Seasons of the Ukulele

A weekly song challenge for ukulele players - all welcome. Find out more here

Season 744 - Pinball!

jon

hi everyone and welcome to season 744!

this week is inspired by a life-long love of pinball machines!
and by a little home-made game i made last week…

your songs should come from these categories that reference,
either by song titles, song lyrics or band names any of the following:

1. pinball machines, arcade games, game parlours

2. pin(s), ball(s), roll(s)(ed)(ing), bounce(s)(d)(ing), plunge(s)(d)(ing), flip(s)(ped)(pers)(ping), ramp(s)(ed), drain(s)(ed)(ing), target, shot, jackpot, special, tilt, credit etc etc...you get the idea! any words that can be associated w/ pinball game play!

3. gambling - because the first era of pinball machines was all about gambling!

4. lights - because nothing looks cooler than the bright, flashing lights on a pinball lit up at night 🙂

5. The Extra Ball/Del Griff Special - this option is in play after you've recorded something from 1-4 above:
post a song you've previously recorded that fits any of this week's categories
AND/OR any new song that involves some kind of unexpected windfall, bonus, gift or prize

no song limit. if you think it fits, it fits!
usual rules & conventions apply, please check the FAQ thread if you're unsure
hope everyone has a ball!

here's a little film about the game i made. have a fun week of music folks!

PLAYLIST

dr_mitch

Cheers Jon. Such a relief too to hear about the DelGriff special - I don't have to relearn Pinball Wizard, which I haven't played for nearly a year!

UkeFoote

I love pinball! Unfortunately, other than Pinball Wizard, there aren't many songs about the device.

There are, however, many machines that share their titles with song titles, and also band names. Some recent pinball machines have been named after bands.

Here's a link to an extensive list of pinball machine titles:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_pinball_machines

When we were kids in the 1960s and 1970s, my older brothers bought a used Gottlieb Gypsy Queen. I spent hours playing that thing, and got electrocuted several times lol.

Borfus and I performed the entire Tommy record (well the thirty minute Cliff Notes version anyway) in 2019, on the 50th anniversary of the record's release. I'm going to save our version of "Pinball Wizard" for another occasion.

jon

thanks for your comments fellas and the great link Brian and the crazy 'Gypsy Queen' story
no, not so many songs about pinball machines specifically, butplenty of grist for the mill in pinball titles!
and don't forget options 2-4! hopefully some of those associated pinball words might be ideas
for song choices as well - special, jackpot, rolling, tilt, shot, credit, target etc etc etc
if not then there are lots of songs about gambling or lights too 🙂

johnpoole

The Who have a lesser known rock opera called "Jimmy". All about a pin ball playing Chameleon. Hit song was " Pinball Lizard"!

johnpoole

Thanks for plenty of good options Jonno! Here's a Townes Van Zandt. TVZ has a number of songs that combine quasi religious, superstitious and supernatural goings on. Often set in mountains. Here's ' St John The Gambler".

UkeCan1

I was planning to follow up "Friend of the Devil" the next day with this very similar hunted man song (with a different ending), but by then I was into four very long days of overlapping online events and have had no sleep, let alone recording time.

But it has flashing lights and is therefore a perfect twofer, so I'm squeezing it in before a few hours shuteye and then get up for one more long day on Zoom.

"Indiana Wants Me" by R Dean Taylor

LimousinLil

Bonjour, Cher Ami … and thanks for hosting! I wasn't going to join in this week for all sorts of reasons, not least because I have an absolutely stinking cold. However, I mopped my fevered brow and bravely went ahead … basically, because I remembered I had a very Jon-appropriate song that mentioned balls in my back catalogue - "back catalogue", moi??? - and realised that I couldn't put it up till I'd done something new. So, herewith; and please forgive my even more than normally challenged vocals …..

dr_mitch

Okay - time for a classic gambling song about the pinball machines of New Orleans!

AlanDP

This is an old country song.

redpaul1

One from 1973, featuring not only pinball - and wizards too - but also lights, arcades & tilts!! Brits of a certain age may remember the Hollies' cover from 1975.

AlanDP

Here's one from a previous season several years ago when the theme was "songs from the 70s." About gambling over a pool game, another country song, this one written by Tom T. Hall and recorded by a famous talk-singer, Dave Dudley. If anyone has trouble finding gambling songs, you'll find plenty of them in country music.

uke4ia

I first started seriously listening to radio in 1974. I remember my local radio station playing "Pinball" by Brian Protheroe, which I really liked. To this day, it is the only song that I've ever heard from him. (I'm getting this song in early, before any of us other old-timers remembers it.) 😃

dr_mitch

And now time (the special extra repost) for the one that absolutely has to be there this week. You all know what it is.

Bystander

Thanks for hosting Jon, "my eyes were stabbed by the flash of a neon light" qualifies this old Simon and Garfunkel tune for your season mate.

Bystander

And here's my Del Griff Special, I see Paul has beaten me to it, no surprise there, we have similar tastes in music I reckon.

redpaul1

I see Paul has beaten me to it

Bystander Ah, you're referring to the other Paul!

As it happens, my entry does contain a surprising but hidden tribute to PW, but itself is not the Mod masterpiece 😁

CanadaJim

The Winner - Shel Silverstein

I was worried about finding a tune this season Jon, then I saw that you gave us plenty of options. Hope this one is OK.

jon

what a great start, folks! thank you everyone who has posted so far!
it's like a highlight reel for me to hear all these brilliant covers.
like when a pinball machine lists the Grand Champions on the dot-matrix display in between games 🙂
so, yeah, day 1 - i compare it to running up 400,000,000 on 'White Water' on the first ball lol

loved everything, but several hit me like bricks:
John's Townes cover, Paul's Springsteen, Jim's Protheroe.

and i was rapt to hear Alan cover the great Carl Smith recording and his talkin' cover of a Tom T. Hall song
Wendy, Val, Mitch and Graham brought equal doses of feeling, fun, cool, angst, quiet beauty and RAWK!

and Canada Jim came through as i was listening and commenting w/ a ripper Shel Silverstein!
bloody hilarious! awesome choice, thanks Jim! everything SS writes and that you play is a winner 🙂

really grateful gang!!! having not hosted for some while i felt a little bit of trepidation
about what might be considered an obscure theme, but yeah, hopefully there's
enough options on the table to keep everyone interested for the week…
playlist is updated and current to this point.

week 743 is still open for another 8 hours or so to do one last song for Sabine's awesome "Hunting" week too 🙂

here's Jimmy playing pinball. don't be like Jimmy.
(epic rage quit bad language alert for the kiddies)

CanadaJim

FISHIN' BLUES - Henry Thomas

I guess I got a Twofer here if fishin' is a form of huntin' and if there's a mention of betting who catches the most fish.