A compilation of the best moments from the legendary songwriter Ian Dury.

Track Listing

Disc 1:

1. Wake Up And Make Love With Me - Dury, Ian
2. Sex And Drugs And Rock 'N' Roll - Dury, Ian
3. Sweet Gene Vincent - Dury, Ian
4. My Old Man - Dury, Ian
5. Razzle In My Pocket - Dury, Ian
6. What A Waste
7. Rough Kids - Kilburn & The High Roads
8. Roadette Song - Kilburn & The High Roads
9. Pam's Moods - Kilburn & The High Roads
10. Reasons To Be Cheerful
11. Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick
12. There Ain't Half Been Some Clever Bastards
13. Inbetweenies
14. Don't Ask Me
15. I Want To Be Straight
16. Superman's Big Sister
17. Yes And No (Paula)
18. That's Not All
19. Fucking Ada
20. Bus Driver's Prayer - Dury, Ian

Disc 2:

1. Jack Shit George
2. Bed o' Roses No 9
3. Dance Little Rude Boy
4. Mash It Up Harry
5. It Ain't Cool
6. Books And Water
7. Really Glad You Came - Dury, Ian & The Music Students
8. Peter The Painter - Dury, Ian & The Music Students
9. Profoundly In Love With Pandora - Dury, Ian
10. Poor Joey - Dury, Ian
11. Poo Poo In The Prawn - Dury, Ian
12. Clever Trevor
13. If I Was With A Woman
14. Billericay Dickie
15. Spasticus Autisticus
16. Blockheads

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Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #4925 in Music
• Released on: 2005-09-26
• Number of discs: 2
• Dimensions: .27 pounds

CD Description
'Reasons To Be Cheerful' is a compilation of the best moments from the legendary songwriter Ian Dury. Thoughout his long career, Dury was responsible for some of the wittiest, most well-observed pop singles to ever grace the charts, and this collection neatly brings them all together in a neat little package. Includes the tracks 'Sex And Drugs And Rock 'N' Roll', 'Sweet Gene Vincent' and 'Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick'.

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Customer Reviews

Sadly Missed
This is the Ian Dury compilation to buy if you haven't got all the original albums. All the brilliant singles are here, along with the best of the album tracks together with some wonderful bonus material (such as the Kilburn & the High Roads stuff).

Dury was a marvellously witty and perceptive lyric writer, and whilst his distinctive cockney drawl was hardly a great singing voice, it marked him as someone who was doing something completely different from everybody else. The Blockheads of course were also a great band, and again this marked Ian Dury out from the rest of the punk/new wave movement.

This is a fabulous complilation, and at the moment its very cheap for a double CD. It'll cost you more to download all these tracks (legally that is!).

Top notch stuff -I'm listening to it now
I've got my phones on as I type this review. It's 5 past midnight. My 2 year old boy is asleep in his cot, and I can only hope he grows up to experience a 21st century version of the Blockheads. This CD has been in my player for the past 3 weeks.
The lyrics are witty, the music is groove twitchingly infectious, and the whole package is witty and amusing, delivered with a musical and lyrical skill that is sublime.
Please take this bargain at face value, and place it in you basket now. You will not regret it!
Most people are familiar with 'Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick', but believe me, that is just the tip of the iceberg. Aural and intellectual Pleasure Awaits!

A true gem
I remember Dury mainly from the late 70s/80s era as he enjoyed his moment of chart stardom which coincided with the rise of punk: What a Waste, Hit me with your Rhythm Stick... I kind of lost touch with him since then, and discovering this excellent collection was a treat. It's bulging with delights, all for the price of a new pair of panties. Dury is a brilliant wordsmith and the Blockheads provide a unique backing which is a hybrid of pub rock, funk and reggae. Unlike most punk bands, the Blockheads are expert musicians and Dury is as adept a writer as the likes of Noel Coward - though somewhat more potty-mouthed.

As well as the old favorites, new discoveries for me were Razzle in My Pocket and Poo Poo in the Prawn (hilarious), the poignant My Old Man, the rage-fuelled Spasticus Autisticus and Pam's Moods (who else could use the word "contumely" in a song and get away with it?). You also get really good sleeve notes by Phill Jupitus. All in all, a bargain worthy of the Kilburn High Road.