Chas & Dave: Last Orders

This programme contains some strong language

They've toured with the Beatles,

opened for Led Zeppelin

and been sampled by the world's leading hip-hop artists.

In a career spanning more than 50 years,

pretty much the entire history of British pop,

they've survived by ignoring passing fashions

and doggedly forging a path true to their roots.

This is the story of Charles Nicholas Hodges

and David Victor Peacock,

though you may know them by another name.

Ladies and gentleman, oh, yes, here we go!

The greatest band ever to set foot in London town.

Please welcome, the legends that are

Chas & Dave!

APPLAUSE

2, 3, 4.

# Rabbit, rabbit, rabbit, rabbit

# Rabbit, rabbit, rabbit, rabbit

# You got a beautiful chin

# You got beautiful skin

# You got a beautiful smile

# You got style... #

They're very musical, very talented and in my view, great artists.

They're both amazing musicians. I mean, really amazing musicians.

They can play the pants off a lot of people.

# ..Cos you won't stop talking

# Why don't you give it a rest?

# You got more rabbit than Sainsbury's... #

I'd probably rather see Chas & Dave

play the songs they've written that I love as much as I'd see anyone.

# ..I knew right off when I first set my eyes on you

# But how was I to know you fed my earholes too?

# With your incessant talking

# You're becoming a pest

# Rabbit, rabbit, rabbit, rabbit rabbit, rabbit, rabbit, rabbit

# Rabbit, rabbit, rabbit, rabbit rabbit, rabbit

# Now you've got lovely eyes... #

There's a bounce and a joy to it

and that's what people love about them.

There's a celebration of life in their music

that all of the best music has.

They have no idea how much people love them.

# ..Lovely lips

# Oh, lovely hips

# Now I don't mind having a chat

# But you have to keep giving it that

# No, you won't stop talking

# Why don't you give it a rest... #

Chas & Dave had a string of hits in the '80s and '90s

that remain popular to this day.

They've kept alive a rich and vibrant tradition of London music,

steeped in pubs, clubs and music halls.

As they finally call it a day with one last tour,

it's time to tell the real story of two musical mavericks

who've earned a truly special place in the nation's hearts.

# ..Yap, yap, yap, yap, bunny, bunny

# Jabber, jabber, bunny, jabber

# Rabbit! #

There is, um,

a need for honesty and a need for good honest music

and that's what we provide and that's what we do.

We've never tried to commercialise ourselves in any special way,

any gimmicks or anything. Just like to play.

That'll do, won't it?

Don't mind that, a bit of George Formby.

And that's that.

Despite the popular image, Chas and Dave are not actually Cockneys.

They both grew up

in the working-class suburbs of North London.

My earliest memories are of Kent.

I just about remember going down there

and it had really nice but also sad memories

because my dad, he committed suicide

while we were down there, just the day before I was three.

Nobody knows why and we came back to Edmonton.

Into 11 Harton Road with my nan

and my granddad and my great-grandfather.

My mum playing the piano was important in loads of ways.

I knew that she loved playing the piano.

She would go out and she'd play all the pubs and the clubs

in and around Edmonton, Tottenham.

Everybody knew her. She was a great entertainer, great piano player.

I knew if my mum was doing a gig, especially on the weekend,

she would come home and she would be happy

and I knew why she would be happy, because she'd got some money

and tomorrow she'd go and put some food on the table.

It was just a lovely thing all round, that's what music means to me,

is happiness and getting fed.

I was born in

an infamous place called Spike Island.

You won't find it on any maps but that's what it was called

and it was just fantastic.

All the doors would be open and there'd be singing outside

and it was just great.

My Uncle Bill, he started me off.

He used to play the banjo and the ukulele.

They had a band and used to go out doing gigs

and he used to play in the pub at the corner of my road

which is still there, the Granville.

When I was a kid outside, I could hear him strumming this banjo.

I just thought I'd died and gone to heaven.

# Well, when I was just a nipper

# About the age of seven

# My old father

# He brings me home a present

# He gets it out the box

# And he says to me, "Here you are"

# Mother said, "What's that, a banjo?"

# He said, "No, it's a guitar"... #

-So is Strummin', the song, is that accurate?

-It is accurate.

There was a time when I'd be playing he'd say, "Don't keep doing that.

"Can't you take it in the other room?"

I know Chas had that with his older brother, Dave.

He used to say, "You keep strumming that, you're driving me barmy."

Chas went through the same thing as me.

# ..I used to spend all night long, I did

# Banging out some tune

# Till one of them said to me

# "Take it in the other room"

# Then my old brother, he'd say

# "I wish you'd shut your noise"

# But then again, see

# He never was one of the boys

# I don't care what other people say

# I'll just carry on strummin'... #

But I just loved it, just sit there strumming it.

I might do the same chord for 90 hours, I just liked it.

I liked the physical thing as well. I think you've got to have that.

You just love it.

# ..I don't care what other people say

# I'll just carry on strummin'. #

But I could keep a party going when I was about eight or nine.

We used to have parties just at the drop of a hat.

Everyone was singing, it sounded all right to me, and to them as well.

Just keep strumming away.

By the mid-1950s, Britain had discovered teenagers.

A new sound, skiffle, was sweeping the country.

For young lads growing up in the capital,

this was a true music revolution.

When I heard Lonnie Donegan, it just bashed me up.

When Rock Island Line came out in '56, Christmas time,

it just...

I love Lonnie Donegan.

# The Rock Island Line is a mighty good road

# The Rock Island is the road to ride

# The Rock Island Line is a mighty good road

# And if you want to ride

# You got to ride it like you find it

# Get your ticket at the station

# On the Rock Island Line... #

The whole world, you can't explain it.

They were barmy on him, everyone was.

It just bashed me up, I loved it so much.

It was because of Lonnie Donegan that I learned to play the guitar.

# ..And if you want to ride it

# Got to ride it like you find it

# Get your ticket at the station... #

I loved that sound so I said to my mum,

"I'd got to play the guitar and I know it'd really thrill me."

She said, "If I get one, will you promise to play it?"

"Yes, I will."

# ..Get your ticket at the station

# On the Rock Island Line! #

He was nuts, Lonnie was. Love him.

# Lost John standing by the railroad track

# Waiting for the freight train to come back

# The freight train came back but never made no stop

# Lost John thought he'd have to ride the top... #

'Skiffle was really just a kind of speeded up folk music.

'It was very basic, but from this skiffle scene'

came the next generation.

It was something that was easy for beginners.

It was good beginners' entry-level music.

# ..Lost John made a pair of shoes of his own

# Finest shoes that ever was worn... #

As soon as you learned two and a half chords, you were off.

You could play a skiffle song.

# ..You never tell which way Lost John might have gone. #

Nearly all the people who became famous in the '60s,

like The Beatles obviously, had their own beginnings in skiffle.

Skiffle was not the only influence on Britain's musical youth.

# Goodness gracious, great balls of fire! #

In 1958, Jerry Lee Lewis exploded on the British scene.

He came to the local cinema just down the road from me in Upper Edmonton

and I thought, "I've got to learn to play the piano now,

"there's no two ways about it."

Plays the piano in a way I've never seen or heard before in my life.

I thought, "I can work that out. I'll be playing by the weekend."

It took a little bit longer than that.

In 1960, to his mum's great delight, Chas became a professional musician.

A year later, he joined The Outlaws,

a successful band who toured with The Beatles.

We were topping the bill, Mike Berry and The Outlaws,

and The Beatles were supporting.

The main thing that impressed us was their harmonies

and that they all had high voices.

I remember thinking, "Their playing ain't as good is The Outlaws

"but they can really sing."

Alongside Chas in The Outlaws was guitarist Ritchie Blackmore,

later to find fame with Deep Purple.

The Outlaws were managed by one of the first independent producers

in the country, legendary innovator Joe Meek.

Lots of English musicians cut their teeth playing with Joe Meek.

A slightly strange man by all accounts, very eccentric.

He created his own little fantasy world

based on this very ramshackle home-made studio he had.

It was just literally knee-deep in bits of tape.

It really was. It was amazing to me, I loved it.

He helped to popularise, if not invent,

lots of techniques we now take for granted -

overdubbing and treating sounds and getting special sound effects

and so forth.

I learnt so much off Joe Meek.

I can remember we did an instrumental called Swinging Low, The Outlaws.

HUMS THE RIFF

MUSIC: "Swinging Low" by The Outlaws

We did about seven or eight takes and Joe Meek said, "That's it."

I thought, "We ain't got one where we're all playing good in it."

He went, "Don't worry about it." He said, "I'll sort that."

I really didn't know what he meant.

I didn't know anything about editing at all, didn't know it existed.

Then he showed me, "You just get the tape like that.

"Cut that out, that's a bass break there."

Anyway, we came back a week later, he said,

"Here you are, I'll play your latest single, this is going to be a hit."

It did actually, got in the top 50.

MUSIC CONTINUES

But for all his skills as a producer,

Joe Meek was not a trained musician.

He knew what he wanted,

he had a very good commercial ear in his way.

But he couldn't play anything and he couldn't sing in tune.

I was pretty good at figuring out what he meant.

He would sing his tune.

DISCORDANT HUMMING

He knew what he meant but he would be completely out of tune,

he would go off key, and then he would give it to me,

this demo, and say, "Here's my latest song, Chas.

"Can you work it out for the boys and write the chords out and that?"

I would go home and then try and decipher what he meant,

write down the chords and come back,

teach the guitar player the melody and away we'd go.

In 1963, The Outlaws went on camera for Live It Up,

a feature film promoting Joe Meek's up-and-coming bands.

I was pretty bored, really,

because that day, we had been given the chance

to go on tour with Jerry Lee Lewis as his backing band.

You can imagine me, it's two years after I'd seen him.

I'm now going to be in his band playing bass.

He kept going, "We'll do another take, we'll do another take."

I thought, "We've got to get up there to have a rehearsal with him."

It just went on and went on and went on.

We finally got away and got up

and had a 10 minute rehearsal with Jerry Lee.

Thank you very, very much.

PLAYS: "Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On"

I wasn't walking, I was floating,

and throughout that tour, the Jerry Lee Lewis tour,

because we couldn't have been with him at a better time.

He weren't on drugs and he was playing absolutely fantastic,

better than he was in the '50s.

# Come on over, baby

# We got chicken and a bop whoo, honey

# Come on over, baby

# Jerry's got the bull by the horns, yeah

# I ain't fakin'

# I got a whole lotta shakin' goin' on... #

I always quote that Jerry Lee taught me the piano, which he did,

but he didn't know he was teaching the piano.

It was just like, I'm watching him

and thinking that's how he does things like Whole Lotta Shakin'.

I learnt such a lot on that tour piano-playing.

# ..Yeah, yeah! #

Was it like work?

No, it ain't now. When people go, "He's got plenty of work,"

I go, "I don't work, I play the piano."

No, it's not work at all.

Chas's history in music

is the part that people never really know about him.

He was a jobbing musician

at the time when British beat music was coming into its own

and was becoming a dominant force globally, and he was there.

And also he was there when all of the American rock'n'rollers

were first coming over to the UK and they were needing pick-up bands.

He's played with nearly everybody.

'And now let's Rip It Up with Gene Vincent.'

# It's Saturday night and I just got paid

# Fool about my money Don't try to save

# Dad say, "Go, go, have a time"

# Saturday night And baby I feel fine... #

Gene was great. He had a bit of a drink problem,

but we had some fun on the road with Gene,

and when he really wanted to put on a good show, he could.

# ..I'm going to shake it up and ball tonight, yeah... #

Chas and Dave first got to know each other in North London in 1963.

I was thumbing a lift home from me girlfriend's

when I was on that tour in 1963.

An old schoolmate pulled up to give me a lift home

and it was Brian Juniper. He was in a band and Dave was his bass player.

And I was in a band called The Rolling Stones.

Not that other lot, we hadn't heard of them. We changed our name,

we thought it was silly. But anyway, Chas was thumbing a lift home

and that's when we picked him up.

He was in The Outlaws then. I think he was 17.

We're on stage. I'm coming.

-Hello. What's happening? Is Chas on?

-Yeah.

Years ago, I was in a band called The Outlaws

when I was playing the bass,

and one of the most fantastic things I ever did

was go on the road as Jerry Lee Lewis' bass player.

So this is dedicated to Jerry Lee!

I'd known Dave all the way through the '60s. Both bass players.

We just kept in touch cos we had very similar,

if not identical, tastes in music.

We both liked the same sort of music. We loved that '50s stuff.

# If you love me, please don't change

# If I can hold you, let me sway... #

Also used to love Chas's mum. She used to play the piano.

She knew millions of old songs,

just like the same sort of things that we used to sing at home.

A sort of identical musical upbringing that we both had.

# ..Well, I tingle all over and you know why

# Cos you always love me honey, that's no lie

# Love it when you call my name

# You know I burn like a burning flame

# You need me. #

DAVE SIGHS

After Gene Vincent went back to the States, Chas joined

an influential British soul band, Cliff Bennett and the Rebel Rousers.

# Yes I am... #

They were my favourite English band at the time. Fantastic sound.

I mean, he really knew, in the early days, how to get a good sound.

# ..Cos I take what I want, yeah-yeah

# Baby, I want you

# Nobody but you

# Ha! Come on, now... #

We were told that The Beatles were going to do a last tour of Europe

and they wanted us to support them, which was great.

And we went over to Germany as their support band.

# ..I'm getting ready to get you

# And I'm going to make you my girl... #

It was a great experience and I was learning all the time, like you do.

# ..Cos I take what I want

# Yeah, yeah... #

Earning good money and great music, so, you know,

what more could you want out of life?

# ..Going to pick you up, yeah... #

In the mid-'60s, if you were an aspiring pop star,

there was only one place to be.

London was the talent magnet. You know, the best musicians,

the best players from all over the British Isles,

they were all gravitating towards London.

# ..Baby, I'm a hold of your hand... #

All the good musicians ended up in London.

All of the musicians used to gather in the West End.

There were lots of places

where we used to gather and play in the clubs.

# ..I'm ready to get you... #

If I'd been living where I was born, on the Welsh borders,

I wonder if I ever would have even picked up a guitar

or even made it down to London, you know.

So, I felt very fortunate being in that scene.

There were an elite of players

who were clearly just a cut above the rest.

Albert Lee distinguished himself

in terms of the sheer expertise that he developed as a guitarist.

In 1969, Chas joined Albert Lee, one of Britain's greatest guitarists,

in a pioneering rock and country band, Heads Hands & Feet.

# Tell me where I start

# Mind the horse and cart

# I'm just a country boy

# Country boy at heart... #

For Chas to be in Heads Hands & Feet says a lot

because they were very accomplished musicians, I mean, really.

Albert's one of the most incredible guitarists that Britain's produced.

He's a great, great guitar player.

It's a very advanced form of musicality.

You've got to really be able to play well, have a really good feel

and know your stuff.

I've run into a lot of musicians who say that we were a big influence.

They say, "I've got your albums. God, they were such great albums

"and they were ahead of their time,"

and they were, in a lot of ways, I think.

That's not, like, kind of, easy money, that. It's hard to do it.

And so hats off to him for being in there with him.

MUSIC: "Warming Up The Band" by Heads Hands & Feet

# Let's dance the moondog tonight... #

Tony Colton was the driving force, I think, behind it.

# ..Shake, shake your fine tambourine

# Oh, Mama, you're part of me... #

He would do, like, 50 takes sometimes of a vocal,

and it used to just drive me round the bend.

If you haven't got it in three takes,

it's either wrong or you haven't learned it.

Three takes is all you should ever do of anything.

# ..I'll take you home happily

# Oh, Mama, you might have been... #

Whistle Test, it was a good programme.

Everybody says, "Ooh, they all played live," but they didn't.

Did the vocals live.

-ALL:

-# ..Warming up the band. #

Even Albert's guitar solo ain't live. It was a backing track.

But months of touring America, singing in an American accent,

would eventually lead Chas into a radical change of direction.

Cos I was singing,

AMERICAN ACCENT: # Dance, dance the moondog tonight

# Oh, Mama, you're all right. #

And I remember thinking, "They think I'm American, but I'm English."

So I started jotting down a few ideas about singing in me own accent

and becoming meself, really.

He felt a fraud in the States singing in an American accent,

so we decided we'd sit down,

try and write songs in the way that we speak.

I remember ringing up Dave, and I said,

"Let's go out for a pint. I've got an idea of writing songs

"about things that I know about and singing in me own accent."

And he had a think and we got together

and that was the start of Chas & Dave.

If you were trying to find a theme

which runs through the popular music of London throughout the centuries,

the common denominator is drink, actually.

In the mid-1970s, there was an explosion of bands

playing in pubs in London.

You'd walk through Kentish Town, Camden Town,

walk from Chiswick to Putney.

You would walk anywhere and you would pass four or five pubs

in a single evening that were putting on pretty decent live music.

# Roxette, I gotta go away... #

Dr Feelgood, who were a very, very tough, tight rhythm and blues band.

And Ian Dury had his band, Kilburn and the High Roads.

Quite a few bands who would become famous later on

had their roots in that pub circuit. Eddie and the Hot Rods.

# Do anything you want to do. #

Squeeze had origins in that world.

The pub rock thing, it was great because it just gave,

it was venues where people could go and play,

and also it was the beginning of the punk thing and it was the ideal,

you could just do it yourself.

If you can't go and play in the swish club,

you might as well just go and play down the pub where they'll,

at least they'll give you some beer or something.

The pub rock circuit was fine for bands just starting out,

but for established professional musicians,

it just didn't cut the mustard.

We did one or two, but they didn't want to pay no money.

I remember playing one,

the Open Anchor, I think that was in Islington, and me and Dave did it.

The pub rock circuit was all right for getting a band known,

but there was no money in it so we shied away from 'em.

We found our own.

We didn't want to play in them rock'n'roll pubs.

We wanted to find a pub that had a good atmosphere and build it up,

which we did with the Bird Cage in Bethnal Green and Bishop Bonner.

And we loved that.

Here we go.

# I got home the other night and what did I discover?

# The law's been around again to see me little brother... #

We started doing the pub gigs to pay the rent.

I mean, it was a way of earning money,

so since I was born, you know,

"How do you earn money? You go and play the piano

"and people will give you money."

And so that is what I did.

That's what I'm still doing.

# ..Find a wife and settle down, you say

# But, brother you know how it is... #

They came out of London pub music, and I think one of the places

where you learn how to communicate directly with people is in a pub.

Working people letting their hair down on a Saturday night,

and you have to communicate with them,

and it's rough but it's got humour.

# ..I had a wash and shave and I went round for Tommy Glover

# To ask him if he fancied a quick 'un down the Plover

# He come to the door and said "Me missus might discover

# "You know how it is, Jack, with one thing and another." #

Chas and Dave's "rockney" sound owes a lot to music hall

and the songs they grew up with,

like Harry Champion's End of Me Old Cigar.

# Said, "Why ain't ya thrown the end away?"

# I said, "Not on your life!"

# It's the end of me old cigar Hoorah, hoorah, hoorah... #

The art of the music-hall singer, really,

was to find songs that the public would take to straight away.

# ..But I tickle the ladies' fancy with the end of me old cigar... #

And Florrie Forde, she'd say, "If they don't join in the chorus

"by the third time I get to it, I never use the song again."

# ..At the end she stands and shows the boys around the public bar

# Saying, "Look what the doctor's done for me

# "With the end of his old cigar"... #

Music-hall performers are happy performers,

they make you feel happy, give you a smile on your face

and you usually got a pint of beer to cheer you up as well.

The thing about the music hall was people lived very, very tough lives

and then it would all be washed away by these songs.

# ..I walk down Piccadilly and they think that I'm a star

# It ain't because I'm handsome Or I'm a lah-di-dah

# But I tickle the ladies' fancy with the end of me old cigar. #

Harry Champion was a true music-hall legend.

We both knew a lot of them old fashioned Harry Champion songs.

You really want to dance when he's singing.

Great songs with great lyrics.

His timing is absolutely fantastic.

Harry Champion was one of the last

of the great 19th century Cockney music-hall artists,

and he sang these very catchy sing-alongs.

His most famous ones are Any Old Iron,

which my gran used to say about anything that wasn't worthwhile.

# Oh, just a couple of weeks ago me poor old Uncle Bill

# Went and kicked the bucket and he left me in his will... #

These were popular songs with complicated lyrics

that needed exceptionally precise delivery.

# ..Lord, I looked a dandy as it dangled on me chest

# Just to flash it off a bit Walking round about

# The kids they all ran after me and they all began to shout

# Any old iron, any old iron

# Any, any, any old iron

# You look neat Talk about a treat... #

And that's exactly what Chas & Dave have done in their songs.

Oi, oi! Here we go, here we go!

# Mother phoned up last night She was going spare

# She was in a temper pulling out her hair

# "Sister's courting a scruffy looking Ted"

# Father don't give a monkeys This is what he said

# I don't care, I don't care

# I don't care if he comes round here

# I've got my beer on the sideboard here

# Let the mother sort it out if he comes round here... #

I think one of the things about them is their technical ability

at singing some of those fast things makes it all sound so easy.

# ..I don't care, I don't care... #

Just sounds so light, it sounds like it's thrown away

and you don't realise how difficult it would be.

# .."I'll tell you something else He's never got a job

# "He hangs around the betting shop Lazy little sod"

# Mother says, "Calm down, he's all right

# "But they're out there snogging in the passage all night"... #

Someone said we are deceptively simple, something like that.

They meant our music.

It sounds simple, but you try and do it.

BOTH: # ..Sideboard here, sideboard there On the sideboard over there

# Cos I got my beer on the sideboard here

# Let the mother sort it out if he comes round here

# I don't give, I don't give I don't give a monkeys

# Well, I don't care let your mother sort him out

# Cos I don't care if he comes round here... #

That's Lonnie Donegan and Harry Champion combined, I suppose.

Tongue-twisting things.

# ..If he comes round here

# I got my beer Let the mother sort it out

# Sideboard here

# Got my beer, mother sort it out I don't care if he comes round here

# Mother sort it, mother sort it Mother sort it, mother sort it

# Mother sort it out! #

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

What a beautiful song! Marvellous stuff.

ROCK MUSIC PLAYS

In the summer of 1979, more than 200,000 people

turned up for one of the largest rock festivals

that Britain had ever seen.

Knebworth.

It was no big deal to me, it was just another gig.

Number one, I weren't a fan of Led Zeppelin. Number two,

I toured America not long before, so a big festival was nothing new to me.

Just too many people to be scared of.

You walked out on that stage, it was...

I don't know how many there were.

Someone said there was 200,000, but it was packed anyway.

We weren't nervous, but our manager said,

"You played the whole set in 15 seconds."

Maybe there might have been a bit of adrenaline going about.

But the gig for us, I think, was good.

I think we enjoyed it, looking back on it.

# Now I'm going back a few years... #

Chas and Dave had finally arrived

and caught the attention of the nation.

But it was in no small part thanks to a celebrated beer advert.

# ..Gertcha! Funny glasses with a little piece of ice

# Gertcha! Anything that comes with lemon in a slice

# Gertcha! Fancy cocktails that are shaken and not stirred

# Gertcha! Drinks with cherries in that make you look absurd

# Gertcha! With your finger cocked to leave your friends impressed

# Gertcha! Anything that ain't a pint of Courage Best

# Gertcha! Mine's a pint of Best

# Gertcha... #

I couldn't believe it when I saw this commercial for the first time

because it was a phrase that my gran used all the time on me,

"Gertcha," whenever I was taking liberties. She brought me up.

And when I was taking liberties, "Gertcha!"

It's an old-fashioned saying that my granddad used to say,

my nan used to say.

-"Gertcha!"

-Dave's dad used to say it.

But I swear that Chas and Dave

were getting spirit messages from my gran.

# ..Gertcha! #

I think they did a competition

where pubs could win Chas & Dave for the night.

People were desperate to get Chas & Dave in.

And the Orsett Cock on the A13 in Essex

won Chas & Dave for the night, and I remember it was just

the talk of Thurrock that Chas & Dave were coming to town

and they were doing the Orsett Cock, which has got -

the function room of the Orsett Cock,

you couldn't get 40 people in it!

I think they had about 400!

And it was so popular, the whole country was going, "Gertcha!"

You couldn't walk down the street, people shouting at you,

"Gertcha, cowson!" and all that.

But, yeah, Gertcha was the first Top 20 hit.

Couple of blokes walked into the BBC today.

They walked up to the boss, and said, "'Excuse me, guv.

"Can we play our record on Top of the Pops?"

And in his winning, smiling way, he turned to them, he said, "Gertcha!"

That's right and all!

# Now there's a word that I don't understand

# I hear it every day from my old man

# It may be Cockney rhyming slang And it ain't in no schoolbook... #

It's a great thing to be on Top of the Pops,

because you were sure to send your record

up another few places next week.

But the show's producer didn't like one of the words in the song.

He said, "I want you to cut out the word 'cowson'."

And we said, "Well, why? It's part of the song."

He said, "Well, I've just been informed."

He said, "My mother's just called me,

"and she's informed me that it's an old-fashioned Victorian swear word."

Don't sound that bad to me even now, with a cow and a son. What's...?

I don't know. People get the hump over funny things.

I think Chas did it though. I think he couldn't stop himself.

# ..Gertcha, cowson!

# Gertcha!

# Gertcha! When the kids are swinging on the gate

# Gertcha! When the paperboy's half an hour late

# Gertcha! When the pigeons are pecking at his seeds

# Gertcha! When the barker starts digging up his beans

# Gertcha! Gertcha!

# Bar stool preaching It's always been the same... #

I was proud of the record.

I was proud of the way I sang it, proud of the playing in it.

All three of us played great in it. It's a record to be proud of.

It wasn't long before Chas & Dave were all over British television.

Chas & Dave!

Chas & Dave!

-Chas & Dave.

-Chas & Dave!

Chas & Dave!

Chas & Dave.

-Chas & Dave.

-Chas & Dave.

It's the fabulous Chas & Dave!

-Chas & Dave.

-Chas & Dave.

-Chas & Dave.

There was the day and I've got it on a calendar,

we were actually on TV about seven times in that day.

I call it Chas & Dave Day.

# Gertcha! When the rock'n'roll records wake him up... #

We did do a lot of telly. Our manager didn't turn anything down.

We were tired boys, we used to work, work, work.

It got to a point where our manager was taking on everything.

There was no, sort of, "This is a better show than that,"

or "This is more credible than that."

If it earned money, get on it.

-Do you remember doing Breakfast Time?

-Yeah, I detested it.

Yeah, I did it a couple of times.

That's one, that breakfast telly, even the sound of that,

that really is a horrible sound to me -breakfast telly.

Coming up in the next 15 minutes on Breakfast Time,

plenty of more Rabbit from Charles & Dave,

the kings of Cockney Rock.

I'm surprised I can remember it.

I remember looking at her legs, that's all I can remember.

She was a very nice lady but, no, didn't like it.

Sitting besides me are our guests of the day, Chas & Dave.

They've finished a successful tour of the country.

Perhaps the most unlikeliest of pop stars.

Your accents are real and the way you dress is real.

A lot of people expected it to be a put-on, a showbiz put-on.

-What, the way we talk, you mean?

-And the way you dress.

I mean the bovver boots. Show us your bovver boots.

They ain't bovver boots. These are dealer's boots.

-He's got Dr Martens on, he has.

-Practical, really.

I must ask you about your braces. Why d'you do that?

-Hold the trousers up.

-Holds the trousers up!

LAUGHTER

Why d'you do that?!

Do you hold your trousers up with braces

when you're not appearing on TV, I mean in ordinary life?

-Of course we do.

-You dress like that ordinarily?

What's that? Everyone wears a pair of trousers, don't they?

Does anybody outside London understand you?

-Everybody understands us.

-They ought to have subtitles underneath you.

It's daft, we've been to America, we've been...

Everywhere seems to understand us. Why shouldn't we?

Billy Connolly comes down here and he goes down a storm.

Why shouldn't we go down good in Scotland? It's no different.

By December 1982, they hit the peak of their popularity,

appearing in prime time on both the BBC's and ITV's

biggest Christmas night shows.

Right, we're going to bring on an old mate of ours

to sort of sing and play guitar.

Nice hand for Eric Clapton!

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

That was a good show.

Cos Eric hadn't been on the telly for eight years,

no-one could get him on the telly.

He didn't want to know, but he come out for us.

# Well if you're looking for a winner

# You know you've got to go with me

# I've got more ashes than Wednesday and you know I can brew my tea... #

And it was good having Albert there as well.

That was...a good show.

# ..I'll take you with me, baby everywhere I go

# If I can catch you for a minute I know you'll take a chance with me

-ALBERT LEE:

-I remember it very well, yeah.

It was a lot of fun. My dad was there in the audience.

And Chas's mum was there as well, you know.

And the thing I remember about that pub,

it was a great atmosphere with everybody have a big knees-up.

# ..Slow down

# Slow down, Linda... #

They built the bar in the actual LWT studios.

It was real booze, yeah.

But they'd built it so true to life.

They'd built like a toilet door, "Gentlemen",

but behind the toilet door there was no gentlemen's there,

it was like all props and bits of wood, you know what I mean,

where they'd stored stuff.

But people are going, "Where's the toilet?" After a couple of pints,

gone round there and gone, "Oh, fuck it."

LAUGHS

# ..Slow down

# Slow down, Linda

# Slow down , Linda

# Don't you know that I've been waiting for your company? #

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

Yeah, it was great.

Hard work but it was good. Yeah, good fun.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE Thank you!

Meanwhile, at the same time on the other side.

APPLAUSE

# Christmas comes but once a year

-# It's just as well

-A time for all to have good cheer

-# It's that as well

-Cheers!

# Christmas comes but once a year

# A belly full of beer Relatives come from far and near

# Well, you can't have everything can you?

-ALL:

-# Wouldn't be without it Wouldn't be without it

# Ain't no doubt about it Wouldn't be without it

# Wouldn't be without our Christmas cheer

# Especially around this time of year! #

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

That's quite a compliment. I remember when they were showing it,

Ronnie Barker came and sat right next to me to see what I thought.

But me and Dave thought it was hilarious.

That was great. It was a great accolade.

# Snooker loopy nuts are we... #

Chas & Dave, with long time drummer Mick Burt,

enjoyed a string of Top 20 hits in the '80s.

# Ossie's going to Wembley his knees have gone all trembly... #

But there was much more to them than the comic songs suggested

and always real skill behind their performances.

# Some people think about Deutsche girls

# And the girls from California... #

As artists, I think they're very important,

because they are uniquely London sounding.

They also have invented entirely their own sound.

Their vocal harmonies

when they sing together

are completely unique.

# ..Give me a London girl every time

# I've gotta find one I've made up my mind... #

-PAUL DU NOYER:

-It's their own sound. Chas & Dave are originals. Nobody else sounds like them.

They're really amazing.

# ..I want a London girl... #

Chas & Dave are totally identified with London

-in a way that almost nobody else is.

-# ..You know you can trust 'em

# They'll darn your socks wash and mend your trousers

# When you bust 'em... #

It's often very comical,

but it's got a great deal of integrity.

It's genuinely part of the folk culture

of one of the great cities of the world.

And it's part of the working-class culture of this city.

There's nothing fake about it.

It's good entertainment.

# ..I've gotta find one I've made up my mind

# Give me a London girl every time

# I wanna London girl

# Oh, baby! Give me a London...

-ALL:

-# Girl every time

-Oh, yeah... #

-PHILL JUPITUS:

-They slot

so sort of perfectly into that London tradition of music.

There's music hall, there's the terraces of White Hart Lane,

there's the pubs of North London, there's everything.

It's London in microcosm in their songs.

# ..Give me a London girl every time

# I've gotta find one I've made up my mind

# Give me a London girl every time

# I want a London girl! #

-Yeah!

-Oi-oi!

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

Yeah! Good singing!

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

Chas & Dave have always been a touring band.

Lovely old job.

Good health!

I'm still around.

And the '90s saw them on gruelling tours

in Britain, Australia and the United States.

There's not another bass in England that's done as many gigs as this.

-How many?

-Gospel truth. Eh?

No-one's worked like Chas & Dave.

No-one's worked like we have, since 1972.

-Look at that. Look.

-See. Yeah, but...

How many gigs has that done?

I'd like to count 'em up. It'd be impossible to count 'em up.

If anyone says they have got a bass done more gigs than this,

they want beating with a knobbly stick

and a 45 minute underwater inspection

with a gas stove round their neck.

It's as simple as that.

BANJO MUSIC

Dave's grandparents were travellers

and he's spent a lot of time maintaining the old traditions.

My granddad, he was born in a tent

and all his brothers and sisters, as well.

I've always had a fascination for this kind of thing.

Always done it really, mucked around with horse-drawn stuff.

It's mostly gypsy wagons and, like, horse-drawn carts.

I've done a lot of work on it,

I've made all new furniture inside.

And I carved it all and I've painted it.

It was down to the bare wood. I made the steps.

It's a load of work. I used to go away on a tour,

come back and get straight in here and get straight on it.

There's nowhere around here,

there's nobody about that does this sort of thing round this way.

So they always come to me.

Right, that's that one.

It's like a spiritual thing to me. I loved it even when I was a kid.

I started I when I was about 15 and I learnt it ever so quick.

You only learn things that you like to do, don't ya?

If you don't like it, you'll never learn it.

My missus, she learnt to read music and she had piano lessons.

She said, "I'll never be any good." I said, "You will,

"but it doesn't matter if you don't, as long as you have fun trying."

And that's what music should be, have fun doing it.

Now, a lot of people say to me...

As the '90s went on,

the touring duo all but disappeared from our screens,

but in 2003 they re-emerged into the limelight

on Jools Holland's Hootenanny.

Please welcome, Chas & Dave!

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

-Oh, yeah!

-It marked the start

of a renewed interest in their work

from a younger, more fashionable audience.

It started with Jools Holland

having us on his New Year's Hootenanny.

It was a great show to do. And Jools is a great bloke anyway.

He likes all kinds of stuff.

# Well, I've built my life around you... #

He's always been a fan of ours

and I love him, Jools Holland.

He got us on his show, and it was like,

"If they're on his show they must be good."

And everybody who was on it absolutely loved us.

London's very own, Chas & Dave!

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

They are talented musicians.

And when he interviewed all the people,

they all said they really loved us.

I think it sort of gave them...

"They're acceptable Chas & Dave. We can say it."

I want to say how much I really love Chas & Dave.

So do I, that's why they're here.

-Does that make you madly jealous?

-Yeah.

-Will you become furious?

-I am furious now. Can you see?

-Yes, I can see.

-It's in my eyes mainly.

I'm very frightened, I'm going to move back here.

To see Chas & Dave again! Marvellous stuff!

-They invented all that music.

-They did indeed.

And it's great they're representing London music cos they're for real.

Are you familiar with them at all?

Absolutely. Worship them.

What a corking song that was.

It changed a lot of people's way of thinking about us.

Suddenly, we were respected, rather than a couple of novelty songs.

We did enjoy that.

'It just goes to show that different people like what we do.'

That's nice, innit?

Back in the mid-'70s, the pair played as session musicians on a Labi Siffre album.

In the '90s their playing was picked up and sampled

by a whole new generation of influential musicians.

I remembered doing it because my bass part's on that Eminem thing.

Jim Sullivan sung that to me, I think. Bom-bom, whatever it was, and I just done that.

And that is the bit that got sampled by Eminem on his first record, I found out after.

My Name Is, I think, innit?

And it was a big hit for him. But he got it from there.

-# Hi! My name is...

-What?!

-# My name is...

-What?!

# My name is... Slim Shady

-# Hi! My name is...

-What?!

-# Hi! My name is...

-What?!

# My name is... Slim Shady. #

But it's all over the shop now, I've been told,

not just the Eminem thing, on other things as well.

Another endorsement of their unsung cool came from Libertines front man and boyhood fan, Pete Doherty.

I think when Pete Doherty expressed a bit of liking for Chas & Dave,

I think his punters started to listen to us as well.

So we captured a few of 'em that way.

There's no two ways about it, he was a good PR man for us.

We went and supported them at Brixton Academy

and their manager come over and he went, "They're so in awe of you two."

You know, "That's great!"

Pete was sort of quite out of it.

He came on and did a couple of songs and fell all over the stage,

but....he's been to see us since and he's behaved hisself.

So, I ain't heard, but no news is good news.

I remember when they supported The Libertines.

I don't think a lot of people were really into Chas 'n' Dave, you know.

But they had the crowd right over.

Everyone loved it and was into it. It was fucking good music.

It's rich that tradition and that richness is in them, it courses through them.

It's a genuine thing and they get up on stage and they do... It's just them.

The melodies, the words, it's perfect.

Just like The Clash, just like The Smiths,

just like Keats.

Their music meant so much to me.

Everything I thought about London and my family history, they were tuned into.

Even little lines about... you know...

# If it wasn't for the houses in-between. #

It just makes me think of my nan and my dad.

Right, OK, a second set.

Not right now.

-Oh, yeah.

-Five minutes.

It's an emotional moment.

-Right, OK.

-This is a character. This isn't what he's really like.

Shit! You going to be upset?

I don't know.

I'm talking about Chas & Dave.

SIREN WAILS

-Are they still alive?

-Oh, fuck off, man!

Listen, I wasn't...

That's all from Newsnight tonight. Do come back tomorrow.

We'll end tonight's rabbiting with Chas & Dave.

With classics like The Sideboard Song, they've been a feature of British pop music since the 1970s,

but today they announced they're splitting up.

Dave Peacock has decided to quit following the death of his wife.

Good night.

# Where am I gonna find ya when I need ya?

# Can't you tell me where you're going to?

# Darling, don't you know I'm gonna miss ya

# All I've ever cared about is you... #

After years of touring,

Chas & Dave have finally called it a day.

Chas will continue with his own band,

but Dave has had enough of life on the road.

# ..To say goodbye. #

My dear mate, he loves his music and he loves playing,

but he don't like being on the road.

I didn't really want to go up and down the motorway no more.

I said, "It's entirely up to you. Whatever you want to do."

But, no, there won't be another tour.

It's been great. I've seen the world.

I've seen the world. Took me wife round with me to lots of interesting places.

Luckily, she saw some great places.

Have you had fun?

Yeah, loved it.

Loved it. Yeah, great.

The legacy and the body of work is so...wonderful,

it'd be a great shame if they didn't come back.

I get the feeling... they will, in some from, in some way.

I'll be honest, I wanted to book 'em for my fiftieth.

So if they have quit, I'm gutted.

I think the question you ask any great musicians is,

"Can you make people dance? Can you make people cry with your music?"

And Chas & Dave could really do those things.

No Pleasing You is a great song.

If I can sum up what I was aiming for,

I achieved it on Ain't No Pleasing You.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

A serious song sung in me own accent.

A Cockney song being taken seriously.

# Well, I built my life around you Did what I thought was right

# But you never cared about me Now I've seen the light

# Oh, darling

# There ain't no pleasing you... #

To me by a country mile their best song is Ain't No Pleasing You.

It's the best expression of a man's inability to express himself.

That just pours out of that song.

And that song breaks your heart every time you hear it.

# ..There ain't no pleasing you

# You only had to say the word

# You knew I'd do it... #

"I can't say it to you, love, so I'll play it."

Break your heart.

# ..But you went and blew it

# Everything...I ever done

# Was only done for you

-ALL:

-# But now you can go and do

# Just what you wanna do

# I'm telling you

# Cos I ain't gonna be made to look a fool no more... #

It's great when you play and look at people's faces

and they know the words to the song and they're singing away. It is a good buzz.

# ..Oh, darling

# There ain't no pleasing you... #

I love people's appreciation. It means a lot to me.

# ..And if you think I don't mean what I say

# And I'm only bluffing

# You got another thing coming I'm telling you that for nothing... #

I used to say to Chas, "Imagine walking in a pub

"and hearing this noise that the three of us was making."

I know as a punter I'd go, "Cor! That sounds good."

# ..Ooooh, Yeah! #

Shout out!

If anybody don't like Chas & Dave,

I think there's got to be something defective in you or something ain't right.

You ought to go and get yourself looked at.

If you ain't a Chas & Dave fan there's something wrong with ya.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

I'll be around.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

You've been great. Thank you.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd