RICHARD BALLS – Sex & Drugs and Rock ‘n’ Roll: The Life of Ian Dury (Omnibus Remastered)

• RELEASE YEAR: 2024
• BAND URL: https://omnibuspress.com/products/sex-drugs-rock-n-roll-the-life-of-ian-dury-remastered-edition

Being a huge fan and admirer of Balls’ excellent biographical study of the sadly missed Shane McGowan titled A Furious Devotion, I was quite naturally very keen on reading this “remastered” version of his book on the legendary Ian Dury. It turned out to be as riveting and emotionally charged as one could have hoped for, and as I write this now, I find it rather incomprehensible that I missed out on this fabulous piece of non-fiction when it saw publication in 2000 and 2011. Such is life, and better late than never, right?

Boasting an excellent foreword by actor Martin Freeman and a fitting afterword by Andy Serkis (who portrayed Dury in the 2010 biopic Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll), this 2024 edition explores the life and legacy of Ian Dury – a most complex character – who this scribe has always associated with the early punk rock movement, or rather a proto-punk figure who influenced and inspired much of what came out in the late seventies and beyond. Struck down by polio as a child and subjected to a horrendous treatment by members of staff and fellow sufferers at various infirmaries and hospitals, Dury endured hurt and trauma that affected him deeply and which became ingrained in his psychological make-up for better and worse. Possessed with a will power and a drive to succeed in the face of adversity yet being prone to self-destruction and self-righteous behavior, Ian was different in more ways than one. For a crippled youngster with the odds stacked against him, it is truly remarkable what Ian and by extension The Blockheads managed to achieve, and the ensemble was truly one of the most original and inventive ones to come out of the pub rock circuit and left their indelible mark on countless fans spanning generations, but it also came at a price. Dury could be manipulative and as sinister as some of the characters he portrayed on stage from time to time, and his volatile temper and deep-seated anger took their toll on his private and professional relationships. He could also be kind and generous, warm-hearted and incredibly funny, and not least staggeringly creative to the point where people were left in awe.

Balls has a keen eye for detail and paints a vivid yet perfectly balanced portrait of a man who lived according to his own ideas and ideals and for whom the word compromise simply did not exist. The story is utterly captivating from beginning to end, and I could barely put it down once I started digesting it. Although one could argue that Dury himself may not have been particularly fond of this tome in that it hardly paints a decidedly flattering portrait of the notorious rocker, it is nevertheless the one that he deserved in the sense that it seems to fully encompass and embody who he was, what he stood for, and why he turned out the way he did. Drawing on candid interviews with everyone in Ian’s orbit, this is as close you will ever get to deciphering and understanding the great Briton. From harrowing depths of despair to ecstatic moments of pure unadulterated triumph, this rollercoaster of a biography will change you forever and you will not walk away from it unmoved.