What are your "Go-To" top-ten tunes?

Although I like just noodling most, when I play with a group these are my favourates:
Lola
Dedicated follower of fashion
Summer in the City - Loving Spoonful
I Don't Like Mondays
Dirty Old Town
Bad Moon Rising
Dumb Things - Paul Kelly
Space Oddity (Ground Control to Major Tom)
Satellite of Love
People are Strange

I have a lot of Old Time fiddle tunes in my head from years before uke so I tend to pick (or claw) those out because it's easy when you know a tune well already. But I'm adding other tunes too.
1. Red Haired Boy
2. Whiskey Before Breakfast
3. Spotted Pony
4. I'll Fly Away
5. Fly Around My Pretty Little Miss
6. Shady Grove
7. You Are My Sunshine
8. Piccolo Rag
9. Crazy G
10. What ever Morris tune I've got stuck in my head

Wish I could 'claw'. If I could, some of my favourites would be:
Sally Ann
Whiskey in the Jar
Baltimore Fire
Soldiers Joy
Sail Away Ladies
Cornbread and Butterbeans

I just play "Tiptoe through the Tulips" ten times.

Hippie Dribble said:

Need a LOVE button for some of these lists.

Friends, please post links if you have versions recorded of some of these songs. Beautiful and interesting thread. Shows what a wonderful and flexible instrument the ukulele truly is. No genre of music is immune from its arms outstretched. Thanks Hodge. :cheers:s

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Yay on all counts. I want a LOVE button for this whole thread. So cool to see the range and coolness of what folks are doing out there. Very inspirational. This forum needs a way to "like" stuff for sure!

And yes, please post video links! Or audio, alternatively. I want to see / hear all these cool songs in action.
One I know about in particular: Ryan (RAB11), you need to post that epic "Final Countdown" video of your live performance!

Philpot, love you back, man! That is such a fun jam song ... I'd love to see some video of your wing jamming on that!

Really enjoying this thread, especially the stories.

UkeCan1 said:

One I know about in particular: Ryan (RAB11), you need to post that epic "Final Countdown" video of your live performance!

.

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May as well post the full set as it has another of my go-tos in it too

Ukecan1: Thanks for mentioning "White Room". Definitely a crowd pleaser. Its going on my todo list right away!

A little drift here:

hollisdwyer Wish I could 'claw'. If I could, some of my favourites would be:...Soldiers Joy

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Soldiers Joy is easy to learn. It is a reel. Play it in the Key of D, even if you don't sing in D. Clawhammer is not required.
http://folkguitar.us/chords/Soldiers-Joy.htm
http://www.traditionalmusic.co.uk/old-time-music/old-time-songs/soldiers_joy.html

Once you get the chords and rhythm down just play the scales up or down from one chord to the next chord: ie D chord, E,C#, A chord.

Current top ten:

1. Rocket Man - Elton john
2. Here Comes the Sun - Beatles
3 Find the River - REM
4. Day after Day _ Badfinger
5. Fire and rain- James Taylor
6. Summer Breeze - Seals and Crofts
7. Big Indian- The Dandy Warhols
8. The Wizard - Uriah Heep
9. Suite: Judy Blue Eyes
10. Colorful - The Verve Pipe

I guess must also add Mele Kalikimaka right now for the short term...
Cheers!

Inksplosive AL mentioned Please Don't Talk About Me ... This is a great partner song with Five Foot Two. The first tune Maggie and I did together using ukulele was a medley of these two songs. She sang 5'2 , then I sang Please..., then we sang them together. 5'2 is a good one to fingerpick the melody in C.

-Five Foot Two/Please Don't Talk About Me...
-If I Had You
-Don't Get Around Much Any More
-My Ukulele Helps Me Beat The Blues
-I'm Satisfied With My Gal
-Somebody Stole My Gal
-Overseas Stomp
-Boodle Am Shake
-Living In The Country
-Ain't She Sweet

IamNoMan said:

Ukecan1: Thanks for mentioning "White Room". Definitely a crowd pleaser. Its going on my todo list right away!

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Let me save you a whole lot of trouble, and share my chart. In fact, I will share my whole folder of charts ... most of the songs I mentioned in my list should be there. (If not, ask me!)

The latest (certified-by-me accurate ) "White Room" chart is in there.

My top songs are pretty much all originals. I spend more time writing and playing them than anything else. My latest is about internet dating. It's called "Missed Again". "Sunset Lullaby" is another original I like to play. "Sunshine", "The Middle of Town", "Coming Home" and the list goes on. Of the songs that I haven't written, I like to play "I've Just Seen a Face" by Paul McCartney and John Lennon, "Yesterday", "Norwegian Wood" and others by the Beatles. "White Sandy Beach" is another favorite. There are others but, I wouldn't say any of them are go too or my top ten.

Jim Yates said:

Inksplosive AL mentioned Please Don't Talk About Me ... This is a great partner song with Five Foot Two. The first tune Maggie and I did together using ukulele was a medley of these two songs. She sang 5'2 , then I sang Please..., then we sang them together. 5'2 is a good one to fingerpick the melody in C.

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Yes Jim 5'2' is a good medley tune all the way around. It works with Bill Bailey, Ain't She Sweet, Baby Face, Ain't misbehavin' and many others. That's why its on my goto list.

Have you and Maggie tried baby its cold out there as a duet? Tough one but fun.

UkeCan1 said:

Let me save you a whole lot of trouble, and share my chart. In fact, I will share my whole folder of charts ... most of the songs I mentioned in my list should be there. (If not, ask me!)

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Thanks Wendy, you are an angel in a tank top. I like the arrangements of yours I have heard.

I'm a strummer and chord/lyric sheet dependent. I haven't bothered yet to commit any songs to memory. My favorites change from time to time but these songs come up often and/or are fun to play for me now:

-Time Passes Slowly (Bob Dylan)
-Summer Vibe (Walk Off The Earth)
-Working On The Highway (Bruce Springsteen)
-I'm Into Something Good (Herman's Hermits)
-The Weight (The Band)
-Twenty Flight Rock (Eddie Cochran)
-My Shoes Keep Walking Back To You (George Jones)
-Somewhere Down Below The Dixon Line (Jimmie Rodgers)
-Get Out Get Under The Moon (I know it via Leon Redbone)
-Accidentally In Love (Counting Crows)

janeray1940 said:

Solo instrumentals in heavy rotation at the moment:

La Vie en Rose
Minuet in G
Theme from Umbrellas of Cherbourg
Greensleeves
Spanish Fandango
Midnight in Moscow
Someone to Watch Over Me
My Funny Valentine
'Alekoki
My Favorite Things

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I don't have a list but this is a very nice list after checking all the suggestions! I would add "Moon River" to it.

As for songs I personally can play and sing... 1) Quizas, Quizas, Quizas (Perhaps, Perhaps, Perhaps) 2) Chim Chim Cheree! and a few more. Great topic! I love the songs from Mary Poppins!

Petey

Top 10 I could play at the drop of a hat (or if anyone ever asked) -

The Rose
La Vie en Rose
Smile
Ring of Fire
I Walk the Line
You Are My Sunshine
Imagine
Killing Me Softly With His Song
Singin' In the Rain
I'll Go To My Grave Loving You

PeteyHoudini said:

I don't have a list but this is a very nice list after checking all the suggestions! I would add "Moon River" to it.

As for songs I personally can play and sing... 1) Quizas, Quizas, Quizas (Perhaps, Perhaps, Perhaps) 2) Chim Chim Cheree! and a few more. Great topic! I love the songs from Mary Poppins!

Petey

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Thanks for reminding me that someday I should get around to "Moon River." And I love the songs from Mary Poppins as well - I started working out "Feed the Birds" a while back but got distracted with other things. I should dig that one up again

IamNoMan said:

Ukecan1: Thanks for mentioning "White Room". Definitely a crowd pleaser. Its going on my todo list right away!

A little drift here:Soldiers Joy is easy to learn. It is a reel. Play it in the Key of D, even if you don't sing in D. Clawhammer is not required.
http://folkguitar.us/chords/Soldiers-Joy.htm
http://www.traditionalmusic.co.uk/old-time-music/old-time-songs/soldiers_joy.html

Once you get the chords and rhythm down just play the scales up or down from one chord to the next chord: ie D chord, E,C#, A chord.

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Hey! Thanks very much, I really appreciate that.
Cheers!

IamNoMan said:

Thanks Wendy, you are an angel in a tank top. I like the arrangements of yours I have heard.

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Oh, thanks! So nice of you to say ... I do make quite a lot of effort to get my arrangements sounding right to me ... I am rarely satisfied with the ones I find. Sometimes it's about making it accurate, other times it's about making it sound "cool" (which usually means adding extra jazz chords to a simple song).

(I'm especially proud of "Fish Heads", for which every video or chart I found sounded just awful to me. By which I mean "inaccurate" ... many people might think the original "Fish Heads" sounds awful, but that's a whole separate issue. Come to think of it, I'd love for "Fish Heads" to be one of my go-to songs ... but alas, it's really great for clearing out a room. Sadly, Dr. Demento fans seem to be scarce as hen's teeth these days.)

Anyway, I listened to the Cream original many, many times and counted carefully to be sure my "White Room" chart was accurate. I did not write up the actual chart. Someone else wrote one for our jam group, I made a bunch of notes on it to fix lyrics and clarify timing, and then a third member wrote up the current chart based on my notes. He did an excellent job of it ... I believe it's very accurate to the original.

Haha, I had to think a moment about the tank top comment - my profile pic was taken on my first day of playing ukulele, at the end of August last year. I so wish I could dress that way now! But alas, New Jersey in December is not so conducive to bare skin.

FWIW, I played my first official open mic tonight ... at the Sam Ash store about a mile from my house. They have it every week, and they actually pay ... they mail a $10 gift card to your house after you play. They have other jams on other nights that also pay ... so I might have to start frequenting that place now! Free ukes! I'm gonna have to learn guitar so I can go to the guitar jam on Tuesday nights.

Anyway, two friends of mine ended up backing me up, so I threw out most of the songs I had planned, and did "I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)", "Let's Talk Dirty in Hawaiian" with FiL (and Ron adding actual Hawaiian sounds on his lap guitar thingy!), and "Thank You For Flying With Us". Had "White Room' ready, but it wasn't the right crowd for it. This thread was helpful to me in planning for it!

janeray1940 said:

Thanks for reminding me that someday I should get around to "Moon River."

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Oh gosh, me too! It was one of the first songs I learned, back in my printed paper days ... but I never transferred it to the iPad, and forgot all about it. I just fixed that.
It's also now in the chart folder I posted earlier, if that helps you, Janeray!