What if TinyTim had never existed?

hoosierhiver

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The thread about Tiny Tim got me thinking, what if he had never existed?
Would the ukulele have avoided ridicule as a toy and a joke and become widely accepted and respected years ago?, and if so where would we be today?
Would you have started playing ukulele if it hadn't a little fringe and quirky?

From the other thread some people seem to think for better or worse Tiny Tim significantly changed the public's perception of ukuleles., but was it really for the worse in the long run?

The Dali Llama once said something to the effect," Very few things in the world are all black or white, if the Chinese had never invaded Tibet, you probably would have never heard of me."
 
It would have caused a butterfly effect Weird Al Yankovic wouldn't have existed. Howard Stern would have taught grade school. Sam Kinison and Bobcat Goldthwait wouldn't have done screamer comedy.It would have been a strange version of It's a Wonderful Life. I appreciate performers and entertainers with crazy humor.
 
Had he never picked up the Uke, I think a lot fewer people would roll their eyes and laugh when they think of a ukulele. I'm not a hater but I think in his time he was a joke, people laughed at him not with him...
 
It would have caused a butterfly effect Weird Al Yankovic wouldn't have existed. Howard Stern would have taught grade school. Sam Kinison and Bobcat Goldthwait wouldn't have done screamer comedy.It would have been a strange version of It's a Wonderful Life. I appreciate performers and entertainers with crazy humor.

Kind of what I envisioned, but maybe a little more Orwellian.
 
What would have happened if Martin and Rowen didn't use him as the butt of their routine.
 
I don't think the ukulele was all that known outside of Hawaiian music in the 60s. Whatever cache it had in the Arthur Godfrey era went away with the British Invasion and the rise of the electric guitar. I think Tiny Tim brought the ukulele back into the public conscience, albeit in a ridiculing sort of way. But if people in the 60s hadn't seen Tiny Tim and didn't know what an ukulele was (outside of Hawaiian music), maybe The Who would have recorded Blue Red and Grey with an acoustic guitar instead of with an ukulele.
 
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Had Tiny Tim never existed, nothing would be different with the ukulele and the way it is perceived today, however we would be without the Tiny Tim jokes. I really think he had very little or next to no influence on anything regarding the uke. Other than those little jokes. Tiny Tim was a crazy performer and had a fun little act, but I just do not believe anything he did had much influence on the ukulele going forward.
 
I don't think the ukulele was all that known outside of Hawaiian music in the 60s. Whatever cache it had in the Arthur Godfrey error went away with the British Invasion and the rise of the electric guitar. I think Tiny Tim brought the ukulele back into the public conscience, albeit in a ridiculing sort of way. But if people in the 60s hadn't seen Tiny Tim and didn't know what an ukulele was (outside of Hawaiian music), maybe The Who would have recorded Blue Red and Grey with an acoustic guitar instead of with an ukulele.

Couldn't get the link to work on my iPad. Found this one. Great video.

http://m.youtube.com/#/watch?v=hqWP7uDsjPo&desktop_uri=/watch?v=hqWP7uDsjPo

Thanks so much for making me aware of that song. If it wasn't for Tiny Tim this thread wouldn't have existed and I wouldn't be aware of this Who song now.:D
 
I don't think the ukulele was all that known outside of Hawaiian music in the 60s. Whatever cache it had in the Arthur Godfrey error went away with the British Invasion and the rise of the electric guitar. I think Tiny Tim brought the ukulele back into the public conscience, albeit in a ridiculing sort of way. But if people in the 60s hadn't seen Tiny Tim and didn't know what an ukulele was (outside of Hawaiian music), maybe The Who would have recorded Blue Red and Grey with an acoustic guitar instead of with an ukulele.

That is a good point, he was playing ukulele at one of it's lowest points since it was introduced outside of Hawaii.
 
Hmm... I think the ukulele would have become one of those "old-fashioned", "forgotten" instruments like the dulcimer, autoharp, or the spinet. For better or for worse, Tiny Tim kept the uke in the public conciousness and "modernised" it somewhat.
 
The ukulele was considered a joke instrument in popular culture long before Tiny Tim, all the way back to the silent movie era. Maybe that would have faded from memory a little if Tiny Tim hadn't used a uke, but then again, maybe the ukulele would have faded from popular consciousness too.
 
I don't think the ukulele was all that known outside of Hawaiian music in the 60s. Whatever cache it had in the Arthur Godfrey error went away with the British Invasion and the rise of the electric guitar. I think Tiny Tim brought the ukulele back into the public conscience, albeit in a ridiculing sort of way. But if people in the 60s hadn't seen Tiny Tim and didn't know what an ukulele was (outside of Hawaiian music), maybe The Who would have recorded Blue Red and Grey with an acoustic guitar instead of with an ukulele.

Actually, Pete Townsend and a good number of other British guitarists of his era played ukulele as kids because of George Formby. If anything, I would think that Tiny Tim would have made Pete think twice about using a uke on a song.
 
The thread about Tiny Tim got me thinking, what if he had never existed?

I'd still be ukin'... on the other hand, if Jake never existed I probably wouldn't be.
 
Actually, Pete Townsend and a good number of other British guitarists of his era played ukulele as kids because of George Formby. If anything, I would think that Tiny Tim would have made Pete think twice about using a uke on a song.

Your point about George Formby is a good one. John Lennon and George Harrison were also ukulele players before The Beatles. But the ukulele was virtually unknown in the 60s to people in the US who, like me, grew up on the mainland and had no exposure to Hawaiian music. Considering how much British musicians loved George Formby and the ukulele back then, I wonder if Pete Townshend was annoyed at what Tiny Tim was doing to the ukulele's image and decided to record a song with one specifically to help rehabilitate that image.

I don't think the ukulele was all that known outside of Hawaiian music in the 60s. Whatever cache it had in the Arthur Godfrey error went away with the British Invasion and the rise of the electric guitar. I think Tiny Tim brought the ukulele back into the public conscience, albeit in a ridiculing sort of way. But if people in the 60s hadn't seen Tiny Tim and didn't know what an ukulele was (outside of Hawaiian music), maybe The Who would have recorded Blue Red and Grey with an acoustic guitar instead of with an ukulele.

Ha ha! "the Arthur Godfrey error." Typo or Freudian slip?
 
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I'm not certain Tiny Tim had any impact on the popularity of the ukulele. I see no evidence that uke sales soared, like they did in the 20s because of Ukulele Ike (the great Cliff Edwards) or in the 50s because of Arthur Godfrey. Correct me if I'm wrong on this.

Tiny Tim was a novelty act with a uke. But did people then run out and buy ukes because they wanted to play them? don't think so.

So my conclusion is, he had zero impact on the popularity of the instrument. So if he had never lived? Not much change in the uke-us-sphere.
 
Well, here's what I think: "it's not very classy to trash an artist without having any facts."

At his Workshop Friday evening, Lil Rev pointed out that the ukulele has a rich place in Amercan music history and Tiny Tim is a valuable part of that history. TT seems to be getting judged only for his "schtick."

He was one of America's greatest ukulele/old time music archivists. Much valuable old time music, includng early Americana and vaudeville might have been lost if not for him. What most people "know" about Tiny Tim only scratches the surface. Check out his Memorial Site and Allmusic.com

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiny_Tim_(musician)

http://www.allmusic.com/artist/tiny-tim-mn0000603980
 
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The thread about Tiny Tim got me thinking, what if he had never existed?

Oh Nooooooooooooes! Ripping the time-space continunums! Then we wouldn't have had Zooey Daschanel!



Seriously, if Marilyn Monroe couldn't spark interest with Some Like It Hot (it's fun watch it) and Taylor Swift toting around that concert size gig bag, I don't what will. In the meantime, I'll just amuse my friends and housepets with this instrument of innocent merriment...
 
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Eddie Vedder would do a pan flute album because of Zamfir's influence on Pop culture.
 
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