I must confess to a little discomfort living in a world where it seems socially acceptable to like Abba both ironically and unironically, yet we reviewed a Chas n' Dave record positively, and this was construed as somehow odd. Anyway, this review, from July 2001 (hence the general election reference) touched on the reasons why CnD are a band who deserve much - unironic - love.
"chas 'n' dave "the best of chas 'n' dave" (music club)
well here's a quiz question for you. which combo successfully straddled pre and post-punk years ? who first adopted the mockney "kids are alright" tone later adopted by shameless plagiarists ranging from sham 69 to blur ? who managed to mix elements of pop, twelve bar blues, hip-hop, rock and funk into their goodtime showcase yet dilute this with a touch of the "we don't care" anarchy of the pistols? well now it's 2001 and here comes the definitive collection.
from the dextrous freestyling of "rabbit" to the unreconstructed avant-funk of "turn that noise down", chas 'n' dave had a mastery of the pop canon, which in my eyes peaks with the unsurpassed "blank generation" strum of "the sideboard song", in which our cheery bearded protagonists, pre-empting the 42% of the electorate on june 7, announce that "they've got their beers... and [they] don't care". and yet even in the face of this thom yorke can eulogise george monbiot without acknowledging his greater debt to charles, dave and, lest we forget, "mick", the most forgotten and under-rated of sticksmen.
shorn of the mystery of the early deaths of hendrix or curtis or the self-serving populism of brett anderson or the gallaghers, music like this has been dismissed simply for standing the test of generations. yet from the mcalmont and butler-style string arrangements on "ain't no pleasing you" to the folk groove of "gertcha", chas 'n' dave were setting aural standards. the beautiful "wish i could write a love song" is the ballad that billy bragg was always about to write but never got round to, even down to the melodramatic narrative. you want sex ? try "massage parlour". you want violence ? try "wallop!" you want drug references (in which case you are probably the nme) - how about "miserable saturday night" - itself a smithsian nomenclature - in which chas laments how their mates are out smoking dope and generally enjoying themselves ?
there are many tunes on this 24-tracker which overdo the formula and end up falling into the self-congratulatory pearly king whimsy of blur's "country house" or sham's unselfconscious "the cockney kids are innocent". the medley of "when i'm cleaning windows", "any old iron", "run rabbit run", "the laughing policeman" and "knees up mother brown" probably goes too far towards the awkwardness inherent in the cockney rejects' otherwise impassioned take on "i'm forever blowing bubbles". but with chas 'n' dave still going, this is a welcome overview of their ouevre. it's not art, but it's several times better than anything the nme is listening to this week."
Remember that this was written before the last few years' semi-ironic (agh that word again) C&D renaissance, before the Libertines et al decided to rehabilitate them and the trio (remember they haven't been a duo since the 1970s!) ended up rocking 30,000 at Glastonbury... but trust us, Chas Hodges and Dave Peacock will be remembered long after Pete Doherty's name is ground into dust and powder. Since the review above, we've had the immense pleasure and privilege of witnessing the band live, too - hence our comments on the swoonsome yet two fingered salute to journous and sceptics alike, "Ain't No Pleasing You", thus:
"The second greatest chart conspiracy of all time was when the BBC and the forces of law conspired to keep "God Save The Queen" off the top spot in silver jubilee '77. The greatest, however, was when MI5 and other agents of darkness and anti-Rockney agitators saw fit to relegate this particular crowdpleaser to no. 2, when everybody knows it was flying out of record shops left right and centre. And, as anyone who saw them play this at the 100 Club last month knows, they've still got it..."
- and of developing a wider love of their back catalogue. Check out the delectable "Edmonton Green" and then tell us they don't deserve respect: check out the "Mother's Sorted Out" remix of "The Sideboard Song" and tell us you can't dance to them. They even manage to be the only band in history to boast backing vocals from both Ossie Ardiles and Willie Thorne. The *only* thing impeachable about CnD - then and now - is their love for the chancer and waistrel denizens of White Hart Lane.
Oh, and Chas has recently released his / their autobiography, "All About Us". It's a ghostwriter-free zone, a WINNING book, most obviously because of something that absolutely *shines* through it, which is that the guy is just a worshipper of *music*... so much so, that when he says "It makes you feel so good that you wonder why it ain't illegal" you can only agree entirely, because that's the whole reason you've battled on forever writing blogs that no-one reads. And kudos untold for the fact the book reveals that they refused to do a Coldplay cover version...
