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

Tony Iommi of Black Sabbath, Heaven And Hell

Tony Iommi of Black Sabbath, Heaven And HellSongwriter Interviews

Guitarist Tony Iommi on the "Iron Man" riff, the definitive Black Sabbath song, and how Ozzy and Dio compared as songwriters.

Maxi Priest

Maxi PriestSongwriter Interviews

The British reggae legend tells the story of his #1 hit "Close To You," talks about his groundbreaking Shabba Ranks collaboration "Housecall," and discusses his latest project with Robin Trower.

They Might Be Giants

They Might Be GiantsSongwriter Interviews

Who writes a song about a name they found in a phone book? That's just one of the everyday things these guys find to sing about. Anything in their field of vision or general scope of knowledge is fair game. If you cross paths with them, so are you.

Dexys (Kevin Rowland and Jim Paterson)

Dexys (Kevin Rowland and Jim Paterson)Songwriter Interviews

"Come On Eileen" was a colossal '80s hit, but the band - far more appreciated in their native UK than stateside - released just three albums before their split. Now, Dexys is back.

Glen Burtnik

Glen BurtnikSongwriter Interviews

On Glen's résumé: hit songwriter, Facebook dominator, and member of Styx.

John Kay of Steppenwolf

John Kay of SteppenwolfSongwriter Interviews

Steppenwolf frontman John Kay talks about "Magic Carpet Ride," "Born To Be Wild," and what he values more than awards and accolades.