Hallo Sausages:

The Lyrics of Ian Dury

Edited by Jemima Dury

Bloomsbury Publishing

October 25th, 2012

Sex and drugs and rock and roll

Is all my brain and body need

Sex and drugs and rock and roll

Is very good indeed

Famous for his funny, provocative, visceral lyrics, Ian Dury was a rock-and-roll poet and legendary force on the London music scene from 1970 onwards. In the course of his unstoppably creative career, he studied art with Peter Blake, before turning his mind to music. When he teamed up with a band called The Blockheads, a new era in New Wave music exploded into being, as they turned out hits like ‘Sex and Drugs and Rock and Roll’, ‘Hit Me with Your Rhythm Stick’ and ‘Reasons to Be Cheerful’. Here, for the first time, are Ian’s collected lyrics – not only material that was released, but also material that has been gathered by his daughter Jemima from old demos, song fragments and other sources that, until now, have remained hidden. The renowned designer and artist Jake Tilson, who was also Ian’s brother-in-law, has put the lyrics together with the original scrawled notes (complete with coffee stains), typewritten songs, and miscellany of scraps that inspired them.

Hallo Sausages: The Lyrics of Ian Dury is arranged chronologically: the six chapters cover every phase in Ian’s career from his early days in the seventies right up to his death in 2000. Each chapter is introduced by Jemima, who paints a warm, insightful, and humorous portrait of the man behind the outrageous words.

You can buy the book here Hallo Sausages: The Lyrics of Ian Dury