Too Old / Such A Beauty by Clive Dunn

Originally Released: Parlophone Records (P) 1962
Cat No: R 4873
Mono

SIDE A:
Clive Dunn - Too Old
(Took/Feldman)

SIDE B:
Clive Dunn - Such A Beauty
(Dunn/Hall)

with accompaniment directed by Johnnie Spence.

Produced by George Martin.

This single was released in April 1962 and tied in with Clive's role as Old Johnson in the ITV sitcom Bootsy and Snudge.

The A-side is recorded in the character of Johnson and starts with an amusing spoken word intro with
Johnson in the studio recording the song who starts off attempting to sing an uptempo rock 'n' roll number but quickly changes to an old fashioned style slow ballad more in keeping with the character.

It ends with an anonymous female voice shouting 'Saucy', which sounds remarkably like Pamela Cundell, which if it is true would be a remarkable coincidence!

The song was written by Barry Took, Marty Feldman (who of course went on to write Round The Horne and other somedy shows), and George Martin who also produced it . Martin had also worked with Peter Sellers and six months later produced the first Beatles single.

The B-side is about a man who builds a rocket in his back garden which gets him into trouble because of its size. Whilst cashing in on the (then) current trend for rockets and space travel, it's also a cheeky song full of double-entendres and phallic references.

According to Clive the song was banned by the BBC which was probably because it was a tie in with an ITV show, although it could just as easily be because of the B-side's saucy lyrics.

Sadly unlike many other contemporary comedy songs by Peter Sellers, Bernard Cribbens and Charlie Drake, this song always seemed to escape being included on EMI comedy song compilations, probably because it didn't get in the Top 40. And the fact that it didn't sell many copies makes it quite hard to find today.

David Noades