Novelty: noun - the quality of being new, original, unusual and unconventional

On this night I was accompanied by Bill, Jack, Larry, Anne, Patricia, Amanda and her father Will as we played some oddball songs. Oh and this was International Ukulele Day, established by Ukulele Mike Lynch in 2011. Mike was a great teacher and has many great tutorials on YouTube. He passed one month ago.

I started us off with MR. SPACEMAN, a 1966 song by The Byrds. It reached #36 on the charts. A whimsical number addressing an encounter with extraterrestrial life. Anne said it was cute.

I also brought IF I ONLY HAD A BRAIN from "The Wizard of Oz". Good whistling by Bill in spots. Fun to sing and well played.

Next was JOLLITY FARM. Bill said it was definitely an 'Arlene' song. This was recorded by Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band in 1967. If you enjoy the unconventional, this is a fun group to listen to on Spotify. Yes, definitely 'Arlene' music. My third donation to the night was PURPLE PEOPLE EATER by Sheb Wooley which reached #1 in 1958. Listen to this funny Yidish/English parody called PURPLE HERRING FRESSER. Google Yiddish words to understand them. Oh my, music is so fun!

Bill thought we should do SHEIK OF ARABY since Ken put the poster on the jam page. This was a 1928 Tin Pan Alley number that was popular with jazz bands. Our effort was a little choppy.

Ken gave us the popular LOVE POTION #9. We've done this well a number of times and this night was no exception. Ken also suggested KING TUT but no one knew it so...... But we did a nice job with HENRY THE EIGHTH.

Next on to Bill's circus medley: THE MAN ON THE FLYING TRAPEZE and THE ACROBAT'S DAUGHTER. It's fun music but our effort was so-so.

Some more from me: WITCH DOCTOR and LITTLE RED RIDING HOOD were done well. Neither one was new for us. Bill wondered if the latter could be considered inappropriate now-a-days. Yep, I think so too.

I posted a bad chord sheet for HAPPY TRAILS. I have played it well in the past. I don't know how I could have put up entry loaded with [Bb]'s. Yikes, I can't play that! I just realized it was an Ultimate Guitar link. I don't know why we didn't change it but this is a good chord sheet. Fun to play at the end of a party when you want your guests to leave. Or when you want to leave. Play it as you back out the door. hahahaha

I found one of Ukulele Mike's videos for TIE ME KANGAROO DOWN and we played along with it since a couple of people were not familiar with it.

I found a short and easy song sheet for JA-DA, a jazz standard written in 1918. I also found a tutorial, again by Ukulele Mike, where he lengthened it and added interest by changing the key. It starts out in [C] and modulates to [D]. It was interesting to learn key changes always go up a whole step ([C] to [D]) and that key changes going down would sound "weird." Also the transitional chord goes up 5 steps. In this case, [A7]. We sounded good. The next three were also mine. ZIP A DEE DOO DAH I remember doing this one not too long ago and a few of us thought it was from "Pinocchio". But it's not, it's from a 1946 animated movie called "Song of the South".

I was the only one who knew LILY THE PINK but it's easy and repetitive so everyone easily caught on. It was a 1968 hit by an English comedy group called "The Scaffold". This would be a fun party song after everyone has had a few. It actually reached #1 in the UK.

I howled when I first heard I FEAR IKEA by a UK comedy folk band called "The Lancashire Hotpots". Larry said it's a parody of something. Yes, I found it: THE WILD ROVER. Anyway, everyone enjoyed IKEA. It would be a fun table pounding number to do at a party.

Ken told us to do GHOST CHICKENS IN THE SKY which we've done numerous times in the past. This was everyone's favorite of the night.

While not a novelty, Bill said we had to do I GOT YOU BABE in honor of it being Ground Hog Day. Referencing the movie Ground Hog Day. I guess you can say the premise of the movie is a novelty. We were good until the last line when it fell apart.

With time to spare we did a replay of WITHOUT YOU which Ken left up from our last jam. We enjoyed it again.

Somehow we played The Beatles ALL TOGETHER NOW And Neil Sedaka's CALENDAR GIRL.

For our newer members Bill gave a tutorial on how to post songs for jams and we discussed some other ukulele groups that are helpful to follow: The Austin Ukulele Society in Texas and the Morristown Uke Jam. Bill also gave a tour of our website to show additional useful links.

Our next theme will be The Beatles.

Until then, you keep strumming,

-- Arlene.