The Blockheads

If you have ever heard the phrase ‘Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll’, then you will have encountered just a miniscule fraction of the enduring legacy of one of the best bands of all time, The Blockheads.  While initially finding widespread fame when backing Ian Dury (who coined the ‘Sex & drugs…’ line), this band and its members have actually got a much more rich & varied history before, and after that period; so unbelievable is that history, that Free Seed Films are now making a documentary on their careers, entitled ‘The Blockheads: Beyond the Call of Dury’.

In the late 70s, they had a string of hits (when record sales meant something!), including ‘Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick’, ‘What A Waste’, and ‘Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll’.  You will probably know some of their material from either the recent Ian Dury biopic starring Andy Serkis (which also featured Arthur Darvill, Olivia Williams, Toby Jones and Mackenzie Crook), or you may have heard ‘Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick’ in the soundtrack of Martin Scorsese’s ‘The Wolf of Wall Street’.

Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick:
[youtube https://youtu.be/0WGVgfjnLqc]

You may even know ‘What a Waste’ from when it was sampled by ‘A Tribe Called Quest’ for ‘Can I Kick it?’.

What a Waste:
[youtube https://youtu.be/ZmopROxBnBU]

This is just the tip of the iceberg though when it comes to looking at the careers of the individual band members and everything they have worked on.

It is for this reason that Free Seed Films decided to make the definitive documentary on the band and have launched a kickstarter to cover licensing fees for the archive footage (which is horribly expensive!).  Working closely with the band, Free Seed have been gathering material for the past 18 months and can now tell one hell of an untold story!

Way before the Blockheads would come together, individual members achieved notable success, including playing with Link Wray, The Animals, Arthur Brown, Lulu, Roy Budd and even co-writing a US hit, ‘Do You Feel Like We Do’ with Peter Frampton.

Peter Frampton’s Camel:
[youtube https://youtu.be/r9_g8DuKR4w]

In the mid 70s, the core of the Blockheads (Mick Gallagher, Norman Watt-Roy, John Turnbull, Charley Charles) would join as ‘Loving Awareness’, working with Ronan O’Rahilly, the man behind the Radio Caroline pirate radio station (the film ‘The Boat that Rocked’, known as ‘Pirate Radio’ in the US, is a based on Radio Caroline).  When Ian Dury, who was working with Chaz Jankel, needed a rhythm section he used Watt-Roy and Charles.  After the classic ‘New Boots and Panties’ album was recorded, they brought in Gallagher and Turnbull for the infamous ‘Stiff Tour’, a travelling circus of ‘Stiff Records’ artists including Nick Lowe and Elvis Costello; This then solidified the band that Elton John was quoted as calling “the best live band in England”, a reputation that made them the number one session musicians in the UK, before the age of sampling and programmed music took hold.

Backstage PassIn the US in 1978, they toured with Lou Reed, not entirely harmoniously, possibly due to an incident involving The Rolling Stones (Charlie Watts was an old Friend of Ian’s);  at one show during the tour, the Stones, who were visiting The Blockheads, detuned all Lou Reed’s guitars just prior to him going on, which the Blockheads got blamed for, potentially souring the rest of the tour!  Despite this hiccup and although widespread commercial success would evade The Blockheads in the US as a group, they still had individual success there, as well as being acclaimed by American musicians and remained huge in the UK, Europe and Australia.

From then on, the members of the Blockheads worked with what seemed like everyone, including: The Clash, Madness, Roger Daltrey, Nick Cave, John Legend, Dr John, Frankie Goes To Hollywood (‘Relax’ is very much The Blockheads playing!), The Eurythmics, Paul McCartney, Steve Cropper and Bob Geldof.

Mick Gallagher with The Clash:
[youtube https://youtu.be/rnliAafBYzU]

Working constantly, there were other hits in the 1980s, such as ‘I Wanna Be Straight’, (with Wilko Johnson in the band after Chaz left for a short period), as well as the Chaz Jankel solo track ‘Ai No Corrida’ being covered by Quincy Jones:

[youtube https://youtu.be/fXmmWBzS-_o]

 

Since then, the band have continued to work, gig and record, despite the sad loss of both Charley Charles (1990) and Ian Dury (2000).

As well as still gigging as The Blockheads, the individual members also record and tour with other acts, such as John Turnbull with World Party (Currently on tour in the US!), Mick Gallagher with The Animals, and Norman Watt-Roy with Wilko Johnson (who has just had a number 1 album with Roger Daltrey of The Who).

As you can tell from this brief look at their careers, there is so much to tell about this amazing group of musicians, that a feature documentary is the only way!

To get this completed though, Free Seed Films do need support with their kickstarter, which has some brilliant rewards, including: DVDs, CD/Vinyl soundtrack albums and even artwork by the legendary PR/manager for The Clash, Kosmo Vinyl; so do pledge and share it if you can!

It looks like it’s going to be a fantastic and fascinating film!

 

Links:
Free Seed Films:  kickstarter, website, facebook, twitter
The Blockheads: website, facebook, twitter
Kosmo Vinyl: website

*** In the interests of full disclosure, I must also add that I’m part of Free Seed Films, so I am not entirely impartial when it comes to this project.  The fact remains though, that it is a fascinating subject! ***