Orchestral manoeuvres, what a lark

We went to see the Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain last week, and what a top night out it was. Brilliantly idiosyncratic covers of great songs and some genuinely hilarious onstage banter (e.g. after they'd re-entered the stage from the wings after exiting in advance of the first encore: "You can't get out that way".) I love the way they drop the 'U' word into the songs from time to time too - with (genuinely) hilarious consequences.

Anyway, you'll doubtless know all about this seven and sometimes eight-piece combo (unless you've been terribly remiss or remote from the UK) so I'll not blather on any more about them now, apart from to urge you all to head over to their website to buy some Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain merch at your earliest convenience. You know it makes sense. There's even a Christmas album, which would make an ace present for the music fan in your life. Which may well be you, come to think of it. Whatever. Here's a selection of classic Ukulele Orchestra of GB clips to whet your appetite: Teenage Dirtbag, The Theme From Shaft and a singalong version of Anarchy In The UK. Join in, swing your pants!







Also, here's one of the newer songs in the Orchestra's repertoire, Hot Lips, which was originally recorded by Swedish electro types Pacific! (Exclamation mark theirs.) The Pacific! version is here if you fancy comparing and contrasting. Thanks to super sleuth Spike for seeking these out.