Plinky Plonky Pete

I’m featured in the latest edition of Ukulele Society of Great Britain’s magazine “The Syncopator”. As you can see from the picture above, the article is entitled “Plinky Plonky Pete Claims World Record”.

Last year when I was planning my fundraising event for the Cancer Centre at Royal Stoke University Hospital, I contacted the USGB to ask if anyone had attempted to set a record of the most songs played in a medley on the ukulele. Their editor replied to say that they hadn’t heard of anyone doing it before and asked if I’d send them a piece when I’d completed my challenge. So after I’d successfully performed my 75 song medley in October 2023 I sent them a report on how it had gone.

I thought no more about it until a few weeks ago when they asked me if I’d got any photos of the event as they wanted to feature it in the Spring 2024 edition of their magazine. If anyone is a member of the USGB then please look out for my article in the latest edition. You’ll find it on pages 12 and 13, I think it’s a double page spread together with a number of photos of the event.

By the way, I’ve contacted the Guinness Book of Records a couple of times about my event and they replied to say that they’re not interested. They have no plans to include it as a new category. However, I can still claim to set an unofficial world record for the most songs performed live in a musical medley.

I bought myself an early Christmas present of a new bass ukulele. It’s a Kala solid body fretless U-BASS in Tobacco Sunburst – a marvellous instrument.

It was towards the end of last year (October/November 2023) that I noticed that Kala had produced a sold body version of their U-BASS bass ukuleles. They look so good that I decided that I just had to get one as soon as possible. However at that time they weren’t available with dealers in the UK, so I decided to get mine direct from Kala in the US. Their delivery service was excellent and the U-BASS arrived in just a few days – it was still more or less in tune which demonstrates how much they take with their dispatch. At the moment (February 2024) these ukulele basses are only just becoming available with dealers in the UK whilst fretless versions are still yet to arrive.

It is a superb instrument, members of my ukulele group have commented on its wonderful rich deep tone when I play it through my Orange Crush Bass amp. It has become my preferred bass ukulele that I love to play and I would recommend it to other bass players without hesitation.

Tomorrow evening my ukulele group has a gig in the town and the U-BASS will be accompanying me on its first outing in public. I’m sure it’s going to be great fun.

It’s been a busy couple of weeks with a number of Christmas gigs being performed. These took place in a variety of care homes and community centres around the Stafford area. The set list was comprised of a selection of Christmas songs which were varied slightly depending on the location and the response of the audience.

We also took part in the Christmas Tree Festival in St Mary’s Church in Stafford town centre. The interior of the church had been decorated with over a hundred Christmas trees and various music groups had been invited to perform during the day.

Please find below some photos taken from my position at the back of the group as I was playing my bass ukulele.

Wishing you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Beechcroft House, Stafford

Summerfield Court, Stone

Christmas Tree Festival, St Mary’s Church, Stafford

Haughton Village Hall, Stafford

Many thanks to all those who attended the Ukulele Jam and Social Evening held last week at Stafford Rangers Football Club, Stafford. We raised £326 towards the Cancer Centres at Royal Stoke University Hospital and County Hospital, Stafford. It was a most enjoyable evening and your generous donations were gratefully received.

Following my diagnosis for prostate cancer three years ago I attended Royal Stoke University Hospital for a course of Radiotherapy which was successful and my PSA lows are now low. I wanted to arranged a ukulele-based event to support their wonderful work. So far, in total, I have received over £1,300 towards the Cancer Centres and your donations are much appreciated.

If you would like to donate online you can visit my JustGiving page: –

www.justgiving/page/plinkyplonkypete

Whilst I was performing my 75 song medley at Royal Stoke University Hospital, the Charity team from UHNM (University Hospitals of the North Midlands) sent a film crew to interview me. They’ve produced a short video which has been put into their social media platforms.

Calling all ukulele players in Staffordshire.

You are invited to a Ukulele Jam & Social Evening on Thursday 2^nd November 7:30pm at the Stafford Rangers Football Club (Astonfields Road, Stafford, ST16 3UF). 

Admission is by making a donation to the Cancer Centre at Royal Stoke Hospital (Stoke-on-Trent). Collection buckets will be available to gratefully receive your donation.

Partners, family and friends are also invited to join us. The music will be displayed upon the large screen, so just bring your ukuleles, you won’t need your music or your music stands. There will be bar facilities and plenty of time to socialise together.

Come along and join us for a fun evening to make music and raise money for charity.

The event is being organised by Peter Wood (Plinky Plonky Pete) in order to raise money for the Cancer Centre at Royal Stoke where he was successfully treated for prostate cancer.

Success – yesterday I completed my musical challenge and using my ukulele I performed a medley of 75 songs in the Main Atrium at the Royal Stoke Hospital (Stoke-on-Trent). Here’s a photo of Carolyn O’Donovan, Radiotherapy Services Manager, presenting me with a trophy to mark my achievement. This means I can now claim to set an unofficial world record for the most songs performed live in a musical medley.

I was diagnosed with prostate cancer three years ago and received a course of radiotherapy at Royal Stoke Hospital. It was successful, my PSA levels are now low and I wanted to arrange a fundraising event to support their wonderful work.

So far I’ve raised over £800 towards this worthwhile cause. If you would like to donate online you can visit my JustGiving page: –

www.justgiving/page/plinkyplonkypete

I’m organising a music event in order to raise money for the Cancer Centre at the Royal Stoke Hospital (University Hospitals of the North Midlands).  

This cause is very important to me as three years ago I was diagnosed with prostate cancer and received a course of radiotherapy treatment at Royal Stoke Hospital. It was successful, my PSA levels are now low and I would like to arrange a fundraising event to support their wonderful work.

 As you know, my hobby is playing the ukulele with my nickname of Plinky Plonky Pete. I will be undertaking a musical challenge and attempting to set an unofficial world record for the most number of songs performed live in a musical medley. I am aiming to perform a medley of 75 songs which will be played one after another without a break. Having searched through the various “world record books” I’m not aware of anyone attempting this before. This is different from attempting a record to perform for the longest time which usually includes taking a short break every hour. I shall be attempting to perform continuously without a break, going from one song straight into another.

This event will take place in the Main Atrium of Royal Stoke University Hospital (Newcastle Road, Stoke-on-Trent, ST4 6QG) on Wednesday 25th October starting at 11:00am.   

I am inviting you to support me in raising funds for the Cancer Centre by either sponsoring me for each song I play or by making a donation. All of the money raised will go towards the work of the Cancer Centre at Royal Stoke Hospital. 

Would you be able to contribute towards my fundraiser? A donation of any amount would truly help me. 

If you could also share my fundraiser link with your friends, it would mean so much. The more people hear about my cause, the quicker I can reach my fundraising goal.

To help me reach my goal of raising £250 for the Cancer Centre, simply click the link to my fundraiser below:

www.justgiving.com/page/plinkyplonkypete

My latest music video entitled ’24 Hours from Tunstall’ has just achieved 1,000 views on YouTube. Many thanks to all those who have watched it and I hope that you enjoyed it.