On this day, 75 years ago, the great Roger Daltrey of The Who was born at the Hammersmith Hospital, East Acton, London, to proud parents Harry and Irene. The Who put out some of the best rock music in the business in the sixties and seventies, ending their hit-making in the early eighties. On this night we played the music of the eighties, and no one picked the Who songs You Better You Bet (1981) nor Athena (1982). Therefore, Daltrey doesn't really figure into this jam summary, but I couldn't let his birthday pass without taking note. If any of you would like to send him a card, I'm sure he'd appreciate it.

To play the eighties songs, a topic young Leah selected, we had a pretty full boat: PJ, Sally, David, Betty, Frank, Bill, Arlene, Ken, Jen, Anne, Jack, Larry, Leah, Louise (and her singing husband, Jesse), Lester and our latest, Tony and Marjorie. They have just started learning the ukulele. I love new recruits.

1. Side By Side

We limbered up with this.

2. I Want Candy, Bow Wow Wow, 1982 (Leah)

This was first done by The Strangeloves in 1965. They billed themselves as a group from Australia, but were actually the New York songwriting team of Bob Feldman, Jerry Goldstein and Richard Gottehrer. Bow Wow Wow remade it in the eighties. They were an English band with 18 year old Annabella Lwin singing lead. The version Leah knows is from 2007 by Melanie C, formerly Sporty Spice of The Spice Girls.

As simple as this song appears, it wasn't that easy to play, having this particular "Bo Diddley beat," found in such songs as Faith (George Michael), Magic Bus (The Who), Not Fade Away (Buddy Holly) and (Marie's the Name) His Latest Flame (Elvis). However, I thought we did all right, especially on the catchy chorus.

3. Every Breath You Take, Police, 1983 (Betty)

This was their monster hit. The Police were a powerhouse, starting in 1979 and going into the mid-eighties. I got to see them at CBGBs just after Roxanne put them on the map. We flubbed the ending, but were otherwise fine.

4. Karma Chameleon, Culture Club, 1983 (Betty)

We played this at a sessions a few years ago and I couldn't believe how good it sounded. Tonight we tried with the original chords, hard ones, such as [Bb], [Gm] and [Eb]. It was a good key for singing, but too tough to play smoothly, and we soon broke down. Then we transposed to a simpler G-key and sailed through. The tacets in this song are so exciting and we got 'em all. It's fun to be that crisp as a playing unit. As much as I adore our group, we have a tendency towards sloppiness. Thank you, Boy George O'Dowd, for this wonderful song.

5. It's Still Rock and Roll to Me, Billy Joel, 1980 (Betty)

In the first and third lines of the verse, there's an [E] which should have been an [Em]. It ruined all the lines it was in, which is a shame because otherwise it played well.

6. The Longest Time, Billy Joel, 1984 (Arlene)

Billy Joel made an album, An Innocent Man, as a tribute to the groups he loved as a youngster. This song was a tip of the hat to Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers.

7. Wind Beneath My Wings, Bette Midler, 1988 (Arlene)

All right, I'll admit we did do a good job on this song which I always thought was a little on the sugary side.

8. Rock This Town, The Stray Cats, 1982 (Arlene)

These guys were the pride of Massapequa. I don't know why I thought they were English when I first heard them. They were all the rage in '82 and '83.

9. Somebody's Baby, Jackson Browne, 1982 (Ken)

He had his first hit ten years earlier (Doctor My Eyes) and was also the author of "Take It Easy", the first hit for the Eagles (1972).

10. Mad World, Tears for Fears, 1982 (PJ)

Tears for Fears had the famous version of this. It sounded a little familiar but I didn't know it well. What a really pretty sound. It was the first of two Tears for Fears song we did. The version PJ likes is by Gary Jules (2001).

11. Hold Me Now, Thompson Twins, 1984 (Dan)

It was a little harder to sing than I had guessed. I saw them at Radio City.

12. Don't Stop Believin', Journey 1981 (Jen)

I had told Jen that I never thought much of this song until last year when I heard it at a wedding. A small army of drunken youngsters sang it with great enthusiasm. It gave me a new appreciation.

13. 867-5309/Jenny, Tommy Tutone, 1981 (Ken)

Ken dedicated this song to his wife, Jen. "Jenny Jenny, you're the girl for me."

14. I Love A Rainy Night, Eddie Rabbit, 1980 (Anne)

Pretty catchy.

15. Head Over Heels, Tears for Fears, 1985 (Dan)

I'd been practicing this one for two weeks. The parts I could figure out sounded good, but I wasn't sure I could get the difficult phrasing, and I could not. The transition from the chorus back to the verse was clunky, as was the transition from the chorus to the end bit. I couldn't end it successfully, but I just had to try it, it being such a cool song. It looks so simple: intro and outro are [C] to [D], verse is [A] to [C], and chorus is [G] to [Em]. To execute well is another matter.

16. Time After Time, Cyndi Lauper, 1984 (Jack)

She was all over the radio that year, starting with her biggest hit, Girls Just Wanna Have Fun. Lauper may have the most pronounced New York accent of any singer I've heard. Is this how we all sound to people from other parts of the country?

17. Heroes, David Bowie, 1977 (Leah)

Leah gets fined 80 cents for picking a song NOT from the eighties. (You may pay it off in installments, dear girl.) I love Bowie, but unfortunately this song didn't translate well to the uke, nor to a group singalong. Despite Leah's brave efforts, we had to abandon ship shortly into the song.

18. Eye of the Tiger, Survivor, 1982 (Leah)

What a big big hit. It was played endlessly on the radio. It's from one of the Rocky movies.

19. Don't Worry Be Happy, Bobby McFerrin, 1988 (Sally)

This is one of the easiest songs in the book, three chords only (C Dm and F), but for a reason I can't remember, we couldn't do it. We quit part-way through.

20. Friday I'm In Love, The Cure, 1992 (Dawn)

Sensational song, but we were defeated on the bridge. I would have guessed that this was from the eighties, but no. Therefore, Dawn, The Ukulele Council of Elders fines you four and sixpence.

21. The Tide Is High, Blondie, 1980 (Dawn)

There you are, minding your own business, idly strumming your ukulele to pass the time as you wait endlessly for your number to be called at the Motor Vehicle Bureau, when a fellow sufferer demands, "Let's have a song." You have no sheet music in front of you. What to do? Don't panic. Play this one. It's [C], [F] and [G]. You can't miss and you'll be sure to impress the surly civil servant at Window D.

22. Crazy Little Thing Called Love, Queen, 1980 (Dawn)

Man, this is a swinging little rock and roll number. I've come to love it. Everyone who even moderately likes Queen must go see Bohemian Rhapsody, the Freddie Mercury movie. Terrific stuff.

23. Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go, Wham!, 1984 (Dawn)

Dawn picked seven songs, five of which were by English bands, her countrymen. Maybe America got rock and roll going with Chuck Berry, Buddy Holly and Elvis, but the Brits took the art form to new heights with such artists as Pink Floyd and The Who, Elton John and the Kinks, Jethro Tull and the Moody Blues. I could go on. The English are the champs of rock music.....as if clotted cream, Somerset Maugham and their fabulously-accented speaking voices weren't enough of a gift to the world. I regret that we rebelled against George III in 1776. I wonder if we apologized would they take us back.

There were so many big acts that we didn't get to that I was hoping for Eighties Night, Part Two. We didn't play a thing by the Pretenders, the Talking Heads, Hall and Oates, the Human League, Men At Work, the Eurythmics, the Bangles, the Go Go's or Squeeze. Maybe next year we could re-visit this topic.

For our next session, we will be playing Bill's suggestion, country western songs. If it's necessary for you to chew tobacco to get in the proper spirit, please be considerate of the other players and bring your spittoon.

-- Dan.