"Margate" is a song from the album ''
Job Lot'' by
Chas & Dave
Chas & Dave (often billed as Chas 'n' Dave) were a British pop rock duo, formed in London by Chas Hodges and Dave Peacock. Hodges died in 2018.
They were most notable as creators and performers of a musical style labelled ''rockney'' (a port ...
. It was released as a
single
Single may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
* Single (music), a song release
Songs
* "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004
* "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008
* "Single" (William Wei song), 2016
* "Single", by ...
on 11 July 1982 and entered the
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...
at number 67. The song stayed in the charts for 4 weeks and peaked at number 46 on 24 July 1982.
Composition
As depicted in the accompanying video, the song is about a coach trip to the traditional
seaside attractions of
Margate
Margate is a seaside resort, seaside town on the north coast of Kent in south-east England. The town is estimated to be 1.5 miles long, north-east of Canterbury and includes Cliftonville, Garlinge, Palm Bay, UK, Palm Bay and Westbrook, Kent, ...
in Kent. Unusually, the verse and chorus are in different keys (D major and G major respectively).
The song was used in a series of adverts for
Courage Best Bitter, however, unlike other Chas & Dave songs also used for other Courage adverts, the song was written specifically for the advert first. The advertising agency requested that Chas & Dave write a song for their adverts using the tune from the chorus of their song "Massage Parlour", but with lyrics about a trip to Margate. The advert proved popular, and Chas & Dave then wrote the full lyrics for the song, recorded and released it as a single.
B-side
In a contrasting style the B-side ''Give it Gavotte'' is an instrumental, based on the
Gavotte
The gavotte (also gavot, gavote, or gavotta) is a French dance, taking its name from a folk dance of the Gavot, the people of the Pays de Gap region of Dauphiné in the southeast of France, where the dance originated, according to one source. Ac ...
folk dance style from France.
In other media
It is used in the popular ''
Only Fools & Horses
''Only Fools and Horses....'' is a British television sitcom created and written by John Sullivan (writer), John Sullivan. Seven series were originally broadcast on BBC One in the United Kingdom from 1981 to 1991, with sixteen sporadic Christmas ...
'' episode "
The Jolly Boys' Outing
"The Jolly Boys' Outing" is the eighth Christmas special episode of the BBC sitcom ''Only Fools and Horses'', first screened on 25 December 1989. Despite being aired as a Christmas special, it is set on an August bank holiday weekend, and sees De ...
" (1989) with minor lyric changes from the single version and the voices of David Jason and Nicholas Lyndhurst added.
Charts
See also
*
Chas & Dave discography
References
1982 singles
Chas & Dave songs
Kent in fiction
Margate
Novelty songs
1982 songs
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