Kilburn & the High Roads

Background
Six years before Ian Dury and the Blockheads burst to the top of the British charts with 'Hit Me with Your Rhythm Stick', Ian sang in London pubs with an unlikely bunch of friends and students called Kilburn & the High Roads.  Charlie and Gordon were the band's managers from 1972 to 1974, and Oval co-published most of the songs on their 1974 album, Handsome.  Among the fans who gaped open-mouthed at the amazing antics of the band were teenagers who later went on to form the Sex Pistols and Madness, and the latter recorded their own version of 'Rough Kids'.

Biggest Hits
On the B-side of 'Rhythm Stick' was a funny song called 'There Ain't Half Been Some Clever Bastards', co-written several years earlier with Russell Hardy, the piano player in Kilburn and the High Roads. The Kilburns never came close to having hits, but their repertoire has attracted increasing attention over the years, as the legend of Ian Dury has grown.  Among our favourites is the touching ballad, 'Crippled with Nerves': the singer wishes he knew how to convey his love, "but I can't 'cause I'm crippled with nerves."

Compilation and Synchronisation Licensing
'Clever Bastards' was used for several years in a TV ad by the Australian Meat Marketing Board.  Essentially a shopping list of famous people, it would fit any campaign seeking to convey skill and ingenuity and given an extra edge with the chorus chant: 'lucky bleeders, lucky bleeders'!

Oval Music is 50% publisher with Warner Chappell of 'Clever Bastards' and most of the songs recorded by Kilburn and the High Roads.

Sound Clip
There Ain't Half Been Some Clever Bastards

Where Are They Now?
Humphrey Ocean, former bass player in Kilburn and the High Roads, has for thirty years been a successful painter, with several pictures in the National Portrait Gallery.  The bass player before Humphrey was Charlie Hart, who later joined Ronnie Lane's Slim Chance.  Guitarist Keith Lucas changed his name to Nick Cash and formed a punk band, 999.  Piano player Russel Hardy is a master carpenter.  The only Kilburn to become a member of the Blockheads was saxophonist Davey Payne, who played on all the Stiff recordings including the wild solo in the middle of 'Rhythm Stick'.

Weblink:  
http://www.iandury.co.uk/