Knock Me Down Wiv A Fevver

With Ian Dury ( and the Blockheads ), I've taken the "definitive album" route rather than the "best of" compilation. And that has to mean New Boots and Panties. Dury was very much a one off, imagining this Cockney / Essex argot and milieux that was almost but not quite totally realistic. Dury's art and poetry lay in the gap between what was imagined and what was real. He had this great grasp of language but was fortunate to meet an ideal musical partner in Chaz Jankel who could set the words in perfect context. In songs like Abracadabra and Clever Trevor the riffs and solos evolve organically from the rhythm and sound of the lyrics. The Blockheads were a powerful live band and their contribution to the album is not to underestimated. But the strength of the recording lies with the songs and Ian Dury's persona. Although they would have baulked at the term, New Boots and Panties is really a concept album and it is important how the tracks are scheduled, becoming ever more dark and disturbing as they journey from the warm hearted and cheeky ( Abracadabra, Billericay Dickie ) to the insecure and disturbed ( Clevor Trevor, If I Was With a Woman )and ending with the total desolation of Plaistow Patricia and Blackmail Man. Which makes it unfortunate that for the cd release they have tacked Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll, which wasn't on the vinyl album, onto the end of the disk. I'm pleased to have a recording of what became Dury's anthem but tend to play it as a seperate entity.