Chas & Dave / The Rockney Box 1981-1991 / 9-disc set

Hot on the heels of Demon Music’s rather great Leo Sayer collection Just A Box, comes a similarly styled Chas & Dave anthology called The Rockney Box 1981-1991.

For those unfamiliar with the pop-rock duo, Charles Nicholas “Chas” Hodges and David Victor “Dave” Peacock were exponents of music which combined the pub singalong, music-hall humour, boogie-woogie piano rock ‘n’ roll – a combination that was dubbed ‘rockney’.

The band are probably best known in for their hits Gertcha and Rabbit, although their 1986 ‘love letter’ to the green baize, Snooker Loopy (performed with the ‘Matchroom Mob’!) is also well remembered in the UK.

This box contains eight CDs and a DVD – seven original albums in mini replica sleeves, plus a disc of rarities that includes collaborations with Lonnie Donegan, Clarence ‘Frogman’ Henry and Mike Berry as well as B-Sides, demos, live and TV theme recordings.  The DVD contains promo video clips and the box comes with a booklet containing “extended notes”.

The Rockney Box 1981-1991 is released on 10 February 2014.

• • UK Pre-order: The Rockney Box – 1981 – 1991
• • GERMANY Pre-order: Rockney Box 1981-1991
• • FRANCE Pre-order: Rockney Box 1981-1991