Mungo Jerry were a rare mixed-race group in 1970 and revived the skiffle sound in a testosterone-fuelled hymn to the male libido In The Summertime. 

At an all-boys boarding school this song prompted guilty chortles whenever we heard it, because in our hormone-frazzled pre-adolescent frenzy we were convinced that Ray Dorset’s throaty grunts were of a sexual nature.

Fifty years later, I’m sure we were right.

The song is a hymn to the testosterone-fuelled rise in the male libido that occurs when the sun emerges, temperatures begin to rise, and ladyfolk turn to skimpier outfits.

It is also – and yes, I’ve only just noticed this, probably because I didn’t have a driving licence when I was 12 – an unwise exhortation to “Have a drink, have a drive, go out and see what you can find” – advice that may not be encouraged in today’s climate of political correctness gone mad (not to mention health and safety).

Ray Dorset, one of the very few mixed-race people in pop in those days, sported an Afro and a matching pair of outsize mutton-chop sideburns, or bugger huggers as some call them, and exuded a cheeky charm with his gap-toothed grin (and filthy grunts).

The song, of course, is impossible not to like: the very definition of an earworm with its unusual banjo plucking, shuffling skiffle-like scyncopated rhythm, and contagious chorus. In fact, the whole song is basically one long chorus.

Fun fact: Ray was working in a laboratory for Timex when this song (the first ever “maxi-single”) was released and had to ask his boss for a day off in order to appear on Top of the Pops. Thanks to the his exuberant performance, Ray won the hearts of the nation and it shot straight to No.1 the following week in March 1970.

Mungo Jerry (the name is taken from TS Eliot) went on top the charts a second time with their follow-up, Baby Jump, and had several more hits. Ray Dorset, who had a parallel solo career, is still performing and recording.