Search - Ian Dury :: Sex & Drugs & Rock N Roll: Best of

He'll be missed!

03/29/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Aw, now this just isn't fair, Ian Dury dying. Here's one guy from the "new wave" days who was provocative, but in the way that British music hall "bawdy ditties" or Benny Hill were provocative. Naughty, but with a lot of humor and heart. This compilation only scratches the surface ("Dance Of The Crackpots" and "Spasticus Autisticus" are two songs that really should've been included), but you get everything else that made Dury great, including "Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick," "Billerickie Dickie," "Superman's Big Sister" and---what else?---"Sex & Drugs & Rock 'N Roll, " a major anthem of the past century. Ta, mate, you'll be missed!"

The WideBoy Poet

Bob Saunders | Sydney Australia | 04/06/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Ian Dury was one of those rarities - with acute vision of his culture and an ability to express it with humane humour. But genius was not enough - he needed a vehicle to carry his poetry to the people. His vehicle was musical collaborator Chaz Jankel - a gifted musician and producer. He managed to translate Dury's left of centre lyrics into infectious rhythms and seductively simple tunes over an eclectic range of musical styles. The two together were magic - separate they descended to the mundane - and Dury - like other genius could be guache to awful when he wasn't being brilliant. This album celebrates much of Dury's best work and just one or two bits of "Craggy on the Waggy"."

Sly lyricist with a calculatedly common touch

Charles Platt | Arizona, USA | 07/24/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Ian Dury wrote lyrics that told stories about British life (in particular, Cockney life). He was a songwriting genius, although his insistence on avoiding pretensions and affecting a common touch tended to deprive him of serious recognition as a lyricist. In addition he put together a tight band of good musicians, sometimes funk-flavored, sometimes barely noticeable behind the stories told in Dury's songs. He was a brilliant man who died too soon. This collection of his few British hits includes some B-sides, which are especially memorable and may be unfamiliar to the US audience. There is relatively little overlap between this CD and Dury's various albums; and his later work (which was musically disappointing) is not represented."