Chas & Dave (UK pop rock duo of Chas Hodges & Dave Peacock)

Chas & Dave (often billed as Chas 'n' Dave) were an English pop rock duo, formed in London by Chas Hodges and Dave Peacock. They were most notable as creators and performers of a musical style labelled rockney (a portmanteau of rock and cockney), which mixes "pub singalong, music-hall humour, boogie-woogie piano and pre-Beatles rock 'n' roll". For a time, Rockney was also the name of their record label, their major breakthrough being "Gertcha" in 1979, which peaked at No. 20 in the UK Singles Chart, and was the first of eight Top 40 hit singles the duo played on. They had their biggest success in the early 1980s with "Rabbit" and "Ain't No Pleasing You". They also had nine charting albums. In October 2013 they released That's What Happens, their first studio album in 18 years. Charles Nicholas "Chas" Hodges and David Victor "Dave" Peacock met in 1963, but the duo only started writing songs together in 1972. In the 1960s and 1970s, Hodges and Peacock were in various groups. Hodges was with The Outlaws and then Cliff Bennett and the Rebel Rousers in the 1960s, while Dave Peacock was with a group called the Rolling Stones (formed before the more famous one), and The Tumbleweeds, and worked with Mick Greenwood and Jerry Donahue. Hodges and Peacock were both part of Black Claw with Harvey Hinsley and Mick Burt; three of them (Hodges, Peacock and Burt) would later be in Chas & Dave. They recorded with Albert Lee, and released an EP called Country Pie. After Black Claw, Hodges joined Heads Hands & Feet in 1970. Both Hodges and Peacock had worked as session musicians and in backing bands for a wide range of artists; Hodges as part of The Outlaws had worked with Jerry Lee Lewis, Gene Vincent, Bill Haley, and also supported the Beatles as the Rebel Rousers. The hook of the song on which Hodges and Peacock played guitar and bass in 1975, Labi Siffre's "I Got The...", was later sampled on Eminem's "My Name Is". Hodges toured America when he was with Heads Hands & Feet, and it was during the tour that he had the idea of performing in his natural accent as he thought it "not quite real" performing in an American accent to an American audience. After Heads Hands & Feet broke up, in November 1972, Hodges spoke to Peacock about forming a band together where they can sing in their own accent and about things they knew. This would be the beginning of Chas & Dave. They had initially considered a few names, including Chubby. The name Chas & Dave came about when they were doing sessions together, and a producer often referred to them as one and said, "Here comes Chas and Dave", and later suggested: "Why don't you just call yourselves Chas and Dave?" They also recorded as Oily Rags (cockney rhyming slang for cigarettes - "fags"), and released a self-titled album with Gerry Hogan and Ian Wallace in 1974, as well as an album with Oliver Nelson. The album Oily Rags was released by Signature Records owned by Bob Thiele, whose wife Teresa Brewer recorded the first ever song written by Hodges and Peacock together, "Better Get Your Shoes On". The duo recorded their first album as Chas & Dave in 1974, and this album, One Fing 'n' Anuvver, was released in 1975 under the Retreat Records label. Burt joined the duo in 1976 as a drummer, and although they were in fact a trio since, the duo of Hodges and Peacock remained the main focus of the band. They were signed by EMI in 1977, and the album Rockney was recorded that year and released in 1978. A song from the album, "Strummin'", was their first song to reach the chart. In early 1979, a song from their first album "Woortcha!" was used for a television commercial for Courage Bitter, and this song was then re-recorded and released as a single, retitled "Gertcha", which reached No. 20 on the singles chart. They opened for Led Zeppelin at the 1979 Knebworth Festival on two consecutive Saturdays on 4 and 11 August. Chas & Dave first signed a management deal in 1978 with Bob England, who with business partner Natasha England then formed the 'Rockney' label with the duo in 1980, part of the England's Towerbell Records company. The first single released under this label, "Rabbit" became their first top 10 hit single. The word "rabbit" comes from the Cockney rhyming slang rabbit and pork meaning talk. The song is about a relationship between a man and a woman, in which the man expresses his love for his girlfriend, but complains that she will not stop talking or, rabbiting. It was also used in a television commercial for Courage Bitter. On Christmas Day 1981 they appeared on The Two Ronnies Christmas Special. The duo were both fans of the football club Tottenham Hotspur, and they began their musical association with the club in 1981 when they were requested by their manager Bob England to write a song for the club when Tottenham were having a good run in the 1980–81 FA Cup and looking to head to the FA Cup final. The resulting song was Ossie's Dream"/"Glory Glory Tottenham Hotspur". They also recorded "Tottenham, Tottenham" in 1982, and Tottenham Hotspur were victorious in both of these finals. They recorded two further singles with Tottenham – the 1987 FA Cup Final song "Hot Shot Tottenham!" and in 1991 when the team also won the FA Cup, "When the Year Ends in One". They also recorded "The Victory Song (We're Off To Wembley 'Cos We Beat The Arsenal)" in 1991. In 1982, Chas & Dave had their biggest success on the chart with "Ain't No Pleasing You", which reached number two on the UK chart and also charted in Australia, New Zealand and Ireland. This song departed from their usual style and was a slower-paced break-up ballad, with strings added to the usual piano, drum and bass sound. The official video featured the orchestra backing the band. They were given a Christmas TV special on LWT that year, Chas and Dave's Christmas Knees-up. After the Christmas special, they were offered their own television series, Chas and Dave's Knees-up, broadcast in 1983. In 1985, they recorded the theme song to the BBC sitcom In Sickness and in Health. Chas & Dave had previously been offered the chance to record the theme song for another BBC sitcom, Only Fools and Horses, but turned it down as they were in Australia at the time due to the success of "Ain't No Pleasing You". However, their song "Margate" was used in a feature-length episode of the series entitled "The Jolly Boys' Outing" in 1989. They also created the theme tune and incidental music for the children television show Bangers and Mash, and recorded the title theme for Crackerjack! used in the 1980s. "Snooker Loopy", a comic song about snooker, was released as a single in May 1986 and entered the UK Singles Chart, reaching number six. In 1992 & 1993 Chas & Dave recorded their own series for BBC Radio 2, produced by Sonia Beldom. There were three episodes recorded at The Starlight Suite at Enfield Football Club with special guests the Searchers, Max Bygraves, Warren Mitchell & Stanley Unwin. "Chas & Dave's Christmas Cracker" & "Chas & Dave's Easter Rabbit" featured Marti Caine, the Salvation Army Band, the Barron Knights, Albert Lee & Little and Large. In 2003, Chas & Dave appeared on the 2003 Jools' Annual Hootenanny, which led to renewed interest in the band. In 2003–4, they supported The Libertines, whose singer Pete Doherty said that they were a big influence when he was young. They played the Glastonbury Festival in 2005 where they played to a crowd of 18,000 on the acoustic stage, and Hodges would later describe it as their best gig. They played again at the festival in 2007. In 2005, EMI released a CD of their first two studio albums, and made a new set of their recordings at Abbey Road. On 6 October 2008, their autobiography, Chas & Dave – All About Us, written by Hodges, was published in the UK. It is reported that it took him a quarter of a century to write. It was announced in September 2009 that the pair would no longer be working together, as Peacock planned to retire from the band