Description
A defining single of the British new wave, Ian Dury’s “Sex and Drugs and Rock and Roll” is one of those songs that sounds like an old favourite even if you’ve never heard it before. Dury’s winking delivery of the lyrics, which are filled with daffy non-sequiturs, make it clear that the song’s “controversial” elements are all a good-natured con. The slinky groove, written by the Blockheads’ musical director Chaz Jankel, is built on a reggae-ish rhythm, but the blend of jazz, disco, funk and raucous pub rock influences is so unique that it’s indisputably Ian Dury. Therefore, the song hasn’t been covered much, except in a sluggish instrumental remake by fusion saxophonist Raphael Ravenscroft, better known for his solo on Gerry Rafferty’s “Baker Street.” This was the all-bands-onstage encore during the famous Stiff Records package tours of the ’70s, as well as one of the label’s t-shirt and badge slogans.
SOURCE: AllMusic
