R A D I O J I R O # 56 Chaz Jankel Quite possibly the funkiest English white man, Chaz Jankel was best known as the guitarist and keyboard player for Ian Dury and the Blockheads and was responsible for the sound of the band which combined so well with Dury’s unique lyrics. Probably the greatest piece they recorded is the brilliant ‘Spasticus Autisticus’, a track written by Dury as a protest to the International Year of Disabled Persons awards which Dury felt were patronising. Although the track seemed to recieve complaints from disabled people (Dury himself suffered from Polio) the track was stupidly banned by the BBC who stated the song was ‘offensive to polite sensibilities’. During the early 80’s Jankel wanted to concentrate on his solo career and in 1981 released his second solo record Chasanova (Questionnaire in the US) which included a number of great tracks including the biggest selling dance track in America in 1982; ‘Glad To Know You’, check out Jankel getting his white boy dance moves on during this appearance on American TV. After the success of that record Jankel’s next release was another stomper which included the excellent funky jam ‘Without You’, a perfect example of the Jankel sound. For the final pick I’ve gone for a track from his next record Looking At You and the track ‘No. 1’, the track was most famously used for one of the montage scenes from one of the greatest 80s teen movies of all time; Real Genius. Sadly the montage scene hasn’t been uploaded onto YouTube so here’s the official music video instead.

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Chaz Jankel

Quite possibly the funkiest English white man, Chaz Jankel was best known as the guitarist and keyboard player for Ian Dury and the Blockheads and was responsible for the sound of the band which combined so well with Dury’s unique lyrics. Probably the greatest piece they recorded is the brilliant ‘Spasticus Autisticus’, a track written by Dury as a protest to the International Year of Disabled Persons awards which Dury felt were patronising. Although the track seemed to recieve complaints from disabled people (Dury himself suffered from Polio) the track was stupidly banned by the BBC who stated the song was ‘offensive to polite sensibilities’. During the early 80’s Jankel wanted to concentrate on his solo career and in 1981 released his second solo record Chasanova (Questionnaire in the US) which included a number of great tracks including the biggest selling dance track in America in 1982; ‘Glad To Know You’, check out Jankel getting his white boy dance moves on during this appearance on American TV.



After the success of that record Jankel’s next release was another stomper which included the excellent funky jam ‘Without You’, a perfect example of the Jankel sound. For the final pick I’ve gone for a track from his next record Looking At You and the track ‘No. 1’, the track was most famously used for one of the montage scenes from one of the greatest 80s teen movies of all time; Real Genius. Sadly the montage scene hasn’t been uploaded onto YouTube so here’s the official music video instead.

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