A*******, b******, f****** c**** and p***** (New Boots And Panties - Ian & The Blockheads Dury)

Member Name: dave27

Product:	New Boots And Panties - Ian & The Blockheads Dury
Date:	09/09/02 (145 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Great lyrics, Unique

Disadvantages: A bit rough

Ah yes, the impenetrable title has always been a favourite trick of mine and tonight is no exception. Those lucky souls for whom the delights of Ian Dury (before the Blockheads) and his wonderful New Boots And Panties!! album from 1977 are just second nature in instant recall will no doubt be able to identify where the title comes from, but for those of you who do not know the chap, it?s the expletive deleted declaiming first line from the rasping Plaistow Patricia towards the end of this album. On such a mainstream site as this I really can't give you any further clues as to what the words behind the asterisks are, but hopefully the more streetwise of you would be able to hazard a guess at the answer.

Now that may give you a hint of what to expect from this earthy album, and if you?re of a nervous disposition or tend to quail at the use of ferocious Anglo Saxonisms, you may wish to look away now, for the venerable (and sadly late) Mr Dury is a true working class hero who loves language, and hesitates not to employ the harsh words of the East End. Who is to say he is wrong to savour a well chosen four letter word, the currency of today's youth? He certainly carves a richly fruity language here on this splendid album and does so with an honest endeavour which makes you love the chap.

NBAP!! was first issued in 1977 on the eccentric and patchy Stiff Records as SEEZ4, with his label mates at that time including the Damned, Elvis Costello, Wreckless Eric, Nick Lowe and a little later (for a short while) the spiffing Nutty Sound of Madness. It was an exciting time to be involved in rock music as the electric charge of punk blew away the dusty cobwebs and self indulgent self regard of the previous decade and gave birth to a veritable revolution which embraced all sorts of freaks and no hopers. For years, Dury had been seen as both, with his seedy pub rock songs and poems being performed in the shambolic Kilburn and the High Roads combo, whi

le his polio affected frame left him looking like some sort of young Fagin, a totally individual performer.

The album has since been reissued and repackaged and you can get it either with or without Dury's splendidly anthemic Sex and Drugs and Rock'n'Roll single included. I prefer tradition, so I'll go without, but truly that was a wonderfully addictive song, and quite one of the best things which Ian ever produced, so I won't hold it against you, don't worry.

The reissued album, though includes the following clipped autobiography which I reproduce here, as penned by John Tobler in 1995:

"NBAP!! was the first Stiff LP by Ian Dury, and the album which launched him to fame, amassing nearly two years in the UK chart and becoming his first major success. Dury had been around for some years before joining Stiff in 1977 - he was (and remains) a larger than life character. Born during the Second World War, he was unfortunate enough to contract poliomyelitis, and was a victim of the epidemic of the early 1950s, although it happily didn't kill him as it did many British people at the time, it left him disabled and with one side of his body withered. After boarding school in High Wycombe, he continued his education at Walthamstow Art College in East London, after which he attended the Royal College of Art where he undertook a post graduate course. He then began working as a lecturer at Luton and Canterbury Art Colleges, and in 1970, while he was still working at Canterbury, he conceived a group with others at the college which he called Kilburn & the High Roads, for which he was lead vocalist and main songwriter, although the strangely named combo only began to treat the band as a serious enterprise a couple of years later. They became very popular during the pub rock era of the mid-1970s, recording two LPs, only one of which, Handsome, was released at the time, and in 1976, the group finally folded. Dur
y and
latterday High Road Chas Jankel had developed a songwriting partnership, and Dury signed with the then fledgling Stiff label, and in August 1977 released his debut single for the label, Sex and Drugs and Rock'n'Roll, an all time rock anthem, which was widely acclaimed but unaccountably failed to become a hit. Stiff swiftly deleted the single, and according to Bert Muirhead's book answered those who complained of its unavailability by saying 'We're a record company, not a museum' - this excellent track and its B-side Razzle In My Pocket can be found on the Juke Box Dury album."

Sorry for the indulgent history lesson, but loving Dury is in many ways contingent on understanding if not loving the man and his background.

The album was Dury and Jankel (guitars and keyboards) playing their songs, accompanied by Charley Charles (drums), Norman Watt-Roy (bass) and Davey Payne (saxes), before that bunch became the core of his live band the Blockheads, and also included Edward Speight on ballad guitar(!) and Geoff Castle on Moog. The sound alternates between splendidly shambolic roughness and smooth and assured playing, but the whole thing is dependent on the words and unique vocals of Dury. I'll tell you now, I love it, but can see why some people find the man a hard to acquire taste. Oh well.

Wake Up And Make Love With Me
This errs on the side of beauty with some wonderful piano from Jankel counterpointed by Castle's meandering Moog, all supported by the rolling rhythms of Watt-Roy and Charles as Dury comes over all unnecessary with his homage to the lights of early morning love-lust, choosing to rhyme "naughty nekked nood" with "what happens next is private, it's also very rude". The lyrics are bizarrely, unmistakably Dury, gorgeously addictive and very true to life. It's one of the best songs that Dury and Jankel ever wrote and just pure seduction and practical
romance.
Listen and learn.

Sweet Gene Vincent
If Wake Up was good, Vincent is sublime, with its dead slow opening, punctuated by doodling keyboards and Dury's best tribute to the ancient rocker swiftly giving way to a belting rocker which will rip your head off. The jagged transition from moody poetry, loving homage, aching piano and bluesy guitar of "Sad Virginia whisper ... young and old and gone" to the belting rock and roll of "White face, black shirt, white socks, black shoes, black hair, white Strat" gets me every time. Yeah!!!

I'm Partial To Your Abracadabra
Another slower paced love song, this piano led piece shows the romantic side of Dury once more, though his use of words and clever phrasing never lets him wander too far from the harder sensibilities of the late 70s. It's quite a slight little number, but eminently listenable, tugging at your hips, despite the overtly orthodox lead guitar pieces.

My Old Man
It's East End poet time again as Dury launches into another affectionate tribute, this time to his father, and another leaden paced number is just a showcase for some wonderfully un-American words and scenes "Said gor blimey now and then ... did the crossword in the Standard". The lilting, crooning sax of Payne is the key musical feature on the loping, yearning song, though all round there's some neat instrumental interplay between the band members. Sad and yet tremendously uplifting.

Billericay Dickey
More East End nonsense about one of Dury's mythical and mythogical and peculiarly unfortunate characters. It's all pumping music hall backing as the coarser side of the man's poetry comes to the fore. "Another thing with Sandy which often came in handy was passing her a mandy, she didn't half go bandy." Bizarre stuff which could only be this man and this band ... quite splendid, splendid good time stuff, even the wh
istling on the
fade sounds perfect.

Clevor Trever (sic)
A nice, twirling, almost funky setting and another tour de force performance from Dury cannot leave you unmoved, despite the unlovable nature of his subject matter. Another surprisingly slight piece, yet delicious nonetheless.

If I Was With A Woman
This is a more spiteful Dury, one who has been hurt in love, and intent on having his revenge on the entire women species. One can only hope he's strictly tongue in cheek, but you're never quite sure, and that?s part of the magic of the man. He appeals so easily on the surface to the lowest common denominator, yet one knows he's better than that. Whatever, his vindictive, urgent, chilling lyrics are bitterest bile. The musical backing is just as mean and sinister as the voices in your head, "I'd make believe I loved her, even though I didn't like her much." Dury finds it so easy to show his nastier side that he must be recalling all the torments and hatred he received as a young polio victim. "If I was with a woman, she'd have to learn to cherish the purity and depth of my disdain." Shocking stuff.

Blockheads
This is where the band's name came from and it's an urgent, horrible song, a denunciation of the nastier side of the hunting pack mentality, "Screw their poor old Eileens, get sloshed and go berserk ... why shouldn't they do as they please ... how would you like one puffing and blowing in your ear hole, pissing in your swimming pool ... premature ejaculation drivers, their soft tops got roll bars." There ain't no letting up at all here and you fear for your life at times. Contrast Dury's lyrical approach here with the previous song to see the depth of the man.

Plaistow Patricia
When you have that filthy opening stanza as delineated at the start, you know this is going to be more bile on legs as Dury again demonstrates how n
asty he can be when
he turns his mind to it. It's pretty standard pub rock fare, but the man's easy dropping in and out of vernacular and understanding of the seamy underbelly of council flat life shows once again what a major talent the man was when he was on form. It's a crude, ugly piece, matched by the breakneck backing, but nothing can prepare you for the naked fury and contempt of his muse.

Blackmail Man
This is the fastest and most insubstantial piece on the entire album and finishes matters on a real low standard. It's a shame, but Dury was clearly intent on raising the pace to a climax. Unfortunately, his taste meter was a bit off the mark here and the whole thing is just a mad, out of control, racist rant, but as the entire human race gets a namecheck and none of them come out unscathed then we shouldn't take it too seriously, Dury can take the rise out of literally everyone, but chiefly himself.


So there you have it - the Cripple Comes of age, and surely we can excuse him one real mistake for the peaks contained elsewhere. This is a rampant, raging, rancid example of that tight little area where the best of pub rock met the worst of punk's moods and survived to tell the tale. Dury was the Laughing Gnome to Elvis Costello's twisted troubadour in Stiff's retelling of the late 70s and they cornered the market in revenge, hatred, bitterness and lust. It was a fearsome pairing which only the strong survived, but fiercely independent and gripping. A real joy to behold.

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