Backing up Ian Dury’s poetic lyrics, this is the band that brought you ‘Hit Me with your Rhythm Stick’, ‘What A Waste’, ‘Reasons to be Cheerful (Part 3)’, and ‘Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll’, among many others.
Rarely off the road since the demise of Ian Dury in 2000, but now with Derek Hussey fronting the band, the Blockheads are still one of the most underrated British bands of all time, with a legion of fans of all ages.
Derek Hussey’s lyrics in the bands new songs keep the combination of poetry, word play, earthy humour and deadly-accurate observations of everyday, British working-class life, that Ian Dury had perfected, but with an added bite for the 21st century. Hussey is known to the bands followers as Dury’s best friend and minder, memorably singing with Ian and the band at a televised concert in the late 90’s.
Their last studio album, ‘Same Horse Different Jockey’, was released on November 23 2013, which was also the 35th anniversary of the release of ‘Hit Me with your Rhythm Stick’, and continues to show both their diversity and supreme quality, as well as showcasing their uniqueness.
As well as through their own new material, interest in “Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll”, the biopic of their erstwhile front man Ian Dury, the performance of ‘Spasticus Autisticus’ at the 2012 Para-Olympic Opening Ceremony, and the musical ‘Reasons To be Cheerful’, has seen a resurgence in the bands popularity over the past couple of years and they continue to go from strength to strength.
For Towersey Festival Saturday 26 August, click here.
For the Cheese and Grain in Frome Saturday 14 October, click here.
For Oxford’s O2 Academy Saturday 3 March, click here.