DURY FINDS BAND, MAKES NEW BOOTS AND PANTIES!!, 1977
“LIKE THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN”
ÒCharlie, Norman, Johnny Turnbull [guitar] and me had played together for years, as Loving Awareness. When that finished, we all started doing sessions, and one that Charlie and Norman did was for New Boots And Panties!! The next thing is, they wanted a band on the road, so they brought John and me in. We did three days rehearsing in some tunnel in south London. The first song we did was Wake Up And Make Love With Me, and the chemistry was there immediately. With Ian there was a vibe of having known him for ages. They were impressed because we were so tight. Add to that Ian’s lyrics and Chaz’s arranging and it was a whole package. Ian’s management Blackhill had offices above Stiff Records on Alexander Street in west London, which was the meeting point for the tour. There was us, Elvis Costello And The Attractions, Wreckless Eric, Nick Lowe… it was like a school outing on a charabanc, without the adults around. The magic of the tour was that nothing was planned, Stiff just thought, let’s stick these bands on a bus and send them round the country like they used to do in the old da y s. It was like The Magnificent Seven coming together. We were at the back of the bus, rehearsing. Everybody else was really into alcohol, we were more tokers. We didn’t get involved with the alcohol-fuelled crazy stuff, like the ’24 Hour Club’, which was, ‘Let’s see how far we can push this.’ The one-upmanship caused casualties and upset [see MOJO 47 for breaking glass, blood and chocolate]. Part of our power was, we were really tight, so we became very quickly cultish, ‘Have you seen them? Check them out.’ When we started the tour, no one had top billing, we swapped order every night, but it soon became apparent that it either had to be Elvis Costello or Ian Dury. There was this mental tug-ofwar, this healthy competition about who was gonna get the best reaction, ’cos Elvis’s band were really good. So we alternated. One night at Newcastle University, Elvis was closing the show and it wasn’t Ian’s best gig. As he was coming off stage he paused as Elvis was going on and said, ‘It’s yours tonight, Elvis.’ He conceded. But at the end of it we had the anthem, didn’t we? We had Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll, they had I dunno, Alison. So we won when it came to the line at the Lyceum. The name was the last thing we thought of. [MC/press fixer/vibesman] Kosmo Vinyl was introducing us as ‘Ian Dury and The Readers’ Wives’, ‘Ian Dury and The Dummkopfs’, different things at every gig, and one night he just said, ‘Ladies and gentlemen, Ian Dury and The Blockheads!’, and Norman said, ‘That’s a good name innit, we should be called that.’ It was a glorious tour: it had the vibe, the notoriety, and it was on the cheap! By the end, Ian’s popularity was such that Blackhill immediately said, ‘Are you boys available to go back on the road?’ They were thinking about America. The ducks were all in a row and it was magic for a while… we had the rainbow, we just had to look for the pot of gold.” As told to Ian Harrison
Three days after New Boots… was released, the Live Stiffs Tour took mayhem to the regions. Keysman Mick Gallagher remembers the fun…
Demon release a variety of vinyl/CD 40th Anniversary expanded editions of New Boots And Panties!! on October 13. The Blockheads’ new LP Beyond The Call Of Dury and a new documentary follow in November. See theblockheads.com