Season 501 - Forever In Blue Jeans

[Yukio]

My whole family loves Chuck Brodsky.
On Sunday morning, I put the CD on for a spin for the first time in a long time and I knew right away what I would try to bring to share with you lovely people on this season. Thanks for the inspiration to learn it, Bobby!

 

[jtsteam]

So, parts of jeans... well, jeans have flies. Apparently in US English that's usually "fly", but here in the UK "flies" and "fly" are interchangeable, so flies it is. Anyway, this song by Cake mentions flies:



This song has given me an opportunity to use my clack-badoing. I think some people call it a vibraslap, but I prefer the more formal name. There's a couple of parts where the uke is supposed to shut up but I forgot - I would do it again, but I'm hungry and it's time for tea, so I decided this'll do.

I thought maybe I should come up with a direct link to the theme with an obvious choice, rather than something more tenuous. I'll leave it to you to decide whether or not I did that...

 

[mountain goat]

one for posterity Bob -
not a new recording
so no need to add to the playlist mate
but it is the first song i ever wrote and recorded on a ukulele
and which references jeans and all things tight pants!
it was 2006 on a baby blue painted laminate mahalo soprano
i bought for 25 bucks one day on impulse.
15 years ago now and what a fun journey it's been

 

[bobjking]

one for posterity Bob -
not a new recording
so no need to add to the playlist mate
but it is the first song i ever wrote and recorded on a ukulele
and which references jeans and all things tight pants!
it was 2006 on a baby blue painted laminate mahalo soprano
i bought for 25 bucks one day on impulse.
15 years ago now and what a fun journey it's been

Haha! I just had to use my driving licence to verify my age before I could watch the video!!! I was nervous about what I was about to see but compared to some things I've witnessed on the net, it was pretty tame! That's a startling ukulele debut, Jon. You set your songwriting stall early with this one, mate!
Terrific stuff! Thank you!

 

[YorkSteve]

And who can forget this classic from the golden age of pop, in which a young lady swaps her jeans for something more star-like. Big mistake.
Mud were never far the record deck at our youth club, and a young YorkSteve used to bounce around, possibly wearing his first pair of jeans, when this was played.

 

[cua94]

Here is one that is fun to sing...

 

[wee_ginga_yin]

When a Man loves a woman was a Percy sledge song that featured in the Levi's ads.

it is with a certain trepidation that a white man can approach singing black soul classic... we just don't have the vocal cords for it and the correct timbre. Black voices are so distinctive and readily recognizable

 

[jtsteam]

Okay, just one more... I had to do two songs before this one, because this is Number Three, a short and sweet song by They Might Be Giants, which is track 3 on their debut album. Nothing tenuous here, this is a direct link to the theme this time. Honestly! Sure as I'm riding this bicycle!



In the last verse, the narrator buys himself some denim pants and a silver guitar. I have neither, but I do have an 8 string baritone uke and that will have to do.

 

[jtsteam]

Okay, just one more... I had to do two songs before this one, because this is Number Three, a short and sweet song by They Might Be Giants, which is track 3 on their debut album. Nothing tenuous here, this is a direct link to the theme this time. Honestly! Sure as I'm riding this bicycle!

It just occurred to me that this would also have fit a 501 darts theme given that there's a 3 on a dartboard. There, I'm happy now .

(Still can't edit my posts, so this has to be a reply. Hmmph.)

 

[kolibri]

"Miss Farkku-Suomi" (Miss Jeans Finland, 2001) by Kauko Röyhkä - a wannabe rocker boy admires the most beautiful girl in his school, who wants to win Miss Jeans Finland contest. My version is not rock but rather "breathless punk".

 

[Marcsuke]

SOTU 501 - "Brass Buttons"- Gram Parsons (1973). This has long been one of my favorite songs from one of my favorite records, "Grievous Angel," which was actually released several months after GP died. It's the only track that he doesn't sing with Emmylou Harris. The song was supposedly written for his late mother.

 

[Barbablanca]

I thought I was done for the week, but the muse had other ideas. here's a song about the narrator's man crush on an older guy when the narrator was young; blue Jeans forming a vital part of the relationship. It also explains the origin of the word denim.

Hope you enjoy:

 

[AlanDP]

You probably didn't expect to hear two of this one, but here goes. I learned about this song from a podcast called Rare & Scratchy Rock & Roll. Originally a commercial jingle for Brutus Jeans, it was turned into a pop hit by David Dundas. It went to #3 in the U.K. and #17 in the U.S. in 1976.

 

[bobjking]

You probably didn't expect to hear two of this one, but here goes. I learned about this song from a podcast called Rare & Scratchy Rock & Roll. Originally a commercial jingle for Brutus Jeans, it was turned into a pop hit by David Dundas. It went to #3 in the U.K. and #17 in the U.S. in 1976.

I didn't expect it but I'll happily take it!
Like my old nana used to say, "Robert, you can never have too much Dundas...!"

 

[pabrizzer]

got one in the works from a flamboyant 1970s/80s aussie band

 

[wee_ginga_yin]

I don't recognise myself from 10 years ago. here is a Robert Burns poem I set to music that mentions the word Jean. there must be a ukulele sound in there somewhere but I was experimenting with filters and all manner of strange sounds which distorted the ukulele out of all recognition

 

[bobjking]

Thank you to everyone who's contributed to the season so far! After a frantic first 48 hrs we've slowed down to a steady trickle of never less than fantastic music!
As added incentive, here's a photo of this week's prize, as mentioned in my original post and artfully placed on the rear end of a pair of my very own 501s.

Here's looking forward to a weekend of fine tunes!

 

[merlin666]

Frank Zappa and the Mother's of Invention's "Mr. Green Genes" for tenor ukulele with whistling and singing, overdubs of secondary vocal, Ashbory Ubass, and tenor ukulele. Thanks for hosting, Bob!

Wow I am in awe! Thank you for this beautiful arrangement.

 

[redpaul1]

Been a while....

 

[LimousinLil]

PAUL!!! How lovely to see you! And, hello again, Bob! As a result of my extensive research for your wonderfully denim-themed week, I came across this rather bonkers French-Canadian group, called "Bleu Jeans Bleu." They are worth checking out if you like that sort of thing ... I think they're great fun. I didn't bother to add subtitles to this song - basically, it's just about someone who eats far too many chips/french fries.