Ian Dury
b. 12 May 1942, Upminster, Essex, England. The zenith of Dury's musical career, NEW BOOTS AND PANTIES, came in 1977, when youth was being celebrated amid power chords and bondage trousers—he was 35 at the time. Stricken by polio at the age of seven, he initially decided on a career in art, and until his 28th birthday taught the subject at Canterbury School of Art. He began playing pubs and clubs in London with Kilburn And The High Roads, reinterpreting R&B numbers and later adding his own wry lyrics in a semi-spoken cockney slang. The group dissolved and the remainder became a new line-up called the Blockheads. In 1975 Stiff Records signed the group and considered Dury's aggressive but honest stance the perfect summary of the contemporary mood. The Blockheads’ debut and finest moment, NEW BOOTS AND PANTIES, received superlative reviews and spent more than a year in the UK albums chart. His dry wit, sensitivity and brilliant lyrical caricatures were evident in songs like Clever Trevor, Wake Up And Make Love To Me and his tribute to Gene Vincent, Sweet Gene Vincent. He lampooned the excesses of the music business on Sex And Drugs And Rock And Roll and briefly crossed over from critical acclaim to commercial acceptance with the UK number 1 Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick in December 1979. DO IT YOURSELF and LAUGHTER were similarly inspired although lacking the impact of his debut, and by his third album he had teamed up with Wilko Johnson (ex- Dr. Feelgood) and lost the co-writing services of pianist Chaz Jankel. He continued to work towards a stronger dance context and employed the masterful rhythm section of Sly Dunbar and Robbie Shakespeare on LORD UPMINSTER which also featured the celebrated jazz trumpeter Don Cherry. He continued to make thoughtful, polemic records in the '80s and audaciously suggested that his excellent song, Spasticus Autisticus, should be adopted as the musical emblem of the Year Of The Disabled. Like many before him, he turned to acting and appeared in several television plays and films in the late '80s. In 1989 he wrote the musical APPLES with another former member of the Blockheads, Mickey Gallagher. In the '90s Dury was seen hosting a late night UK television show METRO.