0:00:02 > 0:00:07This programme contains some strong language
0:00:07 > 0:00:09They've toured with the Beatles,
0:00:09 > 0:00:11opened for Led Zeppelin
0:00:11 > 0:00:15and been sampled by the world's leading hip-hop artists.
0:00:18 > 0:00:20In a career spanning more than 50 years,
0:00:20 > 0:00:24pretty much the entire history of British pop,
0:00:24 > 0:00:27they've survived by ignoring passing fashions
0:00:27 > 0:00:31and doggedly forging a path true to their roots.
0:00:33 > 0:00:35This is the story of Charles Nicholas Hodges
0:00:35 > 0:00:38and David Victor Peacock,
0:00:38 > 0:00:41though you may know them by another name.
0:00:41 > 0:00:45Ladies and gentleman, oh, yes, here we go!
0:00:45 > 0:00:52The greatest band ever to set foot in London town.
0:00:52 > 0:00:56Please welcome, the legends that are
0:00:56 > 0:01:00Chas & Dave!
0:01:00 > 0:01:04APPLAUSE
0:01:08 > 0:01:092, 3, 4.
0:01:09 > 0:01:11# Rabbit, rabbit, rabbit, rabbit
0:01:11 > 0:01:13# Rabbit, rabbit, rabbit, rabbit
0:01:13 > 0:01:15# You got a beautiful chin
0:01:15 > 0:01:18# You got beautiful skin
0:01:18 > 0:01:22# You got a beautiful smile
0:01:22 > 0:01:23# You got style... #
0:01:23 > 0:01:28They're very musical, very talented and in my view, great artists.
0:01:30 > 0:01:35They're both amazing musicians. I mean, really amazing musicians.
0:01:35 > 0:01:38They can play the pants off a lot of people.
0:01:38 > 0:01:40# ..Cos you won't stop talking
0:01:40 > 0:01:42# Why don't you give it a rest?
0:01:44 > 0:01:46# You got more rabbit than Sainsbury's... #
0:01:46 > 0:01:49I'd probably rather see Chas & Dave
0:01:49 > 0:01:55play the songs they've written that I love as much as I'd see anyone.
0:01:55 > 0:01:57# ..I knew right off when I first set my eyes on you
0:01:57 > 0:02:01# But how was I to know you fed my earholes too?
0:02:01 > 0:02:02# With your incessant talking
0:02:02 > 0:02:04# You're becoming a pest
0:02:04 > 0:02:07# Rabbit, rabbit, rabbit, rabbit rabbit, rabbit, rabbit, rabbit
0:02:07 > 0:02:10# Rabbit, rabbit, rabbit, rabbit rabbit, rabbit
0:02:10 > 0:02:12# Now you've got lovely eyes... #
0:02:12 > 0:02:14There's a bounce and a joy to it
0:02:14 > 0:02:15and that's what people love about them.
0:02:15 > 0:02:18There's a celebration of life in their music
0:02:18 > 0:02:20that all of the best music has.
0:02:20 > 0:02:23They have no idea how much people love them.
0:02:23 > 0:02:25# ..Lovely lips
0:02:25 > 0:02:29# Oh, lovely hips
0:02:29 > 0:02:31# Now I don't mind having a chat
0:02:33 > 0:02:39# But you have to keep giving it that
0:02:39 > 0:02:41# No, you won't stop talking
0:02:41 > 0:02:44# Why don't you give it a rest... #
0:02:44 > 0:02:47Chas & Dave had a string of hits in the '80s and '90s
0:02:47 > 0:02:51that remain popular to this day.
0:02:51 > 0:02:55They've kept alive a rich and vibrant tradition of London music,
0:02:55 > 0:02:59steeped in pubs, clubs and music halls.
0:02:59 > 0:03:03As they finally call it a day with one last tour,
0:03:03 > 0:03:07it's time to tell the real story of two musical mavericks
0:03:07 > 0:03:11who've earned a truly special place in the nation's hearts.
0:03:11 > 0:03:12# ..Yap, yap, yap, yap, bunny, bunny
0:03:12 > 0:03:14# Jabber, jabber, bunny, jabber
0:03:14 > 0:03:17# Rabbit! #
0:03:26 > 0:03:28There is, um,
0:03:28 > 0:03:30a need for honesty and a need for good honest music
0:03:30 > 0:03:33and that's what we provide and that's what we do.
0:03:33 > 0:03:37We've never tried to commercialise ourselves in any special way,
0:03:37 > 0:03:42any gimmicks or anything. Just like to play.
0:03:49 > 0:03:51That'll do, won't it?
0:03:51 > 0:03:54Don't mind that, a bit of George Formby.
0:03:57 > 0:03:59And that's that.
0:04:06 > 0:04:11Despite the popular image, Chas and Dave are not actually Cockneys.
0:04:11 > 0:04:12They both grew up
0:04:12 > 0:04:15in the working-class suburbs of North London.
0:04:17 > 0:04:21My earliest memories are of Kent.
0:04:23 > 0:04:26I just about remember going down there
0:04:26 > 0:04:29and it had really nice but also sad memories
0:04:29 > 0:04:32because my dad, he committed suicide
0:04:32 > 0:04:35while we were down there, just the day before I was three.
0:04:35 > 0:04:37Nobody knows why and we came back to Edmonton.
0:04:40 > 0:04:44Into 11 Harton Road with my nan
0:04:44 > 0:04:47and my granddad and my great-grandfather.
0:04:47 > 0:04:50My mum playing the piano was important in loads of ways.
0:04:50 > 0:04:53I knew that she loved playing the piano.
0:04:53 > 0:04:57She would go out and she'd play all the pubs and the clubs
0:04:57 > 0:05:01in and around Edmonton, Tottenham.
0:05:01 > 0:05:07Everybody knew her. She was a great entertainer, great piano player.
0:05:07 > 0:05:11I knew if my mum was doing a gig, especially on the weekend,
0:05:11 > 0:05:13she would come home and she would be happy
0:05:13 > 0:05:17and I knew why she would be happy, because she'd got some money
0:05:17 > 0:05:21and tomorrow she'd go and put some food on the table.
0:05:21 > 0:05:26It was just a lovely thing all round, that's what music means to me,
0:05:26 > 0:05:29is happiness and getting fed.
0:05:35 > 0:05:37I was born in
0:05:37 > 0:05:39an infamous place called Spike Island.
0:05:39 > 0:05:42You won't find it on any maps but that's what it was called
0:05:42 > 0:05:43and it was just fantastic.
0:05:43 > 0:05:47All the doors would be open and there'd be singing outside
0:05:47 > 0:05:50and it was just great.
0:05:50 > 0:05:52My Uncle Bill, he started me off.
0:05:52 > 0:05:55He used to play the banjo and the ukulele.
0:05:55 > 0:05:57They had a band and used to go out doing gigs
0:05:57 > 0:06:00and he used to play in the pub at the corner of my road
0:06:00 > 0:06:02which is still there, the Granville.
0:06:02 > 0:06:05When I was a kid outside, I could hear him strumming this banjo.
0:06:05 > 0:06:07I just thought I'd died and gone to heaven.
0:06:11 > 0:06:13# Well, when I was just a nipper
0:06:13 > 0:06:15# About the age of seven
0:06:15 > 0:06:16# My old father
0:06:16 > 0:06:18# He brings me home a present
0:06:18 > 0:06:20# He gets it out the box
0:06:20 > 0:06:22# And he says to me, "Here you are"
0:06:22 > 0:06:24# Mother said, "What's that, a banjo?"
0:06:24 > 0:06:26# He said, "No, it's a guitar"... #
0:06:26 > 0:06:30- So is Strummin', the song, is that accurate?- It is accurate.
0:06:30 > 0:06:33There was a time when I'd be playing he'd say, "Don't keep doing that.
0:06:33 > 0:06:34"Can't you take it in the other room?"
0:06:34 > 0:06:36I know Chas had that with his older brother, Dave.
0:06:36 > 0:06:39He used to say, "You keep strumming that, you're driving me barmy."
0:06:39 > 0:06:41Chas went through the same thing as me.
0:06:41 > 0:06:43# ..I used to spend all night long, I did
0:06:43 > 0:06:45# Banging out some tune
0:06:45 > 0:06:47# Till one of them said to me
0:06:47 > 0:06:48# "Take it in the other room"
0:06:48 > 0:06:50# Then my old brother, he'd say
0:06:50 > 0:06:52# "I wish you'd shut your noise"
0:06:52 > 0:06:54# But then again, see
0:06:54 > 0:06:56# He never was one of the boys
0:06:56 > 0:07:00# I don't care what other people say
0:07:00 > 0:07:02# I'll just carry on strummin'... #
0:07:05 > 0:07:08But I just loved it, just sit there strumming it.
0:07:08 > 0:07:11I might do the same chord for 90 hours, I just liked it.
0:07:11 > 0:07:15I liked the physical thing as well. I think you've got to have that.
0:07:15 > 0:07:17You just love it.
0:07:17 > 0:07:21# ..I don't care what other people say
0:07:21 > 0:07:24# I'll just carry on strummin'. #
0:07:31 > 0:07:34But I could keep a party going when I was about eight or nine.
0:07:34 > 0:07:36We used to have parties just at the drop of a hat.
0:07:36 > 0:07:40Everyone was singing, it sounded all right to me, and to them as well.
0:07:40 > 0:07:42Just keep strumming away.
0:07:45 > 0:07:49By the mid-1950s, Britain had discovered teenagers.
0:07:49 > 0:07:53A new sound, skiffle, was sweeping the country.
0:07:53 > 0:07:56For young lads growing up in the capital,
0:07:56 > 0:07:59this was a true music revolution.
0:07:59 > 0:08:02When I heard Lonnie Donegan, it just bashed me up.
0:08:02 > 0:08:07When Rock Island Line came out in '56, Christmas time,
0:08:07 > 0:08:08it just...
0:08:08 > 0:08:10I love Lonnie Donegan.
0:08:10 > 0:08:12# The Rock Island Line is a mighty good road
0:08:12 > 0:08:13# The Rock Island is the road to ride
0:08:13 > 0:08:15# The Rock Island Line is a mighty good road
0:08:15 > 0:08:17# And if you want to ride
0:08:17 > 0:08:18# You got to ride it like you find it
0:08:18 > 0:08:19# Get your ticket at the station
0:08:19 > 0:08:22# On the Rock Island Line... #
0:08:22 > 0:08:24The whole world, you can't explain it.
0:08:24 > 0:08:26They were barmy on him, everyone was.
0:08:26 > 0:08:29It just bashed me up, I loved it so much.
0:08:29 > 0:08:32It was because of Lonnie Donegan that I learned to play the guitar.
0:08:32 > 0:08:34# ..And if you want to ride it
0:08:34 > 0:08:36# Got to ride it like you find it
0:08:36 > 0:08:37# Get your ticket at the station... #
0:08:37 > 0:08:40I loved that sound so I said to my mum,
0:08:40 > 0:08:43"I'd got to play the guitar and I know it'd really thrill me."
0:08:43 > 0:08:45She said, "If I get one, will you promise to play it?"
0:08:45 > 0:08:46"Yes, I will."
0:08:46 > 0:08:48# ..Get your ticket at the station
0:08:48 > 0:08:54# On the Rock Island Line! #
0:08:54 > 0:08:57He was nuts, Lonnie was. Love him.
0:09:03 > 0:09:05# Lost John standing by the railroad track
0:09:05 > 0:09:08# Waiting for the freight train to come back
0:09:08 > 0:09:12# The freight train came back but never made no stop
0:09:12 > 0:09:17# Lost John thought he'd have to ride the top... #
0:09:17 > 0:09:20'Skiffle was really just a kind of speeded up folk music.
0:09:20 > 0:09:23'It was very basic, but from this skiffle scene'
0:09:23 > 0:09:25came the next generation.
0:09:25 > 0:09:28It was something that was easy for beginners.
0:09:28 > 0:09:30It was good beginners' entry-level music.
0:09:30 > 0:09:32# ..Lost John made a pair of shoes of his own
0:09:32 > 0:09:35# Finest shoes that ever was worn... #
0:09:35 > 0:09:38As soon as you learned two and a half chords, you were off.
0:09:38 > 0:09:39You could play a skiffle song.
0:09:39 > 0:09:44# ..You never tell which way Lost John might have gone. #
0:09:44 > 0:09:47Nearly all the people who became famous in the '60s,
0:09:47 > 0:09:53like The Beatles obviously, had their own beginnings in skiffle.
0:09:53 > 0:09:58Skiffle was not the only influence on Britain's musical youth.
0:09:58 > 0:10:00# Goodness gracious, great balls of fire! #
0:10:00 > 0:10:05In 1958, Jerry Lee Lewis exploded on the British scene.
0:10:08 > 0:10:13He came to the local cinema just down the road from me in Upper Edmonton
0:10:13 > 0:10:16and I thought, "I've got to learn to play the piano now,
0:10:16 > 0:10:19"there's no two ways about it."
0:10:21 > 0:10:24Plays the piano in a way I've never seen or heard before in my life.
0:10:24 > 0:10:28I thought, "I can work that out. I'll be playing by the weekend."
0:10:28 > 0:10:31It took a little bit longer than that.
0:10:34 > 0:10:41In 1960, to his mum's great delight, Chas became a professional musician.
0:10:41 > 0:10:43A year later, he joined The Outlaws,
0:10:43 > 0:10:46a successful band who toured with The Beatles.
0:10:46 > 0:10:49We were topping the bill, Mike Berry and The Outlaws,
0:10:49 > 0:10:51and The Beatles were supporting.
0:10:51 > 0:10:55The main thing that impressed us was their harmonies
0:10:55 > 0:10:59and that they all had high voices.
0:10:59 > 0:11:04I remember thinking, "Their playing ain't as good is The Outlaws
0:11:04 > 0:11:05"but they can really sing."
0:11:07 > 0:11:11Alongside Chas in The Outlaws was guitarist Ritchie Blackmore,
0:11:11 > 0:11:14later to find fame with Deep Purple.
0:11:14 > 0:11:18The Outlaws were managed by one of the first independent producers
0:11:18 > 0:11:22in the country, legendary innovator Joe Meek.
0:11:24 > 0:11:29Lots of English musicians cut their teeth playing with Joe Meek.
0:11:29 > 0:11:32A slightly strange man by all accounts, very eccentric.
0:11:32 > 0:11:35He created his own little fantasy world
0:11:35 > 0:11:40based on this very ramshackle home-made studio he had.
0:11:40 > 0:11:44It was just literally knee-deep in bits of tape.
0:11:44 > 0:11:47It really was. It was amazing to me, I loved it.
0:11:47 > 0:11:50He helped to popularise, if not invent,
0:11:50 > 0:11:52lots of techniques we now take for granted -
0:11:52 > 0:11:55overdubbing and treating sounds and getting special sound effects
0:11:55 > 0:11:58and so forth.
0:11:58 > 0:12:00I learnt so much off Joe Meek.
0:12:00 > 0:12:04I can remember we did an instrumental called Swinging Low, The Outlaws.
0:12:04 > 0:12:06HUMS THE RIFF
0:12:06 > 0:12:09MUSIC: "Swinging Low" by The Outlaws
0:12:09 > 0:12:14We did about seven or eight takes and Joe Meek said, "That's it."
0:12:14 > 0:12:18I thought, "We ain't got one where we're all playing good in it."
0:12:18 > 0:12:22He went, "Don't worry about it." He said, "I'll sort that."
0:12:22 > 0:12:24I really didn't know what he meant.
0:12:24 > 0:12:29I didn't know anything about editing at all, didn't know it existed.
0:12:29 > 0:12:32Then he showed me, "You just get the tape like that.
0:12:32 > 0:12:36"Cut that out, that's a bass break there."
0:12:36 > 0:12:39Anyway, we came back a week later, he said,
0:12:39 > 0:12:43"Here you are, I'll play your latest single, this is going to be a hit."
0:12:43 > 0:12:45It did actually, got in the top 50.
0:12:45 > 0:12:48MUSIC CONTINUES
0:12:48 > 0:12:50But for all his skills as a producer,
0:12:50 > 0:12:53Joe Meek was not a trained musician.
0:12:53 > 0:12:55He knew what he wanted,
0:12:55 > 0:13:00he had a very good commercial ear in his way.
0:13:00 > 0:13:04But he couldn't play anything and he couldn't sing in tune.
0:13:04 > 0:13:07I was pretty good at figuring out what he meant.
0:13:07 > 0:13:09He would sing his tune.
0:13:09 > 0:13:13DISCORDANT HUMMING
0:13:13 > 0:13:17He knew what he meant but he would be completely out of tune,
0:13:17 > 0:13:20he would go off key, and then he would give it to me,
0:13:20 > 0:13:22this demo, and say, "Here's my latest song, Chas.
0:13:22 > 0:13:25"Can you work it out for the boys and write the chords out and that?"
0:13:25 > 0:13:29I would go home and then try and decipher what he meant,
0:13:29 > 0:13:32write down the chords and come back,
0:13:32 > 0:13:36teach the guitar player the melody and away we'd go.
0:13:41 > 0:13:46In 1963, The Outlaws went on camera for Live It Up,
0:13:46 > 0:13:50a feature film promoting Joe Meek's up-and-coming bands.
0:13:56 > 0:13:59I was pretty bored, really,
0:13:59 > 0:14:03because that day, we had been given the chance
0:14:03 > 0:14:07to go on tour with Jerry Lee Lewis as his backing band.
0:14:07 > 0:14:10You can imagine me, it's two years after I'd seen him.
0:14:10 > 0:14:13I'm now going to be in his band playing bass.
0:14:13 > 0:14:16He kept going, "We'll do another take, we'll do another take."
0:14:16 > 0:14:21I thought, "We've got to get up there to have a rehearsal with him."
0:14:21 > 0:14:24It just went on and went on and went on.
0:14:35 > 0:14:39We finally got away and got up
0:14:39 > 0:14:42and had a 10 minute rehearsal with Jerry Lee.
0:14:42 > 0:14:44Thank you very, very much.
0:14:44 > 0:14:48PLAYS: "Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On"
0:14:48 > 0:14:51I wasn't walking, I was floating,
0:14:51 > 0:14:53and throughout that tour, the Jerry Lee Lewis tour,
0:14:53 > 0:14:57because we couldn't have been with him at a better time.
0:14:57 > 0:15:02He weren't on drugs and he was playing absolutely fantastic,
0:15:02 > 0:15:07better than he was in the '50s.
0:15:09 > 0:15:11# Come on over, baby
0:15:11 > 0:15:14# We got chicken and a bop whoo, honey
0:15:14 > 0:15:16# Come on over, baby
0:15:16 > 0:15:19# Jerry's got the bull by the horns, yeah
0:15:19 > 0:15:21# I ain't fakin'
0:15:21 > 0:15:24# I got a whole lotta shakin' goin' on... #
0:15:24 > 0:15:28I always quote that Jerry Lee taught me the piano, which he did,
0:15:28 > 0:15:31but he didn't know he was teaching the piano.
0:15:31 > 0:15:32It was just like, I'm watching him
0:15:32 > 0:15:37and thinking that's how he does things like Whole Lotta Shakin'.
0:15:55 > 0:16:00I learnt such a lot on that tour piano-playing.
0:16:00 > 0:16:02# ..Yeah, yeah! #
0:16:07 > 0:16:09Was it like work?
0:16:09 > 0:16:12No, it ain't now. When people go, "He's got plenty of work,"
0:16:12 > 0:16:15I go, "I don't work, I play the piano."
0:16:15 > 0:16:17No, it's not work at all.
0:16:22 > 0:16:24Chas's history in music
0:16:24 > 0:16:27is the part that people never really know about him.
0:16:28 > 0:16:30He was a jobbing musician
0:16:30 > 0:16:34at the time when British beat music was coming into its own
0:16:34 > 0:16:37and was becoming a dominant force globally, and he was there.
0:16:37 > 0:16:40And also he was there when all of the American rock'n'rollers
0:16:40 > 0:16:44were first coming over to the UK and they were needing pick-up bands.
0:16:44 > 0:16:46He's played with nearly everybody.
0:16:46 > 0:16:49'And now let's Rip It Up with Gene Vincent.'
0:16:49 > 0:16:50# It's Saturday night and I just got paid
0:16:50 > 0:16:53# Fool about my money Don't try to save
0:16:53 > 0:16:55# Dad say, "Go, go, have a time"
0:16:55 > 0:16:57# Saturday night And baby I feel fine... #
0:16:57 > 0:17:00Gene was great. He had a bit of a drink problem,
0:17:00 > 0:17:02but we had some fun on the road with Gene,
0:17:02 > 0:17:06and when he really wanted to put on a good show, he could.
0:17:06 > 0:17:08# ..I'm going to shake it up and ball tonight, yeah... #
0:17:11 > 0:17:16Chas and Dave first got to know each other in North London in 1963.
0:17:16 > 0:17:19I was thumbing a lift home from me girlfriend's
0:17:19 > 0:17:21when I was on that tour in 1963.
0:17:21 > 0:17:25An old schoolmate pulled up to give me a lift home
0:17:25 > 0:17:30and it was Brian Juniper. He was in a band and Dave was his bass player.
0:17:30 > 0:17:33And I was in a band called The Rolling Stones.
0:17:33 > 0:17:36Not that other lot, we hadn't heard of them. We changed our name,
0:17:36 > 0:17:38we thought it was silly. But anyway, Chas was thumbing a lift home
0:17:38 > 0:17:40and that's when we picked him up.
0:17:40 > 0:17:43He was in The Outlaws then. I think he was 17.
0:17:43 > 0:17:45We're on stage. I'm coming.
0:17:48 > 0:17:51- Hello. What's happening? Is Chas on?- Yeah.
0:17:52 > 0:17:55Years ago, I was in a band called The Outlaws
0:17:55 > 0:17:57when I was playing the bass,
0:17:57 > 0:17:59and one of the most fantastic things I ever did
0:17:59 > 0:18:01was go on the road as Jerry Lee Lewis' bass player.
0:18:01 > 0:18:04So this is dedicated to Jerry Lee!
0:18:11 > 0:18:16I'd known Dave all the way through the '60s. Both bass players.
0:18:16 > 0:18:19We just kept in touch cos we had very similar,
0:18:19 > 0:18:23if not identical, tastes in music.
0:18:23 > 0:18:26We both liked the same sort of music. We loved that '50s stuff.
0:18:29 > 0:18:31# If you love me, please don't change
0:18:31 > 0:18:34# If I can hold you, let me sway... #
0:18:34 > 0:18:38Also used to love Chas's mum. She used to play the piano.
0:18:38 > 0:18:39She knew millions of old songs,
0:18:39 > 0:18:42just like the same sort of things that we used to sing at home.
0:18:42 > 0:18:48A sort of identical musical upbringing that we both had.
0:18:48 > 0:18:51# ..Well, I tingle all over and you know why
0:18:51 > 0:18:54# Cos you always love me honey, that's no lie
0:18:54 > 0:18:56# Love it when you call my name
0:18:56 > 0:18:59# You know I burn like a burning flame
0:18:59 > 0:19:01# You need me. #
0:19:01 > 0:19:03DAVE SIGHS
0:19:08 > 0:19:11After Gene Vincent went back to the States, Chas joined
0:19:11 > 0:19:15an influential British soul band, Cliff Bennett and the Rebel Rousers.
0:19:15 > 0:19:17# Yes I am... #
0:19:18 > 0:19:23They were my favourite English band at the time. Fantastic sound.
0:19:24 > 0:19:28I mean, he really knew, in the early days, how to get a good sound.
0:19:28 > 0:19:31# ..Cos I take what I want, yeah-yeah
0:19:31 > 0:19:34# Baby, I want you
0:19:34 > 0:19:36# Nobody but you
0:19:36 > 0:19:38# Ha! Come on, now... #
0:19:38 > 0:19:41We were told that The Beatles were going to do a last tour of Europe
0:19:41 > 0:19:45and they wanted us to support them, which was great.
0:19:45 > 0:19:47And we went over to Germany as their support band.
0:19:47 > 0:19:49# ..I'm getting ready to get you
0:19:49 > 0:19:52# And I'm going to make you my girl... #
0:19:52 > 0:19:56It was a great experience and I was learning all the time, like you do.
0:19:56 > 0:19:59# ..Cos I take what I want
0:19:59 > 0:20:00# Yeah, yeah... #
0:20:00 > 0:20:04Earning good money and great music, so, you know,
0:20:04 > 0:20:06what more could you want out of life?
0:20:06 > 0:20:09# ..Going to pick you up, yeah... #
0:20:09 > 0:20:12In the mid-'60s, if you were an aspiring pop star,
0:20:12 > 0:20:15there was only one place to be.
0:20:15 > 0:20:18London was the talent magnet. You know, the best musicians,
0:20:18 > 0:20:20the best players from all over the British Isles,
0:20:20 > 0:20:22they were all gravitating towards London.
0:20:22 > 0:20:26# ..Baby, I'm a hold of your hand... #
0:20:26 > 0:20:28All the good musicians ended up in London.
0:20:28 > 0:20:32All of the musicians used to gather in the West End.
0:20:32 > 0:20:33There were lots of places
0:20:33 > 0:20:36where we used to gather and play in the clubs.
0:20:36 > 0:20:38# ..I'm ready to get you... #
0:20:38 > 0:20:40If I'd been living where I was born, on the Welsh borders,
0:20:40 > 0:20:43I wonder if I ever would have even picked up a guitar
0:20:43 > 0:20:46or even made it down to London, you know.
0:20:46 > 0:20:51So, I felt very fortunate being in that scene.
0:20:51 > 0:20:53There were an elite of players
0:20:53 > 0:20:55who were clearly just a cut above the rest.
0:20:55 > 0:20:57Albert Lee distinguished himself
0:20:57 > 0:21:01in terms of the sheer expertise that he developed as a guitarist.
0:21:03 > 0:21:07In 1969, Chas joined Albert Lee, one of Britain's greatest guitarists,
0:21:07 > 0:21:13in a pioneering rock and country band, Heads Hands & Feet.
0:21:14 > 0:21:17# Tell me where I start
0:21:17 > 0:21:19# Mind the horse and cart
0:21:21 > 0:21:24# I'm just a country boy
0:21:24 > 0:21:26# Country boy at heart... #
0:21:26 > 0:21:29For Chas to be in Heads Hands & Feet says a lot
0:21:29 > 0:21:32because they were very accomplished musicians, I mean, really.
0:21:36 > 0:21:41Albert's one of the most incredible guitarists that Britain's produced.
0:22:44 > 0:22:46He's a great, great guitar player.
0:22:46 > 0:22:49It's a very advanced form of musicality.
0:22:49 > 0:22:52You've got to really be able to play well, have a really good feel
0:22:52 > 0:22:53and know your stuff.
0:22:53 > 0:22:58I've run into a lot of musicians who say that we were a big influence.
0:22:58 > 0:23:01They say, "I've got your albums. God, they were such great albums
0:23:01 > 0:23:03"and they were ahead of their time,"
0:23:03 > 0:23:05and they were, in a lot of ways, I think.
0:23:05 > 0:23:10That's not, like, kind of, easy money, that. It's hard to do it.
0:23:10 > 0:23:13And so hats off to him for being in there with him.
0:23:13 > 0:23:16MUSIC: "Warming Up The Band" by Heads Hands & Feet
0:23:33 > 0:23:36# Let's dance the moondog tonight... #
0:23:36 > 0:23:41Tony Colton was the driving force, I think, behind it.
0:23:41 > 0:23:45# ..Shake, shake your fine tambourine
0:23:45 > 0:23:48# Oh, Mama, you're part of me... #
0:23:48 > 0:23:52He would do, like, 50 takes sometimes of a vocal,
0:23:52 > 0:23:54and it used to just drive me round the bend.
0:23:56 > 0:23:59If you haven't got it in three takes,
0:23:59 > 0:24:02it's either wrong or you haven't learned it.
0:24:02 > 0:24:04Three takes is all you should ever do of anything.
0:24:04 > 0:24:07# ..I'll take you home happily
0:24:07 > 0:24:11# Oh, Mama, you might have been... #
0:24:11 > 0:24:14Whistle Test, it was a good programme.
0:24:14 > 0:24:17Everybody says, "Ooh, they all played live," but they didn't.
0:24:17 > 0:24:19Did the vocals live.
0:24:19 > 0:24:25- ALL:- # ..Warming up the band. #
0:24:26 > 0:24:30Even Albert's guitar solo ain't live. It was a backing track.
0:24:45 > 0:24:49But months of touring America, singing in an American accent,
0:24:49 > 0:24:54would eventually lead Chas into a radical change of direction.
0:24:58 > 0:24:59Cos I was singing,
0:24:59 > 0:25:01AMERICAN ACCENT: # Dance, dance the moondog tonight
0:25:01 > 0:25:04# Oh, Mama, you're all right. #
0:25:04 > 0:25:08And I remember thinking, "They think I'm American, but I'm English."
0:25:08 > 0:25:13So I started jotting down a few ideas about singing in me own accent
0:25:13 > 0:25:16and becoming meself, really.
0:25:16 > 0:25:20He felt a fraud in the States singing in an American accent,
0:25:20 > 0:25:21so we decided we'd sit down,
0:25:21 > 0:25:24try and write songs in the way that we speak.
0:25:24 > 0:25:26I remember ringing up Dave, and I said,
0:25:26 > 0:25:29"Let's go out for a pint. I've got an idea of writing songs
0:25:29 > 0:25:33"about things that I know about and singing in me own accent."
0:25:33 > 0:25:35And he had a think and we got together
0:25:35 > 0:25:37and that was the start of Chas & Dave.
0:25:39 > 0:25:41If you were trying to find a theme
0:25:41 > 0:25:45which runs through the popular music of London throughout the centuries,
0:25:45 > 0:25:49the common denominator is drink, actually.
0:25:52 > 0:25:55In the mid-1970s, there was an explosion of bands
0:25:55 > 0:25:58playing in pubs in London.
0:25:58 > 0:26:01You'd walk through Kentish Town, Camden Town,
0:26:01 > 0:26:02walk from Chiswick to Putney.
0:26:02 > 0:26:05You would walk anywhere and you would pass four or five pubs
0:26:05 > 0:26:10in a single evening that were putting on pretty decent live music.
0:26:10 > 0:26:13# Roxette, I gotta go away... #
0:26:14 > 0:26:19Dr Feelgood, who were a very, very tough, tight rhythm and blues band.
0:26:19 > 0:26:21And Ian Dury had his band, Kilburn and the High Roads.
0:26:21 > 0:26:25Quite a few bands who would become famous later on
0:26:25 > 0:26:28had their roots in that pub circuit. Eddie and the Hot Rods.
0:26:28 > 0:26:30# Do anything you want to do. #
0:26:32 > 0:26:36Squeeze had origins in that world.
0:26:37 > 0:26:39The pub rock thing, it was great because it just gave,
0:26:39 > 0:26:41it was venues where people could go and play,
0:26:41 > 0:26:44and also it was the beginning of the punk thing and it was the ideal,
0:26:44 > 0:26:45you could just do it yourself.
0:26:45 > 0:26:48If you can't go and play in the swish club,
0:26:48 > 0:26:52you might as well just go and play down the pub where they'll,
0:26:52 > 0:26:55at least they'll give you some beer or something.
0:26:55 > 0:26:59The pub rock circuit was fine for bands just starting out,
0:26:59 > 0:27:02but for established professional musicians,
0:27:02 > 0:27:04it just didn't cut the mustard.
0:27:04 > 0:27:07We did one or two, but they didn't want to pay no money.
0:27:07 > 0:27:08I remember playing one,
0:27:08 > 0:27:11the Open Anchor, I think that was in Islington, and me and Dave did it.
0:27:12 > 0:27:16The pub rock circuit was all right for getting a band known,
0:27:16 > 0:27:19but there was no money in it so we shied away from 'em.
0:27:19 > 0:27:20We found our own.
0:27:20 > 0:27:23We didn't want to play in them rock'n'roll pubs.
0:27:23 > 0:27:26We wanted to find a pub that had a good atmosphere and build it up,
0:27:26 > 0:27:30which we did with the Bird Cage in Bethnal Green and Bishop Bonner.
0:27:30 > 0:27:31And we loved that.
0:27:33 > 0:27:34Here we go.
0:27:35 > 0:27:40# I got home the other night and what did I discover?
0:27:40 > 0:27:44# The law's been around again to see me little brother... #
0:27:44 > 0:27:47We started doing the pub gigs to pay the rent.
0:27:49 > 0:27:51I mean, it was a way of earning money,
0:27:51 > 0:27:53so since I was born, you know,
0:27:53 > 0:27:56"How do you earn money? You go and play the piano
0:27:56 > 0:27:57"and people will give you money."
0:27:57 > 0:28:00And so that is what I did.
0:28:00 > 0:28:01That's what I'm still doing.
0:28:01 > 0:28:04# ..Find a wife and settle down, you say
0:28:04 > 0:28:06# But, brother you know how it is... #
0:28:08 > 0:28:12They came out of London pub music, and I think one of the places
0:28:12 > 0:28:15where you learn how to communicate directly with people is in a pub.
0:28:15 > 0:28:18Working people letting their hair down on a Saturday night,
0:28:18 > 0:28:20and you have to communicate with them,
0:28:20 > 0:28:23and it's rough but it's got humour.
0:28:23 > 0:28:26# ..I had a wash and shave and I went round for Tommy Glover
0:28:26 > 0:28:31# To ask him if he fancied a quick 'un down the Plover
0:28:31 > 0:28:35# He come to the door and said "Me missus might discover
0:28:35 > 0:28:39# "You know how it is, Jack, with one thing and another." #
0:28:40 > 0:28:44Chas and Dave's "rockney" sound owes a lot to music hall
0:28:44 > 0:28:46and the songs they grew up with,
0:28:46 > 0:28:48like Harry Champion's End of Me Old Cigar.
0:28:48 > 0:28:50# Said, "Why ain't ya thrown the end away?"
0:28:50 > 0:28:52# I said, "Not on your life!"
0:28:52 > 0:28:56# It's the end of me old cigar Hoorah, hoorah, hoorah... #
0:28:56 > 0:28:59The art of the music-hall singer, really,
0:28:59 > 0:29:03was to find songs that the public would take to straight away.
0:29:03 > 0:29:07# ..But I tickle the ladies' fancy with the end of me old cigar... #
0:29:07 > 0:29:11And Florrie Forde, she'd say, "If they don't join in the chorus
0:29:11 > 0:29:14"by the third time I get to it, I never use the song again."
0:29:14 > 0:29:18# ..At the end she stands and shows the boys around the public bar
0:29:18 > 0:29:20# Saying, "Look what the doctor's done for me
0:29:20 > 0:29:23# "With the end of his old cigar"... #
0:29:23 > 0:29:25Music-hall performers are happy performers,
0:29:25 > 0:29:28they make you feel happy, give you a smile on your face
0:29:28 > 0:29:30and you usually got a pint of beer to cheer you up as well.
0:29:30 > 0:29:36The thing about the music hall was people lived very, very tough lives
0:29:36 > 0:29:40and then it would all be washed away by these songs.
0:29:40 > 0:29:44# ..I walk down Piccadilly and they think that I'm a star
0:29:44 > 0:29:47# It ain't because I'm handsome Or I'm a lah-di-dah
0:29:47 > 0:29:51# But I tickle the ladies' fancy with the end of me old cigar. #
0:29:56 > 0:30:00Harry Champion was a true music-hall legend.
0:30:01 > 0:30:05We both knew a lot of them old fashioned Harry Champion songs.
0:30:05 > 0:30:06You really want to dance when he's singing.
0:30:06 > 0:30:09Great songs with great lyrics.
0:30:09 > 0:30:12His timing is absolutely fantastic.
0:30:15 > 0:30:17Harry Champion was one of the last
0:30:17 > 0:30:20of the great 19th century Cockney music-hall artists,
0:30:20 > 0:30:22and he sang these very catchy sing-alongs.
0:30:22 > 0:30:25His most famous ones are Any Old Iron,
0:30:25 > 0:30:28which my gran used to say about anything that wasn't worthwhile.
0:30:28 > 0:30:30# Oh, just a couple of weeks ago me poor old Uncle Bill
0:30:30 > 0:30:33# Went and kicked the bucket and he left me in his will... #
0:30:33 > 0:30:36These were popular songs with complicated lyrics
0:30:36 > 0:30:39that needed exceptionally precise delivery.
0:30:39 > 0:30:41# ..Lord, I looked a dandy as it dangled on me chest
0:30:41 > 0:30:43# Just to flash it off a bit Walking round about
0:30:43 > 0:30:46# The kids they all ran after me and they all began to shout
0:30:46 > 0:30:48# Any old iron, any old iron
0:30:48 > 0:30:50# Any, any, any old iron
0:30:50 > 0:30:52# You look neat Talk about a treat... #
0:30:52 > 0:30:56And that's exactly what Chas & Dave have done in their songs.
0:30:56 > 0:30:58Oi, oi! Here we go, here we go!
0:30:58 > 0:31:00# Mother phoned up last night She was going spare
0:31:00 > 0:31:02# She was in a temper pulling out her hair
0:31:02 > 0:31:04# "Sister's courting a scruffy looking Ted"
0:31:04 > 0:31:06# Father don't give a monkeys This is what he said
0:31:06 > 0:31:08# I don't care, I don't care
0:31:08 > 0:31:10# I don't care if he comes round here
0:31:10 > 0:31:12# I've got my beer on the sideboard here
0:31:12 > 0:31:15# Let the mother sort it out if he comes round here... #
0:31:15 > 0:31:19I think one of the things about them is their technical ability
0:31:19 > 0:31:22at singing some of those fast things makes it all sound so easy.
0:31:22 > 0:31:23# ..I don't care, I don't care... #
0:31:23 > 0:31:27Just sounds so light, it sounds like it's thrown away
0:31:27 > 0:31:29and you don't realise how difficult it would be.
0:31:29 > 0:31:31# .."I'll tell you something else He's never got a job
0:31:31 > 0:31:33# "He hangs around the betting shop Lazy little sod"
0:31:33 > 0:31:35# Mother says, "Calm down, he's all right
0:31:35 > 0:31:37# "But they're out there snogging in the passage all night"... #
0:31:37 > 0:31:41Someone said we are deceptively simple, something like that.
0:31:41 > 0:31:43They meant our music.
0:31:43 > 0:31:45It sounds simple, but you try and do it.
0:31:45 > 0:31:49BOTH: # ..Sideboard here, sideboard there On the sideboard over there
0:31:49 > 0:31:51# Cos I got my beer on the sideboard here
0:31:51 > 0:31:54# Let the mother sort it out if he comes round here
0:31:54 > 0:31:56# I don't give, I don't give I don't give a monkeys
0:31:56 > 0:31:58# Well, I don't care let your mother sort him out
0:31:58 > 0:32:00# Cos I don't care if he comes round here... #
0:32:00 > 0:32:04That's Lonnie Donegan and Harry Champion combined, I suppose.
0:32:04 > 0:32:05Tongue-twisting things.
0:32:06 > 0:32:08# ..If he comes round here
0:32:08 > 0:32:10# I got my beer Let the mother sort it out
0:32:10 > 0:32:12# Sideboard here
0:32:12 > 0:32:15# Got my beer, mother sort it out I don't care if he comes round here
0:32:15 > 0:32:18# Mother sort it, mother sort it Mother sort it, mother sort it
0:32:18 > 0:32:21# Mother sort it out! #
0:32:21 > 0:32:23CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
0:32:25 > 0:32:28What a beautiful song! Marvellous stuff.
0:32:28 > 0:32:31ROCK MUSIC PLAYS
0:32:35 > 0:32:40In the summer of 1979, more than 200,000 people
0:32:40 > 0:32:43turned up for one of the largest rock festivals
0:32:43 > 0:32:46that Britain had ever seen.
0:32:48 > 0:32:51Knebworth.
0:32:53 > 0:32:56It was no big deal to me, it was just another gig.
0:32:56 > 0:33:00Number one, I weren't a fan of Led Zeppelin. Number two,
0:33:00 > 0:33:06I toured America not long before, so a big festival was nothing new to me.
0:33:06 > 0:33:08Just too many people to be scared of.
0:33:08 > 0:33:11You walked out on that stage, it was...
0:33:11 > 0:33:12I don't know how many there were.
0:33:12 > 0:33:17Someone said there was 200,000, but it was packed anyway.
0:33:17 > 0:33:20We weren't nervous, but our manager said,
0:33:20 > 0:33:22"You played the whole set in 15 seconds."
0:33:22 > 0:33:24Maybe there might have been a bit of adrenaline going about.
0:33:27 > 0:33:29But the gig for us, I think, was good.
0:33:29 > 0:33:31I think we enjoyed it, looking back on it.
0:33:31 > 0:33:35# Now I'm going back a few years... #
0:33:35 > 0:33:37Chas and Dave had finally arrived
0:33:37 > 0:33:40and caught the attention of the nation.
0:33:40 > 0:33:44But it was in no small part thanks to a celebrated beer advert.
0:33:45 > 0:33:49# ..Gertcha! Funny glasses with a little piece of ice
0:33:49 > 0:33:52# Gertcha! Anything that comes with lemon in a slice
0:33:52 > 0:33:55# Gertcha! Fancy cocktails that are shaken and not stirred
0:33:55 > 0:33:59# Gertcha! Drinks with cherries in that make you look absurd
0:33:59 > 0:34:02# Gertcha! With your finger cocked to leave your friends impressed
0:34:02 > 0:34:05# Gertcha! Anything that ain't a pint of Courage Best
0:34:05 > 0:34:09# Gertcha! Mine's a pint of Best
0:34:09 > 0:34:10# Gertcha... #
0:34:10 > 0:34:13I couldn't believe it when I saw this commercial for the first time
0:34:13 > 0:34:17because it was a phrase that my gran used all the time on me,
0:34:17 > 0:34:20"Gertcha," whenever I was taking liberties. She brought me up.
0:34:20 > 0:34:23And when I was taking liberties, "Gertcha!"
0:34:23 > 0:34:27It's an old-fashioned saying that my granddad used to say,
0:34:27 > 0:34:28my nan used to say.
0:34:28 > 0:34:31- "Gertcha!" - Dave's dad used to say it.
0:34:31 > 0:34:33But I swear that Chas and Dave
0:34:33 > 0:34:35were getting spirit messages from my gran.
0:34:35 > 0:34:37# ..Gertcha! #
0:34:37 > 0:34:38I think they did a competition
0:34:38 > 0:34:41where pubs could win Chas & Dave for the night.
0:34:42 > 0:34:46People were desperate to get Chas & Dave in.
0:34:46 > 0:34:48And the Orsett Cock on the A13 in Essex
0:34:48 > 0:34:52won Chas & Dave for the night, and I remember it was just
0:34:52 > 0:34:55the talk of Thurrock that Chas & Dave were coming to town
0:34:55 > 0:34:58and they were doing the Orsett Cock, which has got -
0:34:58 > 0:35:00the function room of the Orsett Cock,
0:35:00 > 0:35:02you couldn't get 40 people in it!
0:35:02 > 0:35:05I think they had about 400!
0:35:05 > 0:35:08And it was so popular, the whole country was going, "Gertcha!"
0:35:08 > 0:35:11You couldn't walk down the street, people shouting at you,
0:35:11 > 0:35:13"Gertcha, cowson!" and all that.
0:35:13 > 0:35:15But, yeah, Gertcha was the first Top 20 hit.
0:35:15 > 0:35:17Couple of blokes walked into the BBC today.
0:35:17 > 0:35:20They walked up to the boss, and said, "'Excuse me, guv.
0:35:20 > 0:35:22"Can we play our record on Top of the Pops?"
0:35:22 > 0:35:25And in his winning, smiling way, he turned to them, he said, "Gertcha!"
0:35:25 > 0:35:28That's right and all!
0:35:28 > 0:35:31# Now there's a word that I don't understand
0:35:31 > 0:35:35# I hear it every day from my old man
0:35:35 > 0:35:40# It may be Cockney rhyming slang And it ain't in no schoolbook... #
0:35:40 > 0:35:43It's a great thing to be on Top of the Pops,
0:35:43 > 0:35:45because you were sure to send your record
0:35:45 > 0:35:48up another few places next week.
0:35:50 > 0:35:54But the show's producer didn't like one of the words in the song.
0:35:55 > 0:35:58He said, "I want you to cut out the word 'cowson'."
0:35:58 > 0:36:01And we said, "Well, why? It's part of the song."
0:36:01 > 0:36:03He said, "Well, I've just been informed."
0:36:03 > 0:36:04He said, "My mother's just called me,
0:36:04 > 0:36:10"and she's informed me that it's an old-fashioned Victorian swear word."
0:36:10 > 0:36:14Don't sound that bad to me even now, with a cow and a son. What's...?
0:36:15 > 0:36:18I don't know. People get the hump over funny things.
0:36:20 > 0:36:24I think Chas did it though. I think he couldn't stop himself.
0:36:24 > 0:36:26# ..Gertcha, cowson!
0:36:26 > 0:36:27# Gertcha!
0:36:27 > 0:36:31# Gertcha! When the kids are swinging on the gate
0:36:31 > 0:36:34# Gertcha! When the paperboy's half an hour late
0:36:34 > 0:36:38# Gertcha! When the pigeons are pecking at his seeds
0:36:38 > 0:36:41# Gertcha! When the barker starts digging up his beans
0:36:41 > 0:36:44# Gertcha! Gertcha!
0:36:44 > 0:36:49# Bar stool preaching It's always been the same... #
0:36:49 > 0:36:51I was proud of the record.
0:36:51 > 0:36:55I was proud of the way I sang it, proud of the playing in it.
0:36:55 > 0:37:00All three of us played great in it. It's a record to be proud of.
0:37:00 > 0:37:04It wasn't long before Chas & Dave were all over British television.
0:37:04 > 0:37:06Chas & Dave!
0:37:06 > 0:37:07Chas & Dave!
0:37:07 > 0:37:09- Chas & Dave.- Chas & Dave!
0:37:09 > 0:37:10Chas & Dave!
0:37:10 > 0:37:11Chas & Dave.
0:37:11 > 0:37:13- Chas & Dave.- Chas & Dave.
0:37:13 > 0:37:16It's the fabulous Chas & Dave!
0:37:16 > 0:37:18- Chas & Dave.- Chas & Dave. - Chas & Dave.
0:37:23 > 0:37:25There was the day and I've got it on a calendar,
0:37:25 > 0:37:29we were actually on TV about seven times in that day.
0:37:29 > 0:37:31I call it Chas & Dave Day.
0:37:31 > 0:37:35# Gertcha! When the rock'n'roll records wake him up... #
0:37:35 > 0:37:39We did do a lot of telly. Our manager didn't turn anything down.
0:37:39 > 0:37:42We were tired boys, we used to work, work, work.
0:37:42 > 0:37:46It got to a point where our manager was taking on everything.
0:37:46 > 0:37:50There was no, sort of, "This is a better show than that,"
0:37:50 > 0:37:52or "This is more credible than that."
0:37:52 > 0:37:53If it earned money, get on it.
0:37:57 > 0:38:02- Do you remember doing Breakfast Time?- Yeah, I detested it.
0:38:02 > 0:38:04Yeah, I did it a couple of times.
0:38:04 > 0:38:07That's one, that breakfast telly, even the sound of that,
0:38:07 > 0:38:11that really is a horrible sound to me -breakfast telly.
0:38:11 > 0:38:13Coming up in the next 15 minutes on Breakfast Time,
0:38:13 > 0:38:16plenty of more Rabbit from Charles & Dave,
0:38:16 > 0:38:18the kings of Cockney Rock.
0:38:22 > 0:38:23I'm surprised I can remember it.
0:38:23 > 0:38:26I remember looking at her legs, that's all I can remember.
0:38:26 > 0:38:29She was a very nice lady but, no, didn't like it.
0:38:29 > 0:38:32Sitting besides me are our guests of the day, Chas & Dave.
0:38:32 > 0:38:34They've finished a successful tour of the country.
0:38:34 > 0:38:37Perhaps the most unlikeliest of pop stars.
0:38:37 > 0:38:40Your accents are real and the way you dress is real.
0:38:40 > 0:38:43A lot of people expected it to be a put-on, a showbiz put-on.
0:38:43 > 0:38:46- What, the way we talk, you mean? - And the way you dress.
0:38:46 > 0:38:49I mean the bovver boots. Show us your bovver boots.
0:38:49 > 0:38:51They ain't bovver boots. These are dealer's boots.
0:38:51 > 0:38:54- He's got Dr Martens on, he has. - Practical, really.
0:38:54 > 0:38:57I must ask you about your braces. Why d'you do that?
0:38:57 > 0:39:00- Hold the trousers up. - Holds the trousers up!
0:39:00 > 0:39:01LAUGHTER
0:39:01 > 0:39:03Why d'you do that?!
0:39:03 > 0:39:05Do you hold your trousers up with braces
0:39:05 > 0:39:08when you're not appearing on TV, I mean in ordinary life?
0:39:08 > 0:39:10- Of course we do. - You dress like that ordinarily?
0:39:10 > 0:39:13What's that? Everyone wears a pair of trousers, don't they?
0:39:13 > 0:39:15Does anybody outside London understand you?
0:39:15 > 0:39:19- Everybody understands us.- They ought to have subtitles underneath you.
0:39:19 > 0:39:21It's daft, we've been to America, we've been...
0:39:21 > 0:39:24Everywhere seems to understand us. Why shouldn't we?
0:39:24 > 0:39:26Billy Connolly comes down here and he goes down a storm.
0:39:26 > 0:39:29Why shouldn't we go down good in Scotland? It's no different.
0:39:33 > 0:39:38By December 1982, they hit the peak of their popularity,
0:39:38 > 0:39:42appearing in prime time on both the BBC's and ITV's
0:39:42 > 0:39:45biggest Christmas night shows.
0:39:45 > 0:39:48Right, we're going to bring on an old mate of ours
0:39:48 > 0:39:50to sort of sing and play guitar.
0:39:50 > 0:39:52Nice hand for Eric Clapton!
0:39:52 > 0:39:55CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
0:39:56 > 0:39:59That was a good show.
0:39:59 > 0:40:01Cos Eric hadn't been on the telly for eight years,
0:40:01 > 0:40:03no-one could get him on the telly.
0:40:03 > 0:40:05He didn't want to know, but he come out for us.
0:40:05 > 0:40:07# Well if you're looking for a winner
0:40:07 > 0:40:10# You know you've got to go with me
0:40:12 > 0:40:16# I've got more ashes than Wednesday and you know I can brew my tea... #
0:40:16 > 0:40:19And it was good having Albert there as well.
0:40:19 > 0:40:22That was...a good show.
0:40:22 > 0:40:25# ..I'll take you with me, baby everywhere I go
0:40:25 > 0:40:32# If I can catch you for a minute I know you'll take a chance with me
0:40:32 > 0:40:35- ALBERT LEE:- I remember it very well, yeah.
0:40:35 > 0:40:37It was a lot of fun. My dad was there in the audience.
0:40:37 > 0:40:40And Chas's mum was there as well, you know.
0:40:40 > 0:40:42And the thing I remember about that pub,
0:40:42 > 0:40:45it was a great atmosphere with everybody have a big knees-up.
0:40:45 > 0:40:47# ..Slow down
0:40:47 > 0:40:49# Slow down, Linda... #
0:40:49 > 0:40:54They built the bar in the actual LWT studios.
0:40:54 > 0:40:57It was real booze, yeah.
0:40:59 > 0:41:01But they'd built it so true to life.
0:41:01 > 0:41:04They'd built like a toilet door, "Gentlemen",
0:41:04 > 0:41:07but behind the toilet door there was no gentlemen's there,
0:41:07 > 0:41:10it was like all props and bits of wood, you know what I mean,
0:41:10 > 0:41:11where they'd stored stuff.
0:41:11 > 0:41:14But people are going, "Where's the toilet?" After a couple of pints,
0:41:14 > 0:41:17gone round there and gone, "Oh, fuck it."
0:41:17 > 0:41:18LAUGHS
0:41:18 > 0:41:19# ..Slow down
0:41:21 > 0:41:22# Slow down, Linda
0:41:22 > 0:41:24# Slow down , Linda
0:41:24 > 0:41:29# Don't you know that I've been waiting for your company? #
0:41:31 > 0:41:32CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
0:41:32 > 0:41:34Yeah, it was great.
0:41:34 > 0:41:37Hard work but it was good. Yeah, good fun.
0:41:37 > 0:41:39CHEERING AND APPLAUSE Thank you!
0:41:41 > 0:41:45Meanwhile, at the same time on the other side.
0:41:47 > 0:41:49APPLAUSE
0:41:49 > 0:41:52# Christmas comes but once a year
0:41:52 > 0:41:56- # It's just as well - A time for all to have good cheer
0:41:56 > 0:41:58- # It's that as well - Cheers!
0:41:58 > 0:42:00# Christmas comes but once a year
0:42:00 > 0:42:05# A belly full of beer Relatives come from far and near
0:42:05 > 0:42:06# Well, you can't have everything can you?
0:42:06 > 0:42:09- ALL:- # Wouldn't be without it Wouldn't be without it
0:42:09 > 0:42:11# Ain't no doubt about it Wouldn't be without it
0:42:11 > 0:42:14# Wouldn't be without our Christmas cheer
0:42:14 > 0:42:21# Especially around this time of year! #
0:42:21 > 0:42:23CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
0:42:23 > 0:42:28That's quite a compliment. I remember when they were showing it,
0:42:28 > 0:42:31Ronnie Barker came and sat right next to me to see what I thought.
0:42:31 > 0:42:33But me and Dave thought it was hilarious.
0:42:33 > 0:42:37That was great. It was a great accolade.
0:42:37 > 0:42:39# Snooker loopy nuts are we... #
0:42:39 > 0:42:43Chas & Dave, with long time drummer Mick Burt,
0:42:43 > 0:42:47enjoyed a string of Top 20 hits in the '80s.
0:42:47 > 0:42:50# Ossie's going to Wembley his knees have gone all trembly... #
0:42:50 > 0:42:53But there was much more to them than the comic songs suggested
0:42:53 > 0:42:58and always real skill behind their performances.
0:43:00 > 0:43:03# Some people think about Deutsche girls
0:43:03 > 0:43:05# And the girls from California... #
0:43:05 > 0:43:07As artists, I think they're very important,
0:43:07 > 0:43:10because they are uniquely London sounding.
0:43:10 > 0:43:13They also have invented entirely their own sound.
0:43:13 > 0:43:16Their vocal harmonies
0:43:16 > 0:43:18when they sing together
0:43:18 > 0:43:20are completely unique.
0:43:20 > 0:43:25# ..Give me a London girl every time
0:43:25 > 0:43:31# I've gotta find one I've made up my mind... #
0:43:31 > 0:43:34- PAUL DU NOYER:- It's their own sound. Chas & Dave are originals. Nobody else sounds like them.
0:43:34 > 0:43:36They're really amazing.
0:43:36 > 0:43:38# ..I want a London girl... #
0:43:40 > 0:43:43Chas & Dave are totally identified with London
0:43:43 > 0:43:47- in a way that almost nobody else is. - # ..You know you can trust 'em
0:43:47 > 0:43:51# They'll darn your socks wash and mend your trousers
0:43:51 > 0:43:52# When you bust 'em... #
0:43:52 > 0:43:54It's often very comical,
0:43:54 > 0:43:56but it's got a great deal of integrity.
0:43:56 > 0:43:58It's genuinely part of the folk culture
0:43:58 > 0:44:01of one of the great cities of the world.
0:44:01 > 0:44:04And it's part of the working-class culture of this city.
0:44:04 > 0:44:06There's nothing fake about it.
0:44:06 > 0:44:08It's good entertainment.
0:44:08 > 0:44:12# ..I've gotta find one I've made up my mind
0:44:12 > 0:44:17# Give me a London girl every time
0:44:17 > 0:44:22# I wanna London girl
0:44:22 > 0:44:25# Oh, baby! Give me a London...
0:44:25 > 0:44:27- ALL:- # Girl every time - Oh, yeah... #
0:44:27 > 0:44:29- PHILL JUPITUS:- They slot
0:44:29 > 0:44:31so sort of perfectly into that London tradition of music.
0:44:31 > 0:44:36There's music hall, there's the terraces of White Hart Lane,
0:44:36 > 0:44:40there's the pubs of North London, there's everything.
0:44:40 > 0:44:42It's London in microcosm in their songs.
0:44:42 > 0:44:46# ..Give me a London girl every time
0:44:46 > 0:44:52# I've gotta find one I've made up my mind
0:44:52 > 0:44:56# Give me a London girl every time
0:44:56 > 0:45:01# I want a London girl! #
0:45:01 > 0:45:02- Yeah!- Oi-oi!
0:45:09 > 0:45:11CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
0:45:12 > 0:45:13Yeah! Good singing!
0:45:13 > 0:45:15CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
0:45:20 > 0:45:23Chas & Dave have always been a touring band.
0:45:23 > 0:45:25Lovely old job.
0:45:25 > 0:45:27Good health!
0:45:27 > 0:45:29I'm still around.
0:45:29 > 0:45:32And the '90s saw them on gruelling tours
0:45:32 > 0:45:35in Britain, Australia and the United States.
0:45:35 > 0:45:38There's not another bass in England that's done as many gigs as this.
0:45:38 > 0:45:41- How many?- Gospel truth. Eh?
0:45:41 > 0:45:42No-one's worked like Chas & Dave.
0:45:42 > 0:45:45No-one's worked like we have, since 1972.
0:45:45 > 0:45:48- Look at that. Look. - See. Yeah, but...
0:45:48 > 0:45:50How many gigs has that done?
0:45:50 > 0:45:53I'd like to count 'em up. It'd be impossible to count 'em up.
0:45:53 > 0:45:57If anyone says they have got a bass done more gigs than this,
0:45:57 > 0:45:59they want beating with a knobbly stick
0:45:59 > 0:46:01and a 45 minute underwater inspection
0:46:01 > 0:46:03with a gas stove round their neck.
0:46:03 > 0:46:04It's as simple as that.
0:46:04 > 0:46:07BANJO MUSIC
0:46:16 > 0:46:18Dave's grandparents were travellers
0:46:18 > 0:46:24and he's spent a lot of time maintaining the old traditions.
0:46:24 > 0:46:26My granddad, he was born in a tent
0:46:26 > 0:46:29and all his brothers and sisters, as well.
0:46:29 > 0:46:34I've always had a fascination for this kind of thing.
0:46:34 > 0:46:36Always done it really, mucked around with horse-drawn stuff.
0:46:36 > 0:46:43It's mostly gypsy wagons and, like, horse-drawn carts.
0:46:45 > 0:46:46I've done a lot of work on it,
0:46:46 > 0:46:48I've made all new furniture inside.
0:46:48 > 0:46:50And I carved it all and I've painted it.
0:46:50 > 0:46:52It was down to the bare wood. I made the steps.
0:46:52 > 0:46:55It's a load of work. I used to go away on a tour,
0:46:55 > 0:46:58come back and get straight in here and get straight on it.
0:46:58 > 0:47:00There's nowhere around here,
0:47:00 > 0:47:04there's nobody about that does this sort of thing round this way.
0:47:04 > 0:47:06So they always come to me.
0:47:09 > 0:47:10Right, that's that one.
0:47:13 > 0:47:17It's like a spiritual thing to me. I loved it even when I was a kid.
0:47:17 > 0:47:20I started I when I was about 15 and I learnt it ever so quick.
0:47:20 > 0:47:24You only learn things that you like to do, don't ya?
0:47:24 > 0:47:26If you don't like it, you'll never learn it.
0:47:26 > 0:47:31My missus, she learnt to read music and she had piano lessons.
0:47:31 > 0:47:33She said, "I'll never be any good." I said, "You will,
0:47:33 > 0:47:37"but it doesn't matter if you don't, as long as you have fun trying."
0:47:37 > 0:47:41And that's what music should be, have fun doing it.
0:47:41 > 0:47:43Now, a lot of people say to me...
0:47:44 > 0:47:46As the '90s went on,
0:47:46 > 0:47:50the touring duo all but disappeared from our screens,
0:47:50 > 0:47:54but in 2003 they re-emerged into the limelight
0:47:54 > 0:47:57on Jools Holland's Hootenanny.
0:47:57 > 0:47:59Please welcome, Chas & Dave!
0:47:59 > 0:48:00CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
0:48:01 > 0:48:03- Oh, yeah!- It marked the start
0:48:03 > 0:48:06of a renewed interest in their work
0:48:06 > 0:48:09from a younger, more fashionable audience.
0:48:09 > 0:48:11It started with Jools Holland
0:48:11 > 0:48:15having us on his New Year's Hootenanny.
0:48:18 > 0:48:21It was a great show to do. And Jools is a great bloke anyway.
0:48:21 > 0:48:23He likes all kinds of stuff.
0:48:23 > 0:48:25# Well, I've built my life around you... #
0:48:25 > 0:48:28He's always been a fan of ours
0:48:28 > 0:48:31and I love him, Jools Holland.
0:48:31 > 0:48:33He got us on his show, and it was like,
0:48:33 > 0:48:35"If they're on his show they must be good."
0:48:35 > 0:48:38And everybody who was on it absolutely loved us.
0:48:38 > 0:48:41London's very own, Chas & Dave!
0:48:41 > 0:48:43CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
0:48:43 > 0:48:45They are talented musicians.
0:48:45 > 0:48:48And when he interviewed all the people,
0:48:48 > 0:48:50they all said they really loved us.
0:48:50 > 0:48:51I think it sort of gave them...
0:48:51 > 0:48:54"They're acceptable Chas & Dave. We can say it."
0:48:54 > 0:48:56I want to say how much I really love Chas & Dave.
0:48:56 > 0:48:58So do I, that's why they're here.
0:48:58 > 0:49:02- Does that make you madly jealous? - Yeah.- Will you become furious? - I am furious now. Can you see?
0:49:02 > 0:49:04- Yes, I can see. - It's in my eyes mainly.
0:49:04 > 0:49:08I'm very frightened, I'm going to move back here.
0:49:08 > 0:49:10To see Chas & Dave again! Marvellous stuff!
0:49:10 > 0:49:13- They invented all that music. - They did indeed.
0:49:13 > 0:49:16And it's great they're representing London music cos they're for real.
0:49:16 > 0:49:18Are you familiar with them at all?
0:49:18 > 0:49:19Absolutely. Worship them.
0:49:19 > 0:49:21What a corking song that was.
0:49:21 > 0:49:25It changed a lot of people's way of thinking about us.
0:49:25 > 0:49:30Suddenly, we were respected, rather than a couple of novelty songs.
0:49:30 > 0:49:31We did enjoy that.
0:49:31 > 0:49:35'It just goes to show that different people like what we do.'
0:49:35 > 0:49:37That's nice, innit?
0:49:46 > 0:49:50Back in the mid-'70s, the pair played as session musicians on a Labi Siffre album.
0:49:50 > 0:49:55In the '90s their playing was picked up and sampled
0:49:55 > 0:49:59by a whole new generation of influential musicians.
0:49:59 > 0:50:03I remembered doing it because my bass part's on that Eminem thing.
0:50:03 > 0:50:09Jim Sullivan sung that to me, I think. Bom-bom, whatever it was, and I just done that.
0:50:14 > 0:50:20And that is the bit that got sampled by Eminem on his first record, I found out after.
0:50:20 > 0:50:22My Name Is, I think, innit?
0:50:22 > 0:50:26And it was a big hit for him. But he got it from there.
0:50:26 > 0:50:28- # Hi! My name is... - What?!
0:50:28 > 0:50:29- # My name is... - What?!
0:50:29 > 0:50:32# My name is... Slim Shady
0:50:32 > 0:50:33- # Hi! My name is... - What?!
0:50:33 > 0:50:35- # Hi! My name is... - What?!
0:50:35 > 0:50:37# My name is... Slim Shady. #
0:50:37 > 0:50:40But it's all over the shop now, I've been told,
0:50:40 > 0:50:43not just the Eminem thing, on other things as well.
0:50:51 > 0:50:59Another endorsement of their unsung cool came from Libertines front man and boyhood fan, Pete Doherty.
0:50:59 > 0:51:03I think when Pete Doherty expressed a bit of liking for Chas & Dave,
0:51:03 > 0:51:06I think his punters started to listen to us as well.
0:51:06 > 0:51:08So we captured a few of 'em that way.
0:51:08 > 0:51:14There's no two ways about it, he was a good PR man for us.
0:51:14 > 0:51:17We went and supported them at Brixton Academy
0:51:17 > 0:51:21and their manager come over and he went, "They're so in awe of you two."
0:51:21 > 0:51:25You know, "That's great!"
0:51:25 > 0:51:27Pete was sort of quite out of it.
0:51:27 > 0:51:31He came on and did a couple of songs and fell all over the stage,
0:51:31 > 0:51:35but....he's been to see us since and he's behaved hisself.
0:51:35 > 0:51:38So, I ain't heard, but no news is good news.
0:51:38 > 0:51:41I remember when they supported The Libertines.
0:51:41 > 0:51:47I don't think a lot of people were really into Chas 'n' Dave, you know.
0:51:47 > 0:51:50But they had the crowd right over.
0:51:50 > 0:51:54Everyone loved it and was into it. It was fucking good music.
0:51:54 > 0:52:01It's rich that tradition and that richness is in them, it courses through them.
0:52:01 > 0:52:06It's a genuine thing and they get up on stage and they do... It's just them.
0:52:06 > 0:52:10The melodies, the words, it's perfect.
0:52:10 > 0:52:12Just like The Clash, just like The Smiths,
0:52:12 > 0:52:15just like Keats.
0:52:15 > 0:52:17Their music meant so much to me.
0:52:17 > 0:52:22Everything I thought about London and my family history, they were tuned into.
0:52:22 > 0:52:26Even little lines about... you know...
0:52:26 > 0:52:29# If it wasn't for the houses in-between. #
0:52:29 > 0:52:33It just makes me think of my nan and my dad.
0:52:36 > 0:52:38Right, OK, a second set.
0:52:38 > 0:52:40Not right now.
0:52:40 > 0:52:42- Oh, yeah.- Five minutes.
0:52:42 > 0:52:44It's an emotional moment.
0:52:44 > 0:52:48- Right, OK.- This is a character. This isn't what he's really like.
0:52:48 > 0:52:52Shit! You going to be upset?
0:52:52 > 0:52:53I don't know.
0:52:53 > 0:52:55I'm talking about Chas & Dave.
0:52:55 > 0:52:57SIREN WAILS
0:52:57 > 0:53:00- Are they still alive? - Oh, fuck off, man!
0:53:00 > 0:53:03Listen, I wasn't...
0:53:14 > 0:53:16That's all from Newsnight tonight. Do come back tomorrow.
0:53:16 > 0:53:19We'll end tonight's rabbiting with Chas & Dave.
0:53:19 > 0:53:24With classics like The Sideboard Song, they've been a feature of British pop music since the 1970s,
0:53:24 > 0:53:26but today they announced they're splitting up.
0:53:26 > 0:53:30Dave Peacock has decided to quit following the death of his wife.
0:53:30 > 0:53:31Good night.
0:53:31 > 0:53:35# Where am I gonna find ya when I need ya?
0:53:35 > 0:53:39# Can't you tell me where you're going to?
0:53:39 > 0:53:42# Darling, don't you know I'm gonna miss ya
0:53:42 > 0:53:46# All I've ever cared about is you... #
0:53:46 > 0:53:48After years of touring,
0:53:48 > 0:53:52Chas & Dave have finally called it a day.
0:53:52 > 0:53:54Chas will continue with his own band,
0:53:54 > 0:53:58but Dave has had enough of life on the road.
0:53:58 > 0:54:01# ..To say goodbye. #
0:54:01 > 0:54:04My dear mate, he loves his music and he loves playing,
0:54:04 > 0:54:07but he don't like being on the road.
0:54:07 > 0:54:10I didn't really want to go up and down the motorway no more.
0:54:10 > 0:54:13I said, "It's entirely up to you. Whatever you want to do."
0:54:13 > 0:54:16But, no, there won't be another tour.
0:54:18 > 0:54:21It's been great. I've seen the world.
0:54:21 > 0:54:25I've seen the world. Took me wife round with me to lots of interesting places.
0:54:25 > 0:54:27Luckily, she saw some great places.
0:54:29 > 0:54:30Have you had fun?
0:54:30 > 0:54:32Yeah, loved it.
0:54:32 > 0:54:34Loved it. Yeah, great.
0:54:36 > 0:54:41The legacy and the body of work is so...wonderful,
0:54:41 > 0:54:44it'd be a great shame if they didn't come back.
0:54:44 > 0:54:49I get the feeling... they will, in some from, in some way.
0:54:49 > 0:54:52I'll be honest, I wanted to book 'em for my fiftieth.
0:54:52 > 0:54:55So if they have quit, I'm gutted.
0:55:02 > 0:55:05I think the question you ask any great musicians is,
0:55:05 > 0:55:08"Can you make people dance? Can you make people cry with your music?"
0:55:08 > 0:55:10And Chas & Dave could really do those things.
0:55:10 > 0:55:13No Pleasing You is a great song.
0:55:13 > 0:55:16If I can sum up what I was aiming for,
0:55:16 > 0:55:18I achieved it on Ain't No Pleasing You.
0:55:18 > 0:55:20CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
0:55:20 > 0:55:23A serious song sung in me own accent.
0:55:23 > 0:55:28A Cockney song being taken seriously.
0:55:28 > 0:55:33# Well, I built my life around you Did what I thought was right
0:55:33 > 0:55:38# But you never cared about me Now I've seen the light
0:55:38 > 0:55:40# Oh, darling
0:55:42 > 0:55:45# There ain't no pleasing you... #
0:55:45 > 0:55:51To me by a country mile their best song is Ain't No Pleasing You.
0:55:51 > 0:55:55It's the best expression of a man's inability to express himself.
0:55:55 > 0:55:59That just pours out of that song.
0:55:59 > 0:56:02And that song breaks your heart every time you hear it.
0:56:02 > 0:56:05# ..There ain't no pleasing you
0:56:09 > 0:56:12# You only had to say the word
0:56:12 > 0:56:17# You knew I'd do it... #
0:56:17 > 0:56:20"I can't say it to you, love, so I'll play it."
0:56:20 > 0:56:22Break your heart.
0:56:24 > 0:56:29# ..But you went and blew it
0:56:29 > 0:56:34# Everything...I ever done
0:56:34 > 0:56:40# Was only done for you
0:56:40 > 0:56:45- ALL:- # But now you can go and do
0:56:45 > 0:56:49# Just what you wanna do
0:56:49 > 0:56:51# I'm telling you
0:56:51 > 0:56:56# Cos I ain't gonna be made to look a fool no more... #
0:56:56 > 0:56:58It's great when you play and look at people's faces
0:56:58 > 0:57:03and they know the words to the song and they're singing away. It is a good buzz.
0:57:03 > 0:57:06# ..Oh, darling
0:57:06 > 0:57:10# There ain't no pleasing you... #
0:57:10 > 0:57:15I love people's appreciation. It means a lot to me.
0:57:15 > 0:57:17# ..And if you think I don't mean what I say
0:57:17 > 0:57:20# And I'm only bluffing
0:57:20 > 0:57:25# You got another thing coming I'm telling you that for nothing... #
0:57:25 > 0:57:28I used to say to Chas, "Imagine walking in a pub
0:57:28 > 0:57:31"and hearing this noise that the three of us was making."
0:57:31 > 0:57:35I know as a punter I'd go, "Cor! That sounds good."
0:57:35 > 0:57:39# ..Ooooh, Yeah! #
0:57:39 > 0:57:42Shout out!
0:57:42 > 0:57:45If anybody don't like Chas & Dave,
0:57:45 > 0:57:50I think there's got to be something defective in you or something ain't right.
0:57:50 > 0:57:53You ought to go and get yourself looked at.
0:57:53 > 0:57:56If you ain't a Chas & Dave fan there's something wrong with ya.
0:57:59 > 0:58:01CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
0:58:01 > 0:58:02I'll be around.
0:58:04 > 0:58:06CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
0:58:09 > 0:58:11You've been great. Thank you.
0:58:11 > 0:58:13CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
0:58:13 > 0:58:16Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd