His blend of punk, funk, reggae, new wave, jazz and rock'n'roll, was as unique as he was. Ian Dury and the Blockheads had top 10 hits with singles Hit Me with Your Rhythm Stick, What a Waste, and Reasons to be Cheerful Part 3, and albums such as New Boots and Panties!!.
It is 25 years to the day since the singer who was disabled by polio aged seven, causing paralysis on the left hand side of his body died of liver cancer aged 57.
Still performing with The Blockheads, his friend and co-writer Chaz Jankel, 72, said: "When we started, there was no other band that I knew of in the late 70s that played such a wide range of music, from soulful funk to music hall.
"Our music was like raucous English RnB.
"Ian's spirit is still in everything we do because his lyrics are so poignant."
The Blockheads are currently touring the UK, with Chaz joined by fellow guitarist John Turnbull, Mick Gallagher on keyboards, John Roberts on drums and Mike Bennett as lead vocalist.
They have some new tracks but it's the old hits that send the crowd wild.
Chaz said: "The crowd go mad when we mention [Ian's] name during gigs even though half of them never saw him play because they're too young."
Born in 1942, Ian grew up in Harrow, Middlesex. His mum was a health visitor and his dad, a former boxer, was a bus driver and chauffeur.
For three years he was sent to Chailey Heritage School in East Sussex - a hospital school for disabled children with a reputation for wanting to "toughen them up".
He later went on to study at the Royal Academy of Art.
Ian married Betty Rathmell in 1967 and they had children Jemima, now 56, and rock singer Baxter, 53. Ian and Betty divorced in the 1980s.
Chaz said the band's debut single Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll in 1977 "was an observation of the world rather than him saying, 'That's what I want"."
He added: "He liked the attention of the opposite sex - there's no doubt about that but he wasn't a womaniser."
Ian was complex. Chaz said: "There was a shift in his personality after he'd had a drink.
"He didn't hold his liquor well. It would give him Dutch courage and then, sometimes, the frustration that had been building up in his sober hours, that could turn a little bit vindictive.
"He'd find somebody's Achilles' heel and he'd go for that." Ian never planned on becoming a singer.
After doing a degree in art, he was an illustrator and taught at Canterbury College of Art.
Chaz said: "He said to me once that when he couldn't be as great as Rembrandt, he turned his hand to music. But Ian was an artist an who painted with his words.
Out of all the skills he had such as being a great ente...
It is 25 years to the day since the singer who was disabled by polio aged seven, causing paralysis on the left hand side of his body died of liver cancer aged 57.
Still performing with The Blockheads, his friend and co-writer Chaz Jankel, 72, said: "When we started, there was no other band that I knew of in the late 70s that played such a wide range of music, from soulful funk to music hall.
"Our music was like raucous English RnB.
"Ian's spirit is still in everything we do because his lyrics are so poignant."
The Blockheads are currently touring the UK, with Chaz joined by fellow guitarist John Turnbull, Mick Gallagher on keyboards, John Roberts on drums and Mike Bennett as lead vocalist.
They have some new tracks but it's the old hits that send the crowd wild.
Chaz said: "The crowd go mad when we mention [Ian's] name during gigs even though half of them never saw him play because they're too young."
Born in 1942, Ian grew up in Harrow, Middlesex. His mum was a health visitor and his dad, a former boxer, was a bus driver and chauffeur.
For three years he was sent to Chailey Heritage School in East Sussex - a hospital school for disabled children with a reputation for wanting to "toughen them up".
He later went on to study at the Royal Academy of Art.
Ian married Betty Rathmell in 1967 and they had children Jemima, now 56, and rock singer Baxter, 53. Ian and Betty divorced in the 1980s.
Chaz said the band's debut single Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll in 1977 "was an observation of the world rather than him saying, 'That's what I want"."
He added: "He liked the attention of the opposite sex - there's no doubt about that but he wasn't a womaniser."
Ian was complex. Chaz said: "There was a shift in his personality after he'd had a drink.
"He didn't hold his liquor well. It would give him Dutch courage and then, sometimes, the frustration that had been building up in his sober hours, that could turn a little bit vindictive.
"He'd find somebody's Achilles' heel and he'd go for that." Ian never planned on becoming a singer.
After doing a degree in art, he was an illustrator and taught at Canterbury College of Art.
Chaz said: "He said to me once that when he couldn't be as great as Rembrandt, he turned his hand to music. But Ian was an artist an who painted with his words.
Out of all the skills he had such as being a great ente...
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Daily Record (Digital) - 1 Issue, March 27, 2025