Derren Litten

A superfluity of cds arrived through the post today. A vast range of styles and genres that make up my car crash musical taste. Complete Madness - Madness, Beyond The Sea The Best of Bobby Darin, Surprise - Paul Simon, The History Boys - Alan Bennett (something to listen to on long journeys in the car), The Best of Acker Bilk, The Definitive Jimmy Scott and, wait for it, The Best of Chas and Dave. Now, not that I need to defend any subsection of my musical taste (Christ alive, if I did I would be writing this all night) but I feel I must explain. Last year one of the sketches I wrote for The Catherine Tate Christmas Show was for The Old Woman character with Charlotte Church. Catherine had the brilliant idea to have Chas and Dave play after the old woman's line, "What a load of old shit" (re Ms Church's singing). So on the day of recording during the rehearsal at BBC TV Centre Chas and Dave walk in. Pandemonium. Everyone over 30 (and that very much includes me) was running around saying, "Chas and Dave! It's THE Chas and Dave!". Poor Charlotte Church (who had been there most of the morning) didn't have a clue who Chas and Dave were and must have thought two tramps had wandered in off Wood Lane (sartorial elegance is not the overriding impression one gets when meeting C & D). So we rehearsed and danced to C & D play "The Sideboard Song" and the memory of every party my parents ever had in their house came flooding back. A few weeks after the recording a load of us from the show went to see Chas and Dave at The Shepherds Bush Empire. We had an amazing night; in the circle were stood we could see the incredible cross section of people that make up the C & D fan base. Below us, the stalls seats had been taken out and there were rowdy football fans moshing and throwing their beer over each other to songs such as 'Margate', 'Gertcha' and 'Rabbit'. Seated in the circle there were an incredible mix of fans from Oxbridge-looking students with their glasses, corduroy jackets and long scarves to a woman who must have been at least 85 who sat throughout with her coat on and handbag on her knee singing the lyrics to every song. The finale was the legendary "Aint No Pleasing You" (legendary in our house anyway) with Me, Matt Horne and Catherine Tate with our respective partners in a long line arms around each others waists with Chas and Dave's wives and their kids all singing and dancing to two blokes who are sometimes considered by the uninitiated a bit of a joke. Well I for one had one of the best nights of my life. No joke.