Cuttings

INTERVIEW: IAN DURY WARTS THIS WAY Now approaching his half century, Ian Dury has been there, seen it, played it and acted in it. With a nostalgia-imbued live album released and a possible comeback in the offing, Don Peretta notches up the reasons to be cheerful There was a brief period when Ian Dury and the Blockheads were the biggest act in the British music scene. For those few weeks in 1978 when ‘Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick' was top of the charts, New Boots And Panties was the album for sixth-formers to be seen carrying around and the phrase "sex and drugs and rock'n'roll" was warmly welcomed to the English language.The world, momentarily, was a better place. The Blockheads were one of the hottest and most proficient live acts around, and Dury himself garnered great respect and admiration for his unique mastery of rhyme and his devastating simplicity of expression. But that was a long time ago and since then a great deal of water has passed under Hammersmit...