BMG
★★★★
“There haven’t half been some clever bastards,” Ian Dury reminds us on this 50-track retrospective, and it’s true: the inimitable songwriter popularised the phrase Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll, then charmed his way into the charts with an extraordinary live band, The Blockheads, something confirmed by a vital version of Spasticus Autisticus. 1978’s Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick remains invincible, but earlier tracks like Rough Kids reveal his nascent talent and 1997’s Mash It Up confirms Dury remained a clever bastard to the end.