Book description
Widely described as 'punk's poet laureate', Ian Dury is a cultural
icon. With his band The Blockheads, he exploded onto the television
screen in 1978, appearing on
Top of the Pops
with his hit single 'What a Waste', followed later that year by 'Hit Me
With Your Rhythm Stick'. By now Ian was thirty-six and had worked hard
for many years to reach this moment, struggling all the while to find
acceptance inspite of the disability he suffered as a result of
childhood polio. And yet fame, when it came, almost destroyed him.
This groundbreaking and authoritative book gives the first in-depth and
compelling account of the life of this charismatic yet complex artist.
Author Will Birch interviewed Dury several times during his lifetime,
and has also spoken to more than sixty people who were extremely close
to Ian, including family members, fellow musicians, friends, lovers and
business associates. Will Birch has long experience of the music
business, having been a drummer, songwriter and record producer. Today
is is a journalist, writing for Mojo
and other music magazines. His first book was No Sleep Till Canvey
Island, The Great Pub Rock Revolution
. Married with one son and a record collection, he lives in Essex.
