Lord Upminster

It was released by Polydor Records and PGP-RTB in September 1981. It was recorded over a period of one month at Compass Point Studios in Nassau, Bahamas with his old writing partner Chas Jankel and the reggae duo Sly and Robbie. It is also the first Dury album distributed by Polydor. It was his first solo album in four years, since New Boots and Panties!! (1977). Alike the aforementioned album, this album covers a diverse range of musical styles reflecting Dury's influences and background in pub rock, taking in funk, disco, British music hall and early rock and roll, courtesy of Dury's musical hero Gene Vincent.

But unlike New Boots... the album was received negatively by the majority of music critics, while other reviewers noted good points to the album. It was a commercial disappointment failing to make the Top 40, and the album's only single, "Spasticus Autisticus", failed to chart.

Composition and recording

Background

Island Records' founder Chris Blackwell suggested that Dury and Chas Jankel (who had returned from America and temporarily buried the hatchet with Dury) fly to Nassau and record with Sly Dunbar and Robbie Shakespeare, the duo who were renowned as both reggae musicians and producers, and were also on Island Records.

However, Dury and Jankel were greatly unprepared and without enough material for a new album, so they wrote much of the album either on the plane or at their destination. The final album was eight tracks long, and both of them were ultimately disappointed with it.

While recording the album Dury and Jankel were mobbed by Jamaican band Smokey, who mistook a line from his hit "Reasons to be Cheerful, Part 3" to be about them. The reference to "sing-alonga Smokey" was actually about Smokey Robinson. Dury politely agreed to listen to their new album while his co-writer sneaked away.

Beside Spasticus, another noteworthy track appears on the album; "Girls (Watching)" is the only officially released cover version Ian Dury recorded; it was written by Sly Dunbar. However MP3s of Dury, performing The Stranglers single "Peaches" and "Bear Cage" live, along with Hazel O'Connor and members of The Stranglers can be found on some download services. As well as being found on two Stranglers live albums And Then There was Three and The Stranglers and Friends – Live in Concert both CDs are of the same gig, when Hugh Cornwell was in prison, various artists including Dury took turns to sing.

Dury himself later admitted that the only track he would have listened to again was Spasticus. Chas Jankel was a little kinder and continues to praise "Lonely (Town)" as an underrated gem on the album. "The (Body Song)" and "Funky Disco (Pops)" are the tracks most currently selected for greatest hits compilations (along with "Spasticus").

Release history

Label	Cat. No.		Format	Date
Polydor	2383 617/POLD 5042	^EU	Vinyl, Cassette	September 1981
Polydor	PD-1-6337/2383 617	^US	Vinyl, Cassette	November 1981
PGP RTB	2220946	^SFRY	Vinyl, Cassette	1982
Great Expectations	PIPCD 005	^UK	CD	December 1989
Universal	UICY-93269	^JP	CD	25 July 2007
Salvo	SALVOCD056	^UK	CD	3 June 2013

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	^[1]
Robert Christgau	B-^[2]
Daily Express	^[3]

Lord Upminster received negative reviews from contemporary music critics.

In a contemporary review music critic Robert Christgau gave the album a "B-" and panned that "Spasticus Autisticus is every bit as startling as Dury must have hoped after Laughter got lost in the hustle" but added that "I suppose the idea is to let the riddims of Steve Stanley, Chaz Jankel, and Sly & Robbie turn jingles into rallying cries"^[2]

Retrospective reviews

In a retrospective review, Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic gave the album two and a half out of five stars and wrote that "Lord Upminster turned out to be a set of uninspired funk that lacks the joyful energy of his three previous records."^[1] And Emma Greatrex of the Daily Express gave the album two stars writing that the album was "largely overlooked", but also noted that "many of the songs are repetitive and indistinguishable from each other".^[3]

Track listing

All songs written and composed by Ian Dury and Chas Jankel, except where noted.

UK Track list

Side one
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Funky Disco (Pops)"		3:30
2.	"Red (Letter)"		3:47
3.	"Girls (Watching)"	Sly Dunbar	4:28
4.	"Wait (For Me)"		3:41

Side two
No.	Title	Length
5.	"The (Body Song)"	5:08
6.	"Lonely (Town)"	4:10
7.	"Trust (Is A Must)"	6:20
8.	"Spasticus (Autisticus)"	4:57

US Track list

Side one
No.	Title	Length
1.	"Spasticus (Autisticus)"	4:57
2.	"Red (Letter)"	3:47
3.	"The (Body Song)"	5:08
4.	"Lonely (Town)"	4:10

Side two
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
5.	"Trust (Is A Must)"		6:20
6.	"Funky Disco (Pops)"		3:30
7.	"Girls (Watching)"	Sly Dunbar	4:28
8.	"Wait (For Me)"		3:41

Additional tracks

Bonus tracks on 2013 reissue

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Additional Artist	Length
9.	"Spasticus (Autisticus)" (Version)		The Seven Seas Players	7:01
10.	"Johnny Funk" (Master Mix)			3:45
11.	"Johnny Funk" (New Lead Vox)			5:54
12.	"Rock N Roll Shoes" (Mix 4)	Chuck Willis		2:22
13.	"Polydor Conference 1981 Interview"	N/A		20:37

Notes

Some compilations mistakenly do not use parts of the song titles that are in brackets (especially "Spasticus"), it is a 'theme' of the titles on the album and all of them do have words in brackets as shown above.

Personnel

Ian Dury - vocals
Chas Jankel - guitars, keyboards
Robbie Shakespeare - bass guitars
Sly Dunbar - drums
Tyrone Downie - clavinets, prophet-5, steinway & sons pianos

Production

Produced by Chas Jankel, Ian Dury, and Steven Stanley
Recorded by Steven Stanley, and Harold Dorsett
Mixed by Steven Stanley
Assistant Mixing by Harold Dorsett

Charts

Peak positions

Original release

Chart	Peak Position	Total weeks
Swedish Albums Chart^[4]	32	1
UK Albums Chart^[5]	53	4

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.
On My Life BBC2 Documentary first broadcast 25 September 1999

References

1 2 Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Lord Upminster – Ian Dury". AllMusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved 10 January 2014.
1 2 Christgau, Robert. "Lord Upminster – Ian Dury". Robert Christgau. Retrieved 10 January 2014.
1 2 Greatrex, Emma. "Lord Upminster – Ian Dury". Daily Express. Retrieved 10 January 2014.
↑ Steffen Hung (2015-01-10). "Swedish Charts Portal". swedishcharts.com. Retrieved 2015-01-10.
↑ "Chart Stats - Ian Dury and the Blockheads". chartstats.com. Retrieved 2011-11-13.

External links

Lord Upminster at Discogs (list of releases)

Ian Dury

Studio albums	New Boots and Panties!! Lord Upminster 4,000 Weeks' Holiday (w/The Music Students) Apples The Bus Driver's Prayer & Other Stories

With The Blockheads	Do It Yourself Laughter Live! Warts 'n' Audience Mr. Love Pants Straight from the Desk Ten More Turnips from the Tip

With Kilburn & the High Roads	Handsome Wotabunch! The Best Of Kilburn & the High Roads

Singles	"Rough Kids" "Crippled With Nerves" "Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll" "Sweet Gene Vincent" "What a Waste" "Hit Me with Your Rhythm Stick" "Billy Bentley" "Reasons to be Cheerful, Part 3" "I Want To Be Straight" "Sueperman's Big Sister" "Spasticus Autisticus" "Really Glad You Came" "Very Personal" "Hit Me with Your Rhythm Stick (remix)" "Profoundly In Love With Pandora" "Apples" "Dance Little Rude Boy" "Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll" (re-release)

Compilations	Live Stiffs Live

Films	Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll

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