Derek and Clive was a character
double act
A double act (also known as a comedy duo) is a form of comedy originating in the British music hall tradition, and American vaudeville, in which two comedians perform together as a single act, often highlighting differences in their characters' ...
created by
Dudley Moore
Dudley Stuart John Moore (19 April 193527 March 2002) was an English actor, comedian, musician and composer. He first came to prominence in the UK as a leading figure in the British satire boom of the 1960s. He was one of the four writer-perf ...
(Derek) and
Peter Cook
Peter Edward Cook (17 November 1937 – 9 January 1995) was an English comedian, actor, satirist, playwright and screenwriter. He was the leading figure of the British satire boom of the 1960s, and he was associated with the anti-establishmen ...
(Clive) in the 1970s. The performances were captured on the records ''
Derek and Clive (Live)'' (1976), ''
Derek and Clive Come Again'' (1977), and ''
Derek and Clive Ad Nauseam'' (1978), as well as in a film documentary, ''
Derek and Clive Get the Horn'' (1979). Upon release, more than 100,000 copies of
Derek and Clive (Live) were sold in the United Kingdom.
A
greatest hits album
A greatest hits album or best-of album is a type of compilation album that collects popular and commercially successful songs by a particular artist or band. While greatest hits albums are typically supported by the artist, they can also be creat ...
containing some previously unreleased material, called ''
Rude & Rare: The Best of Derek and Clive'', was released in 2011. The characters are foul-mouthed extensions of the earlier characters
Pete and Dud
Pete and Dud were characters played by the comedians and entertainers Peter Cook and Dudley Moore.
The dialogue format originated in 1964 when Dudley Moore invited Peter Cook to appear in a television performance. Cook scripted a conversation be ...
.
Considered highly offensive by many at the time, the sketches primarily took the form of bizarre, sometime drunken streams of consciousness led by Cook, with interjections from Moore. Memorable moments from the records include Clive claiming that the worst job he ever had was retrieving
lobster
Lobsters are Malacostraca, malacostracans Decapoda, decapod crustaceans of the family (biology), family Nephropidae or its Synonym (taxonomy), synonym Homaridae. They have long bodies with muscular tails and live in crevices or burrows on th ...
s from
Jayne Mansfield
Jayne Mansfield (born Vera Jayne Palmer; April 19, 1933 – June 29, 1967) was an American actress, ''Playboy'' Playmate, and sex symbol of the 1950s and early 1960s. She was known for her numerous publicity stunts and open personal life. He ...
's arsehole, Derek claiming his worst job was cleaning up
Winston Churchill
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 1874 – 24 January 1965) was a British statesman, military officer, and writer who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1940 to 1945 (Winston Churchill in the Second World War, ...
's bogeys (leading the pair to conclude that the ''
Titanic
RMS ''Titanic'' was a British ocean liner that sank in the early hours of 15 April 1912 as a result of striking an iceberg on her maiden voyage from Southampton, England, to New York City, United States. Of the estimated 2,224 passengers a ...
'' was one such bogey), Clive claiming that he was sexually aroused by the sight of a deceased
Pope
The pope is the bishop of Rome and the Head of the Church#Catholic Church, visible head of the worldwide Catholic Church. He is also known as the supreme pontiff, Roman pontiff, or sovereign pontiff. From the 8th century until 1870, the po ...
lying in state, Derek's account of a stranger accosting him and the ensuing profanity-laden conversation between them, followed by Clive's reminiscence of viciously assaulting a man who had said "Hello" to him at a football match, and a horse-racing 'commentary' featuring horses given the names of sexual organs, often in their vulgar forms.
Though the recordings were far too crude for a mainstream audience, Derek and Clive
bootleg recording
A bootleg recording is an audio or video recording of a performance not officially released by the artist or under other legal authority. Making and distributing such recordings is known as ''bootlegging''. Recordings may be copied and traded ...
s circulated. They were mostly unscripted dialogues incorporating copious swearing – including frequent use of the word "
cunt
"Cunt" () is a vulgar word for the vulva in its primary sense, and it is used in a variety of ways, including as a term of disparagement. "Cunt" is often used as a disparaging and obscene term for a woman in the United States, an unpleas ...
".
Characters
The characters, supposedly two
lavatory attendants (although in one sketch, 'Back of the Cab', they play the roles of two London taxi drivers) first surfaced in the mid-1970s.
Development of the show
Cook and Moore were performing on
Broadway with their revue show ''Good Evening'', a live version of their television series ''
Not Only... But Also''. The relationship between the two men had become strained as a result of Cook's worsening
alcoholism
Alcoholism is the continued drinking of alcohol despite it causing problems. Some definitions require evidence of dependence and withdrawal. Problematic use of alcohol has been mentioned in the earliest historical records. The World He ...
. To reassure Moore, Cook hired a recording studio in New York, where the two could simply relax, drink and ad-lib. The resulting recording was padded out with live performances of old favourites, such as "Bo Duddley", and began to circulate as ''Derek and Clive (Live)''.
Cook became bemused at the idea that they should not be making money from the increasing popularity of Derek and Clive, and suggested to Moore that the recording should be released officially. By this point, Moore had embarked on a successful
Hollywood
Hollywood usually refers to:
* Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California
* Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States
Hollywood may also refer to:
Places United States
* Hollywood District (disambiguation)
* Hollywood ...
film career and found the tapes embarrassing, until he too realised his contemporaries were fans.
Two more records were made. They were less like dialogues and more like vindictive attacks on the increasingly successful Moore by Cook, whose career had stalled somewhat in comparison. One such merciless assault was in a
cancer
Cancer is a group of diseases involving Cell growth#Disorders, abnormal cell growth with the potential to Invasion (cancer), invade or Metastasis, spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Po ...
-themed diatribe when Cook was fully aware that Moore had recently lost his father to the disease. The same love-hate relationship between them is evident in the ''
Derek and Clive Get the Horn'' movie.
It is often mistakenly assumed that all of their releases were recorded while under the influence of alcohol. While this can be presumed of "Come Again" – where the sounds of bottles can be heard in the background, featuring some tracks where both Cook and Moore are slurring their words – the home video release of ''
Derek and Clive Get the Horn'' shows a very sober-looking Cook and Moore drinking
coffee
Coffee is a beverage brewed from roasted, ground coffee beans. Darkly colored, bitter, and slightly acidic, coffee has a stimulating effect on humans, primarily due to its caffeine content, but decaffeinated coffee is also commercially a ...
and
water
Water is an inorganic compound with the chemical formula . It is a transparent, tasteless, odorless, and Color of water, nearly colorless chemical substance. It is the main constituent of Earth's hydrosphere and the fluids of all known liv ...
throughout. During the filming, a prank was played upon Cook and Moore by
Richard Branson
Sir Richard Charles Nicholas Branson (born 18 July 1950) is an English business magnate who co-founded the Virgin Group in 1970, and controlled 5 companies remaining of once more than 400.
Branson expressed his desire to become an entrepreneu ...
where '
police
The police are Law enforcement organization, a constituted body of Law enforcement officer, people empowered by a State (polity), state with the aim of Law enforcement, enforcing the law and protecting the Public order policing, public order ...
' arrive and suspiciously sniff the contents of an ash tray to the dismay of the unnerved and wary pair.
Later CD releases of ''Come Again'' and ''Ad Nauseam'' featured out-takes. Most were recorded during the ''Ad Nauseam'' sessions. Surreal at times, these included "Mother" – featured on ''
Derek and Clive Get the Horn'' – where Cook pretends to visit his over-possessive and deranged mother, ending with Cook telling his mother to "shut your fucking face and die". "Valerie's Hymen," where Moore discussed cutting out his wife's hymen with a carving knife, and "Lady Vera Fart Teller", wherein Moore elaborates on a visit to a fortune teller who could tell his future by examining his
farts.
Transcripts of further, unreleased, out-takes are available in a book titled ''Come Again'', edited by William Cook and feature "General
Eisenhower
Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower (born David Dwight Eisenhower; October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969) was the 34th president of the United States, serving from 1953 to 1961. During World War II, he was Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionar ...
", where Cook reflects on the perils of counting the late General's dandruff flakes; "Vietnam", where Moore received a paper cut inflicted by the
Viet Cong
The Viet Cong (VC) was an epithet and umbrella term to refer to the communist-driven armed movement and united front organization in South Vietnam. It was formally organized as and led by the National Liberation Front of South Vietnam, and ...
(in one insightful remark Cook mentions a "friend" of his who fought in
Vietnam
Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...
but he's not sure "on which side"), and "A Million Pounds", where Cook plays an hysterical woman trying to obtain a million pounds from a sympathetic Moore. The remaining unreleased out-takes are variations on actual releases.
The "Bo Duddley" sketch as it appears on ''Derek and Clive (Live)'' was sampled on the song "
Voodoo Ray" by
A Guy Called Gerald
Gerald Rydel Simpson (born 1967), better known as A Guy Called Gerald, is a British record producer and musician. He was an early member of the electronic group 808 State, contributing to their debut LP '' Newbuild'' (1988) and hit single " ...
.
Discography
Albums
* ''
Derek and Clive (Live)'' (1976)
* ''
Derek and Clive Come Again'' (1977)
* ''
Derek and Clive Ad Nauseam'' (1978)
Compilation
* ''
Rude & Rare: The Best of Derek and Clive'' (2011)
Videography
* ''
Derek and Clive Get the Horn'' (1979, documentary)
References
External links
Derek and Clive – transcripts
{{Authority control
English comedy duos
Comedy theatre characters
Theatre characters introduced in 1976
Male characters in theatre
Theatre controversies
Fictional British people
Dudley Moore
Peter Cook