Brand New Boots And Panties

You had to be there, I guess. Except of course that there was actually then, 1977, and I was 15 and Ian Dury and the Blockheads released New Boots And Panties and that was the first time I ever heard the words sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll used in the same sentence. It sounded so dangerous! To this day I don’t know what “You ask Joyce and Vicky if candy-floss is sticky” means, but it (still) sounds filthy and that’ll do me. A couple of years later I got to see Mr Dury and his Blockheads at the Olympic Ballroom in Dublin and was captivated as the slight, twisted figure held the audience in thrall. Happy days.

Brand New Boots And Panties is a tribute album in which the likes of Robbie Williams, Cerys Matthews, Sinéad O’Connor and Shane MacGowan take a track each from the 1977 album and have a bit of fun. Of course it’s not a patch on the original, but that’s not the point. The point is that Paul McCartney (he used to be in the Beatles, ask your mom) covers one of Dury’s songs! He makes a total balls of it, mind you (‘I’m Partial To Your Abracadabra’), turning it into a sub ‘Jo-Jo’ rock-out, but I bet old Ian would think it funny.

Elsewhere, Sinéad comes over all sexy on ‘Wake Up And Make Love With Me’ complete with cute dropped ‘aitches and Robbie takes a decent enough stab at ‘Sweet Gene Vincent’. But the real winners are Shane MacGowan (‘Plaistow Patricia’) and, oddly enough, actor Keith Allen (‘Blackmail Man’), both of whom bring an irreverent energy that evokes memories of the man himself.

Though admittedly patchy, Brand New Boots And Panties still reminds us just how phenomenally good Dury and the Blockheads really were.