Peter Cook was an English actor, comedian, satirist, playwright and screenwriter, with his oft time partner Dudley Moore they were leading figures of the British satire boom of the 1960s, and he was associated with the anti-establishment comedic movement that emerged in the United Kingdom in the late 1950s. They were two of the four writer-performers in the comedy revue Beyond the Fringe from 1960 that created a boom in satiric comedy, and collaborated on the BBC television series Not Only…But Also. As a popular double act, Moore’s buffoonery contrasted with Cook’s deadpan monologues. They jointly received the 1966 BAFTA for Best Entertainment Performance. They worked together on other projects until the mid 1970s, by which time Moore had settled in Los Angeles to concentrate on his film acting.
“The Ballad of Spotty Muldoon” is a song created by Peter Cook with music played by the Dudley Moore trio. Spotty Muldoon is a fictional character who wore a paper bag over his head to cover his face. The Ballad of Spotty Muldoon was released as a single and reached the Top Forty in 1965. Muldoon featured in Cook’s E.L. Wisty sketches, which he performed with Beyond the Fringe. Muldoon’s regular column in Private Eye offered humorous solutions to readers’ absurd problems.
Peter Cook & Dudley Moore sing Goodbye-ee, on ITV’s Ready Steady Go, in 1965. This was also Cook & Moore’s signature closing song on their BBC TV series, Not Only But Also, little of which now survives, sadly. Cook offered to buy the films of the show but the BBC refused and so olny 8 of the 22 shows are still extant.
“Bo Dudley” is a song created and performed by Cook and Moore. Moore plays a blues musician who sings a version of ‘Papa (Mama) has a Brand New Bag. Cook in his most urbane interviews Moore and explains the lyrics to the viewers in a way that porves that the song has nothing to do with sex. (My apologies for the racism inherent in the explanation but it is of the period.)
“Alan A’Dale” was the subject of a comic song performed on Dudley Moore and Peter Cook’s show, Not Only… But Also in 1965. The lyrics consisted of little more than a repetition of his name. Along with Cook and Moore, the performers were Joe Melia, Bill Wallis and John Wells.
Our last selection, whilst not stricly a comic song, has been included because it one that I remember vividly from the period. Here Mooore is trying to audition for the part of Tarzan whilst only having one leg and Cook is trying gently to suggest that there might be a problem. This performance is from ‘the Secret Policeman’s Ball’ (1979) which raised money for Amnesty International.
