This came out in 2001 – or at least that’s when I got it. Here’s what I said about it back then (with some minor editing):
If anybody deserves a tribute album, it’s Ian Dury — if only for coining the phrase Sex and Drugs and Rock ’n’ Roll.
And certainly, 1977’s New Boots and Panties stands as the new-wave ne’er-do-well’s high-water mark, with funky, naughty classics like Wake Up and Make Love With Me, Billericay Dickie and Blockheads. All of which get covered here by a who’s who of British acts: Sinead O’Connor (who delivers a sultry Wake Up), Robbie Williams (crooning Sweet Gene Vincent), Paul McCartney (ripping it up on I’m Partial to Your Abracadabra), the long-lost Wreckless Eric (underplaying Clevor Trever) and even erstwhile Pogues frontman Shane MacGowan (slurring and rasping Plaistow Patricia). It’s hard not to be a tad disappointed that this doesn’t include other Dury hits like Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick, Inbetweenies and, of course, Sex and Drugs. Still, any Dury tribute is better than none — even if it is a bit blockheaded.
