Blockheads set to bring New Wave sounds to Balcombe

Balcombe Club is again showing its ability to punch above its weight with the legendary Blockheads playing on Saturday, April 26.

The band is synonymous with rebellion, protest and the hard rock and roll scene with a history that rollercosters back to the 1970s.

Its New Wave and funk sounds were made famous throughout the Eighties and Nineties with original vocalist and frontman Ian Dury, who died in 2000 having born a life of disability caused by childhood polio.

Dury’s raw yet poetic lyrics with word play and sexual references and protests about attitudes towards the disabled, resulted in songs being banned from the airwaves.

Yet the censorship failed to halt their popularity with ‘Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll’, ‘Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick’, ‘Billericay Dickie’ and ‘Reasons To Be Cheerful, Part 3’ living on over the decades with continuing popularity.

Dury died of cancer, suffering the same fate as several other band members, while the Blockheads have broken up and reformed more than most bands.

But they and Dury’s memory continue their popularity and demand with a new album, ‘Same Horse Different Jockey’ released last year and original band members Chaz Jankel, Norman Watt-Roy, Mick Gallagher and John Turnbull in today’s line-up. Expect Dury’s friend Derek Hussey on lead vocals with possibly original sax player Davey Payne making an appearance or alternatives Gilad Atzmon, Terry Edwards or Dave Lewis .

The Blockheads appear at Balcombe Club on Saturday, April 26, at 7.30pm. Tickets, £18, from Balcombe Club on 01444 811226 or via the website at www.balcombeclub.co.uk or Eventbrite.