IT’S surely not often that king of slapstick Sir Norman Wisdom has been compared to Ian Dury.
But the man playing the former leader of the Blockheads in the touring show, Hit Me! The Life and Rhymes of Ian Dury, feels they have something in common.
“When Wisdom was a big star after the Second World War, people saw in the characters he played the little man fighting against the system and winning through,” explains Mark White.
“People aspired to that and admired it. I think with Ian there’s an awful lot of that.”
This can be found in Dury’s lyrics, in his hit songs that included Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll, he adds.
“He wrote about the ordinary life around him where he was growing up in Essex and people could really relate to it,” says White.
“Everybody recognised aspects of their own life, especially in the time of Thatcherism, unemployment and riots.
“His lyrics are astonishing and the Blockheads were a blinding band to have backing you.”
