"Billericay Dickie" | |
---|---|
Song by Ian Dury | |
from the album New Boots and Panties | |
Released | 1977 |
Recorded | 1977 |
Genre | Music hall |
Length | 4:24 |
Label | Stiff Records |
Songwriter(s) | Ian Dury, Steve Nugent |
Producer(s) | Peter Jenner, Laurie Latham, Rick Walton |
Official audio | |
"Billericay Dickie" on YouTube |
"Billericay Dickie" is a song by Ian Dury, from his debut album New Boots and Panties!! . It is narrated by a bragging bricklayer from Billericay, and is filled with name-checks for places in Essex. The song is based around naughty rhymes such as:
Each verse tells a different short story, relating one of Dickie's sexual conquests around south-eastern England, while in the choruses the character insists he is a caring, conscientious lover and 'not a thickie', even giving the names of two girls ("a pair of squeaky chickies") as references to attest this. Dickie is a character most commonly referred to in the media as an 'Essex lad'. The song, perhaps the best example of Dury's 'Englishness' and 'Essexness', was given its oompah, fairground like arrangement by an American, Steve Nugent.
Ian Dury stated on numerous occasions (as mentioned in both his biographies, Sex and Drugs and Rock and Roll: The Life of Ian Dury and Ian Dury & The Blockheads: Song By Song) that he saw Dickie as a pathetic figure. He would reflect this on-stage by breaking down, as if he were about to cry during the final part of the song, before returning to normal, to shout the final lines of the final verse. The song was rarely used as an opening track for live sets (another song from New Boots and Panties!!, "Wake Up and Make Love with Me", was used instead), but it does open the set recorded live at the Hammersmith Odeon, in 1985, that was released as the Hold Onto Your Structure VHS/DVD. Live versions can be found on both of Dury's live albums Warts 'n' Audience and Straight from the Desk .
In Australia, the song formed the basis of the jingle in ads for cleaning product Ajax Spray n' Wipe. The ad campaign ran from 1988 to 2010. [1]
Ian Robins Dury was an English singer, songwriter and actor who rose to fame in the late 1970s, during the punk and new wave era of rock music. He was the lead singer and lyricist of Kilburn and the High Roads, The Kilburns, Ian Dury and the Blockheads and Ian Dury and the Music Students.
Charles Jeremy "Chaz" Jankel is an English musician and songwriter. In a music career spanning more than 40 years, he came to prominence in the late 1970s as the guitarist and keyboardist of the rock band Ian Dury and the Blockheads. With Dury, Jankel co-wrote some of the band's best-known songs including "Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll", "Hit Me with Your Rhythm Stick" and "Reasons to Be Cheerful, Part 3".
"Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll" is a song and single by Ian Dury. It was originally released as a Stiff Records single, with "Razzle in My Pocket" as the B-side, on 26 August 1977. The song was released under the single name "Ian Dury", but three members of the Blockheads appear on the record – the song's co-writer and guitarist Chaz Jankel, Norman Watt-Roy on bass and drummer Charlie Charles.
New Boots and Panties!! is the debut studio album by Ian Dury, released in the UK on Stiff Records on 30 September 1977. The record covers a diverse range of musical styles which reflect Dury's influences and background in pub rock, taking in funk, disco, British music hall and early rock and roll, courtesy of Dury's musical hero Gene Vincent. Consisting mostly of love songs and character stories based on the working-class people of the East End and Essex Estuary areas where he grew up, the songs are frequently ribald and profane, but also contain humour and affection for his characters.
Michael William Gallagher is an English Hammond organ player best known as a member of Ian Dury and the Blockheads and for his contributions to albums by the Clash. He has also written music for films such as Extremes (1971) and After Midnight (1990), and the Broadway play Serious Money (1987).
"Hit Me with Your Rhythm Stick" is a song by Ian Dury and the Blockheads, first released as a single on Stiff Records in the UK on 1 December 1978 and credited to "Ian & the Blockheads". Written by Dury and the Blockheads' multi-instrumentalist Chaz Jankel, it is the group's most successful single, reaching number one on the UK Singles Chart in January 1979 as well as reaching the top three in Ireland, Australia and New Zealand, and it was also a top 20 hit in several European countries.
David Stanley Payne is an English saxophonist best known as a member of Ian Dury's backing band The Blockheads, and for his twin saxophone solo on their 1978 UK No. 1 single "Hit Me with Your Rhythm Stick". He also appeared on the first version of Nico's 1981 album Drama of Exile.
Do It Yourself is a 1979 album by Ian Dury & the Blockheads. It was the first album to be credited to Ian Dury & the Blockheads rather than Ian Dury alone, although Dury had used the full band name for the "What a Waste" 7" single of 1978. The album was released in the wake of the chart-topping hit single "Hit Me with Your Rhythm Stick", and reached number two in the charts, behind ABBA's Voulez-Vous. Do It Yourself sold around 200,000 copies, and was Dury's second Platinum album.
Lord Upminster is the second solo studio album by the English rock and roll singer-songwriter Ian Dury. It was released by Polydor Records in September 1981.
Apples is the sixth studio album by Ian Dury, released in October 1989 by WEA. It was the soundtrack to his short-lived stage-show of same name though it was recorded before the show opened. The album contains twelve of the twenty tracks from the show. The album was reissued with no bonus tracks on 31 October 2011 by Edsel Records.
"Sueperman's Big Sister" is a song and a 1980 single by Ian Dury & The Blockheads. Its title purposefully misspells 'Superman' with an extra 'e' to avoid any copyright issues with DC Comics.
Mr. Love Pants is a 1998 album by Ian Dury and the Blockheads, released on East Central One under Dury's own label Ronnie Harris Records.
"What a Waste" is a song and single by Ian Dury and the Blockheads, originally released in 1978 on the Stiff Records single BUY 27 "What a Waste" / "Wake Up and Make Love with Me". The song has remained in The Blockheads' set following Dury's death.
"Reasons to Be Cheerful, Part 3" is a song and single by Ian Dury and the Blockheads, initially released as the single "Reasons to be Cheerful, Part 3 / Common as Muck" on 27 July 1979, which reached number 3 in the UK singles chart the following month. It is the last single to be released by the band in their original line-up. Parts 1 and 2 do not exist.
Wotabunch! was released by WEA in 1978, following the success of Ian Dury as a solo artist. It is technically the "second album" by Kilburn and the High-Roads.
"Sweet Gene Vincent" is a song and single by Ian Dury. Taken from his first solo album New Boots and Panties!! it was his second solo single and third solo release and is a tribute to Rock 'n' Roll singer Gene Vincent. It was released November 1977 on the single BUY 23 Sweet Gene Vincent / You're More Than Fair and there was no picture sleeve released.
Straight from the Desk is a live album by Ian Dury & the Blockheads recorded on 23 December 1978 at the Ilford Odeon, Ilford, East London.
The Blockheads are an English rock band formed in London in 1977. Originally fronted by lead singer Ian Dury as Ian Dury and the Blockheads or Ian and the Blockheads, the band has continued to perform since Dury's death in 2000. As of March 2023 members included Chaz Jankel, Nathan King (bass), Mick Gallagher, John Turnbull, John Roberts (drums), and Mike Bennett. There is a rolling line-up of saxophonists that includes Gilad Atzmon, Terry Edwards, Dave Lewis, and from time to time, the original sax player, Davey Payne. Between 2000 and 2022, the band's lead vocalist and main lyricist was Derek Hussey.
Norman Joseph Watt-Roy is an English musician, arranger and composer.
Live Stiffs Live is a live album released in 1978 by Stiff Records. It compiles concert performances by several of the record label's artists recorded during the "Live Stiffs Tour", which ran from 3 October to 5 November 1977.