Hugh Lloyd and Bill Pertwee - Uncles/ Friends and Neighbours

Legendary British actors josh musically about their familial responsibilities

Label: Spark
Year of Release: 1971

Novelty singles involving children were something of a phenomenon throughout the seventies and eighties in the UK, and most of them were pretty damn grim. "There's No-one Quite Like Grandma" is traditionally near the top of the tree when people are asked to vote on the worst singles of all time, along with "Grandad", "The Sparrow", "It's Orrible Being In Love When You're Eight and an Half" and the festering sludge of kiddie-flops that lay beneath the hard outer crust of that particular cowpat.

And while we're on the topic of flops... this is one such. It's a recording by the British actors Hugh Lloyd and Bill Pertwee backed by their "nephews and nieces" (except in reality, of course it wasn't - these were all handpicked children getting their first taste of showbiz). While it's had a kicking online over the years, nobody has actually been kind enough to upload it so we can all hear what it sounds like.  Seems like a job for me, doesn't it?

Surprisingly though, it turns out to be gentle, humorous fare which won't gain many repeat listens from anyone, but will raise a few smiles along the way. Lloyd and Pertwee play the roles of clueless bachelor duffers to perfection, coming across like carefree tweedy men for whom a walk in the park with their extended family is a kind of exhausting bliss. It's easy to picture them fishing sweets out of their pockets with a friendly nod while laughing gently at the chaos around them, proper gents of the Werther's Original persuasion. 

While I would certainly have a more irritable view of this single if it had been a hit and I'd had to hear it fifty times, in truth there was never much danger of that. Unlike Mums, Dads, loveable grandparents and even affectionate Aunties, Uncles have seldom enjoyed a lot of public recognition. Peter and Gordon's slightly Mulligan and O'Hare-esque track "Uncle Hartington" probably more effectively sums up the popular view of an eccentric middle aged man who tends to add little to his nephew's lives and clutters up the place when he visits. Maybe we all need to hire a PR company to improve our lot.

Inevitably, this record was seldom heard at the time despite the star turns of Lloyd and Pertwee, and seems to have slipped off the radar of even the keenest Dad's Army fan since. It mattered very little to either gentleman, though - both remained highly successful and recognisable actors who would have long careers. 

If the previews below aren't working properly, please go right to the source.