Chas and Dave might had caught national popularity in the early 1980s but they had been in the music scene since the early 1960s in individual bands and supported The Beatles, Jerry Lee Lewis but their desire to sing in their own voices rather in mid Atlantic accents led to a coming together with a mix of skiffle and music hall.
Whereas ska band Madness emerged in the late 1970s and became hip and cool with their observations of London family life, Chas and Dave have always been more down the pub and one step away from being a novelty act. I guess despite their protestations on BBCs Breakfast Time when they came on wearing Doc Martins, braces and caps in order to be proper cockney geezers, it did look like an act suggested by their management simply because in this documentary they are looking smarter, older and more themselves.
This documentary was made as a tribute to the duo who were calling it quits but has since regrouped. Its also important to stress that their drummer is an important part of the band. We get to hear their life stories, how they got into music and became a band and got success. In the 1980s they were a regular fixture on television with the Rockney pub singalongs but have been less high profile for some years.
Here they get their due respect as musicians from fellow professionals, they have toured widely and have a cult following. Maybe fellow Londoners, Madness will always have the edge simply because their songs seems to be timeless with ditties such as Our House and Baggy Trousers enticing a new generation when they are still young something you are never going to get with songs such as Snooker Loopy!