David Victor Peacock is an English musician and bass guitarist. He was raised in Ponders End and the Freezywater areas of Enfield. Peacock is best known as having been one half of the English musical duoChas & Dave between 1974 and the death of Chas Hodges in 2018.
Career
Earlier in his career in the 1960s, Peacock was in a group called the Rolling Stones, as well as The Tumbleweeds, and worked with Mick Greenwood and Jerry Donahue. He met Chas Hodges in 1963 when he and his friend gave Hodges a lift home, and became friends when they found they had similar taste in music. Later in the late 1960s they became part of a group called Black Claw together with Harvey Hinsley and Mick Burt, and recorded tracks with Albert Lee. Black Claw was short-lived, and Peacock left to join a country and western band, while Hodges joined Heads Hands & Feet in 1970.
In 1972, Peacock and Hodges decided to form a band together which would be the beginning of Chas & Dave. In their early years, they also recorded as Oily Rags with Gerry Hogan and Ian Wallace, and releasing a self-titled album in 1974. They also worked as session musicians and recorded with a number of artists, and recorded an album with Oliver Nelson. Both played on Labi Siffre's album Remember My Song in 1975. Eminem would later sample a riff from the song "I Got The" on his 1999 hit "My Name Is". One of the early songs Peacock and Hodges wrote together, "Gertcha", would become a hit in 1979 after it was used in a television advert for Couragebitter. They would have a number of hit songs together, including "Rabbit" and "Ain't No Pleasing You". They also recorded a number of songs with Tottenham Hotspur F.C., both being fans of the team; the first song they wrote for the club, "Ossie's Dream", was largely written by Peacock. In 2009, following the death of his wife Sue, Peacock announced his retirement from performing with Chas & Dave. However, in 2010 the band announced a tour for the following year. They also played their "Christmas Jamboree" at the IndigO2 on 23 and 24 December 2011 and 8 December 2012. After this they had a "Back by Demand" tour of the UK between 28 February and 16 May 2013. The double act ended with Hodges' death from pneumonia on 22 September 2018.
