Gertcha
{{Short description|Single by Chas & Dave}}
{{For|the word|wikt:gertcha{{!}}Gertcha at Wiktionary}}
{{Infobox song
| name = Gertcha
| cover = Gertcha cover.jpg
| alt =
| type = single
| artist = Chas & Dave
| album = Don't Give a Monkey's
| released = May 1979
| recorded =
| studio = Portland Studios
| venue =
| genre = Novelty
| length = 3:50
| label = EMI
| writer = {{hlist|Chas Hodges|Dave Peacock}}
| producer =
| prev_title = Strummin'
| prev_year = 1978
| next_title = The Sideboard Song
| next_year = 1979
| misc = {{External music video|{{YouTube|QWMKrhNI_iM|"Gertcha"}}}}
}}
"Gertcha" is a song from Chas & Dave's 1979 album Don't Give a Monkey's, which was released as a single in May 1979 and entered the UK Singles Chart at No. 67.{{cite web|url=https://www.officialcharts.com/search/singles/Gertcha |title=The Official Charts Company - Gertcha by Chas And Dave Search |date=10 August 2013 |publisher=The Official Charts Company }} The song stayed in the charts for 8 weeks and peaked at number No. 20 on 30 June 1979.{{cite web|url=https://www.officialcharts.com/charts/singles-chart/19790624/7501/|title=1979-06-30 Top 40 Official UK Singles Archive|publisher=Official Charts Company|accessdate=6 August 2013}} The song was used as the music behind a notable television commercial for Courage Bitter.{{cite news | url = https://www.theguardian.com/media/2006/jan/17/guardianobituaries.advertising | title = Obituary: John Webster | work = The Guardian |date = January 17, 2006 | accessdate = 2008-06-27 | location=London | first=Winston | last=Fletcher}}
Background
The song is based around an expletive traditionally said in the East End of London when someone is in disbelief of something, or wants to give a mild threat.{{cite news|url=https://www.express.co.uk/entertainment/music/1021562/Chas-Hodges-chas-n-dave-music-musician-pianist-tottenham|title=Gifted Chas loved to keep it simple|newspaper=Daily Express|date=23 September 2018|accessdate=25 September 2018}} According to Chas Hodges, the word is a more polite way of saying "Get out of it you little bastard!" where "get out of it you" becomes contracted to "gertcha".{{cite book |chapter-url= https://books.google.com/books?id=uY5KAAAAQBAJ&pg=PT140 |title=Chas and Dave: All About Us |isbn=9781857828269 |first=Chas |last=Hodges |date=October 2009 |chapter=Chapter 22: Bob England and 'Gertcha!'}} The song was originally titled "Woortcha!" in the first album of Chas & Dave released in 1975, One Fing 'n' Anuvver, but they decided to use "Gertcha" as the title for the single as it was the more commonly used version of the word.{{cite book |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=uY5KAAAAQBAJ |title=Chas and Dave: All About Us |isbn=9781857828269 |first=Chas |last=Hodges |date=October 2009 |chapter=Chapter 20: First Record Deal}}
The song was first written in 1972 or 1973.{{cite web |url=https://theartsdesk.com/new-music/theartsdesk-qa-chas-and-dave |title=theartsdesk Q&A: Chas and Dave |first=Jasper|last= Rees|date= 23 September 2018|work=theartsdesk }} An advertising executive Dave Trott heard the duo performed "Woortcha!" in a pub in the East End in 1978, and decided to use the song for a series of adverts for Courage bitter.{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zSsKAQAAMAAJ |title=The Penguin encyclopedia of popular music |page=239|first=Donald|last= Clarke|publisher=Penguin Books|date= 1998 |isbn=9780140513707 }} The original version in One Fing 'n' Anuvver was slower, and Chas & Dave recorded a short version at a faster tempo so that it may fit into the adverts. The advert was released in early 1979 and became popular, the record label EMI then requested a faster version of the song so that it may be released as a single. The duo re-recorded the song at Portland Studios in London, and the faster version was released as "Gertcha" early May 1979. The song is included in the album Don't Give a Monkey's.
Performance
When Chas & Dave performed the song on Top of the Pops, the BBC producer demanded that they not sing the word "cowson", an old-fashioned swear word meaning "son of a bitch".{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2005/jun/20/popandrock.glastonbury2005|title=Rockney geezers|newspaper=The Guardian|date=20 June 2005|accessdate=25 September 2018}}{{Cite episode |title=Top of the Pops - The Story of 1979 |series=Top of the Pops |series-link=Top of the Pops |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b03mpphw |accessdate=26 December 2019 |network= BBC Television |date=2019-12-23 }} The duo obliged by omitting the word, leaving a brief pause instead (although they did sing it once, in the first instance at the end of the first verse), but only after multiple takes as they kept forgetting not to sing it.
See also
References
{{Reflist}}
{{Chas & Dave}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gertcha}}