Ian Dury and the Blockheads – Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll By Holly Homan

I liked Ian Dury. I say he was punk. But I guess that depends upon one’s definition of punk. He was certainly part of that movement. He broke through barriers with his music in the same manner in which punk did, marched to his own beat, so to speak. Punk is NOT a true belief in anarchy. Joe Strummer was not an anarchist nor was Joey Ramone. But both men believed in democracy and equality and wrote about it in their songs (well, not so much Joey). Punk is all about acceptance and non-racism. It’s all about marching to your own beat and not persecuting others for doing so. Those who think punk is all about anarchy have got it so wrong. Punk, in an essence, is anti-tyranny. You could even say Woody Guthrie was punk. The protest songs of the sixties, the hippies, were punks. It means breaking the status quo and exposing tyranny and inequality. That’s what punk is all about.

Holly Homan