Most of Ian Dury's albums are pretty easy to find...except "4000 Weeks Holiday." This is very frustrating for the many who have collected everything possible (from bootlegs to Baxter Dury and back) and fondly remember seeing Ian and his Blockheads perform live.
Suffer no more...you can quench your curiosity with the download below. And here, from page 135 of his book on Mr. Dury (half bio, half song lyrics) is author Jim Drury's quick take on this forgotten album:
"4000 Weeks Holiday, a reference to the approximate life span of the average human, was released in November 1983, months behind schedule. The reason for the delay was Ian's initial refusal to remove the song "Fuck Off Noddy," despite the threat of legal action from Enid Blyton's estate...Having removed the offending track, the album reached a paltry number 54 in the charts, leading to a disenchanted Polydor axing Ian from the label."
While the average fan of Ian Dury might not consider "Lord Upminster" (1981) or "Apples" (1989) masterpieces either, this inbetweenie, "4000 Weeks Holiday," has some very worthy tracks, with typical impudent Dury recitations and cheekiness, and the occasional bit of underhanded smut ("Really Glad You Came"). "The Man With No Face" is another bit of coal with a glint of diamond in it. Other cuts include "Take Me to the Cleaners" "Percy the Poet" "Peter the Painter" "Tell Your Daddy" and "Very Personal."
The censored track "Fuck Off Noddy" can be found with amusing visuals, via YouTube.
For various reasons, Ian's hit songwriting partner Chas Jankel couldn't or wouldn't work on the songs and his band The Blockheads either couldn't, or wouldn't participate in the recording. Ian co-wrote most of the tracks with old Kilburn mates Russell Hardy and Rod Melvin, so that scratches the itch for those who fondly remember their Kilburn and the High Roads songs, and always wondered what they could do if given another chance.
As bloggers love to say, if you like it, buy it...but considering your choice is either a scratchy original UK vinyl pressing, or a very expensive Japanese import...you might be forgiven if you feel that this mp3 version suffices.
The enduring Dury's most obscure album via Rapidshare
Durex Dury's 4000 via Box
PLEASE would you be able to do me a copy of 4000 weeks holiday for me? I would pay + for your time.
ReplyDeleteKind regards
Sophie
Sophie, the download's still working (as of October 2009, anyway).
ReplyDeleteJust click the link. Run your mouse over the words:
"The enduring Dury's most obscure album."
Usually links show up in a different color from the text but maybe not on your computer.
Wow- thank-you so much for the chance to finally hear this work by Mr. Dury. I think I have most of his other tunes committed to memory already...
ReplyDeleteYou have an amazing collection of sonic treats here- thanks for putting so much work into it and sharing it with us other music freaks...
all the best,
d
Thanks for posting this album. This and Lord Upminster are both overlooked and underrated albums that like a fine wine the passing of time has only improved. Steve October 2010
ReplyDeleteA Drury I haven't heard! Thanks for the treat.
ReplyDeleteThanks for posting this hard to find album.
ReplyDeleteHi There. It satisfying to see some interest in this album by Dury fans, especially as this album was a departure from his work with the Blockheads. At the time there was a negative reaction from fans who felt that Dury had betrayed his band, but it seems that in the fullness of time it's clear that Ian's 'personal vision' comes through and is recognised in the work that went into making 4000 weeks holiday.
ReplyDeleteI'd like to point of a correction (for those interested): the material on this album was co-written 50/50 between Russell Hardy and me, Michael J McEvoy. I was only 21 when I began working with Ian and my role was multi-layered. I also worked with Ian on Apples (as a bass player). Whatever people may say about Ian's motives or the quality of the work on 4000 weeeks Holiday, Ian and I had a great collaboration and spent many fun and interesting times together. Anyone who may want to get an insight into our friendship and creative connection can watch the film (it's free!) made by Franco Rosso about Ian during the making of the album. It can be found on the BFI website via this link: https://player.bfi.org.uk/free/film/watch-ian-dury-1983-online).
Great to hear from you, Michael. There seem to be a few items in the Dury catalog that the "Fans" neglect. I was partial to some of the early co-writes he did with Rod Melvin, but most are only partial to the abracadabra. I almost never post entire albums but sometimes it's more criminal when something is neglected, and should be found. And hopefully restored and re-issued on CD with top quality sound. I imagine Ian found some aspects of his fame and his songwriting tough to top...people wanted another "Hit Me" or expected him to go even more over the top with sex references or hints of violence. And not every songwriter is prolific and some are creative-passionate on only a few topics and get to a point where they've said all they can say on them.
ReplyDeleteI have a white label single of fuck off noddy
ReplyDelete