Customer Reviews
An elegy, a seduction and some profanity from Ian Dury - By: Mr. S. Bailey, 20 Oct 2008 
This minimally packaged reissue of Ian Dury's seminal new wave album from 1977 is a delight. The elegiac `My Old Man' & the profane `Plaistow Patricia' show that Dury was a wordsmith writing at the height of his powers. His backing band, that included future Blockheads members, also rose to the occasion. They demonstrate on New Boots And Panties that they were equally adeptin providing raucous accompaniment (see the punk rock blast of `Blockheads') as twinkling seductivelyin the background (on saucy opener `Wake Up And Make Love With Me).
London's finest - By: D. J. H. Thorn, 13 Jun 2008 Despite being well into his thirties when he & his band made this debut album, Ian Dury fitted easily into the 1977 music scene. Anything that looked or sounded differentin that year was likely to be labelled punk rock & Dury, with his unglamorous image & London accent was quickly accepted as such. He had though slogged around the pub circuit for several years with Kilburn & The High Roads & recorded an unsuccessful album with them before founding this latest bunch of apparent misfits. In truth, The Blockheads were a superb band, & their music was more funky than punky, even if Dury himself sounded like an articulate, intellectual punk poet. Even on the slower tracks, The Blockheads' rhythm section make your body want to move.
'Wake Up...' kicks off with some tasteful piano before launching into an infectious groove. A revered rock & roll homage to Gene Vincent follows, featuring one of Dury's more intricate lyrics. As the album progresses, there's an increasing element of artful, often smutty music hall mixed with the funk & most of the songs are character sketches. Though 'Clevor Trever' is more subdued, Dury's lyric, full of negatives, captures the sense of insecurity superbly. The second half is generally not quite up to the quality of the first, but the band finish with the album's three most manic & musically anarchic tracks. The fast boogie of 'Blockheads' brilliantly takes the mickey out of the male half of the population. The string of obscenities between tracks, though musically delivered are, however, unnecessary. This isn't an album you played to Grandma.
My version of the album contains five marvellous bonus tracks. The title of 'Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll' has passed into comman usage as an expression of a certain lifestyle, but the single itself, banned of course, is a great track. I've also always had a soft spot for the b-side, 'Razzle In My Pocket' about a teenage dirty book thief on which Dury plays drums. The band's first hit, 'What A Waste', is also included, completing one of the landmark albums of the 1970s & it's still a great listen.
Pedantic - By: William Stephen Dalrymple, 27 Mar 2008 Pedants Corner :
Although i have to agree with the previous (Mr Arthur Dooley) on the genius of this superb album , i would like to point out that as a matter of fact/point of interest etc , etc the passing scally waif that he mentions was not that at all but wasin fact Ian Durys son , Baxter , himself now a recording artistin his own right , i thank you most kindly , Good Evening i'm from Essex.........
the wasps elbows! - By: Siobhan Ellis, 20 Oct 2007 1977, the UK. this was one of those Albums that was a must! If you didn't ahve it, you weren't cool. Here I am 30 years later, & it is still an amazing album. The world is a dimmer place without Ian Dury.
At the rendevous with Nina in the back of my Cortina ! - By: Arthur Dooley, 17 Sep 2006 Diamond Geezer...pub rocker...artist & artiste...urban poet. Step forward the uniquely brilliant Ian Dury.
'New boots & panties' was one of those post punk albums, like The Stranglers 'IV Rattus Novegicus' & The Jam's 'This is the modern world' which slipped out of the new wave without fanfare or celebration.
Sporting a front cover which showed Ian outside an Army & Navy emporium looking 'well hard' & posing alongside a passing scally waif, NB&P was the absolute anthisis of the pomp & ceremony of the Led Zeppelin-esque albums which clogged the album charts.
Fortunately,word of mouth meant that the album garnered a new legion of Dury admirers,going on to sell 500.000in the UK & a million world wide.
Using a unique blend of vaudeville,funk,R & R, pub rock,cockney rhyming, humour & some spicy lyrics complete with obscenities...'Plaistow Patricia' is not a track to playin polite company !...NB&P rips along like a joy rider down Peckham High street !
The Blockheads display superb musicianship & are such a tight funky unit that it must have been a joy to provide the vocals.
Conjuring up now legendary characters, 'Billericcy Dickie'..'Clevor Trevor', the aforementioned 'PP' & the dirty old tom 'Nina'.. Dury paints a vivid picture of street life 'darn sarff !
Great stuff !
