Chaz Chats and Chews the Fat
Retaining a pervasive and wide reaching influence some thirty years after the band were at the height of their success, Ian Dury And The Blockheads are one of the few bands whose song titles have entered the cultural language. In the main, this is testament to Ian Dury’s lyrical strength and the musical prowess of his co-writing partner Chaz Jankel. The eponymous “Sex, Drugs And Rock And Roll” and its equally oft-quoted partner “Reasons To Be Cheerful (Part 3)” show that even a decade after Ian’s untimely passing, his and The Blockheads material continues to inspire new art, films, musicians and even theatrical productions – befitting the cultural niche that Dury and the band reserved for themselves.
Chaz Jankel, Ian’s long time musical partner and co-writer of his classic late Seventies / early Eighties albums – 1977’s seminal “New Boots And Panties”, 1979’s “Do It Yourself” and 1981’s “Lord Upminster” – enjoyed what he describes as “a life changing creative relationship” which was to last up until Ian’s final two albums, recorded just before his untimely death in 2000. In advance of Graeae’s production of REASONS TO BE CHEERFUL, Chaz remembers his creative cohort from their early days starting out, discusses their legacy, reveals his support for the Graeae production and wonders what Ian – a long-term patron of the theatre company – might have thought of REASONS TO BE CHEERFUL.
“Chaotic” is how Chaz describes the music scene and the atmosphere that gave rise to The Blockheads but he also recalls a sense of “you could make a difference”. Chaz’s first encounter with Ian’s early outfit “Ian And The Kilburns” at The Nashville in Fulham Palace Road made him realise immediately that Ian was a one-of-a-kind; and “an edgy, anarchic and riveting performer”.
Joining the last configuration of Ian and The Kilburns, Chaz remembers a fun but fractious time. “You had some hot headed characters in the band and a certain amount of claustrophobia creeps in when the wages are low, you’re crowded in a small van or rehearsing in residential old people’s homes – which we did on one occasion. It might have been tense at the time but it was hilarious when I look back on it.
“The Kilburns served as Ian’s lyrical playground and was probably an alternative to anger management for him but when the band mutated into Ian Dury And The Blockheads, there was more momentum around us and a more focused and assertive feeling in the band.”
As “New Boots….” became one of the seminal albums of punk and new wave, the band’s sound was always much more diverse than a lot of their contemporaries, taking in Chaz’s love of funk along with rock and roll, jazz, and reggae, as well as Ian’s love of music hall. A couple of years later, its follow up album was to spawn the massive hit single “Reasons To Be Cheerful (Part 3)” which reached number three in July 1979 just prior to the bands 5 day headlining run at Hammersmith Odeon (now the Apollo) in August – the legendary residency which forms the backdrop to REASONS TO BE CHEERUL.
“Hammersmith Odeon was an amazing pinnacle of our career as Ian Dury And The Blockheads but my memories of it are slightly surreal in the respect that we were playing one of the biggest venues in London for five nights and then afterwards we went back to ‘normal life’. I think we all felt that the gig was a major achievement. At the time it felt very heady getting so much attention but Ian was never in doubt about his and my writing abilities. I think he felt very powerful with such an awesome band behind him.”
Talk of the collaborative process between Ian and Chaz brings up the story of how the song “Reasons…” came to be written during downtime spent in Rome after a couple of gigs in the city were cancelled due to safety factors at the venue. “After dinner one night I retired to my hotel bedroom and spontaneously started banging out a rhythm on the back of an armchair – which is the drum rhythm at the start of the song. I was so impressed with it at that moment that I telephoned Ian and said “you gotta hear something”. He said “come to my room” so I went and banged out my new rhythm on the back of his armchair.
“The next morning Ian tells me to come to his room and bring my guitar. When I get to his room he shows me a foolscap sheet of paper with the “Reasons To Be Cheerful” lyrics written out in full in pencil. Ian always wrote in pencil so he could erase and change things until he was 100% satisfied with his lyric. When we got to the middle of the song Ian said he thought we needed a “pretty bit here” and said he’d like Davey Payne our sax player to have a go. Davey had been in various bands with Ian way before The Blockheads and Ian thought he owed him one! The next day we went into Decca Studios in Rome and recorded it………it literally came together as simply as that.”
Moving onto Graeae’s REASONS TO BE CHEERFUL, Chaz says with Ian’s, Chaz’s and Davey’s music at the heart of the production, the show’s brilliant live band complements the actors and theatrics – something that Chaz feels was always a great part of Ian’s stage craft and The Blockhead’s output. “Ian was such a showman and trained actors often remarked that Ian was an awesome actor. Ian was very conscious of detail and that was reflected into his visual and musical performance. Funnily enough, this is where we coincided artistically as I often visualize a piece of music being played by The Blockheads as I compose.”
When Chaz was asked to speculate what Ian might have thought of it, Chaz says the former Graeae patron would have been “very supportive. He would always support anyone who had “spirit” and had a “crack” at something. He knew how hard life could be and showed an enormous amount of empathy when he felt it was deserved.” With Chaz adding his 3 Reasons To Be Cheerful –
“the love and support mothers give to their children”, “the scent of jasmine”, and “waterfalls” – to the show’s Random Reason Generator, we ask whether life now is more “Sex, Drugs, And Rock And Roll” or “Reasons To Be Cheerful”?
“Oh it has to be Reasons To Be Cheerful for me. Most definitely!”
Away from his work with Ian Dury and The Blockheads, Chaz also developed a successful solo career in the Eighties and living over in the US became a composer of soundtracks for many films, including the recent Ian Dury biopic “Sex And Drugs And Rock And Roll”. He continues to write and record new work such as “Pieces Of A Jigsaw” this is featured on his website www.chazjankel.com.
What Chaz really thought when he saw the show…
‘Surely, what defined Ian Dury was his spirit, courage and wit… this is exactly at the heart of Graeae’s production of REASONS TO BE CHEERFUL. When I saw the show, I was amazed by the pace, vigour and attention to detail of these brilliant actors and musicians. Having worked and hung out with Ian Dury for so many creative years, I knew exactly what uplifted him and what irritated him – big time! He applauded strength of spirit and sincerity. I think I could truthfully say on Ian’s behalf that had he been here to see these guys he would be proud, gob smacked and may even have shed a tear for the sheer bravura of this musical. A masterpiece!’
Reasons to be Cheerful (Part3) original track – Lyrics and music by Ian Dury, Chaz Jankel & Davey Payne
