There’s no music now Chas is gone

COCKNEY legend Dave Peacock is too griefstricken to return to music without Chas Hodges.

The singer, 73, is struggling to cope with losing his life-long pal. Chas died from pneumonia last September, aged 74. He had also been suffering from oesophageal cancer.

“It hasn’t properly sunk in that Chas is gone,” said Dave. “We had a special relationship. We had our own language. We could talk to each other with our eyes. We didn’t have to say anything.

“We always said, ‘We aren’t just a band, we’re a way of life’.

“I don’t play professionally now. I haven’t got any permanent ideas about doing stuff musically.”

Chas and Dave met in the Sixties and went on to become one of the most famous duos in pop history.

Dave said: “I was with Chas for 50 years. He played bass when he was 17 and there weren’t many bass guitars in England then.

“He was a great player. He had a great sense of time and a fabulous musical ear. He was just a great bloke.

“And in all the years we were together we only ever had four rehearsals. We hated rehearsing.”

Hits including Gertcha and Rabbit cemented Chas and Dave’s place in music history.

Chas’s legacy lives on in the new Only Fools And Horses musical that opened in the West End last week. He penned songs for it alongside writer Jim Sullivan – the son of the original sitcom’s writer.

Dave saw the show last week and it was an emotional experience hearing his pal’s material.

He said: “It’s great to hear Chas’s songs. He had played me some of them before he died so it was emotional to hear them again.

“But what’s great is Chas is living on through these songs in this musical and also the songs we did together.”