Chas Hodges 1943-2018 : Recorded November 2015

Devastating news broke on Saturday that Chas Hodges of Chas & Dave passed away, aged 74. Chas appeared twice on The StageLeft Podcast in November 2015.

I remember thinking I couldn't believe it that Chas agreed to come on. We had to record it twice, as I messed up the recording the first time round. Chas was an absolute gent about the whole thing and gave up another 45mins of his time to talk about his difficult childhood & writing Ain't No Pleasing You. One of the moments that stuck with me was that he felt the reason he became so effective at writing songs to put a smile on your face, was that it was those types of songs he learned on piano as child as he was trying to cheer up his mum and their household who were still coming to terms with the tragedy of Chas' father taking his life when Chas was 3. From there he always knew how he could write and play music that could put a smile on someone's face, however they were feeling. 

He was the sound of London, a brilliant pianist and an underrated songwriting talent. 

RIP Chas