Hit Me! The Best of Ian Dury is a great three-disc collection of Ian Dury classics, demo tracks, live cuts, new wave bangers, tenders ballads, and punk ragers from one of the best songwriters of his era.
Starting with two funky floor-fillers out of the gate, “Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll” and “Wake Up and Make Love with Me,” the compilation is already firing on all cylinders. I discovered Dury’s work through live versions of songs like this when I was in a record store in Bloomington, Indiana and the clerk was playing a live album from Dury and his killer band, The Blockheads. I thought, “Who is this?” and had been intrigued ever since. I snatched up this collection at a London record store as soon as I saw it.
It doesn’t disappoint. Ever. “Sweet Gene Vincent” pays tribute to one of Dury’s heroes. “Clevor Trever” and “Billericay Dickie” have Dury taking on alternate identities (Or are they?). “Blockheads” (with Dury singing / yelling toward the back of the room) ended up giving his future band their name. Dury is brutally honest with himself, and any female suitors, on the groovy “If I Was with a Woman.” “The Mumble Rumble and the Cocktail Rock” showcases Dury’s love of 1950s jukebox rockers. “Crippled with Nerves” (a song about his life with polio) showcases his love of country, gospel, and Elvis Presley, whereas “Blackmail Man” is a punk punch in the face…and that’s all on just the first disc.
Disc two starts with two more classics – “Reasons to Be Cheerful (Part 3)” and “Hit Me with Your Rhythm Stick.” “What a Waste” is sultry and slippery, reminding me of some of Frank Zappa‘s work, and the groove of “Inbetweenies” is outstanding. On “I Want to Be Straight,” Dury and the Blockheads are “sick and tired of taking drugs and staying up late.” The saxophone work on “Waiting for Your Taxi” is perfect for a late 1970s crime film. “Dance of the Screamers” turns into a psych-jazz freakout with disco beats behind it, showing us how the Blockheads were (are) one of the best bands out there. That hot disco groove continues on “Don’t Ask Me.”
“Mash It Up Harry” starts out disc three with a reggae twist (and, later, “Itinerant Child” continues it). “Dance Little Rude Boy” is another funky classic made even funkier by the electric piano work throughout it. The live version of “Spasticus Autisticus” is sharp as a razor and is a brief glimpse of how much the Blockheads were a murderer’s row of musicians. The guitar solo on “Bed O’Roses” is somewhere between a yacht rock anthem and a prog-rock ripper. The relentless rhythm of “Jack Sh*t George” is perfect for both a new wave club or even a late 1980s nighttime talk show theme. The disc, and the collection ends with a demo version of “England’s Glory,” which has a rough, raw edge to it that’s great, and it sounds like Dury and his band had a fun time in the studio that day.
This is a great entry point to Dury’s music, and it certainly made me want to find live albums by him.
Keep your mind open.
[I’ll have another reason to be cheerful if you subscribe,]