Gone, But Not Forgotten # 3

One of the few artists in the so called New Wave era Ian Dury impressed me much. Handicapped with Polio he went on stage, singing his songs and had fun playing that new sounds. He managed sexual equivocal ones with in fantastic songs. You can read more about him, his life and his career on Wiki. For me he was an artist who gave all in his concerts to the audience. I saw him one in a small club in the very early 1980s and I was so impressed about his physical presence while he performed. He was one of the first acts signed to STIFF-records and was on the first tour together with Elvis Costello, Nick Lowe and the underrated Wreckless Eric. His first record New Boots and Panties was very successful and his single Sex and Drugs and Rock and Roll was banned because explicit lyrics. His first record is remarkable for me because his winking lyrics embedded in fantastic songs that doesn't stuck in that whole New Wave thing. He also tried to combine different influences funk, jazz, soul,R'n'R and typically British musical background to his own personal sound. In 1996 they diagnosed colorectal cancer and underwent surgery, but the tumours were later found in his liver, and he was told that his condition was terminal. Upon learning of his illness, Dury took the opportunity to marry his girlfrien, sculpture Sophy Tilson, with whom he had two children. His legacy is one of the best British albums of the 1980s which carries the spirit of New Wave and the message, that a handicapped one is also able to play and live the spirit of Rock and Roll. He died on March 27 in 2000. May you rest in peace, Ian.

Ian Dury & The Blockheads - Wake Up And Make Love With Me

Ian Dury & The Blockheads - Sex And Drugs And Rock And Roll

Ian Dury & The Blockheads - Sweet Gene Vincent

Ian Dury & The Blockheads - What A Waste