I first heard a track from these guys while visiting the Cavern Club in Liverpool, England. I can’t recall the tune, but the uniqueness of their boogie-woogie ‘rockney’ sound playing on the sound system (combined with the thoroughness of my Anglophilia and concomitant romanticization of unknown aspects of British culture) caught my ear to such a degree that I asked a bartender who the artist was. (Sidenote: The duo have an interesting Iron Maiden connection.)
Some recommended songs are:
- The Sideboard Song (1:25 to 2:00 is high-water-mark-Chas-n’-Dave)
- Word From Anne
- Don’t Anyone Speak English Anymore
- Ain’t No Pleasing You
- London Girls
My favorite song by Chas ‘n’ Dave is “That’s What I Like“. This 1983 performance of my favorite song by Chas ‘n’ Dave, with lyrics chock full of British ephemera, demonstrates that the cameraman was abreast of the duo’s trademark Doc Marten boots.
Cheese & onion sandwiches & Derby chinaware
Fiddles & jigs, Woogie my dog
Me Aunty Vi having a swear
Taking my dad for a pint or two on a Sunday morning stroll
Licorice pipes & baggy suits, Glen Hoddle scoring a goal
Catching a pike & riding me bike, old wooden wheels & a bowl of eels
That’s what I like
That’s what I like
Pie ‘n’ mash in liquor & walking about in the rain
William books, comical looks, pianos, tramps & trains
Old films on the telly & picking the kids up from school
Coal ‘n’ c***les & thunderstorms & plays on the wireless & all
Grandfather clocks & Coke & brandy, fountain pens & the Beano & Dandy
That’s what I like
That’s what I like
Little pubs out in the country, mother of pearl & Barnet Fair
The sound of a banjo, barbershop singing & having a kip in the chair
Burnt toast & beer from the wood & old Terry-Thomas’s teeth
Jerry ‘n Chet, Cannon & Ball & banjo pickin’ Bill Keith
Home baked loaves & wood burning stoves, Shirley Maclaine & Petticoat Lane
That’s what I like
That’s what I like
Bubble ‘n’ squeak & jumble sales, Little Richard & Jerry Lee
Bonfire nights, South End lights & paddling in the sea
Polished brass & copper, Salvation Army bands
Violins & old coach inns & coloured elastic bands
Tea in the morning & winter beginning, fishing rods, frogs & Spurs are winning
That’s what I like
That’s what I like
A day at the races, old Fender basses
going down hopping in Kent
A new pair of braces, little kids faces
sleeping out under a tent
And Waggons & chickens
And picking blackberries
And swallows & sledges
And Devon & cherries
And Haddock & trotters
And horses & nippers
And cider & celery
Banjo & kippers
That’s what I like
That’s what I like
