On the 25th anniversary of Ian’s passing, Blockheads guitarist and keyboard player Chaz Jankal remembers his friend, the “Godfather of Punk,” by saying, “Ian’s spirit is on stage with us all the time.
Growling lyrics to songs like Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick with a razor blade dangling from his ear, Ian Dury was like no other lead singer when his band The Blockheads burst on to the 1970s music scene.
Disabled by polio, aged 7, causing paralysis on the left hand side of his body, he was dubbed ‘ the Godfather of Punk. ‘ His style was just as distinctive as Dury himself, blending punk rock, funk, reggae, new wave, jazz, and rock and roll.
The Blockheads’ debut single Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll in 1977 was named Single of the Week by music bible the NME, but was banned by the BBC who thought it was distasteful and offensive.
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Today (Thursday, March 27), Ian Dury passed away from liver cancer at the age of 57 after topping the top 40 hits with Rhythm Stick, What a Waste, and Reasons to be Cheerful Part 3.
Still performing with The Blockheads, friend and co-writer Chaz Jankel, 72, tells The Mirror: “When we started there was no other band that I knew of in the late 70s that played such a wide range of music, from soulful funk to music hall.
Our music resembled punk’s raucous English RnB, which was the original form of the genre. Before Sid Vicious, Ian was known as “The Godfather of Punk” because he was the first to hang a razorblade from his ear. His spirit is still in everything we do because his lyrics are so poignant even today. “
Nearly 50 years ago, Ian Dury and the Blockheads first dominated the UK music scene. The band he formed is currently touring the UK with Chaz Jankel on guitar and keyboards, John Turnbull on guitar,, Mick Gallagher on keyboards, John Roberts on drums and Mike Bennett as lead vocalist.
And despite the addition of some fresh tracks, the crowd-freaks with the classic hits. According to Chaz, if Ian were still alive today, he would have turned 83 on his birthday. He’d see we have three generations of fans – granddads, their sons and daughters and their children.
When we mention his name at one of our shows, the audience is enthralled, even though half of them have never seen him play because they are too young. Reasons to be Cheerful Part 3 and Sweet Gene Vincent always have a good time. But if you were to measure using a Clapometer, it would probably be Clevor Trever. Every time we play, I say thank you to Ian.
Both Dury’s parents, William, a former boxer, and Peggy, a health visitor, were Harrow’s children’s caregivers and Rolls Royce bus drivers. He spent three years at the Chailey Heritage Craft School in East Sussex, a hospital for disabled children known for toughening them up, before enrolling at the Royal Grammar School in High Wycombe. He found his feet at Wathamstow School of Art in east London, where he befriended pop art legend Peter Blake, before studying for an MA at the Royal Academy of Art.
Chaz continues: “Sex, drugs and Rock n Roll was an observation of the world and a reflection of the time he lived in rather than him saying ‘that’s what I want’ He liked the attention of the opposite sex – there’s no doubt about that – but he wasn’t a womaniser. I think he always needed a female companion by his side but there were two prominent women in his life.”
Dury – who was in a band called Kilburn and the High Roads before The Blockheads – was first married to Elizabeth Rathmell, known as Betty, who he had children Baxter, now 53, and Jemima, 56, with. However, he claimed in an interview that our marriage was ended by The High Roads. I was never there, primarily because I was out drinking, using drugs, and drinking groupies.
My daughter claimed that she once experienced a little loneliness. More so because it appeared in the papers when I was being a hysterical success. She was aware of my being alive without me being there. Chaz recalls his friend as being a “complex character,” noting that his personality changed after he had a drink. He had Dutch courage and, occasionally, the frustration that had been building up in his sobering hours, which could turn into a little vindictive if he didn’t hold his alcohol well. He’d find somebody’s Achille’s heel and he’d go for that. “
Dury never had a musical career; instead, he worked as an illustrator and taught art students at Canterbury College of Art while earning his MA. When he realized he couldn’t be as great as Rembrandt, he turned his hand to music, recalls Chaz.
“But Ian was an artist who painted with his words – he loved to paint characters. The greatest talent of Ian was as a writer, out of all the other abilities he had, such as being a great entertainer. He was a fantastic poet who was completely real and authentic. There was a great modesty and a realism that came from him that allowed him to be a true artist”.
Chaz will never forget when he first met Ian when they were just finishing a “loud and raucous” set with Kilburn and the High Roads in a London pub. Ian told Chaz to “everybody off,” believing that he was just a customer getting in the way.
When I first saw them perform, Chaz recalls, “I was utterly amazed, perplexed, and hypnotized.” “He was the king of the pub circuit, mischievous, wise and rebellious. I was invited to join them for rehearsals. Although I don’t recall exactly when I was wrong, I did go. It ended up being an audition and I got the gig”.
However, Dury, who struggled with his disability, didn’t have a simple path to becoming a rock star. He lived in a third-floor apartment, but “rhythm was like his exercise,” says Chaz. “Life on the road was difficult. “He loved to sit behind a drum kit and put out a 4/4 drum beat. We wrote Spasticus Autisticus together, and the rhythm embodied that same spirit of resilience. Moving forward is the theme of the song, but it must be struggled.
Spasticus Autisticus was penned in 1981 as a protest against the International Year of Disabled Persons, which Dury considered to be patronising. The “anti-charity” song, which is frequently compared to a battle cry and an appeal for understanding, was inspired by repeated requests to get involved in charitable causes.
We knew each other so well that when we came together, it would just fit like a glove, Chaz says of his bond with Dury. It made my hair stand up on the back of my neck”.
However, the singer claimed in a BBC documentary, “I only started a band to support my artwork.” “I started a band using three of the students from Canterbury, The Kilburns”, he said. In order to support my paintings and earn a living that wasn’t teaching, I began playing the band. When I saw bands, I thought they were terrible and that I could do better. But I never thought of myself as a singer, I always thought of myself as a performer”.
He added that fame was never something he had an interest in. I go on stage to feel appreciated or useful rather than just to soak up the applause. I’ve had a fulfilling life since I was a young sprog”, he said. I was aware that art school was a program I could attend. Because I liked the idea of the Bohemian way of life, I decided to pursue an art degree.
” I thought I might be a painter one day – it was a way of life that appealed to me – it was the freedom, the style, the glamour of not being normal. More than most people realize, I’ve had a lot of success in life. It would be much harder for me to cope with it if I was angry, unrecognised, or unfulfilled. But I don’t feel any of that stuff, I feel very lucky. Almost as though my life has been blessed, really.
His legacy continues to be as strong as ever 25 years after his death on March 27, 2000, both on the music scene and in those close to him. Blockheads keyboard player Mick Gallagher tells The Mirror:” Ian had a magnetic personality. People were drawn to him, whether or not they knew why, just like moths do around candles. He was consistently “interesting.” We celebrate his life and work at every show. God’s blessings on him.
Liberty, a new song from The Blockheads, is available.
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