| "Mouldy Old Dough" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single by Lieutenant Pigeon | ||||
| from the album Mouldy Old Music | ||||
| B-side | "The Villain" | |||
| Released | February 1972 | |||
| Recorded | Winter 1971[1] | |||
| Genre | Pub rock[2] | |||
| Length | 2:45 | |||
| Label | Decca | |||
| Songwriter(s) |
| |||
| Producer(s) | Stavely Makepeace | |||
| Lieutenant Pigeon singles chronology | ||||
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"Mouldy Old Dough" is a primarily instrumental song by Lieutenant Pigeon. It reached the number one spot in 1972 on charts in Belgium, the UK, Ireland and New Zealand.
Written by Nigel Fletcher and Rob Woodward and first produced by them under the name of their other band, Stavely Makepeace,[3] it was recorded in the front room of Woodward's semi-detached house in Coventry, and featured his mother Hilda Woodward on piano,[4] in a boogie-woogie, honky-tonk, ragtime style. The only lyrics, 'sung' by Fletcher, are the growled title "Mouldy Old Dough" and "Dirty Old Man". When asked by Fletcher what those words meant, their author, Woodward, said he had no idea.[5]
It is the only British number one single to feature a mother and son.[4]
Originally released in early 1972, it flopped initially. But picked up in Belgium and used on a current affairs programme, it became a hit there, reaching number one in the Belgian singles chart. Decca Records, encouraged by this success, re-released it in the UK, and with the backing of then BBC Radio 1 DJ Noel Edmonds, it became a hit there, and spent four weeks at the top of the UK Singles Chart in October 1972,[6] selling 790,000 copies. In New Zealand, the song was number one for five weeks.[7] The song also reached number one in Ireland and reached the Top 10 in Canada and Australia, but did not chart in the United States.
"Mouldy Old Dough" (the title being an adaptation of the 1920s jazz phrase, "vo-de-o-do")[3] became the second biggest selling UK single of the year, behind The Band of the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards' bagpipe version of "Amazing Grace".
As of April 2019, Hilda Woodward's piano is an exhibit at Coventry Music Museum,[8] where other artefacts belonging to the band are also on display.
- ^ "Mouldy Old Dough (Lieutenant Pigeon)". Jon Kutner. 16 August 2015. Retrieved 5 June 2020.
- ^ Ewing, Tom (3 June 2007). "Lieutenant Pigeon – "Mouldy Old Dough"". Freaky Trigger. Retrieved 11 June 2022.
- ^ 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.
- ^ a b Roberts, David (2001). British Hit Singles (14th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 43. ISBN 0-85156-156-X.
- ^ Gittins, Ian (2007). Top of the Pops: Mishaps, Miming, and Music. BBC Books. p. 78. ISBN 978-1-84607-327-4.
- ^ Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 321. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
- ^ "Flavour of New Zealand, 5 February 1973". Flavourofnz.co.nz. Retrieved 30 October 2023.
- ^ "From the home of Lieutenant Pigeon ... MOULDY OLD DOUGH". Coventry Music Museum. n.d. (exhibit item description). Archived from the original on 23 October 2022.