Song · Ian Dury
“Sex, Drugs, and Rock & Roll” by Ian Dury
Released 1998
“Sex, Drugs, and Rock & Roll” by Ian Dury appears on 13 radio countdowns from 5 stations between 1988 and 2005. It was first released in 1998. Its best result is #96 on the Fred XM Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (July 2002). In the combined RockLists rankings it is #1,318 alternative song of all time.
Watch
Video from YouTube (TopPop). Pressing play loads YouTube's player. Watch on YouTube
Ian Dury's "Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll" hit the racks on Stiff on 26 August 1977 with only his name on the sleeve, though three Blockheads play on it: Chaz Jankel, who co-wrote it and plays guitar, Norman Watt-Roy on bass and Charlie Charles on drums. Dury and Jankel wrote it in Dury's flat in Oval Mansions, a London block that looked straight out over the Oval cricket ground.
The routine was that Dury handed Jankel his hand-typed lyric sheets. This one Jankel kept turning down, and it kept sneaking back to the top of the pile, until Dury sang him the guitar riff and chanted the title in time with it. The flip, "Razzle in My Pocket", is about nicking dirty magazines from a shop in Romford, and next up was "Sweet Gene Vincent".
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
RockLists rankings
Alternative & Modern Rock
All Rock Formats
All-time and decade countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1988 | 423 | KROQ | KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1988) | 496 |
| 1992 | 487 | KROQ | KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1992) | 500 |
| 1999 | 229 | WLIR / WDRE | WLIR Top 300 Songs of All-Time (December 1999) | 300 |
| 1999 | 1009 | CD101 | CD101 Top 2000 Songs of All-Time (December 1999) | 2000 |
| 1999 | 388 | CFNY 102.1 The Edge | CFNY Top 1002 Songs of All-Time (November 1999) | 1002 |
| 2000 | 754 | CD101 | CD101 Top 2001 Songs of All-Time (December 2000) | 2001 |
| 2001 | 754 | CD101 | CD101 Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (December 2001) | 2002 |
| 2002 | 754 | CD101 | CD101 Top 2003 Songs of All-Time (December 2002) | 2003 |
| 2002 | 96 | Fred (XM 44) | Fred XM Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (July 2002) | 2002 |
| 2003 | 754 | CD101 | CD101 Top 2004 Songs of All-Time (December 2003) | 2004 |
| 2003 | 164 | Fred (XM 44) | Fred XM Top 2044 Songs of All-Time (July 2003) | 2044 |
| 2004 | 754 | CD101 | CD101 Top 2005 Songs of All-Time (December 2004) | 2005 |
| 2005 | 754 | CD101 | CD101 Top 2006 Songs of All-Time (December 2005) | 1994 |
Also listed as: Sex and Drugs and Rock n' Roll; Sex And Drugs And Rock-N-Roll; Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll; Sex And Drugs And Rock-n-roll; Sex And Drugs And Rock And Roll; Sex and Drugs and Rock and Roll.
Comments
Log in or create a free account to join the conversation about "Sex, Drugs, and Rock & Roll" by Ian Dury.
No comments yet. Be the first to share your thoughts.