Album: Derek and Clive (Live) (1976)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • "Jump," also known as "Jump, You F--ker," is a comedy song about a man who is perched in an upper-story window during a fire. Urged to jump into a blanket by the crowd below, he jumps and breaks his neck, the joke being there was no blanket.

    With the banking crash of the first decade of the 21st century, this joke was revived by performers on both sides of the Atlantic, with the transformation of the victim into a banker.
  • Derek and Clive are the comedy duo of Dudley Moore (1935-2002) and Peter Cook (1937-95).
    Moore, known as an actor, was a talented jazz pianist and composer who had worked with Cleo Lane, among others; as a youth he was awarded a scholarship to study music at Oxford.

    Peter Cook attended that other renowned British university, Cambridge. Once described bizarrely by the actor Stephen Fry as "the funniest man who ever drew breath," he teamed up with Moore to form Derek and Clive in the mid-'70s.
  • In 1976, Peter Cook and Dudley Moore released an album of this sort of humour, though it was never intended for release. Derek and Clive (Live) started as a private joke in 1973, but when bootlegs began appearing, the not-so-dynamic duo decided not unreasonably that they might as well jump on their own bandwagon, and, adding some live material to the album, released it commercially. Whatever did we do before the Internet? >>>
    Suggestion credit:
    Alexander Baron - London, England, for all above

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Supertramp founder Roger Hodgson

Supertramp founder Roger HodgsonSongwriter Interviews

Roger tells the stories behind some of his biggest hits, including "Give a Little Bit," "Take the Long Way Home" and "The Logical Song."

Dave Edmunds

Dave EdmundsSongwriter Interviews

A renowned guitarist and rock revivalist, Dave took "I Hear You Knocking" to the top of the UK charts and was the first to record Elvis Costello's "Girls Talk."

Jesus Thinks You're a Jerk: Rock vs. Televangelists

Jesus Thinks You're a Jerk: Rock vs. TelevangelistsSong Writing

When televangelists like Jimmy Swaggart took on rockers like Ozzy Osbourne and Metallica, the rockers retaliated. Bono could even be seen mocking the preachers.

Justin Timberlake

Justin TimberlakeFact or Fiction

Was Justin the first to be Punk'd by Ashton Kutcher? Did Britney really blame him for her meltdown? Did his bandmates think he was gay?

Chris Robinson of The Black Crowes

Chris Robinson of The Black CrowesSongwriter Interviews

"Great songwriters don't necessarily have hit songs," says Chris. He's written a bunch, but his fans are more interested in the intricate jams.

Women Who Rock

Women Who RockSong Writing

Evelyn McDonnell, editor of the book Women Who Rock, on why the Supremes are just as important as Bob Dylan.