Thanks to Chatts for this one. As part of the TFTLTYTD thread, this one is for the former Blockheads drummer Charlie Charles to lost his fight with cancer not so long after this series of benefit gigs. However, the ring master of the Blockheads circus, Ian himself, lost his own fight with cancer five years later in 2000.
I was fortunate enough to see The Blockheads with Ian on three occasions. In 1994 Madness played Madstock II in Finsbury Park with Ian (a well acknowledged influence for the band) in support. At around the same time the band headlined at the Grand in Clapham, this time with The Nutty Boys (Lee and Chrissy Boy from Madness) doing the support honours. Lastly, I saw one of the band's last gigs at the Junction in Cambridge. That must have been in 1999, Ian was unwell by this stage but it was magical seeing such an icon in such a small venue.
My first encounter with Ian and his Blockheads was when 'Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick' came out.... late 1978. I remember going to a schoolfriend's house specifically to record the single. This meant kneeling in front of his parent's radiogram with the small plastic microphone pointed at one speaker whilst trying to be as quiet as possible! The B-side, 'There Ain't Half Been Some Clever Bastards' was wonderfully subversive in my 9 year old mind!
Dury was a fantastic lyricist whose wayward appearance and cockney delivery meant that he still found a receptive audience after punk swept the pub rock bands aside (of course not overlooking the fact that Kilburn & The High Roads were the inspiration for many of the young punks that dominated 1977).
By all accounts Ian wasn't the easiest of personalities, but that not withstanding his and The Blockheads legacy is second to none.
FLAC: https://we.tl/t-dICXFvyWK2
Artwork: https://we.tl/t-sdbmYB3dUK
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