The Blockheads : News : Latest
skip navigationAlot of updates on this page!
So please do scroll to the bottom!Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll in BAFTA Nominations!
The biopic of Ian Dury's life is now in the cinemas!Andy Serkis and Chaz Jankel have both been nominated for BAFTA's! The Blockheads re-recorded many tracks for the film with Andy Serkis, who plays Ian, on vocals) and, as well as supervising the re-recording of many old tunes, Chaz Jankel composed some original music for the soundtrack too. The movie also stars Ray Winstone, Toby Jones, Mackenzie Crook, Naomie Harris and Bill Milner (Son of Rambow). Andy's performance is uncanny and already collected rave reviews from the press. Check out the trailer below and then check your local cinema listings!
Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll - The music that inspired the film
This new collection features 20 recordings, including "What A Waste", "Reasons To Be Cheerful (Part 3)", "I Want To Be Straight", as well as the No. 1 "Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick" and the title track to the new biopic (see below!) the album also features an extended version of `Reasons To Be Cheerful (Part 3). It is hard to believe that it is ten years since Ian passed-away but this new collection serves as a timely reminder as to how great his lyrics were and how the recordings have stood the test of time.Official campaign to get Spasticus Autisticus to UK Number 1!
We urge you to join the facebook campaign to get Spasticus Autisticus to Number One in the UK to help celebrate Ian's life.In the week of 14th March (14th - 20th), we will post the link and make you aware of where to buy Spasticus Autisticus from (iTunes and/or Amazon). The version we ask that you download is the Ian Dury and The Blockheads version from the live album "Warts And Audience". This should coincide with the 10th anniversary of his untimely passing. Even if you are not on Facebook you can still take part...
Reasons Spasticus should be Number 1... 1,2,3!
1. We need a song that radio stations will have a problem with due to censorship thus making the cause more controversial.
2. In 1981 the song was banned by the BBC because of the use of the word spastic and they didn't even try to see what point Ian were trying to get across. it's about time this genius of a song gets the recognition it deserves.
3. The 27th March will be the 10th anniversary of Ian Dury's death, and what better to celebrate his life than getting his most personal song up for all the world to hear.
So you know...we have gone with the live version because, well, it features The Blockheads and the studio version didn't (Chaz Jankel plus Sly and Robbie).
The Blockheads are also out on tour the week that this event will be taking place and members of the band will be in a great position to discuss and steal headlines away from whatever Simon Cowell has cooking that week and whatever sexist crap the charts are playing that week...
Here is a history lesson!
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The life and legacy of Ian Dury
This is the story of a man who battled severe physical setbacks to become a cultural icon. Punk's poet laureate - Ian Dury was a working-class hero whose drug and booze-fuelled career, Bohemian lifestyle and deft wordsmithery inspired fascination, fear and a fervent following. One of the true originals of the British music scene and the only man to successfully combine the energy and excitement of rock 'n' roll and funk with the bawdy humour, wit and home-spun philosophy of music-hall and of his native Essex.Ian Dury was born in Harrow. His father was a bus-driver and later a chauffeur, who split up with his university-educated mother soon after the war. The young Ian was struck down by polio at the age of seven. He spent several years in hospital and at a school in Sussex for the disabled. He left grammar school for the Royal College of Art, a stint teaching art and in 1971 the formation of his first band, Kilburn and the High Roads. They developed a minor following on the emerging London pub-rock scene and their first album, Handsome, was released in 1974.
But the defining moment came after Dury started writing with pianist Chaz Jankel and signed to the independent Stiff label and released the album 'New Boots and Panties'. With his band The Blockheads, Ian Dury exploded into the popular consciousness in 1978, appearing on Top of the Pops with his hit single 'What a Waste', followed later that year by 'Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick'. By now Ian was thirty-six and had worked hard for many years to reach this moment. And yet fame, when it came, almost destroyed him.
Written by Will Birch (who has interviewed key members of Ian's family, bands and friends) with Jacket artwork by Dury's former teacher and friend Peter Blake and a full photo section with many previously unseen photos.
The book is now available and priced at 18.99 (GBP) or cheaper through the amazon link below!
And please don't forget the first in depth biography on Ian written by Richard Balls which was released soon after Ian passed away. For this book Ian co-operated with the author and the book is illustrated with many photographs from private collections.
Back on the road through 2010
Dates are coming in frequently. We have just added 10 dates in April (please note that 30th April 100 Club show has sold out. Extra London date at Dingwalls on May 11th))so please keep checking the Live page to see if we are coming your way. If you are a promoter/booker and are interested in booking the band please visit the Contact page.Staring Down The Barrel released on EMI Records
Staring Down The Barrel was released worldwide in April 2009 through EMI records.Comprised of new music written by Chaz Jankel, the lyrics are penned by The Blockheads vocalist Derek Hussey (aka Derek The Draw).
Please check out the EPK below for all the info on the album and some rare footage!
In other news an unconventional biopic about Ian Dury entitled 'Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll', has started filming starring Andy Serkis (Lord of the Rings) in the title role and featuring
Mackenzie Crook, Ray Winstone, Toby Jones and others. The Blockheads have already recorded
music for the film.
"Given the times those ancient Blockheads sound more here-and-now than anyone..." Uncut
"Dury would be proud." Mojo
"This is a record which will thrill Blockheads fans of all ages and demonstrates this ensemble have lost none of their passion and spirit." Subba-Cultcha
"The trademark funk/rock/music hall/ska fusion of old mucker Derek The Draw has...got the great man [Ian Dury]'s knack for vivid social commentary nailed too." Big Cheese
"...unexpectedly thoughtful and engaging." Daily Telegraph Review
"It sounds like a vintage Blockheads album..." Record Collector
"Ian Dury owed his brilliance to no one. But he owed his stardom to The Blockheads. Musically Jankel and his men keep it as tight and funky as before." The Word
"Staring Down The Barrel is a great, adult album full of good tunes, witty lyrics and steaming great grooves." bbc.co.uk
Buy through Amazon
or
Pop over to iTunes to download the album.
Greed - New Video exclusive
Here is the video for 'Greed' - a song that Derek 'The Draw' Hussey wrote (somewhat prophetically) two years ago with Chaz Jankel "Staring Down The Barrel".
The promo features cameos from actor and well-known music fan Martin Freeman (The Office, Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy, The Good Night); Toby Jones (Truman Capote in "Infamous", agent Irving 'Swifty' Lazar in"Frost/Nixon" and Karl Rove in OIiver Stone's "W"); and musician, comedian, actor and TV presenter Rowland Rivron.
Stuart Harris, who has worked as a cinematographer with directors as diverse as Ridley Scott, Julien Temple, Tim Pope and Storm Thorgerson, directed and photographed the video.
New Live album released exclusively on iTunes
" cover of "30 - The Blockheads Live at The Electric Ballroom April 17th 2008"
New Ian Dury & The Blockheads Box Set
Edsel is proud to present a box set of Ian Dury's seven Stiff Records singles, in CD-sized replicas of their original classic 7" sleeves, as well as a four song disc featuring Ian & The Blockheads one and only session for John Peel (or for any BBC Radio show), which is released for the first time in any format! The box also includes a bonus DVD of Ian and the band?s six promo videos for the singles, which have never been commercially released in any format, and have remained unseen since they were broadcast on a handful of occasions in the late 70s / early 80s. The illustrated booklet is extensively annotated by Chaz Jankel and Mick Gallagher. 1. Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll / Razzle In My Pocket / Two Steep Hills / England's Glory 2. Sweet Gene Vincent / You're More Than Fair 3. What A Waste / Wake Up And Make Love With Me 4. Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick / There Ain't Half Been Some Clever Bastards 5. Reasons To Be Cheerful, Part 3 / Common As Muck / Reasons To Be Cheerful, Part 3 [12" version] 6. I Want To Be Straight / That's Not All 7. Sueperman's Big Sister / You'll See Glimpses 8. THE PEEL SESSION: Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll / Clevor Trever / Sweet Gene Vincent / Blockheads BONUS DVD: THE PROMO VIDEOS Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll / What A Waste / Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick / Reasons To Be Cheerful, Part 3 / I Want To Be Straight / Sueperman's Big Sister Release date: 20th October 2008 Catalogue no: EDSB 4003The Stiff years re-released!!
Surprisingly, for three such treasured albums, New Boots And Panties!! (1977); Do It Yourself (1979) and Laughter (1980) have never been given the full Deluxe 2 CD Edition re-issue treatment.
Demon Music Group has finally put this right at long last! With the full co-operation of both the Dury estate and The Blockheads, 2 CD sets include bonus discs with all the non-album singles sides, as well as previously unreleased demo versions, outtakes, and live versions, all retrieved from the untouched Dury tape archive.
The booklets feature full annotation, all the lyrics, and Dury ephemera. We would like to thank Val Jennings at Demon for putting together what we consider to be the ultimate versions of these albums.
To purchase from Amazon please click on an album cover below.
