Label: BMG – BMGCAT471DLPC
Format: 2 x Vinyl, LP, Compilation, Gatefold, White
Country:
Released: 16 Oct 2020
Genre: Rock
Style:
As national treasures go, Ian Dury was one of the unlikeliest. A cantankerous cripple with a penchant for pills and puns, he was a living breathing saucy seaside postcard, a master of the double or even triple entendre; a Cockney caricature with cleverly constructed couplets coming out of his Aris.
A Victorian music hall entertainer born a century too late, he shot his way into our our hearts at the birth of punk. He shone like the brightest star – and, for a glorious 18 months between 1978 and 1979 soared all the way to the top of the charts. And then, in the manner prescribed by Neil Young, burned out before he could fade away.
This new compilation reminds us what we lost when he died 20 years ago – and what we had during the quarter of a century that he was making records and performing. It’s so much more than I remember; so much more than you might imagine you do too. Ian Dury left a wealth of music and a wealth of words and the best of them are all here, preserved for posterity on three CDs and three and a quarter hours of mostly essential music. Which is at least three hours more than many musicians manage in a career.
Thankfully, whoever compiled this collection has not tried to be “fair” by giving proportional representation to the less memorable periods of Dury’s career, of which there were several, not least when he was simultaneously battling alcoholism, depression and an addiction to sleeping pills as he battled the lifelong pain of his disability – problems that made him difficult to work with, as well as affecting his creativity, and his passion for his work.
By popular consent – and his own judgment – Dury’s best two albums were his first and last – that remarkable 1977 debut, New Boots And Panties!! and that poignant swansong, Mr Love Pants in 1997 – and accordingly they make up the bulk of this Best Of compilation, which aims not to unearth unreleased oddities and rarities but simply to do what it says on the tin and collect the very best songs in one place.
Selections from the second and third albums, Do It Yourself and Laughter, are judiciously chosen to separate the wheat from the considerable pile of chaff; the ill-advised excursion to Jamaica to record Lord Upminster with Sly & Robbie is wisely ignored altogether, and selections from those subsequent solo albums are picked with care and precision. There’s also a carefully chosen selection from his days with Kilburn & The High Roads, including a demo of their signature song England’s Glory (later released on Stiff by music hall legend Max Wall) to bring the whole thing to a close.
Hats off to the curator!
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