❉ Stop the pigeon! Huw Thomas has a knees-up with Coventry’s most unlikely pop sensation.
“The Lieutenant Pigeon story begins with Stavely Makepeace, an experimental project devised by friends Rob Woodward and Nigel Fletcher. Taking direct inspiration from the work of Joe Meek, they released a string of brilliant flops on various labels beginning in 1969 and specialised in what they called the “scrap iron sound”, a lumpy musical world of swollen drums, fuzzy guitar and pub piano.”
There are many great pop records that sound like they were recorded in someone’s front room. Only one British chart-topper was. When they recorded the multi-million selling Mouldy Old Dough in 1972, Coventry group Lieutenant Pigeon comprised three twenty-something tape geeks playing guitar, bass, drums, tin whistle, anything and the guitarist’s mother Hilda providing rinky-dink piano. The hit was as bizarre as it was unforgettable – Mrs Mills meets Joe Meek. Not only were Lieutenant Pigeon’s records home-brewed, their publicity photos had them sitting in the Woodwards’ front room on 25 Kingsway, musical instruments and Oasis floral foam presumably just out of view. The work of this most unique of pop groups has been collected for the first time in Chery Red’s new 2CD set Lieutenant Pigeon: The Decca Years.
The Lieutenant Pigeon story begins with Stavely Makepeace, an experimental project devised by friends Rob Woodward and Nigel Fletcher. Taking direct inspiration from the work of Joe Meek, they released a string of brilliant flops on various labels beginning in 1969 and specialised in what they called the “scrap iron sound”, a lumpy musical world of swollen drums, fuzzy guitar and pub piano. Bassist Steven Johnson joined in 1970. By 1971, the core trio needed another project for their more novelty impulses and Lieutenant Pigeon was born, existing alongside Staveley Makepeace in an arrangement “rather like a Coventry version of Funkadelic and Parliament”, according to Bob Stanley’s expert liner notes on this set. When Mouldy Old Dough became a sleeper hit in late 1972, Lieutenant Pigeon became the unlikely priority. They toured the world, and 58-year-old Hilda Woodward became a novelty herself.
Disc 1 of The Decca Years begins with the group’s first album, Mouldy Old Music, released following their chart success. It’s a departure from the genre-hopping Stavely Makepeace material as few of the tracks deviate from the sedentary style of the hit, but this isn’t your standard Russ Conway job. In its opening moments, the album seems to taunt you for buying it, with a raspy voice declaring “Mouldy old music! Hahahahahahahaha!”. What follows is like a 37-minute private joke, from the excruciating chipmunk waltz The Monkey Song to a rowdy cover of Yellow Submarine. The strangest moment by far is Opus 300, a Dadaist sequence with few lyrics (“mother” and “get your shoes from the menders and don’t be late”) that must be heard to be believed.
The album’s most infectious track is also its most noxious. Dirty Old Man, as the title suggests, is a menacing ditty from the perspective of an old pervert (“Dirty old man, I’m a dirty old man, don’t want an old hag with **** that sag”). Who was this album for? No doubt plenty of parents bought it for their children, egged on by the anthropomorphic pigeon on the cover. Mouldy old faux instrumentals like Jumping Jack are the only real dampener here. As is the case with the only album by the recently departed Napoleon XIV (whose They’re Coming to Take Me Away, Ha-Haaa! may be an inspiration for Mouldy Old Dough), Mouldy Old Music somewhat blunts its hit with weaker variations on the same idea. Well, they did warn me.
On their second album, Pigeon Pie, the group let more rock elements seep into their sound. Opener Happy Days are Here Again sounds like Slade on a school night, while glam stomper …And the Fun Goes On features a razor-sharp guitar sound. Another rave-up, Aggravation, seems to be based on Staveley Makepeace’s near-hit Edna (Let Me Sing My Beautiful Song) and features some very nifty playing from Hilda.
The album’s pop moments are stronger than on the previous album, especially The Bed and the bouncy Meet Me Off the Royal Scot. The cod-reggae Creativity may be a love song, but its lyric seems to speak to Lieutenant Pigeon’s DIY ethos. Still, the group are never too far away from a bit of titillation – You’re Getting Too Old for Toys mixes a typical Pigeon instrumental with a sly monologue about losing one’s innocence (“I’d got myself a girl at last/and they’re much more fun than toys”).
The second disc of The Decca Years begins with Lieutenant Pigeon’s third and final full-length, on which they veer closer to Mrs Mills than ever before. Pigeon Party offers up a generous helping of oldies – I’ll Take You Home Again Kathleen, In the Mood, Those Were the Days – with a whiff of desperation. However, unlike many party albums of the period, this does sound like genuine fun. The Midnight Swim is littered with distorted whoops and hollers and the group refuse to rock or roll on an oompah version of Great Balls of Fire. They’ve even cut out the bawdy humour; there’s nothing rude about an Elvis take-off called Love Inflation, thank you very much. The highlights include After the Discotheque is Over, a neat McCartney-like original, and closer Goodnight to You All, a quasi-religious instrumental that is truly lovely.
Various madcap B-sides and rarities make up the rest of Disc 2. There’s clattering oddity The Villain, the shuffling Strauss rejig The Blue Danube andThe Grand Father Clock, an update on the old music hall tune that sounds straight from I Hear a New World. The set ends with a new recording celebrating Lieutenant Pigeon’s 50th anniversary. Hilda and Steven Johnson have died, but surviving members Rob Woodward and Nigel Fletcher prove there’s life in the old pigeon yet on Home on the Rage.
Overall, The Decca Years doesn’t quite have the variety of The Scrap Iron Rhythm Revue, Bob Stanley’s 2004 compilation of the Staveley Makepeace material, but it’s a welcome complete picture of a group rarely given their due. Stanley’s liner notes are indispensable, especially considering the relative scarcity of information about the group, and the likes of Opus 300, Meet Me Off the Royal Scot and The Grand Father Clock prove that Pigeon Street is just off 304 Holloway Road and opposite Strawberry Studios.
In 2022, a blue plaque was unveiled upon 25 Kingsway to mark its significance as the recording location of the first number one by a Coventry group. Hilda’s mouldy old piano is now on display at Coventry Music Museum. I like to think Robert and Nigel have got copies of The Decca Years themselves and are having a good laugh about what they achieved. The rest of us can marvel at their sideways vision on these two discs and wonder how pop ever sounded like this.
❉ Lieutenant Pigeon: ‘The Decca Years’ 2CD 48-track set (7Ts Records GLAMCDD194) was released 20 January 2023 by Cherry Red Group, RRP £12.99. Click here to order directly from Cherry Red Records. Cherry Red Records have been releasing and reissuing the most innovative and independent thinking music since 1978. Follow them on Twitter or visit their site.
❉ Huw Thomas is a musician and writer from Radnorshire, Wales. His special interests include Northern Irish band Cruella De Ville, Cardiacs, Back to the Egg and Oh No It’s Selwyn Froggitt. He tweets as @huwareyou.