Would you agree with these Top 10 ukulele songs of all time?

What, no "Tiptoe Through the Tulips" by Tiny Tim? :biglaugh:

On a more serious note, I would think there would be at least one tune on there by George Formby...
 
Top ten to whom? Depends on your demographic. This list skews toward contemporary pop culture; in my opinion (as an Old Lady) many of these songs haven't been around long enough to prove they have staying power.
 
yes

yes i get exactly what your saying on the path that and genre its swaying towards, but i can understand that the older generation may think different. But what would u say popular uke songs of now and this generation?
 
Really can't be "all time" since ukulele songs have been around since the 20s. How about some Cliff Edwards or Arthur Godfrey's "Little Grass Shack". Can definitely see a generation gap here.
 
Your list seems fine as a list of top 10 contemporary and popular (i.e., lots of recent airplay and other exposure) ukulele songs, although I don't understand the big whoop over "Hey Soul Sisiter," which sounds to me like a less interesting form of IZ's "Somewhere Over The Rainbow" chord progressions with different lyrics. I think any "all time" top ten list of ukulele songs has to include some Hawaiian music as well as the Tin Pan Alley music of the 1920s and 1930s that drove the ukulele's first big wave of popularity on the mainland. Many people don't even know, for example, that "Singin' In The Rain" began its life as an ukulele song in the late 1920s, but I'd put it in my "all time" top ten list for that reason. "Aloha Oe," given its great popularity and exposure for such a long time, would have to be on my "all time" list as well.
 
Sorry. Not even close. That's the problem with lists. I mean, for instance, Herb Ota Jr.'s "Sophisticated Hula" would be a fine replacement for "I'm Yours" considering the latter has no uke to speak of on the record (but sure sounds good on a uke!). No Formby, no Edwards, no Smeck? No Smeck??? Here... You need to see this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RcQYt7xvA8M


Now if you'll excuse me, I need to put my ukes away again after watching that...
 
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yes i get exactly what your saying on the path that and genre its swaying towards, but i can understand that the older generation may think different. But what would u say popular uke songs of now and this generation?

Your "generation" has missed the biggest songs of ukulele history.

"Ain't She Sweet"
"Five Foot Two"
"I'll See You In My Dreams"

These and many more were written with ukulele in mind and this was in the heart of the uke craze. Martin was producing thousands of ukuleles in those years and so were other companies. Song books were churned out with these songs and many more...

Your top-ten, including "Tonight, You Belong to Me", which was played by Lyle Ritz for Steve Martin (who played a mean banjo and not the uke) misses decades of popular tunes.

In a couple of years, I doubt many people will care about Hey, Soul Sister and Train... Whereas Irving Berlin and Gus Kahn have been called two of the best songwriters of all time.
 
Yeah, not a big fan of the ol' contemporary list. I love songs from the 20s-30s, and I think Formby and Smeck need to be represented in this list.
 
I have to agree with those that said there are generation gaps at work here (and yes there is more than one gap, since we have at least 3 to 5 generations alive at one time. In addition, we have the musical style gaps (jazz, pop, country, island, etc. etc) - the uke can play em all.

To some degree we experience such gaps when we have regional meet-ups. Some of us old codgers recognize and love playing old songs which seem to leave the younger folks yawning, and vice versa. I have often wondered what songs I would put on my repertoire list if I ever started performing in public. I suppose that would depend on the audience.
 
Exactly

U see i had posted this somewhere else where the generation of users were around their teens like me and 20s and we had agreed on a list of this layout. But as u can see the generation gap does produce a lot of differences. So i guess in order to make ot a reall all time list. There is a huge need to switch at least half the songs to make it an all time list. Just goes to show the huge differences in generations of ukulele music.
 
For a top ten of all time you might have to pick the decades where ukes were popular. 19- teens - 50s and 1990s-20 oughts - teens (almost there).
 
Mine. Today. 11:48pm. In no particular order:

Somewhere Over the Rainbow, arr. Iz
While My Guitar Gently Weeps, arr. Jake
I'll See You In My Dreams
Tonight You Belong to Me
Song For Anna
Leanin' on a Lampost
Has Anybody Seen My Gal?
Billie Jean, arr. James Hill
Hone A Ka Wai (personal favourite - got to have a Ka'ai)

I don't have a 10th. That is to say, I have lots. So, I'll keep my nine. No Smeck. No Edwards. Number 10 could be too many.
 
. . . (as an Old Lady) . . .

Watch that comments, that would mean a whole LOT of us around the Luthier's Corner (and here) are old men. I'm in denial and don't want to be reminded, especially since you're younger than the lot. . .

I do like the comment about staying power, so. . .

No, I wouldn't agree with those songs. You gotta think about what songs have been, and still are. I think White Sandy Beach by IZ should replace Somewhere Over the Rainbow, which is mostly sung, and not played.

Also the list is missing a whole lot from guys like Peter Moon - Kawika is not only played but has been redone as well. On Fire by Troy has been redone by Pure Heart (Jake on `uke).

Of course there are more, but I gotta go cook - its fight night. . .

-Aaron
 
After Jake's rendition of While My Guitar Gently Weeps I'd say that would have to be in the top as well as White Sandy Beach.

On a side note; Jeff Buckley didn't write Hallelujah, Leonard Cohen did.
 
Yep, and I'm pretty sure Kermit the Frog didn't write Ukulele Lady.

To that same point... Steve Martin didn't write "Tonight, You Belong to Me" and IZ didn't write "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" (and, in fact, he screwed up the lyrics - which is why a lot of UK players don't like him).
 
I'll start off by saying that older ukulele music is not my style, it's okay, but I prefer a more modern genre.

The problem with your top ten is that there are songs that were not even made popular on a ukulele. Granted Ukulele Weeps was not originally a ukulele song, but it has become one of the great uke songs, along the same lines as Stairway is to guitar.

I don't want to offend, but it looks more like a list of songs someone really likes to play on ukulele, not songs that were successful as ukulele songs.

For example, I'm Yours and Hallelujah may sound really good on a ukulele, but I would not consider either of them top ten ukulele songs... even if Jake has recorded a version of Hallelujah.

John
 
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