Do It Yourself (Ian Dury & the Blockheads album)
Encyclopedia
Do It Yourself is a 1979 album by Ian Dury
& The Blockheads. It was the first album to be credited to Ian Dury & The Blockheads rather than Ian Dury alone, although Dury had used the full band name for the "What A Waste" 7" single of 1978. The album was released in the wake of the chart-topping hit single "Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick
", and reached number two in the charts, behind ABBA
's Voulez-Vous
. Do It Yourself sold around 200,000 copies, and was Dury's second Platinum album (after its predecessor New Boots and Panties!!).
cricket ground, but now a rented home in Rolvenden
, Kent
. Even though he declined point blank his management's attempts to get him to dust off and re-record old Kilburn and the High-Roads songs like "England's Glory" Dury did resurrect one old song, "Sink My Boats", the very first song he and Chas Jankel wrote together. In fact a number of other songs pre-date the rehearsal and song-writing sessions for Do It Yourself; the instrumentals for "Quiet", "This Is What We Find" and "Uneasy Sunny Day Hotsy Totsy" were all arranged by Blockheads members while they were still in their band Loving Awareness. Sex And Drugs And Rock And Roll: The Life Of Ian Dury and Demon's CD re-issues of the album mistakenly credit the album as being composed entirely by Dury and Chas Jankel
; in fact this was the first time Dury involved all of the band in the writing process and barely half of the tracks were Dury/Jankel compositions.
The recording session at Dury's house that also produced "Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick" was used to demo some of the new songs. These demos, later released on Edsel Record's 2-CD re-issue of the album, were for "This Is What We Find", "Inbetweenies", "Quiet" and "Uneasy Sunny Day Hotsy Totsy", along with the first version of "Duff 'Em Up And Do 'Em Over (Boogie Woogie)", a song that would remain unreleased but would eventually become the song "Oh Mr. Peanut" on the next album, Laughter.
Do It Yourself was recorded in The Workhouse Studios on the Old Kent Road
, the same place where New Boots and Panties!! had been recorded two years earlier, under the production of Chas Jankel and Laurie Latham, though Latham's credit was downplayed to 'recording engineer' apparently because of Dury's feelings about producers' influence being overplayed. This was Jankel's first time producing and much of the album's 'softness' is usually attributed to his production along with a number of other things, including the 'echo-y' sound of "Don't Ask Me". The Do It Yourself sessions were notably the beginning of Ian Dury becoming nightmare-ish to record with. Success went to Dury's head and during the Do It Yourself sessions he began to exhibit control-freakery and took to being cantankerous, contrary, confrontational and argumentative, as well as performing a number of bizarre 'wind-ups' (including crushing a whole packet of McVitie's Digestive Biscuits and throwing them over Laurie Latham). His behaviour worsened and Jankel was forced to phone him and politely ask he stay away from the final weeks of sessions, which he did.
In keeping with Dury's policy of not including singles on albums, "Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick" was omitted, and no singles were released from the album either (his next British single would be "Reasons to be Cheerful, Part 3
"). Most retrospective interviews with band and management bemoan this and nearly all suggest the opening track "Inbetweenies" as the ideal choice of single; "Inbetweenies" was released in Europe, backed with "Dance Of The Screamers". The lack of singles on the album did not greatly affect the album's chart performance. However, the European tour that followed managed to cancel out most, if not all, of the album's profit. The tour lost an estimated £40,000 because of various extravagancies including entourage and Dury's insistence on all his road crew and band staying in top hotels. The tour was so stressful it caused Chas Jankel to leave the band.
design. Crown also wallpapered all of the sets for the Blockheads' subsequent promotional tour. The sleeves greatly helped sales and there were reports of fans travelling to different towns and even importing more sleeves that were released abroad; in addition. various badges, combs, watches, paint brushes and wallpaper ties were distributed, mostly the creations of designer Barney Bubbles
, who also created the Blockheads' 'clockface' logo. A number of promotional items designed by Bubbles can be seen in the booklet for Ian Dury & The Blockheads' last album Ten More Turnips From The Tip.
", "Common As Muck", "I Want To Be Straight", "That's Not All" (the A and B sides of the three singles released around the time of Do It Yourself and the 12" extended mix of "Reasons To Be Cheerful" as bonus tracks. Edsel changed the bonus tracks, removing "I Want To Be Straight" and its B-side "That's Not All" and replacing them with "What A Waste". This is in fact a more fitting set of bonus tracks, as "I Want To Be Straight" was released nearly a year after Do It Yourself and features a different Blockheads line-up (including Dr. Feelgood
's Wilko Johnson
), the same line-up that plays on the album Laughter (Edsel's re-issue of Laughter includes both tracks), whereas "What A Waste" was played by the original Blockheads line-up that plays on Do It Yourself.
Edsel's current re-issue also features a bonus disc that includes the demos recorded at Dury's house in Kent and 10 tracks recorded on the Stiff's Live Stiff's tour in 1977. These songs are different from the three included on the LP of the tour released the previous year.
Ian Dury
Ian Robins Dury was an English rock and roll singer, lyricist, bandleader and actor who initially rose to fame during the late 1970s, during the punk and New Wave era of rock music...
& The Blockheads. It was the first album to be credited to Ian Dury & The Blockheads rather than Ian Dury alone, although Dury had used the full band name for the "What A Waste" 7" single of 1978. The album was released in the wake of the chart-topping hit single "Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick
Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick
"Hit Me with Your Rhythm Stick" is a song and single by Ian Dury & The Blockheads, first released 23 November 1978 and was first released on the 7" single BUY 38 Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick / There Ain't Half Been Some Clever Bastards by Stiff Records. It went to number one on the UK Singles...
", and reached number two in the charts, behind ABBA
ABBA
ABBA was a Swedish pop group formed in Stockholm in 1970 which consisted of Anni-Frid Lyngstad, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson and Agnetha Fältskog...
's Voulez-Vous
Voulez-Vous
-CD re-issues, bonus tracks:Voulez-Vous was remastered and reissued in 1997 with two bonus tracks:"Summer Night City" – 3:34 "Lovelight" – 3:18Voulez-Vous was remastered and reissued in 2001 with three other bonus tracks:...
. Do It Yourself sold around 200,000 copies, and was Dury's second Platinum album (after its predecessor New Boots and Panties!!).
Background and recording
Like New Boots and Panties!! before it, much of Do It Yourself was written at Dury's home, no longer a flat near The OvalThe Oval
The Kia Oval, still commonly referred to by its original name of The Oval, is an international cricket ground in Kennington, in the London Borough of Lambeth. In the past it was also sometimes called the Kennington Oval...
cricket ground, but now a rented home in Rolvenden
Rolvenden
Rolvenden is a village and civil parish in the Ashford District of Kent, England. The village is located on the A28 Ashford to Hastings road, south-west of Tenterden.The settlement of Rolvenden Layne, south of Rolvenden, is also in the parish.-History:...
, Kent
Kent
Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...
. Even though he declined point blank his management's attempts to get him to dust off and re-record old Kilburn and the High-Roads songs like "England's Glory" Dury did resurrect one old song, "Sink My Boats", the very first song he and Chas Jankel wrote together. In fact a number of other songs pre-date the rehearsal and song-writing sessions for Do It Yourself; the instrumentals for "Quiet", "This Is What We Find" and "Uneasy Sunny Day Hotsy Totsy" were all arranged by Blockheads members while they were still in their band Loving Awareness. Sex And Drugs And Rock And Roll: The Life Of Ian Dury and Demon's CD re-issues of the album mistakenly credit the album as being composed entirely by Dury and Chas Jankel
Chas Jankel
Charles Jeremy Jankel professionally known as Chaz Jankel, is a musician best known as the keyboard player and guitarist with Ian Dury and the Blockheads...
; in fact this was the first time Dury involved all of the band in the writing process and barely half of the tracks were Dury/Jankel compositions.
The recording session at Dury's house that also produced "Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick" was used to demo some of the new songs. These demos, later released on Edsel Record's 2-CD re-issue of the album, were for "This Is What We Find", "Inbetweenies", "Quiet" and "Uneasy Sunny Day Hotsy Totsy", along with the first version of "Duff 'Em Up And Do 'Em Over (Boogie Woogie)", a song that would remain unreleased but would eventually become the song "Oh Mr. Peanut" on the next album, Laughter.
Do It Yourself was recorded in The Workhouse Studios on the Old Kent Road
Old Kent Road
The Old Kent Road is a road in South East London, England and forms part of Watling Street, the Roman road which ran from Dover to Holyhead. The street is famous as the equal cheapest property on the London Monopoly board and as the only one in South London....
, the same place where New Boots and Panties!! had been recorded two years earlier, under the production of Chas Jankel and Laurie Latham, though Latham's credit was downplayed to 'recording engineer' apparently because of Dury's feelings about producers' influence being overplayed. This was Jankel's first time producing and much of the album's 'softness' is usually attributed to his production along with a number of other things, including the 'echo-y' sound of "Don't Ask Me". The Do It Yourself sessions were notably the beginning of Ian Dury becoming nightmare-ish to record with. Success went to Dury's head and during the Do It Yourself sessions he began to exhibit control-freakery and took to being cantankerous, contrary, confrontational and argumentative, as well as performing a number of bizarre 'wind-ups' (including crushing a whole packet of McVitie's Digestive Biscuits and throwing them over Laurie Latham). His behaviour worsened and Jankel was forced to phone him and politely ask he stay away from the final weeks of sessions, which he did.
In keeping with Dury's policy of not including singles on albums, "Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick" was omitted, and no singles were released from the album either (his next British single would be "Reasons to be Cheerful, Part 3
Reasons to be Cheerful, Part 3
"Reasons to be Cheerful, Part 3" is a song and single by Ian Dury and the Blockheads, initially released as the single BUY 50 "Reasons to be Cheerful, Part 3 / Common as Muck" issued on 20 July 1979 and reached number 3 in the UK singles Chart the following month...
"). Most retrospective interviews with band and management bemoan this and nearly all suggest the opening track "Inbetweenies" as the ideal choice of single; "Inbetweenies" was released in Europe, backed with "Dance Of The Screamers". The lack of singles on the album did not greatly affect the album's chart performance. However, the European tour that followed managed to cancel out most, if not all, of the album's profit. The tour lost an estimated £40,000 because of various extravagancies including entourage and Dury's insistence on all his road crew and band staying in top hotels. The tour was so stressful it caused Chas Jankel to leave the band.
Packaging
Do It Yourself was released on May 18, 1979 and was part of a huge publicity stunt: Stiff Records released the album with at least 31 sleeves, each one a different Crown WallpaperCrown Wallpaper
Crown Wallpaper was an agglomeration of wallpaper manufacturers in the United Kingdom in 1899....
design. Crown also wallpapered all of the sets for the Blockheads' subsequent promotional tour. The sleeves greatly helped sales and there were reports of fans travelling to different towns and even importing more sleeves that were released abroad; in addition. various badges, combs, watches, paint brushes and wallpaper ties were distributed, mostly the creations of designer Barney Bubbles
Barney Bubbles
Colin Fulcher aka Barney Bubbles was a radical English graphic artist, whose work primarily encompassed the disciplines of graphic design, painting and music video direction. He is most renowned for his distinctive contribution to the graphic design associated with the British independent music...
, who also created the Blockheads' 'clockface' logo. A number of promotional items designed by Bubbles can be seen in the booklet for Ian Dury & The Blockheads' last album Ten More Turnips From The Tip.
Side 1
- "Inbetweenies" – 5:18
- "Quiet" (Dury, John Turnbull, Mick Gallagher, Norman Watt-Roy, Charley Charles) – 3:31
- "Don't Ask Me" – 3:17
- "Sink My Boats" – 4:12
- "Waiting For Your Taxi" – 2:52
Side 2
- "This Is What We Find" (Dury, Gallagher) – 4:10
- "Uneasy Sunny Day Hotsy Totsy" (Dury, Turnbull) – 2:10
- "Mischief" (Dury, Turnbull, Watt-Roy, Gallagher) – 3:33
- "Dance Of The Screamers" – 6:40
- "Lullaby for Francies" – 5:02
Bonus tracks (Repertoire release)
- "Hit Me with Your Rhythm StickHit Me With Your Rhythm Stick"Hit Me with Your Rhythm Stick" is a song and single by Ian Dury & The Blockheads, first released 23 November 1978 and was first released on the 7" single BUY 38 Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick / There Ain't Half Been Some Clever Bastards by Stiff Records. It went to number one on the UK Singles...
" (Directed by Chas Jankel) – 3:43 - "There Ain't Half Been Some Clever Bastards" – 3:03
- "Reasons to Be Cheerful, Part 3Reasons to be Cheerful, Part 3"Reasons to be Cheerful, Part 3" is a song and single by Ian Dury and the Blockheads, initially released as the single BUY 50 "Reasons to be Cheerful, Part 3 / Common as Muck" issued on 20 July 1979 and reached number 3 in the UK singles Chart the following month...
" (Dury, Payne, Jankel) – 4:43 - "Common as Muck" – 3:57
- "I Want to Be Straight"
- "That's Not All"
- "Reasons to Be Cheerful, Part 3" [12" Version] (Dury, Russell Hardy) – 6:41
Bonus tracks (2CD Edsel release)
- "What A Waste"
- "Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick"
- "There Ain’t Half Been Some Clever Bastards"
- "Reasons To Be Cheerful, Part 3"
- "Common As Muck"
- "Reasons To Be Cheerful, Part 3" [12" version]
Bonus CD (2CD Edsel release)
Tracks 1-6: demos; tracks 7-17 from the "Stiff’s Live Stiffs" tour 1977- "This Is What We Find"
- "Boogie Woogie (Duff 'Em Up)"
- "Quiet"
- "Inbetweenies" [backing track]
- "Babies Kept Quiet (Uneasy Sunny Day Hotsy Totsy)"
- "Blow" [instrumental]
- "Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll"
- "I’m Partial To Your Abracadabra"
- "Wake Up And Make Love With Me"
- "Clevor Trever"
- "Sweet Gene Vincent"
- "Billericay Dickie"
- "My Old Man"
- "If I Was With A Woman"
- "Blockheads"
- "Plaistow Patricia"
- "Blackmail Man"
Personnel
- Ian DuryIan DuryIan Robins Dury was an English rock and roll singer, lyricist, bandleader and actor who initially rose to fame during the late 1970s, during the punk and New Wave era of rock music...
- Vocals - Chaz Jankel - Keyboards, Guitars, Producer
- John Turnbull - Guitars
- Mick Gallagher - Keyboards
- Davey PayneDavey PayneDavid 'Davey' Payne is an English saxophonist best known as a member of Ian Dury's backing band The Blockheads, and his twin saxophone solo on their 1978 UK #1 single "Hit Me with Your Rhythm Stick"....
- Saxophones - Norman Watt-RoyNorman Watt-RoyNorman Watt-Roy is the bassist for The Blockheads, previously known as Ian Dury & the Blockheads.In November 1954 the Watt-Roy family, including Norman, his older brother Garth and his sister, moved to England...
- Bass - Charley Charles - Drums
- The Breezeblocks - Backing Vocals
Re-issues
The album was re-issued by Edsel Records as part of an Ian Dury 2-Disc re-issue series. Previously it had been re-issued by Demon Records, once without bonus tracks, then again by Repertoire with "Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick", "There Ain't Half Been Some Clever Bastards", "Reasons to be Cheerful, Part 3Reasons to be Cheerful, Part 3
"Reasons to be Cheerful, Part 3" is a song and single by Ian Dury and the Blockheads, initially released as the single BUY 50 "Reasons to be Cheerful, Part 3 / Common as Muck" issued on 20 July 1979 and reached number 3 in the UK singles Chart the following month...
", "Common As Muck", "I Want To Be Straight", "That's Not All" (the A and B sides of the three singles released around the time of Do It Yourself and the 12" extended mix of "Reasons To Be Cheerful" as bonus tracks. Edsel changed the bonus tracks, removing "I Want To Be Straight" and its B-side "That's Not All" and replacing them with "What A Waste". This is in fact a more fitting set of bonus tracks, as "I Want To Be Straight" was released nearly a year after Do It Yourself and features a different Blockheads line-up (including Dr. Feelgood
Dr. Feelgood
Dr. Feelgood may refer to:In music:*Dr. Feelgood , an album by American band Mötley Crüe**"Dr. Feelgood" , a single and the title track from that album*"Dr. Feel Good", a song by Travie McCoy on the album Lazarus...
's Wilko Johnson
Wilko Johnson
Wilko Johnson is an English guitarist and songwriter, particularly associated with the UK rhythm and blues band Dr. Feelgood in the 1970s.-Career:...
), the same line-up that plays on the album Laughter (Edsel's re-issue of Laughter includes both tracks), whereas "What A Waste" was played by the original Blockheads line-up that plays on Do It Yourself.
Edsel's current re-issue also features a bonus disc that includes the demos recorded at Dury's house in Kent and 10 tracks recorded on the Stiff's Live Stiff's tour in 1977. These songs are different from the three included on the LP of the tour released the previous year.
Trivia
- Dury and Jankel can remember the exact time and date that "Waiting For Your Taxi" was conceived: 11:30 pm, December 31, 1978, on the beach in BarbadosBarbadosBarbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles. It is in length and as much as in width, amounting to . It is situated in the western area of the North Atlantic and 100 kilometres east of the Windward Islands and the Caribbean Sea; therein, it is about east of the islands of Saint...
- In the track-by-track comments for Reasons To Be Cheerful, Repertoire Records' 1996 compilation, Dury jokes about "Inbetweenies" – "What's it about? I haven't a fucking clue, friendship I think" – but in 2003's Ian Dury & The Blockheads: Song By Song a number of the Blockheads, including the song's co-writer Chas Jankel, seem to think it's about bisexuality. Claims are even made that Dury himself may have been bisexual. The song can be easily interpreted as having either meaning; Dury never confirmed the latter, however.
Sources
- Sex And Drugs And Rock And Roll: The Life Of Ian Dury by Richard Balls, first published 2000, Omnibus Press
- Ian Dury & The Blockheads: Song By Song by Jim Drury, first published 2003, Sanctuary Publishing.
- Reasons To Be Cheerful 2-Disc compilation first released 1996, Repertoire Records