Not one but two firsts this time - not only were The Stargazers the first act to score consecutive number ones with consecutive chart hits, 'I See The Moon' can also go down as the UK's first comedy/novelty chart topper. And after the strait laced, Salvation Army drone of 'Broken Wings', it's a comedic approach that comes as a surprise akin to watching a nun defecate in the gutter.'I See The Moon' derives its humour from its presentation, an anarchic yard sale of drunken barrel house piano and an even drunker choir of raucous, in and out of tune voices and interjects that hang as a neat link on a very British chain that stretches from music hall through to The Goons right up to Monty Python* Ok, maybe I'm being over generous in my comparators there, but one of the most praiseworthy things I can say about this is that I genuinely can't tell if this is all a one take improvisation or if every squawk and clang has been carefully scripted.
I suspect the truth lies somewhere in-between, but in truth it doesn't matter all that much - the end product is the same and your reaction to it will depend solely on your tolerance of strained japery and how much humour you find in a silly voice. I've never been much of a fan of The Goons and their ilk and so for my own part I listened to the first minute or so with open mouthed horror and acute embarrassment on behalf of a group of people labouring under the illusion that they are in any way funny. But as it wears on I'm gradually won over by the flat out left of centre weirdness of it all. We'll have to wait until 'Mouldy Old Dough' before anything quite so odd tops the charts again, and although 'I See The Moon' hasn't aged a tenth as well as Lieutenant Pigeon's tune, it deserves a separate shelf of its own that stands apart from those usually reserved for the 'golden oldies'.
* There was also a contemporary American version of this by The Mariners, but try as I might I can't track a copy down to compare notes.
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