Handsome: Expanded Edition
Kilburn & The High Roads

• Fronted by Punk poet laureate Ian Dury, Kilburn & The High-Roads’ 1975 LP. Also includes their debut 45 plus bonus material.
• Disc Two comprises a previously unreleased 1974 Capital Radio broadcast capturing the Kilburn’s at their best.
• Memorabilia laden booklet features in depth liner notes by Pub Rock authority Alan Robinson.

• Before Ian Dury & The Blockheads scored Top 10 hits with ‘What A Waste’, ‘Reasons To Be Cheerful, Part 3’ and ‘Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick’, singer/songwriter Dury had found favour on London’s thriving Pub Rock scene as frontman with Kilburn And The High Roads.

• Formed in 1971, the band’s eclectic blend of art school proto-Punk infused with Rock’n’Roll, Jazz, Ska and old time Music Hall humour ensured they became a popular fixture on the college circuit. Coming to the attention of Pye Records, the band was signed to its Dawn imprint in 1974 with the album Handsome following a year later, by which point the Kilburn’s had disbanded. Their lone 45, ‘Rough Kids’ b/w ‘Billy Bentley (Parades Himself In London)’ proved inspirational, with Sex Pistol Glen Matlock citing it as influential.

• Although commercially unsuccessful, Handsome proved an early showcase for Dury’s lyrical dexterity, wherein touchy subjects such as his own disability and domestic violence are tackled, in typically confrontational fashion. Broadcast on Capital Radio in April 1974, Disc Two’s previously unreleased live session provides a taste of their onstage shows; organic, energised performances which clearly proved hard to replicate in the recording studio.