18 Feb 2006
The Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain - The Secret of Life
It's almost impossible to describe what The Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain do without making it seem weird and eccentric. This is very convenient, because what they do is weird and eccentric, but also a stroke of genius. They are (obviously, given their name) an orchestra of ukuleles who cover an amazing variety of songs in their own inimitable style. If you think of the songs you could least imagine being played on a ukulele, those are the ones they tackle.
Thus we have the hilarious cover of 'Je T'aime' by Serge Gainsbourg, and the surprisingly funky version of 'Le Freak'. My absolute favourite, though, is 'Miss Dy-na-mi-tee' (by Ms Dynamite). They turn it into a wonderful, bouncy little number that sounds exactly like something Bertie Wooster would listen to with his chums from the Drones at 'The Tipsy Oyster' or some other smoky 1930s nightclub.
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It was brilliant. The lead singer was a welshman with a wonderfully rich deep voice, which didn't suit the song at all, but hey, neither did the ukeleles. Why can't there be more music like this? I think i'll start the Euphonium Orchestra of Great Britain.by MechanicalTomato @ 19/02/2006 6:03 pm • Permalink
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I think the Ukulele Orchestra is playing a gig pretty colse to you in dudley on the 25th march http://www.ukuleleorchestra.com/main/ShowPage.aspx?PageID=9&SessionKey;= Im hopefully seeing them at ronnie scotts next sunday..by Mike @ 20/02/2006 10:03 am • Permalink
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II caught them last year at the Guildford Festival. They were on the same bill as Status Quo ? Very entertaining.5
MechanicalTomato: I've heard his rendering of 'Wuthering Heights', which given the contrast with Kate Bush's very high voice on the original, is hilarious. Mike: Yes, I saw that. They're also playing the Litchfield Festival in July which is much closer to us (and the gig's on Mr. B's birthday), so we're planning on getting tickets to that. devoid: I imagine that they'd be great live---I'm looking forward to it.6
I have seen them a number of times live and they are absolutely spiffing - probably 100 times better than recordings which are in themselves top notch!by James Grainger @ 13/03/2006 4:03 pm • Permalink
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You can watch a clip of the UOGB doing Smells Like Teen Spirit . Buy their records - they're great! -----by Andrew @ 28/03/2006 10:03 am • Permalink
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I can't say i know much about the Ukelele Orchestra of Great Britain, but I heard them doing 'Smells like Teen Spirit' a while ago, and they were way better than Nirvana could ever hope to be! I'm sure thousands of ukelele players across the country have been inspired to practise long and hard so they can be in the Great Ukelele Orchestra.----- MechanicalTomato: Wish I'd heard that - I can imagine that it would be fantastic.by bsag @ 19/02/2006 6:02 pm • Permalink