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Donald's Encyclopedia of Popular MusicA B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y ZCHAS and DAVEUK trio: Charles Hodges, piano, vocals, guitars (fiddled a little; b 28 December 1943, London); Dave Peacock, vocals, guitars (b 24 May 1945, London); Mick Burt, drums (b 23 August 1938). Hodges had a career in pre- Beatles pop; playing piano at 18 as a stand-in at a pub rehearsal, Jerry Lee Lewis walked in and said 'What the hell do you need me for when you've got him?' He worked with Joe Meek, Ritchie Blackmore in the Outlaws, Cliff Bennett's Rebel Rousers, with Peacock in short-lived band Black Claw '70, made LPs with cult band Heads Hands and Feet '70-2; rejoined Peacock in the Albert Lee band '75; meanwhile Burt had played in Rebel Rousers and gone back to plumbing. Chas and Dave decided to form a group and asked Burt to join. They had a minor UK hit single 'Strummin' ' '78; then an advertising agent heard them doing 'Gertcha' in a pub and signed them for a series of TV adverts for Courage beer: 'Gertcha' made UK no. 20 '79 snd became a utility catchphrase. 'The Sideboard Song (Got My Beer In The Sideboard Here)' was a minor hit '79; 'Rabbit' was also used in a Courage advert, became no. 8 hit (the cartoonish send-up of talking wives finally outraged feminists who wrote a song called 'Beer Belly'). They had perfected 'Rockney' (Burt's nickname, name of their own label and of '78 LP which included 'Strummin' '), a hybrid of basic rock'n'roll and Cockney lyrics (also pioneered by Ian Dury). They wrote and produced two singles for Tottenham Hotspur Football Club '81, and demonstrated wider talent with a charming ballad 'Ain't No Pleasin' You' (no. 2 '82), its timeless appeal reminiscent of 'You Don't Understand' '28 (recorded by James P. Johnson, Bessie Smith). Albert Lee was included on a '79 cover of Lewis's 'Breathless'. Their list os albums is confusing: UK LPs recycled, reissued and retitled; depending on the source, the first album '75 was called Chas And Dave or One Fing And Anuvver. Others included Don't Give A Monkey's '79; Mustn't Grumble '81 included 'Lonnie D' (for Donegan), 'Don't Anyone Speak English?'; Live At Abbey Road was also '81; Gertcha '83 was hits compilation on budget label, Greatest Hits another on a different label; also Chas 'n' Dave's Knees Up (50 singalong tunes and songbook) and Christmas Jamboree Bag both '83; the latter became an annual series. They were lent by Atlantic in USA to producer Bob Thiele to make an album as Oily Rags (Cockney rhyming slang: rags = fags = cigarettes) with drummer Ian Wallace, Gerry Hogan on steel guitar; and with Lee, Peter Frampton etc they backed Teresa Brewer on In London; both these were later on Thiele's Signature label. Very popular live and TV act (Christmas Day special '82, series summer '83); they opened their own London pub '85 called Chas and Dave's (a Courage house, of course). Drummer Ian Wallace (b 29 December 1946, Bury, Lancashire; d 22 February 2007, Los Angeles of esophageal cancer) would have been right at home with Chas & Dave; more than a stalwart, his skill allowed him to add to the fun, fitting in anywhere from Robert Fripp's King Crimson to touring and/or recording with Bob Dylan, Don Henley, Bonnie Raitt, Crosby, Stills & Nash, Stevie Nicks, Ry Cooder, Roy Orbison, the Traveling Wilburys, Brian Eno, and Jackson Browne. |