After Dinner Speakers: Chas & Dave, Bryn Terfel, China Crisis

Chas Hodges and Dave Peacock come from Edmonton and Ponders End respectively, and first met up in North London in the mid-sixties through a mutual friend. The circumstances were originally nothing to do with music……… Chas was renowned in his younger years for always missing the last bus home due to the seriousness of his courting activities to the girl he eventually married. A regular mate of Chas, called Brian Juniper, would frequently take pity on this solitary figure wandering through the streets in the early hours and offer the lad a lift home. There was usually another bloke sitting in the car and his name was Dave Peacock. When talk came 'round to music', Chas and Dave were instantly in agreement and a firm friendship was established. At the time, Chas was playing with Mike Berry and the Outlaws. They had the honour of headlining over a very unknown band from Liverpool called The Beatles… Although the two men were constantly meeting, it never occurred to them to play together as both of them preferred the guitar. What really spurred them on was that when they met over a jar, they would find themselves expressing dissatisfaction with the pop scene of the early seventies - the big superstar groups with phoney American accents playing pretentious music. Chas and Dave wanted to go back to their Rock 'n' Roll roots, and sing in their own accents about subjects which they cared about. Everyone told them that it would never work, but Chas and Dave started to play gigs in pubs like 'The Prince of Wales' in Gravesend, 'The Essex Arms' in the East End and 'The Cooks Ferry' at Edmonton. At these, their first public appearances, Chas played the guitar and Dave the bass. They built up a good London following and impressed session guitarist Big Jim Sullivan who owned Retreat Records with Derek Lawrence. He offered them the chance to record their own material. The result was the album 'One Fing and Anuvver' which was released in 1975 and which so impressed the distributors EMI, that they signed them up immediately. At this moment in Chas and Dave's history, an important figure re-entered their lives. To this day, few people can name him, yet he is vital to their sound. Who is this retiring man? His name is Micky Burt - the drummer with Chas and Dave. Mick used to be the drummer in Cliff Bennett and the Rebel Rousers when Chas was with them. Mick had since left and gone back to his original profession as a plumber. Chas phoned him up out of the blue one day, and asked him to drop tools and give it a go playing for them. Chas couldn't promise Mick it would work, but we all know that it could never have failed - and so did Mick. Rockney had been born - the unique blend of cockney and rock which was so soon to capture the people's imagination and thrust Chas and Dave into the limelight. What aided the process was a chance encounter with an advertising agency executive who just happened to be at a pub in Islington when Chas and Dave were playing 'Gertcha'. He thought the song was perfect for the new Courage Beer campaign, and really the rest is history. 'Gertcha' became a nation-wide catchphrase and Chas and Dave songs like 'Margate' and 'Rabbit' ensured that the campaign was one of the most consistent award-winning commercials on television. From a struggling band who used to fear an unexpected ring at the door in case it was the bailiffs, who had to argue with record companies who told them that their music would never sell, who used to tour the UK and Europe in a Mini, Chas and Dave had achieved the status they deserved. A string of hit singles in the Eighties, including their No 1 hit 'Ain't No Pleasing You', together with million selling party albums and TV series galore firmly established them as a unique act with a dedicated following of fans. Songs like 'Gertcha' and 'Rabbit' have become national sing-a-long party hits, and Chas and Dave have become part of our culture, London icons. Their fans have grown up with them and Chas and Dave tour theatres in England and around the world. In the 1990s, they were discovered by a whole new generation of fans. In the Spring of 1995, they scored a No 3 album with 'Chas & Dave's Street Party'. They were regular guests on Brian Conley's, Garry Bushell's and Danny Baker's radio and television shows, and the BBC followed them around on tour and presented documentaries based on their lives on the road. They ended the Century with a string of fantastic guest TV spots ('Never Mind the Buzzcocks', 'Jools Holland', and loads more), sell-out London Palladium shows and with ever growing support from their world-wide fan base. Into the Millennium, they continue to record new material, play to sell-out theatre audiences, and somehow still retain their cockney roots despite being in demand world-wide. During their recent tour in the USA, two albums were released and fantastically received by radio stations and punters alike.