songs. 

Chaz Jankel was in a former band with Dury called The Kilburns and when they disbanded…he got together with Ian Dury as a co-songwriter. They wrote the band’s most successful single Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick, reaching number one on the UK Singles Chart in January 1979 as well as reaching the top three in Ireland, Australia, and New Zealand.

This song was released in 1977 from the album New Boots and Panties!! The song didn’t chart but the album peaked at #5 in the UK, #7 in New Zealand, and #168 on the Billboard Album Chart.

Sweet Gene Vincent

Blue gene babySkinny white sailor, the chances were slenderThe beauties were breifShall I mourn you decline with some thunderbird wineAnd a black hankercheif?I miss your sad Virginia whisperI miss the voice that called my heart

Sweet gene vincentYoung and old and goneSweet gene vincent

Who, who, who slapped john?White face, black shirtWhite socks, black shoesBlack hair, white stratBled white, died black

Sweet gene vincentLet the blue roll tonightAt the sock hop ball in the union hallWhere the bop is there delight

Here come duck-tailed Danny dragging Uncanny AnnieShe’s tehone with the flying feetYou can break the peace daddy sickle greaseThe beat is reet completeAnd you jump back honey in the dungereesTight sweater and a ponny tailWill you guess her age when she comes back stage?The hoodlems bite their nails

Black gloves, white frostBlack crepe, white leadWhite sheet, black knightJet black, dead white

Sweet gene vincentThere’s one in every townAnd the devil drives ’till the hurse arrivesAnd you lay that pistol down

Sweet gene vincentThere’s nowhere left to hideWith lazy skin and ash-tray eyesA perforated pride

So farewell mademoiselle, knicker-bocker hotelFarewell to money owedBut when your leg still hurts and you need more shirtsYou got to get back on the road

…

Ian Dury and The Blockheads – Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick

The name alone makes me want to listen to the song. The bass line is one of the coolest bass parts I’ve heard in a number 1 song. Usually on high-charting songs you just don’t hear basslines like this. I also like the out-of-left-field sax solo by saxophonist Davey Payne. 

This song was supposedly inspired by Dury’s disability. He contracted polio when he was 7 years old. Luckily, he was not confined to a wheelchair but he did have to use a walking cane.

The song was recorded live with all the Blockheads placed in different positions in the studio’s live area, with Jankel playing a Bechstein grand piano, Mickey Gallagher playing the Hammond organ, and Dury sitting on a stool in the center singing into a hand-held microphone.

He wrote this song with Chaz Jankel in 1978. Chaz was in a band with Dury called The Kilburns and when they disbanded…he got together with Ian Dury as a co-songwriter. It is the group’s most successful single, reaching number one on the UK Singles Chart in January 1979 as well as reaching the top three in Ireland, Australia, and New Zealand, and it was also a top 20 hit in several European countries.

The song was a non-album single. He didn’t like to include singles on his albums if possible. It peaked at #1 in the UK, #2 in Australia, #3 in New Zealand, and #79 on the Billboard 100 in 1979. I found no charting in Canada.

“Hit Me with Your Rhythm Stick” was named the 12th best single of 1978 by the writers of British music magazine NME, and best single of 1979 in the annual ‘Pazz & Jop’ poll organized by music critic Robert Christgau in The Village Voice.

Hit Me With Your Rythm Stick

In the deserts of Sudan
And the gardens of Japan
From Milan to Yucatan
Every woman, every man

Hit me with your rhythm stick.
Hit me! Hit me!
Je t’adore, ich liebe dich,
Hit me! hit me! hit me!
Hit me with your rhythm stick.
Hit me slowly, hit me quick.
Hit me! Hit me! Hit me!

In the wilds of Borneo
And the vineyards of Bordeaux
Eskimo, Arapaho
Move their body to and fro.

Hit me with your rhythm stick.
Hit me! Hit me!
Das ist gut! C’est fantastique!
Hit me! hit me! hit me!
Hit me with your rhythm stick.
It’s nice to be a lunatic.
Hit me! Hit me! Hit me!

Hit me! Hit me! Hit me!
In the dock of Tiger Bay
On the road to Mandalay
From Bombay to Santa Fe
Over hills and far away

Hit me with your rhythm stick.
Hit me! Hit me!
C’est si bon, mm? Ist es nicht?
Hit me! hit me! hit me!
Hit me with your rhythm stick.
Two fat persons, click, click, click.
Hit me! Hit me! Hit me!

Hit me! Hit me! Hit me!
Hit me!
Hit me!
Hit me! Ow!
Hit me!
Hit me!
Hit me! hit me!

Hit me [Repeat: x 5]

Hit me! Hit me! Hit me!

…

Concert for Kampuchea

When I posted a Rockpile song last week… I heard from Sharon E. Cathcart talking about this concert. A few days later Val mentioned this concert on a Little Richard post. I haven’t thought of this concert in years so I thought it would be a great subject.

I did see a copy of this in the 80s at some point. I’ve watched it the last few nights and it is really good. A few facts about the show…The Pretenders debut album was released the day before they played, this was John Bonham’s last appearance on stage in England, and the Wings last concert appearance.

Concert for the People of Kampuchea was a series of concerts in 1979 featuring Queen, The Clash, The Pretenders, Rockpile, The Who, Elvis Costello, Wings, and many more artists. I’ll post the entire lineup at the bottom. These concerts had a great amount of British talent that would not be rivaled until Live Aid in 1985. The proceeds would be directed to the emergency relief work of the U.N. agencies for the civilians in Kampuchea.

The concerts were held at the Hammersmith Odeon in London over 4 days from 26-29 December 1979 to raise money for the victims of war-torn Cambodia (then called Kampuchea). The event was organized by former Beatle Paul McCartney and Kurt Waldheim (who was then Secretary-General of the UN, later Austrian president).

Waldheim initially approached McCartney, hoping his current band Wings would participate. But he also discussed a performance with George Harrison, and then the gossip wheel started turning. The Beatle reunion rumors started to overtake the press for the show itself. Paul had to completely deny it of course. He was quoted saying: “The Beatles are over and finished with,”  “None of us is even interested in doing it. There’s lots of reasons. Imagine if we came back and did a big show that wasn’t good. What a drag.” None of the ex Beatles showed…except Paul

An album and EP were released in 1981, and the best of the concerts was released as a film, Concert for Kampuchea in 1980. The album wasn’t released until 1981 and it peaked at #36 and the song Little Sister by Rockpile and Robert Plant peaked at #8.

When Wings’ main set was complete on the last night, McCartney invited a Who’s Who assemblage of British rockers to the stage to play four songs as an encore as the “Rockestra”. The list included three members of Led Zeppelin (Plant, John Bonham and John Paul Jones), Townshend, former Small Faces/Faces bandmates Ronnie Lane and Kenney Jones, Procol Harum’s Gary Brooker, Wings, plus members of Rockpile and the Pretenders, among others.

Here is a complete list.

  • Piano: Paul McCartney
  • Keyboards: Linda McCartney, Tony Ashton, Gary Brooker
  • Guitars: Denny Laine, Laurence Juber, James Honeyman-Scott, Dave Edmunds, Billy Bremner, Pete Townshend, Robert Plant
  • Bass: Paul McCartney, Bruce Thomas, Ronnie Lane, John Paul Jones
  • Drums, Percussion: Steve Holley, Kenney Jones, Tony Carr, Morris Pert, Speedy Acquaye, John Bonham
  • Horns: Howie Casey, Steve Howard, Thaddeus Richard, Tony Dorsey
  • Vocals: Paul McCartney, Linda McCartney, John Paul Jones, Ronnie Lane, Bruce Thomas, Robert Plant

That is a talented bunch.

McCartney did assemble the above musicians with some more like David Gilmour to record a couple of songs on the Wings Back To The Egg album…So Glad to See You Here and Rockestra Theme.

Here is the complete list of acts who played during the concerts.

The Blockheads
The Clash
Elvis Costello
Ian Dury
The Pretenders
Matumbi
Robert Plant
Queen
Rockpile
The Specials
Wings
The Who

December 26

  • Queen

December 27

  • Ian Dury and the Blockheads (with guest Mick Jones on “Sweet Gene Vincent”)
  • Matumbi
  • The Clash

December 28

  • The Pretenders
  • The Specials
  • The Who

December 29

  • Elvis Costello & The Attractions
  • Rockpile (with guest Robert Plant on “Little Sister”)
  • Wings
  • Rockestra

Selected setlists

Queen

  1. Jailhouse Rock
  2. We Will Rock You (fast version)
  3. Let Me Entertain You
  4. Somebody to Love
  5. If You Can’t Beat Them
  6. Mustapha
  7. Death on Two Legs
  8. Killer Queen
  9. I’m in Love with My Car
  10. Get Down, Make Love
  11. You’re My Best Friend
  12. Save Me
  13. Now I’m Here
  14. Don’t Stop Me Now
  15. Spread Your Wings
  16. Love of My Life
  17. ’39
  18. Keep Yourself Alive
  19. Drums solo
  20. Guitar solo with parts of Silent Night
  21. Brighton Rock reprise
  22. Crazy Little Thing Called Love
  23. Bohemian Rhapsody
  24. Tie Your Mother Down
  25. Sheer Heart Attack
  26. We Will Rock You
  27. We Are the Champions
  28. God Save the Queen (tape)

Ian Dury & The Blockheads

  1. Clevor Trevor
  2. Inbetweenies
  3. Don’t Ask Me
  4. Reasons To Be Cheerful
  5. Sink My Boats
  6. Waiting For Your Taxi
  7. This Is What We Find
  8. Mischief
  9. What A Waste
  10. Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick
  11. Sweet Gene Vincent

The Clash

  1. Clash City Rockers
  2. Brand New Cadillac
  3. Safe European Home
  4. Jimmy Jazz
  5. Clampdown
  6. The Guns of Brixton
  7. Train in Vain
  8. Wrong ‘Em Boyo
  9. Koka Kola
  10. (White Man) In Hammersmith Palais
  11. Stay Free
  12. Bankrobber
  13. Janie Jones
  14. Complete Control
  15. Armagideon Time
  16. London Calling

The Specials

  1. (Dawning Of a) New Era
  2. Do The Dog
  3. Monkey Man
  4. Concrete Jungle
  5. Too Hot
  6. Doesn’t Make It Alright
  7. Too Much Too Young
  8. Guns Of Navarone
  9. Little Bitch
  10. A Message To You Rudy
  11. Nite Club
  12. Gangsters
  13. Longshot Kick The Bucket
  14. Skinhead Moonstomp
  15. Madness

The Who

  1. Substitute
  2. I Can’t Explain
  3. Baba O’Riley
  4. The Punk and the Godfather
  5. My Wife
  6. Sister Disco
  7. Behind Blue Eyes
  8. Music Must Change
  9. Drowned
  10. Who Are You
  11. 5.15
  12. Pinball Wizard
  13. See Me Feel Me
  14. Long Live Rock
  15. My Generation
  16. I’m a Man
  17. Hoochie Coochie Man
  18. Sparks
  19. I Can See for Miles
  20. I Don’t Want To Be an Old Man
  21. Won’t Get Fooled Again
  22. Summertime Blues
  23. Dancing In The Streets
  24. Dance It Away
  25. The Real Me

Rockpile

  1. Three Time Loser
  2. Crawling From The Wreckage
  3. Little Sister

Wings

  1. Got to Get You into My Life
  2. Getting Closer
  3. Every Night
  4. Again And Again And Again
  5. I’ve Had Enough
  6. No Words
  7. Cook Of The House
  8. Old Siam, Sir
  9. Maybe I’m Amazed
  10. The Fool on the Hill
  11. Hot As Sun
  12. Spin It On
  13. Twenty Flight Rock
  14. Go Now
  15. Arrow Through Me
  16. Coming Up
  17. Goodnight Tonight
  18. Yesterday
  19. Mull of Kintyre
  20. Band on the Run

Rockestra

  1. Rockestra Theme
  2. Let It Be
  3. Lucille
  4. Rockestra Theme (reprise)