Plinky Plonky Pete

Here’s an amusing tale that happened to me earlier this month: –

We were in London where we had just enjoyed having a meal at a very nice restaurant in Islington. As we were leaving, the man at the next table leaned across and said, “Excuse me, but aren’t you somebody famous?”.

I explained how my nickname is Plinky Plonky Pete and as a hobby I write parody songs about my hometown of Stoke-on-Trent. A lady at the table said that she followed me on YouTube and enjoyed seeing my videos. The man took out his mobile phone on which he found one of videos. We all had a laugh and chatted for a few minutes before we left the restaurant.

This encounter absolutely made my day – it’s one thing to be spotted in your hometown but to be recognised whilst in London was incredible.

Last night I joined the “All About Uke” ukulele group to play a gig at a wedding as the evening entertainment. The venue was Shallowford House which is set in the countryside near Stafford.

It was a most enjoyable evening with an interesting set list of a wide variety of songs. For example, there was a number of songs on the theme of love and romance, however the wedding party had specifically requested some songs which contained audience participation. So our set list ended with “The Birdie Song”, “Agadoo”, the “Hokey Cokey” and “YMCA”. The dance floor was full of wedding guests dancing away and joining in with the actions enthusiastically, so much so that we had to do a couple of encores on “The Birdie Song”. It was great fun and certainly a night to remember.

I joined Tony, Malcolm and Kate today for a gig at Stafford Rugby Club. It was a luncheon organised by the Stafford Knot Rotary Club for local pensioners. We performed a selection of songs for about an hour to about seventy local pensioners.

Uke Aid raised £373.54p for the Cancer Centres at the Royal Stoke Hospital (Stoke-on-Trent) and the County Hospital (Stafford). 

I organised a Ukulele Jam & Social Evening which was held on Thursday 27^th March in Stafford. People from various parts of Staffordshire and Derbyshire were able to attend. It was a most enjoyable evening of playing and singing a variety of songs together. The event was also live streamed on my YouTube channel.

Donations can still be made online at www.justgiving.com/page/ukulelejam 

With two friends, Tony and Malcolm from the ukulele group, we performed a gig one afternoon last week at The Swan Hotel, Stafford. We sang a variety of songs for about 35 to 40 minutes to raise money for mind, the mental health charity. Many thanks to all those who generously contributed to this worthwhile cause.

After we’d finished our gig we got a request to go and sing some Beatles’ songs in the bar. So off we went with our ukuleles and the collecting bucket.

It was an enjoyable time and one which we might well do again.

As you may know, over the last few years I’ve been producing parodies of popular songs but giving them a Stoke-on-Trent twist. I’ve just released these songs on an album entitled “Songs in the Key of Stoke” which is available on Spotify and other streaming services.

People have often commented that I must have enough songs by now to put on an album, so I thought “What not? That sounds like a good idea.” The album cover is a parody of Stevie Wonder’s iconic album “Songs in the Key of Life” featuring a picture of myself and a line drawing of a bottle oven with musical smoke.

This morning I was invited to appear on the local radio, BBC Radio Stoke, and take part in their Music Mastermind Quiz.

The quiz consists of three rounds of questions, playing against the presenter, Lee Blakeman, with one round on 80’s music, one round on 90’s music and the last round on 00’s music. As I am of “mature years” and my favourite decade is music from the 60’s, I am not so familiar with the more contemporary songs. However, I was able to get one question right whilst Lee was able to get all this questions correct.

The quiz also takes place again tomorrow morning and also on Wednesday and they’ve mentioned that I can also have someone else on the show to help me. So I’ve arranged for my son James to assist me. It should be fun.

Last week I was interviewed on our local radio station, BBC Radio Stoke, about my latest song “Have Yourself a Plinky Plonky Christmas”.

It was their Breakfast Show and the host was Lee Blakeman who has interviewed me before, so it was good to chat with him again. They gave me a fantastic introduction in the style of “The X Factor” and played clips of all my previous songs. In the interview I was able to talk about the video which is available to view on YouTube and in particular mention the Oxford Garden Christmas Lights. This is a house in Stafford which is decorated to raise money for local charities.

Here’s a link to my radio interview: –

I’ve just produced a new music video which is available to view on YouTube. It’s my version of the classic “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” and it’s entitled “Have Yourself a Plinky Plonky Christmas”.

I’ve rewritten the lyrics of the original song to be more up-to-date and contemporary. Sleigh bells have also been added to give the song that seasonal effect. The video also includes subtitles so that you are invited to join in and sing along.

There are Christmas scenes filmed around Stafford town centre including scenes of the Oxford Gardens Christmas Lights, a house in Oxford Gardens that is decorated with Christmas lights in order to raise money for local charities. In the video I’m wearing my multi-faith Christmas jumper, which celebrates diversity and unity, represents different cultures and beliefs, the joy of togetherness and brings everyone in the holiday spirit.

I’ve just bought myself an early Christmas present – a Boss Dual Cube Bass Amp LX. It’s mains or battery powered with a 10 watt output and it makes a great practice amp. It has a range of effects (chorus, flanger, delay, reverb etc), a looper and also a rhythm guide (jazz, rock, R&B, country etc). I’ve also bought the optional footswitch which I can use to start the looper and/or the rhythm. It’s 10 watt output may be fine for our group’s small practice room, but for our gigs in larger venues I’ll still use my Orange bass amp.