Ian Dury for me reflected what pop music and music in general was all about back then – a longing to be different and to make a difference. He was a fascinating character. My Dad said he looked like a bloody idiot, which only made me admire him more. When he performed he had a real edge and his singing style was more like someone talking, or at times even shouting in his own London accent rather than something shiny and polished. And you have remember these were the days of The Bee Gees, Barbara Streisand, Leif Garrett and other such highly manicured artists. He also had a tremendous amount of personal style with his hats, braces, rolled up trousers and boots. And it was all this difference literally rolled together as well as the great music he made alongside The Blockheads, which pulled me in as an admiring youth.

And the music…I couldn’t quite explain it at the time. But it was unmistakably ‘New Wave’ although I wasn’t exactly sure what that meant either beyond a handful of artists I was into like Blondie, Talking Heads and The Specials. It was a bit ‘Punk’ and DIY for sure and that was definitely a good thing. But it also had the funk. The Blockheads were a groovy outfit of great musicians. Much later I discovered that Chaz Jankel of The Blockheads went on to make some excellent disco influenced solo productions and that these tracks plus songs by Ian Dury and The Blockheads were played by groundbreaking NYC DJs like Larry Levan in the Disco scene out there and graced the floors of seminal clubs like the Paradise Garage and The Loft. My musical journey from awkward youth to being a DJ myself had come full circle all thanks to Ian Dury and The Blockheads.