Handsome (Kilburn and the High-Roads album)

Handsome is the debut album of the Ian Dury rock group Kilburn and the High-Roads, released in June 1975 by Dawn Records.

Handsome
Studio album by
Kilburn and the High-Roads
ReleasedJune 1975
Recorded1974
StudioPye Studios, London
GenreRock
Length40:10
LabelDawn (Pye)
ProducerHugh Murphy
Kilburn and the High-Roads chronology
Handsome
(1975)		 Wotabunch!
(1977)
Ian Dury chronology
Handsome!!
(1975)		 New Boots and Panties!!
(1977)
Singles from Handsome
  1. "Rough Kids"
    Released: November 1974 [1]
  2. "Crippled with Nerves"
    Released: February 1975 [2]
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic [3]
Record Collector [4]

The band had apparently originally wanted to call the album No Hand Signals, but the idea was rejected by Dawn.[5] The photo on the back cover displayed a Chuck Berry style duckwalk, which is said to be the inspiration for the Madness group's 'nutty train' on the front cover of their album (and single) One Step Beyond....[6][7]

Track listing

Original album

All tracks are written by Ian Dury and Russell Hardy, except where indicated

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."The Roadette Song" 3:25
2."Pam's Moods" 3:40
3."Crippled with Nerves" 3:45
4."Broken Skin"Dury, Rod Melvin2:16
5."Upminster Kid" 5:18
6."Patience (So What?)" 3:13
7."Father"Dury, Charles Sinclair2:00
8."Thank You Mum"Dury, Melvin1:21
9."Rough Kids" 2:26
10."The Badger and the Rabbit" 3:56
11."The Mumble Rumble and the Cocktail Rock" 4:39
12."The Call-Up" 4:07

Pye-Dawn re-released the original LP in 1977 following the success of Ian Dury as a solo artist.

1999 edition

In 1999, as part of their 30th Anniversary series, Dawn re-issued the album onto CD in a very unconventional way; instead of adding bonus tracks to the end of the album or on a second disc, Dawn decided to reorganise the album's track order to accommodate the missing B-sides as well as adding four previously unreleased tracks.[8] These included a cover version of Alma Cogan's "Twenty Tiny Fingers", one of only two cover versions Ian Dury has ever officially released, the other being "Girls (Watching)" on his 1980 album Lord Upminster.

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Rough Kids" (single version) 2:26
2."Billy Bentley (Promenades Himself in London)"Dury, Charlie Hart3:02
3."Crippled with Nerves" 3:45
4."Huffety Puff" 3:14
5."The Roadette Song" 3:25
6."Pam's Moods" 3:40
7."Broken Skin"Dury, Melvin2:16
8."Upminster Kid" 5:18
9."Patience (So What?)" 3:13
10."Father"Dury, Sinclair2:00
11."Thank You Mum"Dury, Melvin1:21
12."The Badger and the Rabbit" 3:56
13."The Mumble Rumble and the Cocktail Rock" 4:39
14."The Call Up" 4:07
15."Who's to Know?"Dury, Melvin2:18
16."Back to Blighty"Dury, Melvin4:13
17."O.K. Roland"Dury, Hart2:55
18."Twenty Tiny Fingers" (Sore Throat Mix)Sid Tepper, Roy Bennett3:16
  • Track 1, 2 from the single "Rough Kids"
  • Tracks 3, 5-14 from the original LP Handsome
  • Track 4 from the single "Crippled with Nerves"
  • Tracks 15-18 previously unreleased

2016 edition

In 2016, Cherry Red Records released an expanded edition of Handsome with a bonus disc containing a previously unreleased 1974 Capital Radio broadcast. The first disc includes both the single and album version of "Rough Kids".[9][10]

Disc 1
  • As per 1999 edition, adding "Rough Kids" (album version) as track 12 (between "Thank You Mum" and "The Badger and the Rabbit")
Disc 2
In session - Sarah Ward & Friends Capital Radio Fri 26th/Sat 27th April 1974
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Upminster Kid"  
2."The Walk"Jimmy McCracklin, Bob Garlic 
3."The Roadette Song"  
4."Crippled with Nerves"  
5."The Call-Up"  
6."Pam's Moods"  
7."Billy Bentley"Dury, Hart 
8."The Old Bang"  
9."You're More Than Fair"  
10."Rough Kids"  
11."The Mumble Rumble and the Cocktail Rock"  

Personnel
Kilburn and the High-Roads
  • Ian Dury - vocals
  • Keith Lucas - guitar
  • Charles Sinclair - electric bass
  • Rod Melvin - piano; vocals on "Broken Skin" and "Thank You Mum"
  • David Newton-Rohoman - drums
  • Davey Payne - saxophone, flute

Additional musicians

  • Russell Hardy - keyboards on 1974 Capital Radio broadcast[2]
  • Louis Larose or George Butler - drums on 1974 Capital Radio broadcast[2]
Technical
  • Hugh Murphy – producer, arrangements
  • Chris Thomas – producer on "Rough Kids" (single version) and "Billy Bentley (Promenades Himself in London)" [11]
  • Larry Bartlett - engineer
  • Phil Chapman - engineer
  • Elizabeth Rathmell - front cover painting "The Kilburns Near Tower Bridge"
  • Gordon House – graphics
  • Poundcake – photography

First mixes

In 1996, Repertoire Records released a 2-CD Ian Dury retrospective Ian Dury & The Blockheads: Reasons to Be Cheerful which included tracks from all of his solo albums and many of his solo singles but instead of including tracks from either Handsome or Wotabunch! they chose to include 10 tracks recorded in 1974 which they claim are the first mixes for some of the tracks from Handsome. However, the version of "Rough Kids" is almost identical to the version on Wotabunch! (minus the ad-libs), and furthermore their time of recording suggests it is possible the tracks are in fact from the Raft recordings, regardless the ten tracks are "Rough Kids", "You're More Than Fair", "Billy Bentley", "Pam's Moods", "Upminster Kid", "The Roadette Song", "Pam's Moods 2", "The Call-Up" and the wrong titled "The Mumble Rumble" ("The Mumble Rumble and the Cocktail Rock"). "Pam's Moods 2" is another mix of "Pam's Moods".

These tracks show little signs of the smooth, softened, high-produced versions finally released on Handsome and are far similar to the band's live sound and are not mentioned at all in either Ian Dury autobiography and noticeably included "You're More Than Fair", which was not included on the final album.

References
  1. "Music - Discography - 1974". iandury.co.uk. Retrieved 29 October 2021.
  2. "Kilburn & the High Roads". Punk Music Catalogue. Retrieved 29 October 2021.
  3. Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. Handsome at AllMusic
  4. Humphries, Patrick (7 September 2016). "Handsome (Expanded Edition) - Kilburn & The High Roads". Record Collector. Retrieved 29 October 2021.
  5. Canty, Ian (15 August 2016). "Kilburn And The High Roads: Handsome – Album Review". Louder Than War. Retrieved 29 October 2021.
  6. Simpson, Dave (25 November 2014). "Suggs and Mike Barson of Madness: how we made One Step Beyond". Retrieved 29 October 2021 – via www.theguardian.com.
  7. Beaumont, Mark (30 April 2021). "Seven secrets from new Madness docuseries 'Before We Was We' - No-one knows the origin of the 'Nutty Train'". NME. Retrieved 29 October 2021.
  8. "Handsome (30th Anniversary Series) 1999". Discogs. Retrieved 29 October 2021.
  9. "Handsome 2016 edition". Discogs. Retrieved 29 October 2021.
  10. "Handsome: Expanded Edition". Cherry Red Records. Retrieved 29 October 2021.
  11. "Rough Kids 7" single". Discogs. Retrieved 29 October 2021.

Further reading
  • Sex and Drugs and Rock and Roll: The Life of Ian Dury by Richard Balls, first published 2000, Omnibus Press
  • Ian Dury & the Blockheads: Song by Song by Jim Drury, first published 2003, Sanctuary Publishing
  • Reasons to Be Cheerful, 2-disc compilation first released 1996, Repertoire Records
  • Booklet to the Dawn's 1998 re-issue of Handsome
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