Ian Dury and the Blockheads: Do It Yourself

 Ian Dury and the Blockheads: Do It Yourself

1979

Stiff Records

Format I Own it on: Vinyyl

Track Listing: 1. Inbetweenies  2. Quiet  3. Don't Ask Me  4. Sink My Boats  5. Waiting For Your Taxi  6. This Is What We Find  7. Uneasy Sunny Day Hotsy-Totsy  8. Mischief  9. Dance Of The Screamers  10. Lullaby for Francies



This record came out with a bunch of different covers, each one showing a different, textured wallpaper sample. The blueish-gray one (which according to the 2015 Friday Night Record Party Wallpaper catalog, is called "Bouquet of Blue Molds") shown above is the cover I own...Here are some others...

Sample No. 1001: Rubber Vomit Rose

Sample No. 00008083: Mustard Autumn

Catalog No. 01012016: Post-Blackout Paradise

Catalog No. 0000666: King of Diamonds

Anyway, that's just a few of them...I've seen over a dozen different varieties...Who knows how many different covers are out there...

As for the contents of the record, this is Ian Dury's first album with the Blockheads as his backing band...They were lumped in with the punk/new-wave crowd, however that categorization would probably befuddle your average be-mohawked Exploited fan...Musically speaking, they're a smooth & slick disco-funk band, but Ian on the mic makes it punk in with his coarse language, ashtray vocals and shambling stage presence...Absolutely one of the most unique frontmen of all-time...There's no one else even remotely like him...

I think I covered my introduction to the Blockheads in the "Concerts for the People of Kampuchea" post......If'n you don't remember, here are the relevant passages:

"I can remember seeing Ian Dury and the Blockheads for the first time on an old videotape I bought back in the 90's called "British Rock: The Legends of Punk & New Wave" that I used to watch non-stop all the time...

I'll never forget watching Ian walk out, all stiff gait and grimy suit, with a voice that sounded like he smoked every cigarette in existence, barking out "HIT ME WIFF YOUR RHYTHM STICK!"  Oh yea, I remember also being blown away that their sax player played two saxes at the same time...Damn! "

But yea, it's definitely the gulf between the clean, posh and spongy backing and Ian's gruff vocals that makes the whole thing special...The only time the band approaches anything close to "punk" is on "Uneasy Sunny Day Hotsy-Totsy" which ends up in game show territory during the chorus anyway...For chrissakes, "Sink My Boats" sounds like damn Supertramp!! But Ian and his foul-mouthed lyrics and dirty stories have a way of sucking you in...It's just so much fun to hear him  growl, scream and howl over incongruous disco until suddenly you can't imagine it being any other way...

 It's hard to pick a highlight...It's all about the cumulative effect of the madness... "Inbetweenies" gets stuck in my head all the time, so I'll nominate that..."Uneasy Sunny Day Hotsy-totsy" breaks things up at exactly the right time..."Dance Of The Screamers" is supremely funky until it breaks down into what I can only explain as a showdown between a skronking saxophone and a Velociraptor...And I should also mention that "Lullabye for Franci/es" is the most British reggae song ever written, so that should count for something...Not to mention it does its job well...By the end of it, I always find myself gently lulled into a deep, tropical sleep...

Fun record for when you're in the mood for something really smart and off-the-wall...Plus you can usually find used vinyl copies for dirt-ass cheap, so bonus...

Here's "Uneasy Sunny Day Hotsy-totsy" by Ian Dury and the Blockheads...Enjoy...