Editing Ian Dury (section)

==Music career==
===Kilburn and the High Roads (1971–1975)===
Dury formed [[Kilburn and the High Roads]] (a reference to [[Kilburn High Road|the road in North West London]]) in 1971,<ref>{{cite book |first1=Harris M. |last1=Berger |first2=Michael Thomas |last2=Carroll |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HhYxPacpJTEC&q=Kilburn+%26+the+High+Roads&pg=PA223 |title=Global pop, local language |page=223 |publisher=Univ. Press of Mississippi |date=2003 |isbn=1-57806-536-4 |access-date=16 February 2010 |archive-date=29 September 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210929120823/https://books.google.com/books?id=HhYxPacpJTEC&q=Kilburn+%26+the+High+Roads&pg=PA223 |url-status=live }}</ref> and they played their first gig at [[Croydon School of Art]] on 5 December 1971.<ref name=iandury/> Dury was vocalist and lyricist, co-writing with pianist Russell Hardy and later enrolling into the group a number of the students he was teaching at [[Canterbury College of Art]] (now the [[University for the Creative Arts]]), including bassist [[Humphrey Ocean]].<ref name="life"/>

Managed first by [[Charlie Gillett]]<ref name="life"/> and Gordon Nelki and latterly by fashion entrepreneur [[Tommy Roberts Mr Freedom|Tommy Roberts]], the Kilburns were popular on London's [[Pub rock (United Kingdom)|pub rock]] circuit and signed to Dawn Records in 1974 but, despite favourable press coverage and a tour opening for English rock band [[The Who]], the group failed to rise above cult status and disbanded in 1975.{{cn|date=March 2025}}

Kilburn and the High Roads recorded two albums, ''[[Handsome (Kilburn and the High-Roads album)|Handsome]]'' and ''[[Wotabunch!]]''.<ref>{{AllMusic|class=album|id=r42250}}</ref>

===Going solo (August – September 1977)===

The single "[[Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll]]", released 26 August 1977, marked Dury's [[Stiff Records]] debut. Although it was banned by the [[BBC]], it was named Single of the Week by ''[[NME]]'' on its release.<ref name="pennyblack">{{cite web |url=http://www.pennyblackmusic.co.uk/magsitepages/Article/4896/Blockheads-Interview |first=John |last=Clarkson |title=Mickey Gallagher interview, October 2008 |publisher=Pennyblackmusic.co.uk |date=28 October 2008 |access-date=12 June 2018 |archive-date=12 June 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180612152249/http://www.pennyblackmusic.co.uk/magsitepages/Article/4896/Blockheads-Interview |url-status=live }}</ref> The single issue was soon followed, at the end of September, by the album ''[[New Boots and Panties!!]]'' which achieved platinum status. "Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll" was not listed on the album's track list, yet it was nonetheless present as track 1 on side 2 of some later 1977 pressings).<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.hifinews.com/content/ian-dury-new-boots-panties-alternate-format-discography | title=Ian Dury: New Boots & Panties!! Alternate Format Discography | date=15 May 2020 }}</ref>

===The Blockheads===

{{refimprove section|date=March 2025}}
{{main|The Blockheads}}
[[File:Ian Dury 2.jpg|thumb|right|Live at [[The Roundhouse]], [[Chalk Farm]], London, 1978]]
Under the management of [[Andrew King (music manager)|Andrew King]] and [[Peter Jenner]], the original managers of [[Pink Floyd]], Ian Dury and the Blockheads quickly gained a reputation as one of the top live acts of [[new wave music]].{{cn|date=April 2023}}

The Blockheads' sound drew from its members' diverse musical influences, which included [[jazz]], rock and roll, [[funk]], and [[reggae]], and Dury's love of [[music hall]]. The band was formed after Dury began writing songs with pianist and guitarist [[Chas Jankel|Chaz Jankel]] (the brother of music video, TV, commercial and film director [[Annabel Jankel]]). Jankel took Dury's lyrics, fashioned a number of songs, and they began recording with members of [[Radio Caroline]]'s Loving Awareness Band{{snd}} drummer [[Charley Charles]] (born Hugh Glenn Mortimer Charles, [[Guyana]] 1945), bassist [[Norman Watt-Roy]], keyboard player [[Mick Gallagher]], guitarist [[John Turnbull (musician)|John Turnbull]] and former Kilburns saxophonist [[Davey Payne]].{{cn|date=April 2023}}
[[File:duryegg.jpg|thumb|upright|Live at The Roundhouse, Chalk Farm, London, 1978]]
In October 1977 Dury and his band started performing as Ian Dury and the Blockheads, when the band signed on for the Stiff "Live Stiffs Tour" alongside [[Elvis Costello]] & [[the Attractions]], [[Nick Lowe]], [[Wreckless Eric]], and [[Larry Wallis]]. The tour was a success, and Stiff launched a concerted Ian Dury marketing campaign, resulting in the Top Ten hit "[[What a Waste]]" and the hit single "[[Hit Me with Your Rhythm Stick]]", which reached No.&nbsp;1 in the UK at the beginning of 1979, selling just short of a million copies. Again, "Hit Me" was not included on the original release of the subsequent album ''[[Do It Yourself (Ian Dury & the Blockheads album)|Do It Yourself]]''. With their hit singles, the band built up a dedicated following in the UK and other countries and their next single "[[Reasons to be Cheerful, Part 3]]" made number three in the UK.
The band's second album ''Do It Yourself'' was released in June 1979 in a [[Barney Bubbles]]-designed sleeve of which there were over a dozen variations, all based on samples from the [[Crown Wallpaper|Crown wallpaper]] catalogue. Bubbles also designed the Blockhead logo.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.aural-innovations.com/robertcalvert/hawkwind/barney.htm |first=Roy |last=Carr |newspaper=[[New Musical Express]] |title=Barney Bubbles obituary |access-date=12 June 2018 |date=26 November 1983 |archive-date=5 August 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180805175232/http://www.aural-innovations.com/robertcalvert/hawkwind/barney.htm |url-status=live }}</ref>

Jankel left the band temporarily and relocated to the US after the release of "What a Waste" (his organ part on that single was overdubbed later) but he subsequently returned to the UK and began touring sporadically with the Blockheads, eventually returning to the group full-time for the recording of "Hit Me with Your Rhythm Stick"; according to Mickey Gallagher, the band recorded 28 takes of the song but eventually settled on the second take for the single release. Partly due to personality clashes with Dury,<ref name="pennyblack"/> Jankel left the group again in 1980, after the recording of the ''Do It Yourself'' LP, and he returned to the US to concentrate on his solo career.{{cn|date=April 2023}}

The group worked solidly over the 18 months between the release of "Rhythm Stick" and their next single, "Reasons to Be Cheerful, Part 3", which returned them to the charts, making the UK Top 10. Jankel was replaced by former [[Dr. Feelgood (band)|Dr. Feelgood]] guitarist [[Wilko Johnson]], who also contributed to the next album ''[[Laughter (Ian Dury & The Blockheads album)|Laughter]]'' (1980) and its two hit singles, although Gallagher recalls that the recording of the ''Laughter'' album was difficult and that Dury was drinking heavily in this period.<ref name="pennyblack"/>

In 1980–81 Dury and Jankel teamed up again with [[Sly and Robbie]] and the [[Compass Point All Stars]] to record ''[[Lord Upminster]]'' (1981). The Blockheads toured the UK and Europe throughout 1981, sometimes augmented by jazz trumpeter [[Don Cherry (jazz)|Don Cherry]], ending the year with their only tour of Australia.<ref name="Blockheads official website">{{cite web |url=http://www.theblockheads.com/biog.php |title=Blockheads official website |publisher=Theblockheads.com |access-date=30 December 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080509084204/http://www.theblockheads.com/biog.php |archive-date=9 May 2008 |df=dmy-all }}</ref>
The Blockheads disbanded in early 1982, after Dury secured a new recording deal with [[Polydor Records]] through A&R man Frank Neilson. Choosing to work with a group of young musicians which he named the Music Students, he recorded the album ''Four Thousand Weeks' Holiday''. This album marked a departure from his usual style and was not as well received by fans for its American jazz influence.{{cn|date=April 2023}}

The Blockheads briefly reformed in June 1987 to play a short tour of Japan, and then disbanded again. In September 1990, following the death from cancer of drummer Charley Charles, they reunited for two benefit concerts in aid of Charles' family, held at [[The Forum, London|The Forum]], [[Camden Town]], with [[Steven Monti]] on drums. In December 1990, augmented by Merlin Rhys-Jones on guitar and Will Parnell on percussion, they recorded the live album ''Warts & Audience'' at the [[Brixton Academy]].<ref name="Blockheads official website"/>

The Blockheads (minus Jankel, who returned to California) toured Spain in January 1991, then disbanded again until August 1992 when, following Jankel's return to England, they were invited to reform for the [[Madstock!]] Festival in [[Finsbury Park]];<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/ian-dury-and-the-blockheads/1992/finsbury-park-london-england-13ddf5d9.html |title=Ian Dury & The Blockheads Setlist |publisher=Setlist.fm |access-date=18 June 2018 |archive-date=19 June 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180619140124/https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/ian-dury-and-the-blockheads/1992/finsbury-park-london-england-13ddf5d9.html |url-status=live }}</ref> this was followed by sporadic gigs in Europe, Ireland, the UK and Japan in late 1994 and 1995.<ref name="Blockheads official website"/> In the early 1990s, Dury appeared with English band [[Curve (band)|Curve]] on the benefit compilation album ''[[Peace Together]]''. Dury and Curve singer [[Toni Halliday]] shared vocals on a cover of the Blockheads' track "What a Waste".{{cn|date=April 2023}}

In March 1996 Dury was diagnosed with cancer and, after recovering from an operation, he set about writing another album. In late 1996 he reunited with the Blockheads to record the album ''[[Mr. Love Pants]]'' (1997). Ian Dury and the Blockheads resumed touring, with Dylan Howe replacing Steven Monti on drums. Davey Payne left the group permanently in August and was replaced by [[Gilad Atzmon]]; this line-up gigged throughout 1999, culminating in their last performance with Ian Dury on 6 February 2000 at the [[London Palladium]]. Dury died six weeks later on 27 March 2000.<ref name="Blockheads official website"/>

The Blockheads have continued after Dury's death, and continue to play live gigs {{as of|lc=yes|2023}}.<ref>{{cite web | title=Live gigs | website=The Blockheads | url=https://www.theblockheads.com/live-gigs/ | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230318001226/https://www.theblockheads.com/live-gigs/ | archive-date=18 March 2023 | url-status=live | access-date=28 April 2023}}</ref>

===Other solo work===

Dury continued to record other work without the Blockheads, including ''[[Lord Upminster]]'' (1981); ''[[Apples (album)|Apples]]'' (1989) and ''[[The Bus Driver's Prayer & Other Stories]]'' (1992). He also released a single album with the Music Students, ''[[4,000 Weeks' Holiday]]'' (1984).
His 1981 song "[[Spasticus Autisticus]]"{{snd}} written to show his disdain for that year's [[International Year of Disabled Persons]], which he saw as patronising and counter-productive{{snd}} was banned by the [[BBC]] from being broadcast by the BBC before 6 pm. The lyrics were uncompromising:

<poem>
    So place your hard-earned peanuts in my tin
    And thank the Creator you're not in the state I'm in
    So long have I been languished on the shelf
    I must give all proceedings to myself</poem>
The song's refrain, "I'm spasticus, autisticus", was inspired by the response of the rebellious Roman [[gladiator]]s in the film ''[[Spartacus (film)|Spartacus]]'', who, when instructed to identify their leader, all answered, "I am [[Spartacus]]", to protect him. According to George McKay, in his 2009 article "Crippled with nerves" (an early Dury song title), for ''Popular Music'':<ref>{{cite journal |first=George |last=McKay |date=2009 |url=http://usir.salford.ac.uk/2372/1/displayFulltext.pdf |title='Crippled with nerves': popular music and polio, with particular reference to Ian Dury |journal=Popular Music |volume=28 |issue=3 |pages=341–365 |doi=10.1017/S0261143009990109 |s2cid=161590800 |access-date=12 June 2018 |archive-date=16 September 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180916101509/http://usir.salford.ac.uk/2372/1/displayFulltext.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>
{{blockquote|Ian Dury, that 'flaw of the jungle', produced a remarkable and sustained body of work that explored issues of disability, in both personal and social contexts, institutionalisation, and to a lesser extent the pop cultural tradition of disability. He also, with the single "Spasticus Autisticus" (1981), produced one of the outstanding protest songs about the place of disabled people in what he called 'normal land'.}}

Dury described the song as "a war cry" on ''[[Desert Island Discs]]''.{{cn|date=April 2023}} The song was used at the opening of the [[London 2012 Paralympics]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://disabilityarts.online/magazine/opinion/london-2012-paralympic-games-lost-legacy/ |title=The London 2012 Paralympic Games – A Lost Legacy? |date=26 August 2016 |author=Graeae |publisher=Disability Arts Online |access-date=26 April 2022}}</ref>
In 1984, Dury was featured in the music video for the minor hit single "[[Walking in My Sleep]]" by [[Roger Daltrey]] of [[The Who]].{{cn|date=April 2023}}