With My Little Ukulele In My Hand

Album: Leaning on a Lamp Post (1933)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • Thirty-nine years before Chuck Berry fell foul of Mrs. Mary Whitehouse with his Ding-a-Ling, George Formby caused a flim-flam playing with his little ukulele. In 1933 however, a song of this nature would not have got past the record company management; Decca pulled it and ordered the lyrics of the Jack Cottrell composition be rewritten, but as one Formby biography says, "There is no doubt that the original version is the better of the two, because of its larger orchestral accompaniment and a different uke solo."

    A few of the originals did fall through the net though, becoming collectors' items, and one made its way to The GRAMOPHONE, which in a review on page 106 of its August 1933 issue said: George Formby is naughty again in "With my little Ukulele in my hand" and mildly amusing in a song with the stupendous title "As the hours, and the days, and the weeks, and the months, and the years roll by."

    The reviewer recommended it to friends who drop in for a drink and to hear the latest on your gramophone.
  • Formby sung "With My Little Ukulele In My Hand" at the end of his 1935 film Off The Dole with no trace of double entendre because "He never did an audience's 'dirty work' for it."
  • According to the July 2014 BBC documentary Britain's Most Dangerous Songs: Listen To The Banned, this was the first song to be withdrawn from the BBC Playlist, until it was renamed "My Ukulele." >>>
    Suggestion credit:
    Alexander Baron - London, England, for above 3

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Frankie Valli

Frankie ValliSong Writing

An interview with Frankie Valli, who talks about why his songs - both solo and with The Four Seasons - have endured, and reflects on his time as Rusty Millio on The Sopranos.

The Girl in That Song

The Girl in That SongFact or Fiction

Billie Jean, Delilah, Sara, Laura and Sharona - do you know who the girls in the songs really are?

Michael Schenker

Michael SchenkerSongwriter Interviews

The Scorpions and UFO guitarist is also a very prolific songwriter - he explains how he writes with his various groups, and why he was so keen to get out of Germany and into England.

Actors With Hit Songs

Actors With Hit SongsMusic Quiz

Many actors have attempted music, but only a few have managed a hit. Do you know which of these thespians charted?

Charles Fox

Charles FoxSongwriter Interviews

After studying in Paris with a famous composition teacher, Charles became the most successful writer of TV theme songs.

Rock Revenge Songs

Rock Revenge SongsMusic Quiz

John Lennon, Paul Simon and Lynyrd Skynyrd are some of the artists who have written revenge songs. Do you know who they wrote them about?