Hilda Woodward
Hilda Woodward (nee McCutchion, 1913 – 22 February 1999) was a British musician from Coventry. She is best known for playing the piano on the hit song "Mouldy Old Dough", by the band Lieutenant Pigeon.[1]
Early life
[edit]Woodward was born in Coventry, Warwickshire in 1913. She was raised in the former Canal Tavern pub, at the Coventry Canal Basin.[2] During the 1960s, Woodward worked as a shorthand typist at Jaguar and performed in the evenings as the resident pianist at the Stoke Ex-Servicemen's Club.[1] She also played on occasion with the Guildhall Operatic Society.[1] Woodward then married, had children and worked as a music teacher in Coventry.[3]
Lieutenant Pigeon
[edit]Woodward's son Rob Woodward managed and fronted the band Lieutenant Pigeon, also playing the piano, guitar, tin whistle, and providing vocals. Other members were Nigel Fletcher on drums and Steven Johnson on bass.[4] Woodward allowed the band to use her living room for rehearsals and as a recording studio,[5] and was recruited to play piano and keyboard for the band.[6]
In 1972, the band recorded "Mouldy Old Dough" in the living room studio, with Woodward playing a honky-tonk style on the piano.[6] It was released by Decca Records as a single.[1] The song became a novelty hit in Belgium, where it was being used as a TV news theme,[1] then reached number one in the UK singles chart.[7] It is the only British number one single to ever feature a mother and son and was the first song by a Coventry band to top that chart.[7]
At the height of the songs success, Woodward became one of the oldest people to appear on the TV show Top of the Pops.[8] The band followed "Mouldy Old Dough" with other songs and albums, such as "Goodbye" and "Desperate Dan", but none were as successful as their unexpected pop anthem. They did continue to tour, with the last performance of the original line-up, including Woodward, in Luxembourg during 1978.[1]
Pete Chambers of the Coventry Music Museum has said about the song and Woodward that "it remains the only number one record to feature a mother and son in its line-up. Indeed, pianist Hilda Woodward, already in her sixties at the time, gave the band another angle of curiosity (if another one was needed) she also gave the band her front room to use as a studio."[3]
Lieutenant Pigeon drummer and vocalist Nigel Fletcher had said that: “Hilda Woodward was reluctant to join in on her son’s novelty/instrumental band Lieutenant Pigeon. She always felt that the generation gap would have made her into something of an outsider. However, when she realised how welcoming everyone was when she appeared with the group, she much enjoyed being loved by everyone. In fact she never ever regretted her time in the limelight. No one had a bad word to say about Hilda. She was good fun and had a wonderful sense of humour".[6]
Death
[edit]Woodward died from pneumonia and chest complications at Walsgrave Hospital, Coventry, aged 85.[2]
Legacy
[edit]Her piano has been housed in the collection of the Coventry Music Museum since 2019.[9] A blue plaque was unveiled above the front door of Woodward's former home in Coventry in 2022.[3]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d e f Lockley, Mike (27 May 2021). "Hilda, 60, was the unlikeliest of chart stars". Coventry Evening Telegraph. Retrieved 8 November 2024.
- ^ a b Pring, John (24 February 1999). "Hilda, 85, dies with a hit song on her lips". Coventry Evening Telegraph. Retrieved 8 November 2024.
- ^ a b c Thompson, Danny (26 February 2022). "Plaque to mark 50 years since first UK number 1 single by Coventry band". Coventry Live. Retrieved 8 November 2024.
- ^ "Lieutenant Pigeon Songs, Albums, Reviews, Bio ..." AllMusic. Retrieved 8 November 2024.
- ^ Williams, Simon (1 September 2022). Pandamonium!: How (Not) to Run a Record Label. Nine Eight Books. pp. 401–404. ISBN 978-1-78870-729-9.
- ^ a b c "Lieutenant Pigeon pianist Hilda honoured on new Coventry and Warwickshire compilation album". Stratford Observer. Retrieved 8 November 2024.
- ^ a b Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums. Guinness World Records. p. 321. ISBN 978-1-904994-10-7.
- ^ "Lieutenant Pigeon – THE COVENTRY MUSIC MUSEUM". Retrieved 8 November 2024.
- ^ "From the home of Lieutenant Pigeon … | THE COVENTRY MUSIC MUSEUM". web.archive.org. 23 October 2022. Retrieved 8 November 2024.