Handsome (Kilburn and the High-Roads album)

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All tracks are written by Ian Dury and Russell Hardy, except where indicated

Handsome
Handsome nohandsingals.png
Studio album by
Kilburn and the High-Roads
ReleasedJune 1975
Recorded1974
Studio Pye Studios, London
Genre Rock
Length40:10
Label Dawn (Pye)
Producer Hugh Murphy
Kilburn and the High-Roads chronology
Handsome
(1975)		 Wotabunch!
(1977)
Ian Dury chronology
Handsome!!
(1975)		 New Boots and Panties!!
(1977)
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."The Roadette Song" 3:25
2."Pam's Moods" 3:40
3."Crippled with Nerves" 3:45
4."Broken Skin"Dury, Rod Melvin 2:16
5."Upminster Kid" 5:18
6."Patience (So What?)" 3:13
7."Father"Dury, Charles Sinclair2:00
8."Thank You Mum"Dury, Melvin1:21
9."Rough Kids" 2:26
10."The Badger and the Rabbit" 3:56
11."The Mumble Rumble and the Cocktail Rock" 4:39
12."The Call-Up" 4:07

Pye-Dawn re-released the original LP in 1977 following the success of Ian Dury as a solo artist.

1999 edition

In 1999, as part of their 30th Anniversary series, Dawn re-issued the album onto CD in a very unconventional way; instead of adding bonus tracks to the end of the album or on a second disc, Dawn decided to reorganise the album's track order to accommodate the missing B-sides as well as adding four previously unreleased tracks. [8] These included a cover version of Alma Cogan's "Twenty Tiny Fingers", one of only two cover versions Ian Dury has ever officially released, the other being "Girls (Watching)" on his 1980 album Lord Upminster .

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Rough Kids" (single version) 2:26
2."Billy Bentley (Promenades Himself in London)"Dury, Charlie Hart3:02
3."Crippled with Nerves" 3:45
4."Huffety Puff" 3:14
5."The Roadette Song" 3:25
6."Pam's Moods" 3:40
7."Broken Skin"Dury, Melvin2:16
8."Upminster Kid" 5:18
9."Patience (So What?)" 3:13
10."Father"Dury, Sinclair2:00
11."Thank You Mum"Dury, Melvin1:21
12."The Badger and the Rabbit" 3:56
13."The Mumble Rumble and the Cocktail Rock" 4:39
14."The Call Up" 4:07
15."Who's to Know?"Dury, Melvin2:18
16."Back to Blighty"Dury, Melvin4:13
17."O.K. Roland"Dury, Hart2:55
18."Twenty Tiny Fingers" (Sore Throat Mix) Sid Tepper, Roy Bennett 3:16

2016 edition

In 2016, Cherry Red Records released an expanded edition of Handsome with a bonus disc containing a previously unreleased 1974 Capital Radio broadcast. The first disc includes both the single and album version of "Rough Kids". [9] [10]

Disc 1
Disc 2
In session - Sarah Ward & Friends Capital Radio Fri 26th/Sat 27th April 1974
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Upminster Kid"  
2."The Walk" Jimmy McCracklin, Bob Garlic 
3."The Roadette Song"  
4."Crippled with Nerves"  
5."The Call-Up"  
6."Pam's Moods"  
7."Billy Bentley"Dury, Hart 
8."The Old Bang"  
9."You're More Than Fair"  
10."Rough Kids"  
11."The Mumble Rumble and the Cocktail Rock"  

Personnel

Kilburn and the High-Roads

Additional musicians

Technical

First mixes

In 1996, Repertoire Records released a 2-CD Ian Dury retrospective Ian Dury & The Blockheads: Reasons to Be Cheerful which included tracks from all of his solo albums and many of his solo singles but instead of including tracks from either Handsome or Wotabunch! they chose to include 10 tracks recorded in 1974 which they claim are the first mixes for some of the tracks from Handsome. However, the version of "Rough Kids" is almost identical to the version on Wotabunch! (minus the ad-libs), and furthermore their time of recording suggests it is possible the tracks are in fact from the Raft recordings, regardless the ten tracks are "Rough Kids", "You're More Than Fair", "Billy Bentley", "Pam's Moods", "Upminster Kid", "The Roadette Song", "Pam's Moods 2", "The Call-Up" and the wrong titled "The Mumble Rumble" ("The Mumble Rumble and the Cocktail Rock"). "Pam's Moods 2" is another mix of "Pam's Moods".

These tracks show little signs of the smooth, softened, high-produced versions finally released on Handsome and are far similar to the band's live sound and are not mentioned at all in either Ian Dury autobiography and noticeably included "You're More Than Fair", which was not included on the final album.

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References

  1. ↑ "Music - Discography - 1974". iandury.co.uk. Retrieved 29 October 2021.
  2. 1 2 3 "Kilburn & the High Roads". Punk Music Catalogue. Retrieved 29 October 2021.
  3. ↑ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. Handsome at AllMusic
  4. ↑ Humphries, Patrick (7 September 2016). "Handsome (Expanded Edition) - Kilburn & The High Roads". Record Collector . Retrieved 29 October 2021.
  5. ↑ Canty, Ian (15 August 2016). "Kilburn And The High Roads: Handsome – Album Review". Louder Than War . Retrieved 29 October 2021.
  6. ↑ Simpson, Dave (25 November 2014). "Suggs and Mike Barson of Madness: how we made One Step Beyond" . Retrieved 29 October 2021– via www.theguardian.com.
  7. ↑ Beaumont, Mark (30 April 2021). "Seven secrets from new Madness docuseries 'Before We Was We' - No-one knows the origin of the 'Nutty Train'". NME . Retrieved 29 October 2021.
  8. ↑ "Handsome (30th Anniversary Series) 1999". Discogs. Retrieved 29 October 2021.
  9. ↑ "Handsome 2016 edition". Discogs. Retrieved 29 October 2021.
  10. ↑ "Handsome: Expanded Edition". Cherry Red Records. Retrieved 29 October 2021.
  11. ↑ "Rough Kids 7" single". Discogs. Retrieved 29 October 2021.

Further reading

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