Demon Records are delighted to welcome back the one of the richest and most diverse catalogues in the British rock cannon from the iconic, much-missed Ian Dury.
Kicking off what promises to be an exciting and comprehensive reappraisal of the artist’s repertoire come the first three of Ian’s gold-plated studio albums, available again on vinyl – the debut ‘New Boots And Panties!!’ (1977), ‘Laughter’ (1980) and, sandwiched between them, 1979’s classic ‘Do It Yourself’.
Coming off the back of the huge success of ‘New Boots And Panties!!’ and the standalone singles chart smashes ‘What A Waste’ (UK No. 9) and ‘Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick’ (No. 1), ‘Do It Yourself’ was the first Ian Dury album to be co-credited to the band The Blockheads, whose Chas Jankel provided the musical setting for Dury’s lyrics. Expectations were high and ‘Do It Yourself’ did not disappoint, creatively or commercially – a UK No. 2 album (only the might of a new ABBA album prevented it from reaching No. 1) it comfortably became the second Ian Dury album to be certified platinum.
As was his custom at the time, Dury insisted that no singles be lifted from ‘Do It Yourself’ – he chose instead to offer them ten brand new songs. That didn’t, however, prevent ‘Do It Yourself’’s many highlights – ‘Sink My Boats’, ‘Inbetweenies’, ‘Dance Of The Screamers’, etc., – from coming to be regarded as classics, and the album was praised for its innovative “wallpaper” artwork, insightful lyrics and immaculate musicianship.
