Palais, London The Bolshoi Ballet of Moscow, Russia British automobile company Scammell Lorries (specifically their 18-wheeler truck) Equal voting rights Piccadilly Circus, London Genitalia ('Fanny Smith and Willy') Oatmeal breakfast cereal ('porridge oats') Generosity and politeness Yellow socks Carrot juice Wine (specifically claret) Elvis (Presley) and Scotty (Moore), his guitarist Going to the toilet ('sitting on the potty') A cure for smallpox The National Health Service's free prescription glasses Male and female prostitutes ('Gigolos and Brasses') Smoking a bong ('lighting up the chalice') Skiffle singer Wee Willie Harris Stephen Biko Jamaican trombonist Rico Rodriguez, who would go on to play with Coventry band The Specials the same year as "Reasons to be Cheerful"'s release The Marx Brothers ('Harpo, Groucho, Chico') Popular British sandwich ('Cheddar cheese and pickle') British motorcycle manufacturer Vincent Motorcycles (pronounced in the song as 'motorsickle' to rhyme with pickle and tickle) Sex ('slap and tickle') American comedian Woody Allen Spanish painter Salvador Dalí Russian composer Dmitri Shostakovich The opera Don Pasquale by Gaetano Donizetti The popular song Volare Soul singer Smokey Robinson Being released from prison ('Coming out of chokey') Saying 'okey-dokey' Being naked ('Being in my nuddy') Jazz saxophonist John Coltrane, specifically his soprano saxophone playing. Italian singer-songwriter Adriano Celentano 1940s and 1950s film actor Bonar Colleano Self-education ("something nice to study") The single's B-side, "Common as Muck", has a much more 'classic Dury' sound. An amusing number, written sometime before its A-side, it is a celebration of being 'common' working class). Like its A-side, it is filled with name checks of disparate celebrities, including Lionel Blair, Evonne Goolagong, Patience Strong, Jack Palance, Sydney Tafler, Fred Astaire, Shirley Abicair, Victor Hugo, Dirk Bogarde, Nellie Melba and Andrés Segovia. Nellie Dean refers to the well-known music hall song of that name, while Rodney Reigate is a purely fictitious character. Re-releases and versions As with "Hit Me with Your Rhythm Stick" before it, "Reasons to be Cheerful" can now be found easily on every Ian Dury compilation to date. Like all of Ian Dury's singles, this was not originally the case because, in keeping with Ian Dury's singles policy at the time, the song was omitted from the next album (Laughter) and was not made available again. It first re-appeared on the compilation album Jukebox Dury two years later in 1981. Demon Records chose, bizarrely, to add "Reasons to Be Cheerful" as the sole bonus track to its