Mouldy Old Dough

Titled after the shock hit that, for a few weeks in September 1972, established Lieutenant Pigeon as the hottest novelty in British radio, Mouldy Old Music is everything you'd expect from three rockers and a piano-playing granny — and nothing like anything else on earth. Though the group's subsequent history might convince you otherwise, "Mouldy Old Dough" was neither the beginning nor the end of the Pigeon's good ideas, and that despite every song apparently revolving around yet another variation of the same drum/whistle/piano routine, punctuated by a gruff, growling hook line. The Jimmy Castor Bunch meets "Ain't That a Shame" surrealism of "And the Fun Goes On," the locomotive breath of "If Julia Sees Her," and the throaty indolence of "Desperate Dan" all pack the same reeling punch as the smash, a good-time packed-up party vibe that clashes mutant Gary Glitter with an album-long "Neanderthal Man," and doesn't care how sick you get of stamping along. Once it starts, you won't be able to stop, no matter how drunk you get. Stay sober, on the other hand, and it will all pale very quickly indeed. Sometimes, one hit single really is enough.