New Boots and Panties!! | ||||
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Studio album by Ian Dury | ||||
Released | 30 September 1977 | |||
Recorded | 1977 at The Workhouse, London | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 37:20 | |||
Label | Stiff | |||
Producer | Peter Jenner, Laurie Latham, Rick Walton | |||
Ian Dury chronology | ||||
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Singles from New Boots and Panties!! | ||||
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Professional ratings | |
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Review scores | |
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | |
Encyclopedia of Popular Music | |
Q | |
Sounds | |
The Village Voice | A− |
New Boots and Panties!! is the debut album by Ian Dury, released in the UK on Stiff Records on 30 September 1977. Usually thought of as the first album by Ian Dury and the Blockheads (his backing band from 1977 to 1982), the album is credited solely to Dury as the Blockheads were not officially formed until Stiff's 'Live Stiffs' package tour the month after its release, and two members of the Blockheads do not play on the album. Although it is often cited as one of the first classic UK punk albums, the record covers a diverse range of musical styles reflecting Dury's influences and background in pub rock, taking in funk, disco, British music hall and early rock and roll, courtesy of Dury's musical hero Gene Vincent. Dury's lyrics also eschew the anti-establishment stance associated with punk music, preferring cheeky love songs or character stories based on the working-class people of the East End and Essex Estuary areas where he grew up. The songs are frequently ribald and profane, but also contain humour and affection for his characters.
Widely considered to be the best album of Ian Dury's career, it is also his biggest selling, having been certified platinum status in the UK for 300,000 sales, in June 1979. Sales of the album during the first few months after its release were modest, and the album's only single, "Sweet Gene Vincent", failed to chart. However, the following three Ian Dury and the Blockheads singles, "What a Waste", "Hit Me with Your Rhythm Stick" and "Reasons to be Cheerful, Part 3", all reached the top ten of the UK Singles Chart, and their success kept the album in the spotlight and ensured consistent sales over the next two years. New Boots and Panties!! was among the UK's top 30 best selling albums of both 1978 and 1979, and eventually peaked at number 5 in the UK Albums Chart in February 1979, some 17 months after its release, in the wake of "Hit Me with Your Rhythm Stick"'s chart-topping success.