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Laughter | ||||
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Studio album by Ian Dury & the Blockheads | ||||
Released | 28 November 1980 | |||
Recorded | 1980 | |||
Studio | The Producers Workshop, London | |||
Genre | Pub rock [1] | |||
Length | 38:29 | |||
Label | Stiff | |||
Producer | ‘Chips off the Old Block & Crooks’ (Ian Dury & the Blockheads) | |||
Ian Dury & the Blockheads chronology | ||||
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Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
Allmusic | [2] |
Robert Christgau | B+ [3] |
Laughter is the third studio album by Ian Dury and the Blockheads; released in 1980, it was the last studio album Dury made for Stiff Records. It was also the last studio album he made with the Blockheads, until 1998's Mr. Love Pants , though a live album Warts 'n' Audience was produced in 1991.
The Blockheads had undergone a significant personnel change since the previous album, Do It Yourself . Chaz Jankel, who played keyboards and co-wrote most of that album's songs, had left in the wake of a stressful tour. Jankel's place on guitar was taken by Wilko Johnson of Dr. Feelgood. Johnson had considered retiring from the music business until he was asked by Davey Payne and Dury, old friends from their pub rock days, to join the Blockheads. The new-line up first appeared on the "I Want To Be Straight" single, which was released before the album, and reached number 22 in the UK Singles Chart.
Although Ian Dury was becoming harder to work with, the production of Laughter had started out as a relaxed affair, without the presence of Jankel and Dury. Rehearsals commenced in early 1980 at Milner Sound in Fulham, after keyboard player Mick Gallagher had returned from an American tour with The Clash. The group was, at that time, on hiatus after the gruelling promotional tour in support of Do It Yourself. Spurred on by recording commitments, Dury took over the rehearsals to form the basis of his new album and brought in Wilko Johnson, all without consulting the rest of the band.
At that time Dury was an alcoholic, and also addicted to Mogadon, a brand of sedative. Coupled with his bad reaction to celebrity, and his bouts of depression, these addictions caused him to be cantankerous, confrontational, argumentative and controlling. Although these traits had come out during the recording of the group's previous album, they were at their peak during the record sessions for Laughter. Attempts to question Dury's judgment would cause explosions of defensiveness and aggression. He also insisted on synchronising the instruments to a click-track, which aggravated a number of the musicians, especially Wilko Johnson. To make matters worse, guitarist Johnny Turnbull suffered a head injury and was afflicted with mood swings. He eventually had a nervous breakdown.
The album was preceded by the single "Sueperman's Big Sister", intentionally spelt wrong so to avoid any copyright issues with DC Comics. The 7" release included an exclusive track "You'll See Glimpses", while the 12" included the album's final track "Fucking Ada". The single, Stiff Records' 100th, employed the label for Stiff's very first (Nick Lowe's "Heart of the City") with the track names crossed out and the correct titles and artist (for "Sueperman's Big Sister") written in, as if by ballpoint pen. Laughter was released the same month, November 1980, but the album was not well received by critics and its sales were mediocre. The "Soft as a Baby's Bottom" tour to support it, however, was a sell-out success. Stiff and Ian Dury parted ways afterwards and he signed a short-lived deal with Polydor Records without the Blockheads.
A number of Laughter's songs appear to deal with Dury's personal problems and demons. Although he always denied that "Delusions Of Grandeur" was about himself, most who knew him at the time felt certain it was. Others, such as "Uncoolohol" (about alcoholism), "Manic Depression (Jimi)" and "Fucking Ada" (both about depression) also seem to make clear references to his troubles at the time. "Hey, Hey, Take Me Away" is confirmed to have been about the time he spent at Chailey's Special School while stricken with polio.
In an interview years later, Dury admitted of the album: "I called it Laughter to cheer myself up."
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
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1. | "Sueperman's Big Sister" | Ian Dury, Wilko Johnson | 2:49 |
2. | "Pardon" | Dury, Norman Watt-Roy | 2:39 |
3. | "Delusions of Grandeur" | Dury, Mick Gallagher | 2:51 |
4. | "Yes and No (Paula)" | Dury, Davey Payne | 3:06 |
5. | "Dance of the Crackpots" | Dury, John Turnbull | 2:35 |
6. | "Over The Points" | Dury, Turnbull | 4.08 |
7. | "(Take Your Elbow Out of the Soup) You're Sitting on the Chicken" | Dury, Gallagher | 2:34 |
8. | "Uncoolohol" | Dury, Charley Charles | 3:01 |
9. | "Hey, Hey, Take Me Away" | Dury, Gallagher | 2:27 |
10. | "Manic Depression (Jimi)" | Dury, Gallagher | 3:48 |
11. | "Oh Mr. Peanut" | Dury, Johnson | 3:49 |
12. | "Fucking Ada" | Dury, Turnbull | 5:59 |
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
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13. | "Reasons to Be Cheerful, Part 3" (non-album single, 1979) | Dury, Chaz Jankel, Payne |
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
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13. | "I Want to Be Straight" (non-album single, 1980) | Dury, Gallagher | 3:18 |
14. | "That’s Not All" (B-side of "I Want to Be Straight") | Dury, Payne | 2:47 |
15. | "You’ll See Glimpses" (B-side of "Superman's Big Sister") | Dury, Watt-Roy, Turnbull | 3:42 |
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
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1. | "Duff ‘Em Up and Do ‘Em Over (Boogie Woogie)" (album outtake) | Dury, Gallagher | 3:30 |
2. | "You Are Here" (album outtake) | Dury, Gallagher | 3:26 |
3. | "Come in No. 9" (album outtake) | Dury, Gallagher | 2:13 |
4. | "Chicken" ("Take Your Elbow Out of the Soup") (demo) | Gallagher | 4:08 |
5. | "CC's Rock" (demo) | Charles, Gallagher, Payne, Turnbull, Watt-Roy | 2:44 |
6. | "I Know Your Name" (demo) | Payne | 2:03 |
7. | "Public Party" ("Dance of the Crackpots") (demo) | Turnbull | 3:19 |
8. | "Black and White" ("Yes and No (Paula)") (demo) | Payne | 3:57 |
9. | "Manic Depression" (demo) | Gallagher | 2:52 |
10. | "More Turns for Everyone" (demo) | Charles, Gallagher, Payne, Turnbull, Watt-Roy | 4:08 |
11. | "Blue Light" ("That’s Not All") (demo) | Payne | 2:30 |
12. | "Back to Y-Front" (demo) | Charles, Gallagher, Payne, Turnbull, Watt-Roy | 3:46 |
13. | "Fatback" (demo) | Charles, Gallagher, Payne, Turnbull, Watt-Roy | 3:00 |
14. | "On the Spot (Do the Block)" (demo) | Charles, Gallagher, Payne, Turnbull, Watt-Roy | 4:31 |
15. | "Duff ‘Em Up and Do ‘Em Over (Boogie Woogie)" ("Oh Mr Peanut") (demo) | Gallagher | 3:16 |
16. | "Peter Gunn" (demo) | Henry Mancini | 3:26 |
The album was re-released by Edsel Records in 2004 as part of a series of 2-CD Ian Dury re-issues. Previously the album had been re-issued to CD by Demon Records, initially with no bonus tracks then with the addition of "Reasons to be Cheerful, Part 3" - a song that had no real relation to the album and featured a different band line-up. Edsel's 2004 re-issue replaced the track with "I Want To be Straight" and "That's Not All", both sides of the first single with the Blockheads line-up that recorded the album and "Superman's Big Sister's" B-side "You'll See Glimpses".
Edsel's re-issue also included a bonus disc of mainly instrumentals mostly recorded by the Blockheads before Dury became involved with the project and three songs, including the final version of "Duff 'Em Up and Do 'Em Over (Boogie Woogie)" the song "Oh Mr. Peanut" began life as. Despite being considered of good quality, Dury and Stiff compere Kosmo Vinyl were worried it might become an anthem for football hooligans or the small percentage of yob culture that followed him and bands like Sham 69 and Dury scrapped the lyric.
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 Ian Dury and the Blockheads and previously Kilburn and the High Roads.
"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 23 November 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.
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.
4,000 Weeks' Holiday is a studio album by Ian Dury and the Music Students, released on 27 January 1984 by Polydor Records. It is Dury's only studio album with the Music Students and his fifth overall.
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.
Ten More Turnips from the Tip is the fourth and final studio album by Ian Dury and the Blockheads, and Dury's ninth overall. It was compiled and released in 2002, two years after Dury's death in March 2000.
"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" issued on 20 July 1979 and 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.
The Bus Driver's Prayer & Other Stories is the seventh solo album by Ian Dury, released in 1992 by Demon. Despite being recorded after the successful live reunion of Ian Dury and the Blockheads, inspired by the death of their drummer Charley Charles, the album is not a Blockheads record. All of the band, however, except bassist Norman Watt-Roy, appear on the album.
"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.
Formed in 1977 to promote Ian Durys' album New Boots and Panties!! on the first Stiff Records tour of the UK, Chaz Jankel, Norman Watt-Roy, Charlie Charles, John Turnbull and Mick Gallagher became known as 'The Blockheads'. As 'Ian Dury & The Blockheads' they went back out on tour, this time without Jankel, and in 1978 released "What a Waste"/"Wake Up and Make Love with Me" a single that reached number five in the UK charts. They were then joined by saxophonist Davey Payne and toured the US supporting Lou Reed across North America, ending with their own dates in California.