Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick
Encyclopedia
"Hit Me with Your Rhythm Stick" is a song and single by Ian Dury
& The Blockheads
, first released 23 November 1978 and was first released on the 7" single BUY 38 Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick / There Ain't Half Been Some Clever Bastards by Stiff Records
. It went to number one on the UK Singles Chart
in January 1979, and is the band's most successful single ever. It also was named best single of 1979 in the Pazz & Jop
poll.
Its lyrics mix various locations across the world and a number of phrases in non-English languages (including French
and German
). According to its author Ian Dury, the song has an anti-violence message.
has repeated a story both in Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll: The Life of Ian Dury and Ian Dury & The Blockheads: Song by Song that the song was written in Rolvenden
, Kent
during a jamming session between him and Dury. Jankel relates that the music was inspired by a piano part near the end of Wake Up And Make Love With Me (a song on Dury's solo debut New Boots and Panties!! that Jankel had co-written) and that after listening to it, Dury presented the lyrics for Rhythm Stick to him the same afternoon. This was later corroborated by Dury.
Dury mentioned a number of origins for his lyrics, including claiming that he had written them up to three years earlier and it had just taken him all that time to realise their quality. John Turnbull (guitar) gives a different account, claiming the lyrics were written while on tour in America six months prior to the song's recording and that he was still adjusting in-studio. He said the line "it's nice to be a lunatic" was originally "it don't take arithmetic".
Whilst researching his biography
of Ian Dury (due for publication in 2010), Will Birch discovered that Ian wrote the lyrics for Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick as early as 1976. Ian's typed manuscript
, which differs only slightly from the later recorded version and with hand written notes about arrangement and instrumentation ('drums and fuzz bass doing Roy Buchanan volume trick' after first chorus, for example), was posted to a friend in September of that year. The 'lunatic' line reads 'one two three fourithmatic'. 'O'er the hills and far away' was originally 'down to Hammersmith Broadway'.
The song was recorded in The Workhouse Studio on the Old Kent Road
, London, the same place Dury's debut album, New Boots and Panties!!, was recorded. At least 11 takes of the song were recorded before one, reportedly an early take, was chosen for the single release. Mickey Gallagher
(keyboards) remains jaded about this method and much of the band as well as producer Laurie Latham remain unhappy with the chosen take's mix, claiming it to be too dominated by piano and vocals. Despite this, Chas Jankel
often re-tells the story that after recording it he phoned his mother and told her, "I've just recorded my first number one".
On radio Rhythm Stick was a popular song from its release, but the single was initially kept from the number one spot in the charts by The Village People's smash hit YMCA, which was at number one for five consecutive weeks. However, on the 27th of January 1979, Watt-Roy, Turnbull and Charley Charles (drums) were waiting outside the Gaumont State Cinema
, Kilburn, London, listening to a car radio when it was announced that Rhythm Stick was the new number one. Ian Dury was on holiday in Cannes
, where he was at the beach when the hotel staff brought him a bottle of champagne and told him the news. For their appearance on Top of the Pops
the whole band bought Moss Bros suits. Laurie Lewis, a friend of Ian Dury's from college, shot the promotional video for the single; while it simply showed the band playing on stage, it was an important piece of footage for Ian Dury, who for the first time appeared in public without his pink jacket or another long sleeved shirt hiding his left arm, withered by Poliomyelitis
as a child.
It sold 979,000 copies in the UK. In 2006, its popularity was boosted by its appearance in a British advertisement for Capital One
.
The single cover was designed by Stiff's Barney Bubbles
, anonymously as usual.
An amusing song affectionately describing the achievements of Noel Coward
, Vincent Van Gogh
and Albert Einstein
in a working class (specifically Cockney
) manner and amusingly dismissing Leonardo da Vinci
as an 'Italian geezer' in Van Gogh's verse.
episode Tooth and Claw
). It has had its lyrics changed often, including in one instance to 'hit me with your oven chip'. This, combined with its continued popularity and original chart success has ensured that today the song is incredibly easily to find on CD, not only on all of Ian Dury's compilations but in numerous various artists compilations.
However, like many of Ian Dury's stand alone singles, this was not originally the case, and in keeping with his then-policy of not including singles on his albums the song was omitted from Do it Yourself
, the next Ian Dury & The Blockheads album. It was not available again until the release ofJukebox Dury years later.
Paul Hardcastle
remixed the track in 1985, stripping all the instrumental tracks and using only Dury's vocal, and re-recording the instrumental parts with keyboards. The re-mix reached number 55 in the UK Singles chart.
Nina Hagen
remixed the track which was released on her album, Sternenmädchen
, released in 2001. She also performed it with Freaky fukin weirdoz in their music video in 1994.
Ian Dury
Ian Robins Dury was an English rock and roll singer, lyricist, bandleader and actor who initially rose to fame during the late 1970s, during the punk and New Wave era of rock music...
& The Blockheads
The Blockheads
The Blockheads are an English rock and roll band. Originally fronted by vocalist Ian Dury as Ian Dury and the Blockheads, the band has continued to perform since Dury's death in 2000. Current members include Chaz Jankel , Norman Watt-Roy , Mick Gallagher , John Turnbull and Davey Payne...
, first released 23 November 1978 and was first released on the 7" single BUY 38 Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick / There Ain't Half Been Some Clever Bastards by Stiff Records
Stiff Records
Stiff Records is a record label created in London in 1976, by entrepreneurs Dave Robinson and Andrew Jakeman , and active until 1985. It was reactivated in 2007....
. It went to number one on the UK Singles Chart
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
in January 1979, and is the band's most successful single ever. It also was named best single of 1979 in the Pazz & Jop
Pazz & Jop
The Pazz & Jop critics' poll is a poll of music critics run by The Village Voice newspaper. It is compiled every year from the top ten lists of hundreds of music critics...
poll.
Its lyrics mix various locations across the world and a number of phrases in non-English languages (including French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
and German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
). According to its author Ian Dury, the song has an anti-violence message.
History
Co-writer Chas JankelChas Jankel
Charles Jeremy Jankel professionally known as Chaz Jankel, is a musician best known as the keyboard player and guitarist with Ian Dury and the Blockheads...
has repeated a story both in Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll: The Life of Ian Dury and Ian Dury & The Blockheads: Song by Song that the song was written in Rolvenden
Rolvenden
Rolvenden is a village and civil parish in the Ashford District of Kent, England. The village is located on the A28 Ashford to Hastings road, south-west of Tenterden.The settlement of Rolvenden Layne, south of Rolvenden, is also in the parish.-History:...
, Kent
Kent
Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...
during a jamming session between him and Dury. Jankel relates that the music was inspired by a piano part near the end of Wake Up And Make Love With Me (a song on Dury's solo debut New Boots and Panties!! that Jankel had co-written) and that after listening to it, Dury presented the lyrics for Rhythm Stick to him the same afternoon. This was later corroborated by Dury.
Dury mentioned a number of origins for his lyrics, including claiming that he had written them up to three years earlier and it had just taken him all that time to realise their quality. John Turnbull (guitar) gives a different account, claiming the lyrics were written while on tour in America six months prior to the song's recording and that he was still adjusting in-studio. He said the line "it's nice to be a lunatic" was originally "it don't take arithmetic".
Whilst researching his biography
Biography
A biography is a detailed description or account of someone's life. More than a list of basic facts , biography also portrays the subject's experience of those events...
of Ian Dury (due for publication in 2010), Will Birch discovered that Ian wrote the lyrics for Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick as early as 1976. Ian's typed manuscript
Manuscript
A manuscript or handwrite is written information that has been manually created by someone or some people, such as a hand-written letter, as opposed to being printed or reproduced some other way...
, which differs only slightly from the later recorded version and with hand written notes about arrangement and instrumentation ('drums and fuzz bass doing Roy Buchanan volume trick' after first chorus, for example), was posted to a friend in September of that year. The 'lunatic' line reads 'one two three fourithmatic'. 'O'er the hills and far away' was originally 'down to Hammersmith Broadway'.
The song was recorded in The Workhouse Studio on the Old Kent Road
Old Kent Road
The Old Kent Road is a road in South East London, England and forms part of Watling Street, the Roman road which ran from Dover to Holyhead. The street is famous as the equal cheapest property on the London Monopoly board and as the only one in South London....
, London, the same place Dury's debut album, New Boots and Panties!!, was recorded. At least 11 takes of the song were recorded before one, reportedly an early take, was chosen for the single release. Mickey Gallagher
Mickey Gallagher
Michael William Gallagher also known as Mick Gallagher and Mickey Gallagher is a British Hammond organ player and best known as a member of Ian Dury and the Blockheads and for his contributions to albums by the Clash...
(keyboards) remains jaded about this method and much of the band as well as producer Laurie Latham remain unhappy with the chosen take's mix, claiming it to be too dominated by piano and vocals. Despite this, Chas Jankel
Chas Jankel
Charles Jeremy Jankel professionally known as Chaz Jankel, is a musician best known as the keyboard player and guitarist with Ian Dury and the Blockheads...
often re-tells the story that after recording it he phoned his mother and told her, "I've just recorded my first number one".
On radio Rhythm Stick was a popular song from its release, but the single was initially kept from the number one spot in the charts by The Village People's smash hit YMCA, which was at number one for five consecutive weeks. However, on the 27th of January 1979, Watt-Roy, Turnbull and Charley Charles (drums) were waiting outside the Gaumont State Cinema
Gaumont State Cinema
The Gaumont State Cinema is a Grade II* listed Art Deco theatre located in Kilburn, a district in northwest London.Designed by George Coles and opened in 1937, the Gaumont State was one of the biggest auditoria in Europe, with seating for 4,004 people. The name State is said to come from the huge ...
, Kilburn, London, listening to a car radio when it was announced that Rhythm Stick was the new number one. Ian Dury was on holiday in Cannes
Cannes
Cannes is one of the best-known cities of the French Riviera, a busy tourist destination and host of the annual Cannes Film Festival. It is a Commune of France in the Alpes-Maritimes department....
, where he was at the beach when the hotel staff brought him a bottle of champagne and told him the news. For their appearance on Top of the Pops
Top of the Pops
Top of the Pops, also known as TOTP, is a British music chart television programme, made by the BBC and originally broadcast weekly from 1 January 1964 to 30 July 2006. After 25 December 2006 it became a radio program, now hosted by Tony Blackburn...
the whole band bought Moss Bros suits. Laurie Lewis, a friend of Ian Dury's from college, shot the promotional video for the single; while it simply showed the band playing on stage, it was an important piece of footage for Ian Dury, who for the first time appeared in public without his pink jacket or another long sleeved shirt hiding his left arm, withered by Poliomyelitis
Poliomyelitis
Poliomyelitis, often called polio or infantile paralysis, is an acute viral infectious disease spread from person to person, primarily via the fecal-oral route...
as a child.
It sold 979,000 copies in the UK. In 2006, its popularity was boosted by its appearance in a British advertisement for Capital One
Capital One
Capital One Financial Corp. is a U.S.-based bank holding company specializing in credit cards, home loans, auto loans, banking and savings products...
.
The single cover was designed by Stiff's Barney Bubbles
Barney Bubbles
Colin Fulcher aka Barney Bubbles was a radical English graphic artist, whose work primarily encompassed the disciplines of graphic design, painting and music video direction. He is most renowned for his distinctive contribution to the graphic design associated with the British independent music...
, anonymously as usual.
B-side
The B-side was "There Ain't Half Been Some Clever Bastards", written by Dury and Russell Hardy, his co-writer from his time in the pub-rock band Kilburn & The Highroads.An amusing song affectionately describing the achievements of Noel Coward
Noël Coward
Sir Noël Peirce Coward was an English playwright, composer, director, actor and singer, known for his wit, flamboyance, and what Time magazine called "a sense of personal style, a combination of cheek and chic, pose and poise".Born in Teddington, a suburb of London, Coward attended a dance academy...
, Vincent Van Gogh
Vincent van Gogh
Vincent Willem van Gogh , and used Brabant dialect in his writing; it is therefore likely that he himself pronounced his name with a Brabant accent: , with a voiced V and palatalized G and gh. In France, where much of his work was produced, it is...
and Albert Einstein
Albert Einstein
Albert Einstein was a German-born theoretical physicist who developed the theory of general relativity, effecting a revolution in physics. For this achievement, Einstein is often regarded as the father of modern physics and one of the most prolific intellects in human history...
in a working class (specifically Cockney
Cockney
The term Cockney has both geographical and linguistic associations. Geographically and culturally, it often refers to working class Londoners, particularly those in the East End...
) manner and amusingly dismissing Leonardo da Vinci
Leonardo da Vinci
Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci was an Italian Renaissance polymath: painter, sculptor, architect, musician, scientist, mathematician, engineer, inventor, anatomist, geologist, cartographer, botanist and writer whose genius, perhaps more than that of any other figure, epitomized the Renaissance...
as an 'Italian geezer' in Van Gogh's verse.
Re-releases and versions
The song has been used for numerous purposes since its release including various adverts and in numerous television programmes (including the Doctor WhoDoctor Who
Doctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The programme depicts the adventures of a time-travelling humanoid alien known as the Doctor who explores the universe in a sentient time machine called the TARDIS that flies through time and space, whose exterior...
episode Tooth and Claw
Tooth and Claw (Doctor Who)
"Tooth and Claw" is the second episode in the second series of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who and was first broadcast on 22 April 2006. In 1879 Scotland, the Doctor and Rose meet Queen Victoria...
). It has had its lyrics changed often, including in one instance to 'hit me with your oven chip'. This, combined with its continued popularity and original chart success has ensured that today the song is incredibly easily to find on CD, not only on all of Ian Dury's compilations but in numerous various artists compilations.
However, like many of Ian Dury's stand alone singles, this was not originally the case, and in keeping with his then-policy of not including singles on his albums the song was omitted from Do it Yourself
Do It Yourself (Ian Dury & the Blockheads album)
Do It Yourself is a 1979 album by Ian Dury & The Blockheads. It was the first album to be credited to Ian Dury & The Blockheads rather than Ian Dury alone, although Dury had used the full band name for the "What A Waste" 7" single of 1978...
, the next Ian Dury & The Blockheads album. It was not available again until the release ofJukebox Dury years later.
Paul Hardcastle
Paul Hardcastle
Paul Hardcastle is an English composer and musician, specialising in the synthesizer.-Discography:In the early 1980s, Hardcastle played the keyboards on several singles on the Oval record label by the dance music groups Direct Drive and First Light, before going solo.He achieved some acclaim for...
remixed the track in 1985, stripping all the instrumental tracks and using only Dury's vocal, and re-recording the instrumental parts with keyboards. The re-mix reached number 55 in the UK Singles chart.
Nina Hagen
Nina Hagen
Nina Hagen is a German singer and actress.-Early years:Hagen was born as Catharina Hagen in the former East Berlin, East Germany, the daughter of Hans Hagen , a scriptwriter, and Eva-Maria Hagen, an actress and singer...
remixed the track which was released on her album, Sternenmädchen
Sternenmädchen
- Track listing :# "Riesenschritt" # "Freiheitslied" # "Wir Tanzen Tango" # "Tiere" # "Du Hast Den Farbfilm Vergessen"...
, released in 2001. She also performed it with Freaky fukin weirdoz in their music video in 1994.
Versions
Though none of the 11+ takes have been released, two live versions exist on Ian Dury's two live albums Warts 'n' Audience and Straight From The Desk both including ad libs in the song's third verse, the 'Warts 'n' Audience' version name checking the Brixton Academy and the 'Straight from the Desk' version name checking Dagenham Heathway. The 'Straight From the Desk' version also includes an extended instrumental break.Sources
- 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.