DO IT YOURSELF

Description

Demon Records is thrilled to once again welcome one of the richest and most diverse catalogs of the British rock canon from the iconic and much-missed Ian Dury. The kickoff of what promises to be an exciting and comprehensive reevaluation of the artist's repertoire is marked by Ian's three gold-certified studio albums, now available again on vinyl - the first, "New Boots And Panties!!" (1977), "Laughter" (1980), and sandwiched between them, the 1979 classic "Do It Yourself." Following the huge success of 'New Boots And Panties!!' and the independent singles 'What A Waste' (No. 9 in the UK) and 'Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick' (No. 1), 'Do It Yourself' was Ian Dury's first album to be co-credited to the band The Blockheads, whose Chas Jankel provided the musical framework for Dury's lyrics. Expectations were high, and 'Do It Yourself' did not disappoint, both creatively and commercially – it reached No. 2 in the UK (only the power of a new ABBA album kept it from reaching No. 1), comfortably becoming Ian Dury's second album to be certified platinum. As was his habit at the time, Dury insisted that no single be taken from "Do It Yourself" - instead, he chose to offer them ten new songs. However, this did not prevent the many highlights of 'Do It Yourself' - 'Sink My Boats', 'Inbetweenies', 'Dance Of The Screamers', etc. - from being regarded as classics, and the album was praised for its innovative "wallpaper" illustrations, insightful lyrics, and immaculate musicality.