It was strange. In November 1972, two Coventry recordings both reached No one in the NME singles charts.
Lieutenant Pigeon's instrumental Mouldy Old Dough reached No 1 October 14th 1972 and remained there for an amazing four weeks until 4th November. At the end of November Chuck Berry's single, My Ding a Ling, recorded live at Tiffany's Ballroom Coventry (now the library) as part of the Lanchester Polytechnic Arts Fest. It reached No 1 on 25th November and remained there for three weeks until 9th Dec 1972. Many students of the Lanch and people from the Coventry scene are on that record.
In the 40 Years of NME Charts it says of these records -
"A novelty instrumental was the month's runaway best-seller. Mouldy Old Dough, which had 'slept' for months before
charting, featured the beaming middle-aged fugure of Hilda Woodard, mother of the group's full time keyboard player Rob Woodward, well to the fornt on TV appearences."
Read Pete Chamber's article on them
"Chuck Berry's My Ding a Ling, his first hit for nearly eight years, topped both the British and US charts and was his all time biggest seller. Recorded in the UK, during a live performance at the Lanchester Arts Festival, this risque audience-participation novelty was despised by many Barry fans, and upset Mrs Whitehouse who tried (without success) to get the BBC to ban it. Chuck merely laughed all the way to the bank."
However I don't think Chuck knew they were going to issue it as a single, or approaved it!
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