Plinky Plonky Pete

I went down to Hampshire to perform at my cousin’s special birthday party. At Lymington railway station I was reminded of the song by The Traveling Wilburys “End of the Line”.

My son James and his finance Sally got married on Saturday at Pendrell Hall, Codsall Wood near Wolverhampton. It was an absolutely splendid day, everything went well and was day to remember.

James and Sally invited me to perform a few songs as Plinky Plonky Pete which was indeed an honour. I chose three songs on the theme of love, “L-O-V-E” (by Nat King Cole), “Can’t Help Falling in Love” (with a reggae strum in the style of UB40) and “All You Need is Love” (by The Beatles). I performed on the terrace to the 30 guests which is in line with the current restrictions due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Initially I was a bit apprehensive about performing outside since the sound doesn’t seem to travel as well and can tend to get lost. However, I needn’t have worried, my performance went really well with everyone joining in with the singing. The guests thoroughly enjoyed my set and I receive a round of applause with shouts for an encore.

I’ve just noticed that my Highway to Chell video has clocked up 4,000 views on YouTube – an amazing response. Many thanks to all who have viewed it.

The “Highway to Chell” video has achieved 2,000 views in just five days.

When I uploaded the video, I remember thinking if I could get as many views as the “Drive Some More Down the A34” video I’d be well pleased. However, to break the record and get more views in just five days is absolutely amazing and it shows no sign of stopping.

Many thanks to all those who have watched it and I hope it’s cheered you up in these difficult times.

My latest music video is available to view on YouTube. I took the AC/DC classic and gave it a Potteries twist by rewriting it as “Highway to Chell”. By the way, for those of you not familiar with the Stoke-on-Trent area, Chell is a suburb in the north of the city.

The song includes references to local Potteries culture such as going shopping up ‘Anley, the local dialect and buying oatcakes as a favourite treat. I was able to film the video during last summer before the current lockdown restrictions took effect. The video includes a number of local landmarks and it features places that are of significance to me, for example Haywood Hospital where I was born, which is just off the “Highway to Chell”.

It’s been a hectic morning as I was interviewed on the local radio station, BBC Radio Stoke, about the video. The listeners responded with their own suggestions of future songs for me to sing and I was invited back on the radio later in the morning to hear their ideas.

Furthermore, it’s also a special day for me as it’s my birthday today (February 17th). So after all the excitement of being on the radio it’s time to go and open some presents and cards.

To celebrate World Ukulele Day here’s my version of the Albert Hammond song “It Never Rains in Southern California”.

It was great fun recording this song and filming the video. I started with the drum track which I bought and downloaded from t’internet. From this it was just a matter of building up the song by adding various other tracks. For the rhythm track I used my 8-string electric-acoustic ukulele together with a 4-string acoustic ukulele. The next step was to add the bass track by using one of my bass ukuleles. The vocal tracks were next and I had to be careful of the second verse where the vocal jumps up an octave to reach the word “home”. I think I made that part reasonably well although in other parts of vocal it may be a bit more variable.

One of the distinctive parts of Albert Hammond’s original song is the riff played by a flute. In order to achieve a similar effect I used the pan flute setting on my keyboard. Actually I think it sounds quite good, as though someone is actually playing a pan flute or at least blowing across the top of a milk bottle. Finally to give a bit more depth to the song I added a string track using my keyboard. This was just done by me merely playing the root note of each chord as the song went along.

I had a great time recording it and I hope you enjoy listening to it and watching the video.

Here’s a new message for you taken from the Ukulele Society of Great Britain’s Facebook page.

The national lockdown continues and as I’m “of mature years” I’m self isolating and staying at home. However, our ukulele group continues to hold weekly Zoom meetings which gives us the opportunity of keeping in touch and playing together. I often wonder when we’ll be able to meet together in person and when we’ll be able to perform a gig again.

In the meantime, while I’m at home I having some great fun recording songs using software on the computer. I think I’ve finally worked out the best way of proceeding – starting with the drum track, I add the rhythm, bass and vocal tracks. Whilst I’m recording I aim to lock in with the beat of the drum track and hopefully this approach keeps everything together and in time. So – rock on!

Wishing you all a Happy New Year and all the best for 2021.

2020 has been a difficult year with the Covid- 19 pandemic – however we seem to have survived. Here in the Midlands we’ve just been put into Tier 4 which means the non-essential shops are closed, hotels & other venues are also closed and we’re advised to stay at home. The restrictions have meant that our ukulele group hasn’t been able to meet in person for many weeks although we continue to keep in touch with our weekly Zoom sessions. There is “light at the end of the tunnel” with a second vaccine being approved and hopefully being rolled out to the various groups of vulnerable people.

Apart from that it’s just started to snow, so here’s a photo of me in the conservatory playing “Let It Snow”.

Best wishes to you for the New Year

At a recent Zoom meeting of our ukulele group we were chatting about the traditional song “The Twelve Days of Christmas”. Someone wondered if there was a ukulele version of the lyrics, which gave me an idea. So I thought I’d have a go at writing a parody of that traditional song and include the items a ukulele player might like for Christmas. Please find above “The Twelve Days of Christmas Ukulele Gifts” which I hope you find amusing.