by Will Birch
Rainbow Thief, The (film) ref1
Ramones, The ref1
‘Rapper’s Delight’ (Sugar Hill Gang) ref1
Rathmell, Lilian ref1
Rathmell, Thomas ref1
Ray, Johnnie ref1, ref2
Raymonde, Ivor ref1
‘Razzle in My Pocket’ ref1
‘Reasons to Be Cheerful (Part Three)’ ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5, ref6, ref7, ref8, ref9, ref10
Rebel, The (film) ref1, ref2
Record Mirror ref1, ref2
Red Ants (Paradise Unlocked) (film) ref1
Redgrave, Vanessa ref1, ref2
Reed, Lou ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4
Rendell, Don ref1
Rhodes, Bernie ref1
Rhys-Jones, Merlin ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5, ref6, ref7, ref8, ref9, ref10, ref11, ref12, ref13
Rich, Frank ref1
Richards, Clive ref1
Richards, Keith ref1, ref2
Rigden, Geoffrey ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5, ref6, ref7, ref8, ref9
Ritchie, Alan ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4
Riviera, Jake ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5, ref6, ref7, ref8
Road (play) ref1
Roadent (roadie) ref1
‘The Roadette Song’ ref1, ref2, ref3
Roadettes ref1
Roberts, Tommy ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5, ref6, ref7, ref8, ref9
Roberts, Yvonne ref1
Robinson, Dave ‘Robbo’ ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5, ref6, ref7, ref8, ref9, ref10, ref11, ref12, ref13, ref14, ref15, ref16, ref17, ref18, ref19, ref20, ref21, ref22
Rocinante (film) ref1
Rohoman, David Newton ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5, ref6, ref7
Rolling Stone ref1, ref2
Rolling Stones, The ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5, ref6
Roman, Murray ref1
Ronnie Scott’s ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5, ref6
Ross, Deborah ref1n, ref2
Rosso, Franco ref1, ref2, ref3
Roth, Tim ref1
Roudette, Denise ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5, ref6, ref7, ref8, ref9, ref10, ref11, ref12, ref13, ref14, ref15, ref16, ref17, ref18, ref19, ref20, ref21, ref22, ref23, ref24, ref25, ref26, ref27
‘Rough Kids’ ref1, ref2, ref3
Rowe, Fred ‘Spider’ ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5, ref6, ref7, ref8, ref9, ref10, ref11, ref12, ref13, ref14, ref15, ref16, ref17, ref18, ref19, ref20, ref21, ref22, ref23, ref24, ref25, ref26, ref27, ref28, ref29, ref30, ref31, ref32, ref33, ref34, ref35, ref36, ref37, ref38, ref39, ref40, ref41, ref42
Roxy Music ref1
Royal Academy of Art ref1, ref2, ref3
Royal College of Art ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5, ref6, ref7, ref8, ref9, ref10
Royal Court Theatre ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5, ref6
Royal Grammar School, High Wycombe ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5, ref6, ref7, ref8, ref9, ref10
Royal Shakespeare Company ref1, ref2, ref3
Ruffelle, Frances ref1
Runswick, ‘Beaky’ ref1
Rush, Pete ‘The Sulphate Strangler’ ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5, ref6, ref7, ref8, ref9, ref10, ref11
Sackett, Robin ref1
Salk, Dr Jonas ref1
Sanders, Pharoah ref1
Scargill, Arthur ref1
Scene (TV programme) ref1
Scot, Jock ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5, ref6, ref7
Secret Diary of Adrian Mole, The (TV programme) ref1
Selway Mary ref1
‘Semaphore Signals’ (Wreckless Eric) ref1
Serious Money (play) ref1
‘Sex and Drugs and Rock and Roll’ ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5, ref6, ref7, ref8, ref9
Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll (film) ref1
Sex Pistols ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5
Shakespeare, Robbie ref1
Sharif, Omar ref1
Shaw, George Bernard ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5
Shelter, Jimme ref1
Shepherd, Shirley ref1
Sherrin, Ned ref1
Sidwell, Steve ref1
Sinclair, Charlie ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4
‘Sink My Boats’ ref1, ref2
Skallagrigg (TV programme) ref1
Small Faces ref1
Smith, Ian ref1, ref2, ref3
Smith, Joe ref1
Smith, John Owen ref1
Smith, Monty ref1
Smith, Robert ref1
Snowden, Joe ref1, ref2, ref3
Soho ref1, ref2
‘Spasticus Autisticus’ ref1, ref2, ref3
Speight, Ed ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5, ref6, ref7, ref8, ref9, ref10, ref11, ref12, ref13, ref14, ref15, ref16, ref17, ref18, ref19, ref20
Spence, Richard ref1
Spencer, Jamie ref1
Spencer, Neil ref1
Spenner, Alan ref1
Spillane, Mickey ref1
Spring, Bryan ref1
St Martin’s School of Art ref1, ref2
Stafford–Clark, Max ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5, ref6, ref7, ref8
Stanshall, Vivian ref1, ref2
Starting Out (TV comedy) ref1
Steele, Stanford ref1, ref2
Stewart, Rod ref1
Stiff Records ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5, ref6, ref7, ref8, ref9, ref10, ref11, ref12, ref13, ref14, ref15, ref16, ref17, ref18, ref19, ref20, ref21, ref22, ref23, ref24, ref25, ref26
Stiff’s Greatest Stiffs tour 1977, ref1, ref2, ref3
Stoppard, Tom ref1
Stranglers, the ref1, ref2
Street–Porter, Janet ref1, ref2
Strummer, Joe ref1, ref2
Suggs ref1, ref2
‘Sueperman’s Big Sister’ ref1
‘Sur le Plage with Marge’ ref1
Sweeney, Vic ref1
‘Sweet Gene Vincent’ ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5, ref6
Swiss Air ref1, ref2
Talbot, Jamie ref1
Talk of the Devil (play) ref1
‘(‘Take Your Elbow Out of the Soup’)
You’re Sitting on the Chicken’ ref1
Taylor, James ref1
‘Tell Your Daddy I’m Not a Baddie’ ref1
Terry Lightfoot and his Jazzmen ref1, ref2
‘Thank You Mum’ ref1
‘That’s Enough of That’ ref1
‘There Ain’t Half Been Some Clever Bastards’ ref1
‘This Is What We Find’ ref1
Thomas, Chris ref1, ref2
Thomas, Colin ref1
Thompson, Lee ref1, ref2, ref3
Thompson, Marcus ref1
Thorgerson, Storm ref1, ref2
Tilson, Joe ref1, ref2
Timon (opera) ref1
Tipping, Bert (uncle) ref1
Tipping, Leslie (cousin) ref1, ref2
Tomelty Frances ref1, ref2
Tonkin, Paul ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5, ref6, ref7
Top of the Pops (TV programme) ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4
Tour of the Western Isles (TV programme) ref1
Townshend, Pete ref1, ref2
Townsend, Sue ref1, ref2
Trick, Robert ref1
Tubbs, Michael ref1
Tube, The (TV programme) ref1
Tucker, Edmund ref1, ref2
Turnbull, Johnny ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5, ref6
Two Murders, One Crime (Woolrich) ref1
‘Uncoolohol’ ref1
Underground (film) ref1
‘Uneasy Sunny Day Hotsy Totsy’ ref1
Upminster ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5, ref6, ref7, ref8, ref9, ref10, ref11, ref12, ref13, ref14, ref15, ref16, ref17, ref18, ref19, ref20
Upminster Infants School ref1
‘Upminster Kid, The’ ref1, ref2, ref3
Upwood, Allan ref1
Vanrenen, Jumbo ref1
Vidiot’ ref1
Villeneuve, Justin de ref1
Vincent, Gene ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5, ref6, ref7, ref8, ref9, ref10, ref11, ref12
Vinyl, Kosmo ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5, ref6, ref7, ref8, ref9, ref10, ref11, ref12, ref13, ref14, re
f15, ref16, ref17, ref18, ref19
Virgin Records ref1
‘Waiting for Your Taxi’ ref1
Waits, Tom ref1
‘Wake Up and Make Love with Me’ ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5, ref6, ref7
Walker, Arthur (uncle) ref1
Walker, Doris Elisabeth Cochrane ‘Elisabeth’ (aunt) ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5, ref6, ref7, ref8, ref9
Walker, John Cuthbertson (grandfather) ref1, ref2
Walker, Lucy Catherine (adopted daughter of Elisabeth Walker) ref1
Walker (née Cuthbertson), Margaret Ferguson (great–grandmother) ref1, ref2
Walker, Martin (adopted son of Elisabeth Walker) ref1
Walker (née Pollock), Mary Ellen (grandmother) ref1, ref2, ref3
Walker, Mary ‘Molly’ (aunt) ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5, ref6, ref7, ref8, ref9, ref10, ref11, ref12, ref13, ref14, ref15, ref16, ref17, ref18, ref19, ref20, ref21, ref22, ref23, ref24
Walker, Reverend George (ancestor) ref1
Walker, William (great–grandfather) ref1, ref2
Walker, William Cuthbertson (uncle) ref1, ref2
Wall, Max ref1, ref2, ref3
Wallis, Larry ref1, ref2
Walsh, John ref1
Walthamstow School of Art ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5, ref6, ref7
Warhol, Andy ref1, ref2
Warner Brothers ref1,ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5, ref6
Warts and Audience (Ian Dury and the Blockheads) ref1
Wasted Talent ref1
Watson, Graham ref1
Watt, Thomas ref1
Watt–Roy Norman ref1,ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5, ref6, ref7, ref8, ref9, ref10, ref11, ref12, ref13
Watts, Charlie ref1, ref2, ref3
Webb (née Dury), Margaret (cousin) ref1, ref2, ref3
Weiss, George ‘Rainbow George’ ref1, ref2
Weller, Paul ref1, ref2
West Side Story (stage musical) ref1
West, Bill ref1, ref2
Westwood, Vivienne ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4
‘We Want the Gold’ ref1
Whalley Chas de ref1
‘What a Waste’ ref1, ref2
Whirlwind ref1
White, Barbara ref1
White, Barry ref1, ref2
White, Peter ref1, ref2
White, Steve ref1
Whittle, Tommy ref1
Who, The ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5
Wiffen, Valerie ref1, ref2
Williams, Claire ref1, ref2
Williams, John ref1
Williams, Robbie ref1, ref2, ref3
Wingrave ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5, ref6, ref7, ref8, ref9, ref10, ref11, ref12, ref13, ref14
Winwood, Muff ref1
Wogan ref1, ref2
Wood, Ronnie ref1, ref2, ref3
Wood, Roy ref1
Woodham, Derrick ref1, ref2
Wotabunch! (Kilburn and the High Roads) ref1, ref2
Wreckless Eric ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5, ref6, ref7, ref8, ref9
Wycherley William ref1
Wynne, John ref1
‘Yes and No (Paula)’ ref1
‘You’re More Than Fair’ ref1
‘You Mustn’t’ ref1
‘You’re My Baby’ ref1
‘You’re Nasty’ ref1
‘You’re the Why’ ref1
Endnotes
1 Ian took the name from The Bumblies, a 1950s BBC television puppet series for children, devised by Michael Bentine, an early star of The Goon Show. The Bumblies were triangular-shaped aliens known simply as One, Two and Three. Ian would have watched the programmes just prior to starting at the Royal Grammar School in 1954.
2 Professor J. R. Neave, known as ‘Ironfoot Jack’ on account of his metal-soled orthopaedic boots, was a lapsed academic who bought and sold household tat around Soho throughout the mid-twentieth century.
3 In 1998, Ian told the Independent ’s Deborah Ross: ‘I lost me virginity at fourteen on Upminster Common. Gorgeous it was.’
4A miniature 7 octave piano.
5 Breck was a make of shampoo.
6 Outside lavatories (venues that were no better than).
7 The Swan and Edgar Suite, which was never released and the tapes of which are lost, consisted of four songs: ‘Excuse Me’, ‘Personal Hygiene’, ‘Rags And Tatters’ and ‘The Piccadilly Menial’.
8 Axfords at 306 Vauxhall Bridge Road.
9 Ian later remarked that ‘Oi Oi’ was a pre-war chant at West Ham football ground, although he may have taken the catchphrase from veteran music hall and TV comedian Jimmy Wheeler, whose parting shot to audiences was: ‘Aye aye! That’s your lot!’
10 In 1980, popular comedians Peter Cook and Dudley Moore, as their alter egos Derek and Clive, would release an entire LP of conversational profanities, but back in 1977 it was hard to find a hit record containing the F-word. John Lennon’s song ‘Working Class Hero’ (1971) is the only other example that readily springs to mind. New Boots and Panties!! went several stages further.
11 James Brown shouts ‘Hit me!’ in his song ‘Ain’t That a Groove’, among others.
12 London International Financial Futures Exchange (LIFFE, pronounced life’).
13 Ian’s favourite quote about criminality was, in fact: ‘The criminal is the creative artist; the detective only the critic’ (G. K. Chesterton). He also liked: ‘A neurotic is a man who builds a castle in the air. A psychotic is the man who lives in it. A psychiatrist is the man who collects the rent’ (Jerome Lawrence).
14 ‘The Bus Driver’s Prayer’ is thought to have been written by the jazz pianist George Shearing, when he lived in London in the 1940s.
15 Other ‘castaways’ who have chosen records by Ian Dury on Desert Island Discs include: Sir Christopher Frayling, chairman of the Arts Council (‘Reasons to be Cheerful’); Sir Peter Blake (‘Don’t Ask Me’); Nick Danziger, photo-journalist (‘Hit Me with Your Rhythm Stick’); Suggs from Madness (‘Sex and Drugs and Rock and Roll’).
List of Plates
BILL AND PEGGY DURY (WITH BELLA THE SHEEPDOG) AT WEALD RISE, HARROW, 1940
LITTLE LORD UPMINSTER, 1945
ON THE BEACH: BARRY ANDERSON AND IAN, CORNWALL, 1948
KING OF THE HILL: CRANHAM, 1948
IN CAPE AND CALLIPER: CONQUERING ADVERSITY, CHAILEY, 1951
A TONIC FOR THE NATION: PEGGY AND IAN VISIT THE FESTIVAL OF BRITAIN ON LONDON’S SOUTH BANK, 1951
‘HE WAS A LITTLE BASKET THAT DAY’: BRIAN AND MARGARET DURY WITH IAN, SOUTHBOROUGH, 1951
THE LADDER OF LIFE: BILL VISITS IAN AT CHAILEY, 1951
AT THE PANTOMIME, 1953: (BACK ROW L–R) PEGGY, BILL, ELISABETH WALKER; (FRONT ROW L–R) IAN, BARRY ANDERSON, MARTIN WALKER, ROGER WALKER, LUCY WALKER
THE NEW BOY: ROYAL GRAMMAR SCHOOL, HIGH WYCOMBE, 1954
ELVIS HAS LANDED: RATHMULLAN, IRELAND, 1956
ROAMING RADICALS, NEWQUAY, 1960: (STANDING L–R) IAN, ‘PETE’, PAT FEW, WIZZ JONES
THE ‘COLLEGE BOY’: MAIDA VALE, LATE 1964
‘WE’RE ARTS AND CRAFTS’: IAN AT KARA LODGE, BEDFORD PARK, 1969
IAN’S POSTER FOR KILBURN AND THE HIGH ROADS, 1972, WITH PHOTOGRAPHS BY MICK HILL
EARLY KILBURNS, 1972: (L–R) RUSSELL HARDY, KEITH LUCAS, TERRY DAY, IAN, CHARLIE HART, HUMPHREY OCEAN
HUMPHREY STEPS OUT OF LINE; IAN GLOWERS, 1973: (L–R) RUSSELL HARDY, DAVID ROHOMAN, KEITH LUCAS, HUMPHREY OCEAN, IAN, DAVEY PAYNE
‘GENTLE, DISCIPLINED, SELF-CONTAINED’: IAN’S FIRST WIFE, BETTY (ELIZABETH RATHMELL)
THE SORCERER’S APPRENTICE: PETER BLAKE IS TRANSFIXED, BRISTOL, 1974
IAN WINDS DOWN AFTER A SWEAT-SOAKED PERFORMANCE, BRISTOL, 1974
STIFF’S STABLE OF STARS, 1977: (L–R) ELVIS COSTELLO, NICK LOWE, WRECKLESS ERIC, LARRY WALLIS, IAN DURY
IAN SUMMONS THE MUSE; GENE VINCENT HOVERS: OVAL MANSIONS, 1978
LIMOUSINE INTERIOR, NEW YORK CITY, 1978: (L–R) DENISE ROUDETTE, IAN, KOSMO VINYL, PEARL HARBOUR
QUIET REFLECTION: SITTARD, NETHERLANDS, 1978
‘
A LITTLE BIT OF TOMMY COOPER’, 1978
IAN WITH HIS NEW BOOTS AND PANTIES!! CO-WRITERS, STEPHEN NUGENT (LEFT) AND CHAZ JANKEL (RIGHT)
‘MINDING HIS MINDER’: IAN WITH FRED ‘SPIDER’ ROWE
KEEPING THE BLOCKHEADS IN LINE, 1978: (L–R) IAN, JOHNNY TURNBULL, MICKEY GALLAGHER, CHARLEY CHARLES, DAVEY PAYNE, NORMAN WATT-ROY, CHAZ JANKEL
TONIGHT’S PROP – THE INDOOR PLANT SPRAY: DUBLIN, 1979
PART PEARLY KING, PART PANTOMIME VILLAIN: IAN AT THE HEIGHT OF HIS FAME, DUBLIN, 1979
HE AIN’T HEAVY: SPIDER CARRIES IAN ONTO THE STAGE, DENMARK, 1981
WITH ‘MAGIC’ MIKE MCEVOY: IAN DRESSED UP FOR A ROYAL ACADEMY DINNER, 1983
‘BARNEY TOLD ME I’D BEEN A HORRIBLE PIECE OF WORK’: IAN WITH GRAPHICS GENIUS BARNEY BUBBLES, 1983
‘THE DRAMAS GOING ON BACKSTAGE WERE BETTER THAN THE SHOW’: IAN AND THE SULPHATE STRANGLER, HAMMERSMITH ODEON, 1984
‘A WELCOME DEFLECTION OF ATTENTION’: BELINDA LEITH RUBS SHOULDERS WITH IAN, 1984
‘THEY WANT ME TO HAVE A CIGAR’: IAN’S MOVIE DEBUT, ALONGSIDE WALTER MATTHAU IN PIRATES, 1986
PEGGY, SO PROUD OF IAN: AT AN APPLES AFTER-SHOW PARTY, 1989
BAXTER, JEMIMA AND IAN, HAMPSTEAD, 1994
DOMESTIC BLISS: BILL, ALBERT, IAN, HAMPSTEAD, 1997
UNICEF SPECIAL REPRESENTATIVES, 1998: (L–R) DAME VANESSA REDGRAVE, ALBERT, SOPHY, BILL, LORD BILL DEEDES, IAN
JEMIMA AND IAN, SHEPHERDS BUSH EMPIRE, 1999
MAGNIFICENT TO THE END: LONDON PALLADIUM, 6 FEBRUARY 2000
‘WE’RE GONNA HAVE IT PROPER’: IAN’S FUNERAL CORTÈGE IN HAMPSTEAD, 5 APRIL 2000
‘YOU’RE THE WHY’: THE BLOCKHEADS PAY AN EMOTIONAL TRIBUTE TO IAN AT GOLDERS GREEN CREMATORIUM
THE AUTHOR INTERROGATES MOLLY WALKER: IAN’S ‘AUNT MOLL’ – OVING, 2001