Poor Old Mr Woogie

More sad news today with the death of Chas Hodges, from Chas ‘n’ Dave. A versatile musician, who played with everyone from Joe Meek to Eric Clapton, Labi Siffre to Deep Purple and Gene Vincent to Jools Holland, one of his best numbers is a firm PLUC favourite, Ain’t No Pleasing You:

 

Pratts Bottom Village Fete May 2018

This year’s fete saw the rain start just as we started performing! But we remained largely dry under the marquee, playing two sets of twelve songs in each half, each around forty-five minutes.

PLUC at Pratts Bottom Village Fete, Sat 12 May 2018

 

PLUC Member’s Choice 2013 – The Results

Well, it’s been an exciting & entertaining couple of weeks, with a varied selection of sites & songs submitted by our club members. And some friendly, competitive voting right up until the last-minute!

 

PLUC Member’s Choice 2013 – Alan

My nomination is for Chas ‘n’ Dave‘s Ain’t No Pleasing You.

They were never a favourite of mine – in fact I couldn’t stand them. It was only when I came along to PLUC and started to play the song on club nights, I suddenly found myself enjoying the song. Even though I have little experience in playing the Uke, it strikes me as being a brilliant song not only for playing but also for singing. It gets everyone involved and it’s a song you can really “belt out”. A good one for breaking the ice.

Alan F

Joe Brown’s version – song starts at 1:34 minutes in:

 

Pratts Bottom Village Fete May 2013 – Part 2

Here is a short extract from the first set at our recent performance.

Amongst our more lively numbers – such as I Wanna Be Like You, Ain’t No Pleasing You, Dedicated Follower Of Fashion, Doctor Jazz, Crazy Little Thing Called Love, What Made Milwaukee Famous & Coney Island Washboard – one of our most popular numbers is this gentle rendition of the lovely Va Pensiero, from Verdi’s Nabucco:

 

Joe Brown – The Ukulele Album

The latest offering from the uke-playing rock & roller (often incorrectly described as a ‘Chirpy Cockney’, despite the fact he was born in Lincolnshire), is an entire album of songs arranged for ukulele. Also appearing are his daughter, Sam, & her band, the International Ukulele Club Of Sonning Common.

There’s an interesting mix of uke standards – including Formby’s When I’m Cleaning Windows; favourites such as I’ll See You In My Dreams; the Chas ‘n’ Dave singalong There’s No Pleasing You (actually Ain’t No Pleasing You); plus more unexpected numbers, including Pinball Wizard & Mr Blue Sky.

All the tunes are available for preview on YouTube. As my parents had a greengrocers shop in Sarf London, here’s my musatoid choice.

Jeanette

I Like Bananas