Mouldy Old Dough

"Mouldy Old Dough" is an instrumental single, which was a hit for Lieutenant Pigeon.

It was written by Nigel Fletcher and Rob Woodward and first produced by them under the name of their other band, Stavely Makepeace.^[1]

Recorded in the front room of Woodward's Coventry semi-detached, it featured his mother Hilda Woodward on piano,^[2] in a boogie-woogie, honky-tonk, ragtime style. The only lyrics are the growled title "Mouldy Old Dough" and "Dirty Old Man" by Fletcher. When Fletcher asked what they meant, their author, Rob Woodward, said he had no idea.^[3]

Despite initial disapproval from their long-term manager and friend, David Whitehouse, they went ahead with its release. It is the only British number one single to feature mother and son.^[2]

Originally released in early 1972 it flopped on its first release. It was picked up in Belgium and used on a current affairs programme, and became a hit there reaching number one on their singles chart. Decca, encouraged by this success, re-released it and with the backing of then BBC Radio 1 DJ Noel Edmonds finally became a hit in the UK, spending four weeks at the top of the UK Singles Chart in October 1972.^[4] It sold 790,000 copies.

"Mouldy Old Dough" (the title being an adaptation of the 1920s jazz phrase, "vo-de-o-do")^[1] became the second biggest selling UK single of the year, behind The Band of the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards' bagpipe version of "Amazing Grace". Thus the two best-selling singles in the UK that year were both novelty instrumentals.

Uses of "Mouldy Old Dough"

• It was one of the choices of Jarvis Cocker when he appeared on the long-running BBC Radio 4 programme, Desert Island Discs.
• Since 1972, The track has played over the tannoy at the beginning of Oldham Athletic A.F.C. home games.
• The song has been covered by British group Shades of Green and features in their first album Rockin' Poppin' Ravin', released in 1973 by Windmill Records, London (WMD 164 stereo).
• The song has since become almost a 'theme song' for the sport of British Banger racing, where it is played at the start of many races at tracks across Great Britain, as the racers begin their 'rolling lap'.
• It also became popular in New Zealand in the early 1990s after by its use in a television advertisement for Instant Kiwi scratchcards. [1]

See also

• Winifred Atwell — had repeated number one hits with a similar boogie-woogie style of piano-playing.
• Russ Conway

References

1. ^ ^{a b} Rice, Jo (1982). The Guinness Book of 500 Number One Hits (1st ed.). Enfield, Middlesex: Guinness Superlatives Ltd. p. 147. ISBN 0-85112-250-7. 
2. ^ ^{a b} Roberts, David (2001). British Hit Singles (14th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 43. ISBN 0-85156-156-X. 
3. ^ Ian Gittins (2007), Top of the Pops: Mishaps, Miming, and Music, p. 78, ISBN 9781846073274 
4. ^ Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 321. ISBN 1-904994-10-5. 

Preceded by "How Can I Be Sure" by David Cassidy

UK Singles Chart number one single October 14, 1972 (4 weeks)

Succeeded by "Clair" by Gilbert O'Sullivan