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An interview with the Blockheads (© Jon Horne 2001) 
Chaz Jankel has grown a goatee - an impressive one at that, with nearly-but-not-quite symmetrical grey streaks running down from the corners of his mouth to a neatly-trimmed point, half an inch beneath his chin. "That's the image I want," says Phill Jupitus, who sports a more established but less angular version, "Zorro's dad." Jupitus will use this line again in a few hours time, when he introduces Jankel, along with the rest of the Blockheads, to an audience of three hundred wildly appreciative souls at The Bully, a pub-cum-dancehall at the Poundstretcher (as opposed to the dreaming spires) end of Oxford. When Ian Dury died of cancer last year, it would have been hard to find anyone in their mid-thirties or older who was not genuinely saddened by the news. In the preceding years, he had become a marginal public figure - occasionally appearing in a film, or indulging in a one-off reunion with the Blockheads (notably to raise money for the family of their drummer Charley Charles, himself lost to cancer). There was a West End show, 'Apples', co-written with Mickey Gallagher, and couple of half-successful records made with session musicians. Sometimes he would be roped in to speak on behalf of disabled people (which made him uncomfortable - a feeling which he effectively transferred to the audience, via the mighty 'Spasticus Autisticus'). Most of the time though, he stayed in the background. "I like to be a lurker," he once said, "I like being naughty." Towards the end though, he got down to work. For UNICEF, he travelled to Sri Lanka with Robbie Williams in an effort to spread awareness about polio. For himself, there were medical treatments to pay for, and so the Blockheads reunited once more, with Chaz Jankel returning to his old position as Dury's songwriting partner. The resulting final album, 'Mr Love Pants', was a gem of suburban naughtiness and sparkling melodic funk. More than that, it was a hit. If people had bought the record because it was their last chance to hear a much-loved entertainer, then they kept playing it because the Blockheads' music was so goddamn funky. There was a willingness to perform musically, which had been missing from Ian Dury's records in the fifteen-or-so years since the group had split up. In truth, Ian Dury had always struggled without the Blockheads. An extraordinary performer and a great lyricist, as a singer he was never very good at holding a tune. Kilburn and the High Roads were reckoned to be the most compelling live act in the country during the mid-1970s, but you'd never guess it from the records they made, which were amateurish at best, charmless at worst. When Dury's ill-health forced the Kilburns off the road, he and Chaz Jankel started again, initially as a studio duo (making 'Sex and Drugs and Rock and Roll' with Dury on drums and Jankel on everything else), and then slowly assembling the Blockheads. By the time of 'New Boots and Panties' (Ian Dury's masterpiece), most of the as-yet-unnamed group were in place. Several hit singles and one LP, 'Do It Yourself', followed before Jankel left in 1980. For those three years, they had made a glorious racket, rooted in (what is now known as) Music Of Black Origin, but always sung and played with English wit and distance; pure funk leavened with music-hall silliness and wild jazz. When Chaz Jankel left, he took most of the group's melodicism with him. His replacement was the glowering Wilko Johnson, who played what Dury referred to as "blatta-blatta guitar". This line-up made one LP, 'Laughter', which Dury disliked right up until the end (actually it's pretty good, if you accept that there's more to life than funk). A couple of years later, it was all over for the Blockheads. In the absence of further hit records, Dury's continuing illnesses meant that they were not able to play enough concerts to sustain a seven-piece band. Dury put together a few studio groups, first with Sly Dunbar and Robbie Shakespeare (then going through their we'll-play-for-anyone-who'll-pay-us phase, which saw them appearing with the likes of Serge Gainsbourg and Bob Dylan), that failed because Dury's lyric-writing ability for once deserted him; and later the Music Students, who were just anonymous. 'Mr Love Pants' showed simply that Ian Dury needed the Blockheads. Which brings us to the Blockheads without Ian Dury. Everyone expected the group to stay together for the tribute concert, which they did; and for the tribute album, which they did. The album is a re-make of 'New Boots and Panties', with a vocal line-up coming straight from an edition of Jools Holland's 'Later'. 'Brand New Boots and Panties' is a record to be proud of - full of great music, and featuring some good, occasionally inspired singing (Cerys Matthews' brilliant recasting of 'If I Was With A Woman' is worth the price of the CD on its own). Even when a remake fails to capture the spirit of the original (such as Robbie Williams' oafish reading of 'Sweet Gene Vincent' - apparently Paul McCartney wanted to do that one; he really should have been given a go, particularly since Williams would have had a lot of fun with 'Abracadabra', which McCartney ended up singing), the results are still listenable and danceable. The current tour is being billed as a promotion for 'Brand New Boots and Panties', and the second half of the show is indeed a set of Ian Dury cover versions, all of them from the 'New Boots' era. The guest singer on this occasion is the comedian and former Porky Poet Phill Jupitus, who does a better job than anyone could have hoped for. What he does, throughout the whole second half of the show, is simply recite the songs, and let Ian Dury's words do the work. There are moments when he has to struggle with Ian Dury's phantom presence, stopping himself from doing one of Dury's stage-moves - I swear that once he comes close to limping, but just manages to stop himself in time. The result is that Jupitus treats Ian Dury's songs with more respect than Ian Dury ever did. That is no bad thing. The tour is a special occasion: the Blockheads are promoting a record of very old songs, in memory of their old bandleader, and that deserves a bit of respect. Some very large men cry during 'Sweet Gene Vincent'. The first half of the show, however, shows that the Blockheads don't necessarily need Ian Dury. Certainly his presence is missed, but when Chaz Jankel announces that "it's time to play some old stuff, OK?", the crowd's initial reaction is one of disappointment. We were enjoying ourselves, an admittedly thirty-something audience dancing happily, if not as slinkily as we used to, to some great new songs. The Blockheads without Ian Dury are like Booker T and the MGs without Otis Redding, or the Funk Brothers without the Supremes. Certainly there's something missing, but what remains is very good indeed. "Are you going to tape this?" asks Chaz Jankel, trying to make himself heard over the jukebox. "Is that OK?" "Yeah, but we'd better move." We go into the back room, where the band are setting up. The following interview takes place in an atmosphere of nervous confidence. Jankel is forever glancing over his shoulder at the stage. These people know how talented they are, but they don't yet know if they are going to be appreciated. Discounting the eternally-youthful Chaz Jankel, the Blockheads are a grizzled bunch. Bassist Norman Watt-Roy is a compelling figure; a balding Asian east-Londoner with piercing eyes and the filthiest grin since... well... Ian Dury, he hovers in the background along with organist Mickey Gallagher. I am talking to Chaz Jankel, John Turnbull, and in a minute, Phill Jupitus. Drummer Dylan Howe sits at the far side of our table, saying nothing, but listening cheerfully to Jankel and Turnbull's stories. The son of Yes guitarist Steve Howe, he clearly likes the company of older musicians. He has also clearly been using Chaz's face cream, because he looks about twenty. In fact he is thirty-two years old. John Turnbull and Mickey Gallagher have been playing together since before he was born. Jon Horne: You're doing a new record of Ian Dury material? Chaz Jankel: Yeah, there's one more album in the can, that's going to come out soon, of Ian Dury and the band, which is basically the Blockheads singing. Robbie Williams is singing one song on it - which Ian wrote - called "You're The Why". Otherwise it's Johnny Turnbull singing, and I'm singing a bit - and Ian is singing, obviously, on... six of the songs? Mickey Gallagher: Eight. CJ: Eight of the songs. John Turnbull: We're compiling the album that you're talking about - trying to get a running order. Some of it was recorded around 'Mr Love Pants' time. The rest was just about when Ian was being diagnosed with his illness. He was still in fine voice. We got four or five out of that session. JH (to John Turnbull): You're the singer now? JT: I've been singing a lot more recently, and writing songs for another album, which will come out next year - without Ian, except for the odd line here and there. It's sounding good. We're quite excited - we haven't heard any of it back yet. JH: When did you first hear funk? CJ: First funky record I ever heard was on the B-side of Lee Dorsey's 'Working in a Coalmine'. On the B-side was a song called 'Get out my life woman'. JT, MG, PJ, JH: Oh yeah! CJ: And first I heard this bap-bap... What's that? On the two! On the four! f***! That's where it's at! How come...? You know? So I sort of investigated this whole area of Afro-American music then - Sly and the Family Stone, War, all those groups - and some great, actually, metal groups with funk as well, like... who's that one that did 'Magic Carpet Ride'? JT: Steppen... PJ: ...wolf. CJ: And some of Eric Clapton's stuff was quite funky. Albert King... I liked Albert King as well, the way he... (mimes funky stance). I think Jeff Beck was... (mimes funkiness again) involved in... So there was that sort of stuff, and then... well, that was the birth of... JH: Did you have to convert the group, or was it a shared thing? CJ: It was a shared thing, (to JT) wasn't it, John? JT: Well in the sixties, we were very excited because our manager was bringing over Sly and the Family Stone. We were going to go to the... what's it called, in the Strand, where we did that live Kampuchea thing? CJ: The Lyceum. JT: Yeah, the Lyceum. Don Arden it was. We were really into it, and we were going to go. But he didn't come. So... we were in a mixed bag in the sixties. Me and Mickey were in a band called Skip Bifferty, and we used to listen to Don Ellis, Miles Davis - you f***ing name it - all these weird and wonderful jazz things. Then all of a sudden, you got, like... what was it, turned us on...? (pause) 'Island of Real' by... (pause) The Rascals. CJ: Young Rascals. JT: Young Rascals, as they were then. CJ: (sings) "Groovin' on a Sunday afternoon..." You know that one? Felix Cavaliere singing - very talented guy. JT: It was like the Beach Boys, when they got Ricky Fataar and Blondie Chaplin in to do 'Holland'. It was a really trippy album - dead different from the Beach Boys - and we were all going: "We like this!" It was a similar thing then. PJ: First funk record I ever heard was "Wake up and make love with me". CJ, JT, MG: (laugh) PJ: It's true! Living in the provinces... As a fan, 'New Boots and Panties' was coming out in 77, 76... CJ: 77 PJ: ...and you were buying punk stuff as well. So you were buying the Lurkers, and you were buying the Pistols, and you're buying this album, that when you actually listen to it, just takes you off in a completely different direction. I wouldn't have the love for dance music that I've got now, if it wasn't for the Blockheads. You know, all the atmosphere, all the attitude and the bile of the punk movement - with this f***ing band! It's like Johnny Rotten and the Family Stone. Don't know what else to say. JH: (to CJ) You had a dance hit as well. CJ: I did too, yeah. JH: How did Ian Dury take to that? (dirty look from CJ) JH: ...and the band. Was anybody else on it? PJ: Norman? CJ: I don't think Norman actually made the final mix. No, Ian wrote the lyric for a song - you're probably referring to 'Glad to Know You'. JH: Yeah. CJ: Yeah, that was a massive hit. It was a bit of a drag for Ian because... at the time, we were working out in Compass Point, in the Bahamas. I made an album with Ian, called 'Lord Upminster'. We went out there because... whatshisname, head of Island records... PJ: Blackwell. CJ: (Chris) Blackwell thought it would be a good idea for Ian to work with Sly and Robbie, and I went along as his sort of sidekick. We were recording, and in the middle of it, this song 'Glad to Know You', that I'd put out, went in at number ninety-nine. Then the next week it was, like number twelve - and Sly, who's an avid... he reads all the magazines, he says: "Hey Chaz, man, you're record's at number twelve." Next week, it's number one, and it's number one for, like, six weeks (mimes "result!"). Problem was, him and Robbie got disgruntled about their pay - their fee. So they cornered me - (low voice) "Hey Chaz..." and they start trying to renegotiate their fee. I'm more of a soft touch than Ian, so I'm saying: "Maybe we can..." you know? I told Ian, and he goes f***ing berserk. He said: "No f***ing way!" And I remember seeing him out in the car park, talking to them, and he didn't know how to deal with it, other than to start crying. So when they're sort of laying into him, he's (sobbing voice) "I can't! I can't! I've got two children back in England.." And they were so bemused by all this, they were (low voice again) "Don't know how to deal with this at all," and walked away. And that was the end of the financial negotiations. JT: When in doubt, whinge. JH: 'Brand New Boots And Panties' - anyone else who should have been on it? CJ: (points to PJ) Yeah, him. PJ: (mimes humility) No, no please. JT: I think it's a large omission actually. PJ: The team involved with putting it all together, they were coming up with names, and giving me the list of who's doing what song, and the last song to get cast, as it were, was 'Blockheads', and a little bit at the back of my mind was waiting for them not to get anyone to do it. Even then I was behind Mark Lamarr in the queue. But I'm... the first time I sang with the Blockheads at rehearsal, you could have taken me then - I'd have been happy. Every gig now is just bonus. It's bonus. JH: Are you doing the whole tour? PJ: No, just a few dates as and when I can, what with my hectic schedule of... er, pop quizzes. The funny thing is, I did have 'Hit me with your Rhythm Stick' in the 'Next Lines' round of 'Never Mind the Buzzcocks', and I got it wrong. Not the best advert for my own... My role is, archivist, sleevenote writer, if there's anything that no one else knows how to do, they give me a ring and say: "Do you paint? Have you ever done any cobbling Phill? It's just that Johnny's shoes are a bit..." I'll f***ing have a go at anything, me. JH: (to JT) You weren't on the original album, were you? JT: No, there's only Norman and Charley (Charles). They were part of my band, if you want to put it that way. We had a band called Loving Awareness - me, Mickey, Norman and Charley, where I was the singer and Charley was the singer, and we were on hard times. We were doing sessions for Lulu and God knows who else... PJ: They were the Radio Caroline house band. JT: We did the jingles for them. We were managed by Radio Caroline, put it that way. So Norman and Charley left with Ian and Chaz, and of course, we've been very jealous ever since - to not be on such a f***ing landmark album. I can't... (mimes psychiatric patient, head in hands, sobbing) I can't let it go, you know... MG (from the stage): We're doing the soundcheck pretty soon. PJ: 'Brand New Boots and Panties' is a benefit album and a tribute to Ian. Your Blockheads purists are going to be, like... well they've Cerys from Catatonia and Robbie Williams to sing some... I can imagine there being a kind of bristling, but the arrangements on that album... JT: It was funny, the arrangements that aren't on the album. The version of 'Wake up and make love with me', we did is in a different key. We did the same with 'Plaistow Patricia', and the same with 'Clevor Trever' - but they had to go out of the window because, firstly somebody said it sounded like the Eagles - so that was straight out - and the other one was: "That reminds me of Little Feat," and that was nearly alright. PJ: That's OK. JT: Yeah, but 'Plaistow Patricia' like Little Feat? It did have quite a funky beat. But in the end we chopped it out exactly the same. On the demo, I sang it, in a kind of American... (sings) "Pleah-stow Purtri..." So it didn't work. Or rather, the music worked and the vocal didn't, so that's why we went back to the drawing board and went back to the original way of playing it. CJ: Having said that, 25 years on, we recorded 'Brand New Boots and Panties' with the guys, and you saw how the music had evolved through 25 years of playing. So it's been brought up to date, and that's why 'Brand New Boots and Panties' is an important album. There you have it, the development, it's amazing. (CJ & PJ stand up) JH: (to JT) One more before we finish. I read somewhere that you... the Blockheads played on 'Relax'. JT: Yeeees. JH: Are there any other records we should know about? JT: Well if you could dissect all the samples out of 'Two Tribes'... but you know, you can't really say that, can you? PJ: Have you heard 'What's Going Down' by Honky? It samples 'Sex and Drugs and Rock and Roll' - uses the hook all the way through. JT: Check out Bootsy (Collins)'s version of 'Hit'... Bootsy's last single had a great sample of 'Hit Me with your Rhythm Stick' on it. This half-time funky bass thing, and the backing is... (cymbal crash) not so as you'd... (snare drum) but the break is... (JT completely drowned out by drum soundcheck)... And that's it. In a few hours, the Blockheads will play a great show, which will end in an outpouring of affection from audience to group, the like of which I have never seen at a live show before. "That's all for tonight," the MC will say, to the crowd still baying for encores, "but hang around if you like, because the Blockheads'll come and have a dance with you later. Alright?" And that is just what they will do. Keep an eye on the Blockheads' web site for more information My review of this show from TouchOxford.com. You might also like to read my appreciation of the original 'New Boots and Panties'. - - - read more rants and raves |