LOST TREASURES

PETER COOK & DUDLEY MOORE

“The Singles“

By Peter Marston

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Between 1965 and 1967, British comic duo Peter Cook and Dudley Moore released five singles of (more or less) pop music on the Decca label. At least three of the ten sides are true classics. The most famous of these is “The L.S. Bumble Bee,” a song so reminiscent of the Beatles that it appeared as the title track on a ’70s Beatles bootleg. That was how I first encountered this wonderful psychedelic track—and while even I could tell it was not a legitimate Beatles outtake, I knew it was a song I needed to track down.

For those who are unfamiliar with the story of Peter Cook and Dudley Moore, I must admit I cannot do justice to their story in this Lost Treasures post. It is a story of fame, psychological abuse, substance abuse and, ultimately reconciliation. They were a clear example of the adage that opposites attract. Cook was tall, Moore was short. Cook had an athletic build, Moore had a club foot. Cook was caustic, Moore was affable. Cook was a product of affluence and private education, Moore came from more humble origins. Yet, it was clear to even the casual observer that they were perfectly matched as a comedy team and that even behind the endless disdain that Cook heaped upon Moore, there was a deep love between the two men.

I have read a few books about Cook and Moore and have a great appreciation for their sketches (“One Leg Too Few” and “Frog and Peach” being perhaps two of their best), but nowhere are their forays into pop music properly discussed. Their first single, “Goodbyeee” (sic) b/w “The Not Only . . .  But Also Theme” was released in May of 1965. The two sides were the closing and opening themes, respectively, from Cook and Moore’s successful BBC television show and the A-side hit the British charts reaching number 18. It’s a piece of British Music Hall kitsch, amusing and charming, but a trifle at best. The second single was released a mere two months later, no doubt to capitalize on the success of “Goodbyeee.” “The Ballad of Spotty Muldoon” is another Music Hall number, this time about an “unbelievably spotty” man (“spotty” is the British term for pimply). This one is hardly amusing and certainly not charming. It is, in fact, disgusting. Nonetheless, it too charted, reaching number 34. Cook and Moore’s third single, “Isn’t She a Sweetie” is a light jazz ballad that is a little reminiscent of some of the Bonzo Dog Band’s work. The flip side, “Bo Dudley,” is more memorable. Moore plays a brief faux blues boogie, whose lyrics are then deconstructed by Cook (playing an interviewer) and Moore (playing Bo Dudley). It’s a fairly direct recording of one of Cook and Moore’s comedy routines and is quite funny, though modern sensibilities might judge it as racially insensitive (Moore even describes the blues boogie as a “darkie melody”).

It is the next two singles that offer three terrific gems for pop fans. “The L.S. Bumblebee” b/w “Bee Side” was released in January 1967. The A-side is a remarkable Summer of Love pastiche that somehow preceded the Summer of Love by several months. The entire production is bizarre, setting surreal lyrics about a psychedelic bee set against a kitchen-sink arrangement. I think the best way to describe it is that it’s like what the Beatles’ “What’s the New Mary Jane” might have been if given a more fully realized production, though it is certainly more tuneful―and while “What’s the New Mary Jane” strikes many listeners as interminable, “The L.S. Bumblebee” is quite concise. The title is obviously a pun on LSD and though Moore in later years described it as a response to “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds,” that is doubtful as it was released well before Sgt. Pepper and even well before the recording sessions for “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds.” Lennon was a friend of Cook and Moore (he appeared in a cameo on Not Only . . . But Also), so it might have been possible that Lennon mentioned the idea for the Beatles song to them, but it seems unlikely. Moore has also said that he was trying to emulate the Beach Boys rather than the Beatles―in fact he’s in his own territory here, evoking both bands, but simulating neither. “Bee Side” is a strictly spoken word piece, with Cook and Moore’s Pete and Dud characters warning, unsuccessfully, against the perils of drug use.

Cook and Moore’s final single, “Bedazzled” b/w “Love Me,” was released in December of 1967 and both sides are terrific slices of psychedelic British soul. Both are taken from the soundtrack of Cook and Moore’s 1967 film Bedazzled (remade in 2000 with Brendan Fraser and Elizabeth Hurley). Cook sings the A-side, though “sings” is misleading as what Cook provides is a monotone recitation of indifference: “I don’t care . . . I don’t want you . . . I don’t need you.” This is a set against female answering vocals expressing ardent attraction: “I’m bedazzled . . . you knock me out . . . you switch me on.” The juxtaposition is compelling and the backing track is awash in psychedelic effects. “Love Me” is even more striking. Sung by Moore, the song opens with primal screams—“Love me . . . love me . . . love me”—before moving into more melodic verse material. The track brings to full realization what the Mellow Cads have been aiming at in their two albums, Soft as a Rock and Gentle Explosion. I doubt that any pop fan who hears “Love Me” will ever forget it.

To my knowledge, there has never been a compilation of the Cook and Moore singles on LP or CD. As noted above, “L.S. Bumblebee” appears on a well-known Beatles bootleg. It also appears on the Rhino Beatlesongs compilation. Still, it is quite easy to sample all the single sides as they are posted for download on the Peter Cook Appreciation Society website (http://stabbers.truth.posiweb.net/stabbers.) So, paste that url into your browser and have a listen!

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Pop Pioneer and “Lost Treasures” writer, Peter Marston is the leader of long-running power pop band, Shplang, whose most recent album, “My Big Three Wheeler” has been described as “the Beatles meet Zappa in pop-psych Sumo match.”  Peter has a new project in 2015 under the name MARSTON.   They will have a track on the upcoming “Power Pop Planet – Volume 5” compilation due in February, 2015.

You check it out at this link:  http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/shplang

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LINKS:

WIKIPEDIA – Dudley Moore – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dudley_Moore

WIKIPEDIA – Peter Cook – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Cook

Nice article in the Guardian – http://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/jun/03/one-leg-too-few-peter-cook-dudley-moore-review

VIDEO: 

Funny ad-hoc skit from Cook and Moore “Bo Dudley” – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=btS7-UoK2Oo

Bo Dudley

Goodbyeee