What's significant as well was that this was an early indication that Canadians didn't necessarily need the heft of the American pop culture juggernaut in order to make a hit single. While the CHUM number ones up to this point don't completely align with the Hot 100's, there has been a fair amount of crossover; singles that failed to reach the top spot in the US still tended to perform fairly well. But not when it comes to "My Old Man's a Dustman" which appears to have missed the American charts altogether. Number one in the UK, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand and, yes, Canada but apparently the Americans were just too good for it.
They may have had a point. While Donegan's influence on The Beatles and, in general, an entire generation of British beat groups is what he is best known for now, one mustn't forget that his early hits like "Rock Island Line" (which even managed to crack the US Top 10) and "Cumberland Gap" are outstanding. (Due to its use in the classic eighties documentary The Compleat Beatles, I had always assumed that "Jack o' Diamonds" was one of his biggest hits but it only peaked in the teens in Britain; needless to say, it's another one of his many first rate skiffle tunes) But "My Old Man's a Dustman" is not one of his classics. In fact, it is very much the sound of an individual whose creative roll has concluded but who is still clinging to the goodwill he has created at all costs.
Lonnie Donegan's cheeky smile and innate showmanship — not to mention having such a rubbery, old man face — would have made his shift from skiffle to English music hall a logical one. And he might have been able to pull it off with better material at his disposal. Recorded live at the Gaumont Cinema in Doncaster, England, his audience guffaws at some of his cracks (Lonnie: "My dustbin's full of toadstools"; Bandmate Les Bennetts: "How do you know it's full?"; Lonnie: "'Cause there's not mushroom inside!") while others aren't even acknowledged (a lengthy rant about finding a tiger's head that I won't bother attempting to transcribe here, suffice it to say it fully deserved the silence that greeted it).
Done by a singer with less charm and personality than Donegan, "Dustman" could have been an even bigger failure — while also being far less commercially successful. The only thing that saves it from the absolute bottom of the refuse pile of number ones is his obvious delight getting a crowd all riled up. While as I say they clearly didn't find everything humourous , the audience that night was still wrapped around his finger. A number of them were probably dead chuffed to be seeing him in person. A live recording could never do justice to the sort of good time that I'm sure the majority of them had. Seeing Donegan would have been a treat but only being able to listen does him no favours.
The British would be coming to North America but some had to stumble before others could walk and, indeed, run. (The Beatles painfully slow development allowed them to have their creative hiccups before anyone knew who they were) "My Old Man's a Dustman" is far from the only embarrassing and profoundly unfunny novelty record to cross the Atlantic — and, sadly, it will likely not even be the worst example. Nevertheless, the music hall tradition has been strong enough that bands like Madness and Blur have attempted to revive it. On the evidence of crap like this, however, it's clear why needed to fade away.
Score: 3
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