Seasons of the Ukulele

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

Season 756 - Complete Madness

potmo

"Psycho" Leon Payne

Naturally I learned this song from my hero Elvis Costello.

Barbablanca

Here is a short one from me this week. If I get inspired I might do another one.

This one is a Roll Call of some of the most evil people who have ever come to power in the USA
READ The Capital Letters to identify them.

I truly believe a considerable number of those named are truly insane, as those who voted for them must be.

It's not a Left-Right issue anymore, it's gone far beyond that into Democracy vs Authoritarianism

NOTE I have not made this one Public - only people who find our SOTU will be able to see this video.

Aviva

"Delta Dawn"

All the folks 'round Brownsville say she's crazy….

DelGriff

MORE HOSTS NEEDED PLEASE!

Getting a bit desperate now, folks! Please check the list in the first post of the sign up thread, and post your preferred week to volunteer at the end of that thread. Simples!

Thanks! :-)

dr_mitch

Another Madness song from me…House of Fun. @Edwin 's right -they're surprisingly difficult. Really I need another two weeks to practice this one (and probably will do, as it's such a fun one to play). I know @UkeCan1 beat me to it, but here it is!

DelGriff

Here’s a beautiful song, originally recorded by the beautiful Katie Melua as her debut single in 2003.

Baritone uke with some added synth bass, cello and piano.

The Closest Thing To Crazy - Katie Melua cover (SOTU 756)

CanadaJim

THAT SONG IS DRIVING ME CRAZY - Tom T Hall

I just learned this song yesterday from my friend Jim Victor.

uke4ia

Del, I did go check out more of the Madness discography. I added the "Keep Movin'" album and a half dozen other songs to my music library. Including this one, "Shame & Scandal".

This song was written in the '40s by calypso singer Sir Lancelot. Another calypso singer, Lord Melody, wrote new lyrics for the verses in 1962, and lots of people have covered his version. Including Madness, in 2005.

UkeFoote

"The Dawntreader", by Joni Mitchell, for tenor ukulele with singing. Thanks for hosting, Del!

uke4ia

This is "Sugar and Spice", a 2009 single by Madness. This is my 4th new Madness cover of the week. I think that qualifies me for a second blast from the past.

By the way, I'm wearing a t-shirt designed by former Seasonista John Liebler (aka Manfrog) that has a DNA strand where all the nucleotides are tiny ukuleles. Available on Redbubble.

uke4ia

Since I think I've now qualified for a second Blast from the Past, this is from Season 579, when Sabine hosted a similar theme to this week's. "Madness (Is All in the Mind)"

UkeCan1

Today was the monthly Chapters open mic. It's been quite a few months since I've performed there, and I almost didn't today.

But then I thought of three doable songs that are all (if you stretch far enough) vaguely twoferish:

weird + wanting to be taken by aliens = madness
oddity + leaving spaceship = madness
funky + a mad fruit

I think I did reasonably well for not having rehearsed except for a super-quick run-through of the first two - host Garth was particularly impressed with my vocals on "Space Oddity". I guess two years in a barbershop chorus is paying off a little bit!

"Mr. Spaceman" - The Byrds
"Space Oddity" - David Bowie
"Thank You For Flying With Us" - original

LimousinLil

A very belated "hello" from me, Del … and thanks for hosting! I hope this song counts … I only found it this morning and it's about the writer's experience with agoraphobia; a subject with which I am familiar! Following a particularly stressful period, I suffered from agoraphobia for several years and it is completely disabling. (I have "grown out of it" now!) Anyway, herewith ….

And my apologies for being totally absent this week - I've been recovering from a very long family visit (they left on Thursday) I'll catch up on this week's videos now.

potmo

"It's Only Rock 'n Roll But I Like it" The Rolling Stones

"... would you think the boy's insane? He's in say ay ane"

potmo

"Kansas City"

("...some crazy little women there...")

potmo

" Kryptonite" 3 Doors Down

A "Monday twofer"!

potmo

"Crazy Arms" Blast from the past

Thanks again for hosting Del. Glad you had such a great time seeing Madness.

OnlyUkeThatMatters

Mikey Dread gave Madness - along with the Selector, the Specials, the Beat, Generation X, and other U.K. bands who were making the scene in the year or so that Dread worked with the Clash leading up to their fourth album Sandinista! - some kind-hearted ribbing on the groovy dub, "Living in Fame."

Here's a more folksy than dubby version…

DelGriff

Just to announce that the madness is now officially over! Thank you all so much for your participation and your music. I will listen to, and comment on, the final few entries later on when I’m home from work, and I will post a wrap a little later in the week.

In the meantime time…

…is it a bird?

…is it a plane?

…nope - it’s Edwin! 🙂

DelGriff

FINAL WRAP FOR SEASON 756

As promised, here’s a short wrap-up for the Complete Madness week:

There were 48 fabulous submissions to the Season - each and every one a gem. Big, big thanks to everyone who contributed - it was a joy to host and to listen to everything you brought to the party.

I said at the start of the week that I’d pick out three particular favourites - there are actually four that deserve a special mention:

‘The Dutchman’ from @CanadaJim resonated deeply with my own situation - I found it very moving.

‘Crazy’ from @jon, considering he almost surprised himself by playing it this week, was performed superbly - go and have a listen if you haven’t already.

And the same can be said of ‘The Dawntreader’ from @UkeFoote - a fantastic delivery of a wonderful song!

And finally, @Barbablanca brought us one of his best originals ever - the brilliantly observed ‘Madmen Are Governing America’.

No prizes this week - instead I’m donating £1 for every Season entry to Mind, a mental health charity here in the UK. There are 48 videos on the playlist - I’ve rounded my donation up to £50.

Thank you all again for your participation - every song was a joy to listen to. And thank you for everything you all bring to this very special little corner of the internet! ❤️

Dear Del,

Thank you for your kind donation of £50. We really appreciate it.

Your donation will support vital helplines, provide life-saving information and maintain online peer support services for people when they need it most. With your donation, we can continue to campaign and protect the rights of people with mental health problems.

Mental health isn’t hidden anymore. It’s on the front pages. On the political agenda. Spoken about by royalty. For millions of people, mental health is now something to be honest about – not ashamed of.

With the support of people like you, the Mind community has been at the heart of this transformation.

Here are some of the things we’re proud of from our latest impact report:

In one year

Mind responded to over 128,000 queries to our support and information helpline

our mental health information was accessed 21.4 million times

almost 2 million people had a conversation about mental health as a result of Time to Talk Day.

But we know there’s much more to do.

Thank you again for your valuable support. With your help, we will not give up until everyone experiencing a mental health problem gets the support and respect they deserve.

Laura Oag

Supporter Care Manager

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