The UK and UKulele's

[highlander_Daz]

The late great Peter Sellers was an excelent Uke player as well as an astonishing George Formby Impersonator check him out on Youtube in a rare interview as himself on "parkinson" Seller rarely did interviews as "himself"

[McClef]

We used to have a ukulele-banjo in my family and I learned to play a couple of George Formby numbers - "When I'm Cleaning Windows" and "Leaning on a Lamp Post."

It's a different creature to the ordinary ukulele but neither is it a banjo either.

Formby was THE master of the instrument and possibly one of the most unlikely film stars ever, even by the standards of British Cinema that totally lacked the glitz of Hollywood to begin with.

I cannot remember when UK TV last showed one of his films, but when I was growing up they were on all the time.

[McClef]

It's a different creature to the ordinary ukulele but neither is it a banjo either.

When I was looking through some of the Formby clips on U Tube I remembered what Formby himself called his instrument - a banjolele.

[auld argonian]

It is referred to as a banjolele and they are decidedly difficult to score on ebay.

There is a company making them new priced in the $400 range. Previously driven ones that show up on ebay seem to bring the beast out in the bidders...I understand that ukulele afficianados, not unlike kilt wearers, fall victim to that obsessive compulsive thing where they just have to have at least one of everything and thus the bidding can be quite spirited. I've even seen a couple of official George Formby models go by. I'm getting a nice tenor uke for my birthday later this month so I'll start with that and maybe look for a banjolele later on.

It has occurred to me that mass ukulele events in public places may be one of the ways to help people deal with the stress of these difficult times. I understand that the Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain had everyone who owned one bring their ukes to the Proms Concert and they all played along on Beethoven's Ode To Joy (if you're a fan of the movie "Help", that's famous Beethoven's Ode To Joy from the famous Ninth Symphony).


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