Electric ukulele is now all the rage in Germany
A smartly attired older woman says she plays the ukulele to cancer patients. “ The ukulele can replace conversation when words are perhaps too difficult.”
On the other hand, the ukulele is hip. A vendor from Germany says electric ukulele is now the rage. Stefan Raab, the outrageous host of the immensely successful German show, TVTotal, makes famous guests like James Brown and members of AC/DC play the electric ukulele with him to the delight of a huge following.
Don Scalan, also known as Cool Hand Uke, is a musician and musicologist from California who is happy to provide historical context.
“ I think the real reason the ukulele has a frivolous reputation,” says Scalan, “is because comedians use it as a prop rather than an instrument.”
Men playing ukuleles get a laugh. So why don’t we laugh when we think of the violinist, Itzhak Perlman? Probably because he doesn’t play Smells Like Teen Spirit
in concert.
“ The ukulele is the Rodney Dangerfield of instruments,” says Frank. “ It don’t get no respect.”
A lunch invitation leads to a ride in a rental van with three strange men: Andrew Little, from Great Britain, the only guy at the Ceilidh in a tie (a George Formby tie, as it turns out), Nova Scotian Stephen Penny, who looks and acts like Rowan Atkinson, and Mel Collie, a retired accountant from Toronto who plays the banjolele. He is also a magician, and a stand-up comedian with a mean Dame Edna impersonation.
Cricket’s Harp Pub, just down the street from the curling club, is the current resting place of the world’s largest ukulele. Mentioned in The Guinness Book of Records and transported by a flat- bed truck, it is a towering 18-feet high. Rain runs down the strings and pours into the sound board.
Inside, the dining room has a bright, tin-type ceiling and dark wood floors. Ukulele players cram the booths and tables. Over litres of house wine and plates of fish and chips, the following rumour surfaces: U. S. President George Bush is supplying the American troops in Iraq with ukuleles to play to the Iraqis. No doubt, to play like Orpheus and soothe insurgents into submission.
When asked the source of the rumour, diners point to a darkhaired woman in an elegant black- and copper-sequinned dress. Linda Conrad confirms that she said it. “ Wouldn’t it be wonderful?” she says “ If the ukulele became the global symbol of peace?”
In real life, Ukes for Troops ( www.ukesfortroops.com) does send ukuleles to troops fighting in Iraq. The original mission sent ukuleles to a Hawaiian National Guard Unit to remind them of home. The mission has now expanded to put a uke into the hands of any serviceman who wants to learn how to play.
“Peace might have a chance if every soldier put down his gun and picked up a ukulele,” says a man in a blue Hawaiian shirt. “I’m serious.”
Back at my table, Little, carefully protecting his Formby tie from errant bits of lunch says “Of course the ukulele is serious. You can play the William Tell Overture on it.”