They are two of the finest musicians on the circuit. Charles Hodges and David Peacock have an impeccable pedigree, having worked with everyone from Jerry Lee Lewis to Joe Meek, Ritchie Blackmore to Pete Doherty.

But mention the name Chas & Dave and you’ll most likely be greeted with a laugh and a cheeky smile. Unless, that is, they know about music. Despite the novelty act image, Hodges and Peacock are technically brilliant musicians with an enviable knack for writing enduring songs and putting on the kind of show which sounds slick but looks effortless.

And the respectable crowd who braved the cold on Monday night to see the duo at the New Theatre, Oxford, was left in no doubt that they were in the presence of a brace of national treasures.

Eschewing the temptation to dive in with their trademark pub sing-along hits, they split the show into halves, with a broadly chronological swagger through their careers as a duo.

The show started, like the two-piece, back in the 70s, with a series of tunes which highlighted their roots in the US rock & roll and rhythm & blues tradition. The influence of artists like Chuck Berry and their old mate Jerry Lee, shone through with fluid piano work from Chas and delicious bass grooves from Dave — tonight a ringer for Eric Clapton.

With no sign of a set list, they jammed away with the songs they started off with at their old haunt, The Essex Arms in Canning Town, calling out suggestions to each other.

Each tune was accompanied by a little banter from Chas about some star they either worked with or respected — such as Lonnie Donegan (“he became a Chas & Dave fan”) and Any Old Iron star Harry Champion, who he described as “my Elvis”.

While the chirpy Champion style is present in their wit and rootsy London charm, so to is the influence of New Orleans pianists like Allen Toussaint, not least in Chas’s lightning fast keys work. But while the musicianship is slick, the approach is homegrown and DIY — Chas relying on a bit of sticky tape to change the key for one song.

They end the first half with 1979’s Gertcha!, heralding the way for a second half jammed with hits and new tunes, the audience singing along to Margate, London Girls and Poor Ol’ Mr Woogie — Chas thrashing seven bells out of his long-suffering piano with some fiersomely tight honky-tonk.

The grins grew wider still with Rabbit, The Sideboard Song (“Got My Beer in the Sideboard Here”) and Snooker Loopy, before their heartrenching 1982 Number Two (get that? Number Two!) hit Ain’t No Pleasing You — surely one of the finest ballads ever composed.

If we were in any doubt as to the brilliance of these homegrown heroes, that evaporated with the last tickle of keys and bass riff. It’s now time we afforded them the respect they deserve. Gertcha!