Ian Dury & the Blockheads - Laughter
#460
By Stephen Romone Lewis
November 28 1980
Ian Dury and the Blockheads
Laughter
Genre: Rock flavored with jazz, reggae and disco
Allen’s Rating: 2 out of 5
Stephen’s Rating: 3.5 out of 5
Highlights:
Uncoolohol
Sueperman’s Big Sister
Yes & No (Paula)
Fucking Ada
I bought Laughter when I was 12 because songs titled “Take You Elbow Out of the Soup You’re Sitting on the Chicken” and “Dance of the Crackpots” had to be hilarious. They weren’t and still aren’t.
Little Stevie Romone liked the shoutalong chorus of Sueperman’s Big Sister, but judging by the pristine condition the vinyl is in 40 years later, I’d guess I played it twice.
I didn’t expect to like it any more in 2020, a year that’s poisoned my opinion of everything except ice cream, but my tastes have changed. It has stood up to repeated listenings.
What’s to like?
The production. The Blockheads are a 7 piece band that swells to 9 on several tunes with guest musicians, but the mix is never muddy. The same well balanced production I’ve heard on other Stiff Records’ artists like Nick Lowe.
The playing. If you’ve heard Frankie Goes to Hollywood's Relax or The Clash's Sandinista album then you’ve heard the solid bass of Norman Watt Roy. He looks like Pete Davidson with pink eye and a hangover on the cover, but he doesn’t sound anything like Pete Davidson with pink eye and a hangover when he plays. His grooves anchor the songs with just enough creative flourish to remind you he’s not sampled.
Don Cherry is the man responsible for spawning Eagle-Eye Cherry, but I forgave him after hearing his pocket trumpet solos on Laughter.
Dury’s “singing”. Dury’s like a cockney Tom Waits, only Waits can really sing. Dury makes up for his lack of vocal range with emotional range. Four-pack-a-day whispers, strangled conversations and diet-of-broken-glass screams like The Dropkick Murphys’ grampy, Dury makes the most of what he’s got and always sounds interesting.
Lyrics.
Dury’s lyrics can be amusing (You know she's Superman's big sister. Her X-ray eyes see through my silly way.) or serious (Lost in the limelight, baked in the blaze. Did it for nine pence, those were the days) but with few exceptions they’re above average.
Uncoolohol.
Yes that’s a stupid song title but it should have been a hit. It’s been stuck in my head for a week.
What’s not to like?
Not much.
Even flawed songs have a redeeming quality. The hokie chugga-chugga, clickety-clack arrangement of “Over the Points” (sung from the perspective of a locomotive) has funny and original lyrics. “Sueperman’s Big Sister” and “Fucking Ada” are infected with syrupy string swells but they’re two of the catchiest tunes on the album.
https://open.spotify.com/album/756VVYjH7frBBMv9y3olmp?si=-Tcwuy0uRDGg7ToYBwOYuQ
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