Added: 5 years ago
From: haroldturkeypants
Views: 657,531
Sort by time | Sort by thread (beta)

Link to this comment:

Share to:
see all

All Comments (406)

Sign In or Sign Up now to post a comment!
  • Mouse pointer on left side lol

  • "I'd go the whole wide world just to find where they hide her" :) Invaluable indeed, respect for posting it!

  • Davey Payne on sax?

  • Awesome song!

  • I love finding lost things in my life...

  • one of my favourite songs and one of the first I could play on the gee-tar

  • thats singing from the heart

  • stranger than fiction lol

  • I love you NIRDA, this one is just for you

    the one , the only one.

  • I'm very pleased with this.

  • id go the whole wide world to find another song as good as this.

  • I think i watch this once a week!!!

  • This is such an awesome sweet song, i love his passion and energy, great performance :-)

  • He sounds drunk and near passing out in the street but yeah I like this anyway.

  • i can't get tired of this song

  • This must be one of my all time favourites xx

  • This is a copy of the original master of the TV performance, which got damaged in storage - the apology for the quality was shown on screen when the clip was shown on a superb retrospective about 20 years ago. Cracking song, should have been a big hit. What was the British (non-) record buying public thinking?

  • the low quality actually adds a bit of oldschool nostalgia tbh

  • Wasn't it Eric who actually gave Ian Dury the immortal line: 'Takes much longer to get up north... The slow way.'

  • love this effin' song!!!! <3 <3 <3

  • nice dude!!!!!!!!!

  • who needsmore than 2 chords anyway

  • héhè_AÑÿ_gúýs_wâNt_tO_chAt_wÌt­h_mê

  • Pure Gold. Great clip. Thanks for posting.

    Weren't his Mum and Dad called Wreckless Frank and Wreckless Doreen ?

  • Thumbs up this if you came to this video after watching Stranger than Fiction with Will Ferrell

  • what a great presentation. i'm diggin it

    I'd go the whole wide world

  • How great does it get? This is the shit, thanks for uploading...I used to play this non-stop...*SIGH* I'm drowning in a flood of memories (sniff)...Halcion daze X

  • Davey Payne on sax methinks? Live Stiffs on tour if I am not mistaken.

  • @charliepippin one of the best gigs I ever went to, Nick Lowe,Larry Wallis, ian Dury Elvis Costello. Talk about value for money, Happy days.

  • Who's on sax?

  • I remember this, I saw Eric way way back with the new rockettes, fantastic ! " Pure pop for now People" as Nick Lowe would say I also remember the What's on section of Granada Reports, presented by the late great ( well in his mind anyway) Tony Wilson of Hacienda and factory records fame, some fantastic acts on that. I remember the first time I saw Elvis Costello was on this show, playing Alison solo, went out the next day and bought his first album, regional TV was better then !

  • I remember this, I saw Eric way way back with the new rockettes, fantastic ! " Pure pop for now People" as Nick Lowe would say I also remember the What's on section of Granada Reports, presented by the late great ( well in his mind anyway) Tony Wilson of Hacienda and factory records fame, some fantastic acts on that. I remember the first time I saw Elvis Costello was on this show, playing Alison solo, went out the next day and bought his first album, regional TV was better then !

  • I love the cursor!

  • How can you not like this song?

  • No, NOFX and Bad Religion aren't punk..we're talking about 2 different types of music and 2 different parts of the world at 2 different times. Yes, I DO have a degree-it's called HISTORY and EXPERIENCE..music knoweledge is a good thing to have, especially when trying to argue with me about GOOD music..i.e. NOT Bad Religion or NOFX..grow some ears, dst0ller. By your name it's obvious u don't have them or they don't work ;-)

  • @RawPowerDude Ha! Dude... this WAS punk. Punk had absolutely NOTHING to do with harmonies or hooks. All it had to do with was outlook. Not being afraid to express what you wanted to, however you wanted to. Bands like The Stooges, Death, MC5, etc... were all writing songs with "vocal melodies", and those were the creators of punk. You can talk about your "crust" or "street" punk all day, but in the end it's all "punk". It's just different evolutions of it.

    You should study up a bit more. ;)

  • is it DURY on drums? do we get a prize?...and is there an Elvis Costello lookalike in the background?

  • @PoireauMan68 yes Dury is on there and more than likely it is the real Elvis Costello as they were labelmates.

  • aw cmon people....this is wreckless eric...absolultely one of the finest songs of the seventies...please keep up

  • aw cmon people....this is wreckless eric...absolutlety one of the finest songs of the seventies...please keep up

  • Ya like you didnt understand what I meant cuz 1 letter is wrong. I didnt realize I was in a fucking spelling B here

  • Comment removed

  • Dont think there,s such a word as retarted!

  • @haroldturkeypants

    She tarted herself up, and then retarted herself up.

    How's that?

  • @haroldturkeypants actually there is....like when my mrs goes to the pub, gets off with someone, and then has to go put her makeup/clothes etc back on, she becomes retarted. Went out as a tart, got off with someone and is now retarted

  • @haroldturkeypants sure there is, its drop your pastry on the ground, and someone replaces it with another pastry, usually of equal or lesser value.

  • @zeronova77 No, he's British.

  • @ademeyer he's married to amy rigby now,i think.

  • @zeronova77 no he was just wreckless!!!!

  • @zeronova77 if by "retarded" you mean passionate and raw, then yes

  • @zeronova77 No, he is not "retarded" He's a punk legend. That's what they look like. Making faces when rocking out is part of the image.

  • @zeronova77 Now who's retarded? Dee dee dee, I want to insult someone, but I myself am not perfect. Have a good one "retart"

  • Nixontankgirl-this ain't punk, it's pop at it's POWER I guess u could say..punk is crap. I was a "boner punk" for years and years and unfortunately, most unknoweledgeful people have had the tendency to refer to anything cockney and/or British as "punk"..u people gotta start understanding that ANYTHING with a vocal melody cancels out a "punk" label. It sounds severe but think about it..I'll argue what is punk and what's not ALL DAY, people..Sorry, clarifying...

  • @RawPowerDude That's right, because Bad Religion and NOFX aren't punk either.  Neither were the Ramones. You're an idiot.

  • @RawPowerDude That said, you're right this song isn't.

  • @RawPowerDude do you have a degree of some sort? A "punk" degree I mean...you argue all day long? I used to masturbate first and argue later...I've given up on both ahaa ahaha aha

  • @RawPowerDude I would call it punk out of habit, but you have actually raised a valid point here. Though not what we would typically consider "punk", calling Wreckless Eric `power pop`at the time invokes images of The carpenters. I think at some point it would be suffice to call this particular track "post punk" though Joy Division this is not ;)

  • @MissJenRec Era always plays a major part in the classification of music and art generally - once a new term is identified the media tend to associate new acts with it. Punk, New Wave, Britpop - all contain fairly disparate artists

  • thanks for posting

  • Maybe she's in the bahamas!!!!!!!

  • Surely one of the greatest love songs of all time. I love the passion and sentiment of punk. So simple and pure.

  • Would I be right to think that's Poly Styrene on bass too?

  • @MagickTemple

    No man,thats Denise Roudette,Ian Durys then girlfriend on bass.

  • @haroldturkeypants AHA! Thanks for the info

  • What A perfect Rock 'N Roll song.Two chords maybe.Love it!

  • This is also in the 1980 road film "Radio On" to great effect. Brilliant vid by the way... I remember "What's On" and not many people had VCRs then.

  • What a great version of this two-chord wonder. Like how he builds tension with his voice.

    Surprised he left out the 3rd verse:

    "Why am I standing around in the rain

    Trying to pick up this girl?

    Why are my eyes filling up with lonely tears,

    when there're girls all over the world?"

  • I'd just thought i'd throw this out there that the quality might be better if A: that text wasn't on there and B: you moved the mouse to the side or something. Just saying. Other than that this song and video is great :)

  • Fantastic stuff. Should be as famous as Beautiful Day, or Ever Fallen in Love...

  • There is no need to apologize

  • they say this is the best love song in the world sung by the worst singer in the world lol awesome tune

  • Fantastic! Thanks for sharing!!

  • The Wreckless One rules!!!! Davey Payne on sax, cool!!!!!!!

  • is there anything better....a rare video for sure....good stuff.

  • such a rare video....is there anything better of a performance of this song?!?!?!

  • FaBrilliant, I was just thinking of the song, and idea! Check YouTube and there it is, still not sure who that is on Sax, looks a bit like Rat Scabies with short hair, or a Madness geezer.

    Man I was so young, like Eric in this one. He had a good voice though and could play gittar, anyway that was then, this is the future.

  • This is awesome.

  • Its the Stiff All Stars Band

  • Brilliant. They don't write 'em like this anymore... :-(

  • Excellent!

    Bill

  • My guess is this is from the Bunch of Stiffs tour early 1978. It was a stunning line up, Dec, Ian, Wreckless, Larry Wallis, Nick Lowe and Dave Edmunds as I recall it. I saw it at the UEA in Norwich and I think Ian was using plastic fish instead of drumsticks. Great times! Thanks for posting this.

  • COMPLETELY invaluable!

    I literally have chills right now from it

    THANK YOU!!!!!!

  • brilliant song !!!

  • watch me cover this song

  • watch me cover this song

  • @justanotherower watch me waTCH me me me me it's all about you you

  • Great song by a great singer. Specially the sax.

  • Lovely!

  • radiohead, pre-creep

  • I've listened to this song hundreds of times but this is the first time I've seen Wreckless sing it. Such a treat. Thank you for posting this.

  • Oddly I prefer the Adrian Edmonson version.

    =-)

  • What`s the bet that there`s a pristine copy of this clip in the vaults of the bbc or thames television or where ever this clip originated that can`t be released or replayed because of 'copywrite' difficulties! Thanks for the upload but where`s the original recording? Recorded over perhaps?

    Wreckless Eric is still out there performing so if you get the opportunity, go and see him.

  • amazing song

  • Not only is it Ian Dury on drums and his sax player, Davey Payne, but also Dury's girlfriend on bass.

  • this song is so romantic, for a single man like me, but maybe it has something to do with the movie "stranger than fiction" this song is on the soundtrack and the movie was very very romantic you woudn't expect it from a will ferrel movie. :-)

  • Saw this guy at the Whisky a Go Go many years ago...crazy little bastard, I tell ya! Still have the "I'm a Mess" button he gave me......

  • @opalasattic

    Crazy indeed. I've heard that when Stif gave him an advance to record his first single he recorded the a side and then disappeared on a two week bender without bothering to record the b side. I think he came back when he had turned all the money into booze.

  • This WRECKLESS ERIC you dick, it's how he sings!

  • loved ian in the thunderbirds hat....another whats on classic !

  • Quality is no problem. Its so awesome. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

  • Eric at his rustic whizz kid urchin best. I wish the whole thing survived. It's fantastic.

  • ian dury on drums, one perfect group. great

  • Yeah....but, Ian Dury ,for you wolf.....;]

    and Davey Payne on sax,

    when all was still well in Blockhead City.

  • Its a Stiff Records supergroup!! ^__^

  • Ian Dury...hit me with your rhythm sticks?!

  • Yep.

  • @peparazzo your own!!!

  • Saw the old man (Eric) perform yesterday in Amsterdam, supporting Yo La Tengo. He's performing with his wife nowadays, they are nice. But I think I'd liked it more with a band though. It does not have this energy as it has played with a band

  • no need to apologise for the quality when the contents show such a brilliant live performance, Elvis Costello on sax, Ian Drury on drums, thanks yo much for uploading!

  • It,s Davey Payne of Blockheads fame on sax actually :-)

  • So Uncle Ian's not on drums?

  • No you was right first time me ole son,thats Ian.

  • Comment removed

  • Uncle Ian's a legend on drums!!

  • Comment removed

  • Saw Eric play in Auckland about 30 years ago. Great live show.

    I love the Reid brothers in general, but although I enjoyed their version, Eric's is the primo one for me.

  • No one cares about your opinion. It is fact that the original is way better than any shitty cover.

  • Loser!

  • Who you calling loser? :P

  • nice. i love that you can count on ppl to put good music on youtube. Thanks for taking care of me

  • wow

  • no me podré sacar esta cancion de la mente desde ahora

  • excelente cancion gracias :D

  • is a great song, sang the same as Harold Crick in "Stranger Than Fiction'....... it was great that way of captivating the girl.

  • I bought this his album with this song on it back in 1979/80. It has some good tunes on it.

  • saw eric in hartlepool about 5 years ago..great gig about 20 people there

  • class

  • Davey Payne on sax? Ian Dury on drums?

  • They were friends after touring together on the Stiff records tours and as is obvious from my last sentence, they were on the same record label (Stiff). Dury was, despite his polio, a drummer as well, he could play a range of instruments.

  • love his voice!!!

  • Played this vid 100x - love him so much - i,m 46yrs old - am i so sad?

  • no, its allright

  • Your grammar is kind of sad.

  • mi grammar is really sad - were u from - i'm gorgeous

  • Not at all mate, I'm in me 40's and I still love this song and play it regularly, boring old farts maybe.

  • im 16 and i love this song man

  • Good on ya, but then how could you not like this song? Age is no barrier to good music.

  • easy...Ian Dury on drums...hahahahaha

  • kocham.

    te piosenke i Pana Zygmunta:D

    laudacja.

  • Oh eric he's so wreckless right now <3

  • Tylko E-dur @ A-dur a takie emocje.

    Bravo Zgierz Polska Proboszczewice wieś

    Bazylia. Jak kiedyś Beatles proste i cudne.

    Gramy to sobie z chlopakami na gitarach.

  • he came to nz in 79?

  • OOOH, thanks for posting this!!!! For all of us old gals who loved it back in the 70's! I saw Eric with Elvis Costello back in the day, and Eric did this song. Awesome times!

  • Thankyou Mr Turkeypants,you made an old girl,very happy.I loved this song first time I heard it 76 or 77 and it still makes me smile all over.

  • I loved how the film Stranger Than Fiction used it in the seduction scene between Will Ferrell and Maggie Gyllenhaal. Classy!!!

  • Except for "Take the Cash"(wrong title, right?), I didn't hear much Wreckless Eric until I bought a double album of his-I forget the title-around 1989. Man, what a discovery! I played that LP down to the bone. He was such a tuneful bastard, and just a half-inch on the right side of the dirty young man line. Lyric-wise, that is.

  • Yeah Ian Dury on drums, classic old tune!!! Thanx for the post!

  • mto bom mesmo!

  • SENSACIONAL!!!!!! \o/

  • who cares about the quality-- this is wonderful. :)

  • Ian Dury on drums??????

  • Christ, what a blast from the past! Bought this when it was released! Anyone got "Semaphore Signals"?

  • YES BOUGHT IT WHEN IT CAME OUT

  • i saw this on Stranger than fiction and had to look it up ^.^

  • me also and I've eventually found it.

  • me too XD

  • same here

  • im feeling happy right now!

  • The green coloured album. I still like it. Can sombody post "Take the cash"? Please?

  • frikin kickass band.

  • what yeAR WAS this recorded?....brilliant song

  • 1977

  • 1976 according to Stiff Records as "Go the Whole Wide World". I bought the "Bunch of Stiffs" album in 1977

  • I maybe wrong but thought the tinny sounding 'acoustic' solo version was recorded in '76 but the one with the full band was made in '77. there are two versions of the song, both released around the same time (trainspotter or what!).

  • and Denise Roudette on Bass. 5*

  • I would love to tour with these guys....

    yaaaaa~

    Stephy

  • I bought this album when it first came out back in 1979

  • i love you julia

    x

  • Does anyone know what make of guitar Eric is using in this video?.

    I have one the same but the badge is missing from the headstock.

    Thanks for any info.

  • it looks like a fender jaguar or jazzmaster. But from the headstock, it looks like a japanese or chinese knock off. Try Ibanez.

  • I reckon it's an Audition guitar sold at Woolworths in the 70's. No longer available!

  • is that ian dury on drums?

  • Tis indeed, they were Stiff labelmates at the time.