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Ian Dury: The Definitive Biography
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.
- GenresMusicBiographyNonfiction
382 pages, Hardcover
First published January 27, 2010
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Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews
March 4, 2026
“Does the world need another book? It’s a lot of work.”
- Ian Dury musing over potentially writing his autobiography
Whenever I think of Ian Drury I automatically add “and the Blockheads” to the thought. I remember singing a few of his songs that are probably now considered inappropriate and/or offensive at school camp probably around Year 9 (3rd form for the old schoolers out there).
This was back in the day when you had to sit up really late on a school night to watch The Young Ones on telly, and where there was a plethora of music and talent that was just so damn authentic. Cheeky. Different. Subversive. And yes! They played their own instruments too.
As a young lad during a hot summer, he went swimming with a friend at an open-air pool. Sadly, for Ian, a fun day splashing about in the cooling water had him accidentally gulp some of the icy water. He spat it out as quickly as he could. ” But in that spit second his life was changed forever.” Going home happy, tired and healthy, fever soon took over his body, and he was diagnosed as having contracted polio. At that time polio was rife, and this innocent swim was to have a permanent impact on his life and the way he reacted to the world. It left him with a weakened left side and a permanent limp making walking difficult. His razor sharp wit and sharp tongue to friend and foe was often his way of taking the focus off himself and his body which he felt often betrayed him.
Artistic from a young age, Ian studied at art school and even went on to teach art. But music was always his first love. A firm fan of Gene Vincent, Ian set about to create music that combined his intense love of words with an artistic bent, which can be seen from his back catalog of works.
Was he a nice person? Not particularly. He often treated those closest to him with a cruel disdain. Will Birch has written an honest bio that doesn’t hold back with all the facets of Ian’s personality from a young child to adulthood. There was a carousel of friends, lovers, band members who would duck in and out of Ian’s life due to him needing them desperately and treating them well, to his complete scorn of them, often not speaking with people for years on end. And yet he could also be an absolute charmer. A diamond geezer.
Ian Dury was one of a kind. He was a complex and very contradictory person. A lot of this was definitely a result of the hardship he went through with contracting polio. I enjoyed this book because it showed a different world, a United Kingdom rebuilding itself after WWII, through to the freedom of the 1960s and the various rebellious music movements of the 1970s. It was actually refreshing to read a bio that didn’t hold back from showing the ugly side of a personality, as it was honest. Really recommend this for anyone interested in a quirkier musician and a time that no longer exists.
“The fact is, he had an extremely strong personality and if he’d had all his faculties he could have become anything he wanted, but he chose the thug route.”
Postscript!
I came across an interesting short doco about Ian and his various musical incarnations. Well worth a watch! Heads up, there's a bit of swearing that might offend.
https://youtu.be/_82awqsQJ14?si=8wxNY...
- Ian Dury musing over potentially writing his autobiography
Whenever I think of Ian Drury I automatically add “and the Blockheads” to the thought. I remember singing a few of his songs that are probably now considered inappropriate and/or offensive at school camp probably around Year 9 (3rd form for the old schoolers out there).
This was back in the day when you had to sit up really late on a school night to watch The Young Ones on telly, and where there was a plethora of music and talent that was just so damn authentic. Cheeky. Different. Subversive. And yes! They played their own instruments too.
"I wanna be straight, I wanna be straight
Come out of the cold and do what I'm told and don't deviate
I wanna give, I wanna give, I wanna give my consent
I'm learning to hate all the things that were great when I used to be bent!"
As a young lad during a hot summer, he went swimming with a friend at an open-air pool. Sadly, for Ian, a fun day splashing about in the cooling water had him accidentally gulp some of the icy water. He spat it out as quickly as he could. ” But in that spit second his life was changed forever.” Going home happy, tired and healthy, fever soon took over his body, and he was diagnosed as having contracted polio. At that time polio was rife, and this innocent swim was to have a permanent impact on his life and the way he reacted to the world. It left him with a weakened left side and a permanent limp making walking difficult. His razor sharp wit and sharp tongue to friend and foe was often his way of taking the focus off himself and his body which he felt often betrayed him.
Artistic from a young age, Ian studied at art school and even went on to teach art. But music was always his first love. A firm fan of Gene Vincent, Ian set about to create music that combined his intense love of words with an artistic bent, which can be seen from his back catalog of works.
Was he a nice person? Not particularly. He often treated those closest to him with a cruel disdain. Will Birch has written an honest bio that doesn’t hold back with all the facets of Ian’s personality from a young child to adulthood. There was a carousel of friends, lovers, band members who would duck in and out of Ian’s life due to him needing them desperately and treating them well, to his complete scorn of them, often not speaking with people for years on end. And yet he could also be an absolute charmer. A diamond geezer.
Ian Dury was one of a kind. He was a complex and very contradictory person. A lot of this was definitely a result of the hardship he went through with contracting polio. I enjoyed this book because it showed a different world, a United Kingdom rebuilding itself after WWII, through to the freedom of the 1960s and the various rebellious music movements of the 1970s. It was actually refreshing to read a bio that didn’t hold back from showing the ugly side of a personality, as it was honest. Really recommend this for anyone interested in a quirkier musician and a time that no longer exists.
“The fact is, he had an extremely strong personality and if he’d had all his faculties he could have become anything he wanted, but he chose the thug route.”
Postscript!
I came across an interesting short doco about Ian and his various musical incarnations. Well worth a watch! Heads up, there's a bit of swearing that might offend.
https://youtu.be/_82awqsQJ14?si=8wxNY...
March 3, 2014
What a cunt. Never liked the music he and the blockheads made. The book was a Christmas present, so felt obliged to read it. My review is not based on the writing skills of Mr. Will Birch (quite well written) but on Dury as a person and human being.
Not really a book review huh? Nuf Said.
Not really a book review huh? Nuf Said.
March 25, 2025
I got two biogs out the library at the same time: this and one on Queen. The Queen one I soon gave up on because it was pretty dull and arse-licky. This, however, I devoured in a couple of days. It's well written, well informed and neither paints over Dury's many flaws nor magnifies them for salacious effect.
I've seen this and another Dury biog get bad reviews because the reviewer doesn't like Dury as a person. But surely it's about whether the author has written an entertaining, thought-provoking book, and this one has.
I've seen this and another Dury biog get bad reviews because the reviewer doesn't like Dury as a person. But surely it's about whether the author has written an entertaining, thought-provoking book, and this one has.
April 30, 2016
I couldn't finish this book. What a nasty piece of work!
December 7, 2017
This is a well-researched biography of pioneering Dury. There is a first act to the story of detailed genealogical data - I am sure more than any other Dury biography. Art school, music in and out of The Blockheads and bit film roles are covered chronologically in detail. I was especially surprised to learn of the UNICEF anti-polio globe trotting while suffering from the cancer that would kill him too soon. For the obsessive, along with many pics, this book has an extensive discography and gigography.
What, for me, makes this so compelling a biography is it is a very human portrait of a complex, irascible rogue creator so often infuriating to his colleagues and loved ones.
What, for me, makes this so compelling a biography is it is a very human portrait of a complex, irascible rogue creator so often infuriating to his colleagues and loved ones.
July 21, 2022
This is by far one of the best books I've ever read. Quite a traumatic childhood Ian knew he was special from a young age. This book covers everything and some. It's upsetting quite brutal very truthful and wonderful. What a life!!
October 24, 2011
I have limited patience for biography, but this is full of bits of Dury's lovely words and letters...well worth a gander.
June 29, 2020
A cracking warts and all sex and drugs and rock and roll biography.
August 16, 2021
What a deceiving title, this biography starts well with a proper report of Dury's ancestors and accounts of what his life was during his childhood, however, as soon as he starts his career as the frontman of his band we're told about all the changes in musicians that continuously occurred over the years at the hand of tyrannical Dury and the tours they made, but no much more.
This is terribly boring to me with only a few sentences talking about anything else than that and with little information about his personal life at the time apart from referring to some letters Dury sends to an ex in America where he talks a bit intimately. There should have been in depth interviews with his closest ones starting with his children, here we only get a few sentences from the musicians he badly exploited.
I've given one star to this book mainly because of the despotic character Dury was, I understand the reasons for his character, but in this book, we heard almost nothing about any feeling of regret for his actions coming from him. He was proud of both coming from a middle, upper-class family and a working class one, however, his behavior is a mixture of the worst from each side. He acted privileged because of the advantages the upbringing with his mother's family provided him and because he was disabled. He expoited the latest to the maximum bullying, sacking musicians constantly to control the group and becoming rich at their expense.
He's a nasty piece of work and should be remembered as that, he, an untalented and lazy body became rich at the expense of his musicians who struggled to make ends meet. I hate him because of that, particularly because he went around taking advantage of his working class roots and declaring he was a socialist. No, he was a privileged tyrannical narcissist.
This is terribly boring to me with only a few sentences talking about anything else than that and with little information about his personal life at the time apart from referring to some letters Dury sends to an ex in America where he talks a bit intimately. There should have been in depth interviews with his closest ones starting with his children, here we only get a few sentences from the musicians he badly exploited.
I've given one star to this book mainly because of the despotic character Dury was, I understand the reasons for his character, but in this book, we heard almost nothing about any feeling of regret for his actions coming from him. He was proud of both coming from a middle, upper-class family and a working class one, however, his behavior is a mixture of the worst from each side. He acted privileged because of the advantages the upbringing with his mother's family provided him and because he was disabled. He expoited the latest to the maximum bullying, sacking musicians constantly to control the group and becoming rich at their expense.
He's a nasty piece of work and should be remembered as that, he, an untalented and lazy body became rich at the expense of his musicians who struggled to make ends meet. I hate him because of that, particularly because he went around taking advantage of his working class roots and declaring he was a socialist. No, he was a privileged tyrannical narcissist.
September 17, 2024
Oh dear. Whilst supposedly trying to make Ian Dury endearing, Birch only ends up making him sound like a horrible person. What did McCartney say? "A dirty story of a dirty man..."? If you want to enjoy Dury's music without his baggage, don't read this book. It'll ruin it all for you. Well written, well researched, but only for fans who knew the truth about Dury.
September 30, 2019
A look at to me one the best of the "new wave" talents A good read of the warts and all type .I ha e grown tired of the "hero"type of biography.
February 22, 2020
Good book.
Good insight intoDury life. Warts and all. A good read if you fancy it. Glad I read it. The end.
Good insight intoDury life. Warts and all. A good read if you fancy it. Glad I read it. The end.
March 6, 2021
Give this a 4.5. We’ll written and researched and seems to paint a balanced picture of the man. Seems to have had it tough when he was younger and was a right bugger at times. Died too young.
August 13, 2023
A fascinating, honest insight into a pub rock legend. Well written, it pieces together the man behind the music and the events and people that shaped his life.
October 16, 2014
I read this on holidays over the weet bix etc and by the hotel pools. it's a very long account of the lyrical artist. I saw the biopic a few years ago but this bio tells a different story of the guy. The book is much more warts and all when it comes to the failings of Ian Durys personality and character so It pretty much left me with a low opinion of him. I didn't mind reading the names of the endless musicians, producers, minders, girlfriends, hangers on etc, etc that he churned through. but I couldn't recite any names back again. He sure did spit out a lot of people in his rise and fall and semi -rise again. The book itself is a very detailed documentation of his life and a recording of many of the characters from that scene at that time in England. He must have had some good left in him because he seemed to attract a lot of people but he just treated everyone so poorly! I wonder if his family/friends agree with this book.
September 20, 2024
Iain Dury wasn't a particularly great singer, his talents were as much in his personal charisma and in his writing, both aspects came together in his unique performances, who else could create such marvellous, clever, defiant songs as 'Hit Me with Your Rhythm Stick' or 'Spasticus Autisticus'?
In spite of the dramatic subject matter, this book is slow to get going, I found the opening chapters dragged a bit. Even the author seemed disinterested until around page 77. It slowly picked up pace and suddenly we were on the road with Kilburn and the Highroads and things really began to take off. Ian Dury was a complex, clever, talented man and I'm sorry I never saw him perform live. However I'm quite glad I never knew him, not a very nice person.
If you like punk, if you're a fan of Ian Dury and the Blockheads, then read the book. If you're not a fan, listen to 'Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick' until you are!
In spite of the dramatic subject matter, this book is slow to get going, I found the opening chapters dragged a bit. Even the author seemed disinterested until around page 77. It slowly picked up pace and suddenly we were on the road with Kilburn and the Highroads and things really began to take off. Ian Dury was a complex, clever, talented man and I'm sorry I never saw him perform live. However I'm quite glad I never knew him, not a very nice person.
If you like punk, if you're a fan of Ian Dury and the Blockheads, then read the book. If you're not a fan, listen to 'Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick' until you are!
May 9, 2013
Well written and very balanced and probably therefore worthy of 4 stars but I found it very difficult to warm to the subject because of his frequently cruel and callous behaviour. OK he did mellow towards the end and yes he had a lot to put up with. But so had the people around him! This is definitely a "warts and all" job.
November 28, 2023
I read it because I've always been fascinated by that sort of lost mid 70s Kilburns era when Dury was probably the coolest thing in London, McClaren taking the young Lydon to observe that spectacle. Sure enough the life is messy and mean but people only need to do one great thing and New Boots and Panties is enough. And What A Waste...
October 14, 2013
This bio is a fascinating read. It takes us through his childhood and life as a polio survivor. A gifted musician, family man, and all around nice guy. Wonderful book, I totally recommend it...then go out and find reissues of the music!
March 9, 2015
The legend himself brought beautifully to life by Will Birch. A book that will make you rage and shake an angry fist at those pouting, airbrushed pretty boys that pass for pop stars nowadays. Great effort.
April 21, 2022
I loved Ian Dury's records, so I wanted him to be a good, decent chap. In the end you feel he's a bit of a knob who had little or no respect for his women, friends or family, but still managed to carve a remarkable career. After reading it I played New boots and panties, and all was forgiven
July 16, 2014
Entertaining book on an entertaining man.
February 15, 2016
What an amazing full life. You would have no idea. From childhood to his contribution to New Wave Ian was an innovator. Definitely a great read for music of the era!
September 6, 2015
gotta know about the Dury
Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews