Amazon.co.uk Review
Disabled by polio as a child, Ian Dury was never a typical pop idol. But he recovered, and soldiered on, and during the late seventies was responsible for some of the most bracing English rock & roll ever heard. His tragic death in March 2000 at the age of only 57, was doubly ironic given that his most recent album,
Mr Love Pants, was his best work in 20 years. Now, journalist Richard Balls has delved deep into the life and times of the late Ian Dury for this first-ever biography of the man who was already in his thirties when he began his musical career--in the improbably named Kilburn & The High Roads. It was during the late seventies--on Stiff Records and in the company of The Blockheads--that Dury hit his stride, producing uncompromisingly English pop songs such as "Sweet Gene Vincent", "Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick" and "What A Waste". Dury's detours into acting are also detailed, but Balls revels most in his frequently inspired wordplay: "This", he once sang, "is what we find/The hope that springs eternal, springs right up your behind!" A genuine one-off, Ian Dury is already sadly missed, but his memory is well served by this thoroughly researched and impressively detailed biography. --
Patrick Humphries
Product Description
This biography of Ian Dury has been written with the cooperation of Dury himself. Dury shot to fame in 1979 with his single "Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick", which went to number one in the charts. He is also associated with his battle against polio. In 1998 Dury was diagnosed with liver cancer.
