Has the ukulele jumped the shark yet?

Dougf

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Of course we'll probably not recognize that 'JTS' moment until well after it has happened, but the Eddie Vedder thread kind of makes me wonder. What will it take, a boy band that plays ukulele? Lady Gaga's uke album? Or what?
 
You gotta shark? Wow! Does it have a frickin' laser beam? Now Shark Acquisition Syndrome I could get behind!
 
Speaking of Jumping the Shark and Ukes - Here is blurb from a recap where the cast of Happy Days and Ukes were indeed combined~


"Potsie and Ralph want to go out with Rebecca and Candy who are also working on the time capsule. Richie takes Kim to the vault, and Potsie, Ralph, and the girls go as well. Fonzie and Miss Radcliff are spotted in the vault behind a box. Potsie accidentally locks them in after Miss Radcliff leaves the time capsule. Ralph panics. The vault only opens from the outside. Fonzie tries to ration the food, but there is no food to ration. Potsie sings "Get Happy" and then "Lollipop" while Kim plays the ukulele. Richie and Fonzie sit on a hammock and wonder how air will get into the vault."

http://www.episodeguide.us/happy-days/time-capsule/episode/20545/summary.html
 
Unlike the TV show that inspired JTS, playing a musical instrument is not a spectator pastime.

If anything it may have gone the other way. Regardless of musical tastes, the younger generation will determine the JTS moment. If Lady Gaga put out a ukulele album, the popularity of the instrument would explode even more.

Another sign that the moment is not upon us is the speed at which threads, the Anti-Vedder thread being the exception, fly from page 1 to page 2, 3, 4...

John
 
Of course we'll probably not recognize that 'JTS' moment until well after it has happened, but the Eddie Vedder thread kind of makes me wonder. What will it take, a boy band that plays ukulele? Lady Gaga's uke album? Or what?

I don't think you should feel discouraged. As long as you are having fun playing your instrument there will not be any jumping of sharks. The Vedder thing will bring in some new players, but for many it will be a fad. The quality of the uke is determined by the player.
 
I don't think you should feel discouraged. As long as you are having fun playing your instrument there will not be any jumping of sharks. The Vedder thing will bring in some new players, but for many it will be a fad. The quality of the uke is determined by the player.

I certainly don't feel discouraged, I just think there may come a time when the ukulele is just another instrument like violin or banjo, and we'll wonder "what was THAT all about?"

But maybe there truly is magic in this little flea, and there can be no doubt that people who love the uke will always do so, regardless of hype.
 
Eh...people will eventually turn against the uke. It's happened before, and it will happen again. As someone who grew up playing the uke while it was still regarded as a toy or a "starter guitar," I think I can say that those who genuinely love it won't care what anybody else thinks about it. I've played the uke for most of my life, and I'm not about to stop because it's suddenly being adopted by a bunch of people enamoured of the latest trend. The trend itself may jump the shark, but a uke's a uke for all that.
 
Only if you think that, like TV shows, Lady Gaga or other passing fads, interest in ukuleles is transient. Just because guitars are used by boy bands or in Lady Gaga music doesn't mean they're passe. The uke has survived other journeys to the commercial side, it will survice more in future.
 
sorry guys. Please forgive my ignorance, but what does "jumping the shark" mean exactly? Must be a cultural thing. I've never heard that expression before...mind you I do live under a rock in the bush... :eek:
 
sorry guys. Please forgive my ignorance, but what does "jumping the shark" mean exactly? Must be a cultural thing. I've never heard that expression before...mind you I do live under a rock in the bush... :eek:

I don't either, so thanks for asking, I think it has something to do with it being a fad or a phase or something, just picking up from what others in this thread are saying...
 
Jumping the shark references an episode of 'Happy Days' where The Fonz is waterski-ing and jumps over a man-eating shark. It is regarded as the moment when the script writers gave up and stopped trying to write a credible plot line. The expression has entered the vernacular to indicate a watershed moment when someone or something passes out of credibility.
 
Jumping the shark references an episode of 'Happy Days' where The Fonz is waterski-ing and jumps over a man-eating shark. It is regarded as the moment when the script writers gave up and stopped trying to write a credible plot line. The expression has entered the vernacular to indicate a watershed moment when someone or something passes out of credibility.

thanks Bruce.
 
Jumping the shark references an episode of 'Happy Days' where The Fonz is waterski-ing and jumps over a man-eating shark. It is regarded as the moment when the script writers gave up and stopped trying to write a credible plot line. The expression has entered the vernacular to indicate a watershed moment when someone or something passes out of credibility.

That is the most concise and accurate definition I've seen, well said.

Has anybody done the "Happy Days" theme for the Idiot Box Bonanza contest yet?
 
I'm not sure if the popularity of the 'ukulele has reached the peak, but like many here, I don't know that it really matters all that much to me.

Unfortunately, while I was first officially introduced to the 'ukulele about 10 years ago, I only really started being serious and playing it about three months ago when I finally got one of my own. Because of that, I have to constantly hear the question of whether I am playing because of <insert name of the celebrity recently sighted publically with the uke as an accessory>. I appreciate that the rise in popularity means there are more resources, but it also brings with it those cynics who refuse to accept that some of us play it because we actually like playing it! Almost as if the only reason anyone on earth would have an 'ukulele is because <celebrity> has one.

I think the only reason I am hoping that the shark has been breached is so those people can now go away and be cynical about other fads.
 
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