Anybody who has had more than a cursory glance over the pages of this blog will realise that, though strictly speaking a child of the 1970s, my formative musical years were the early 80s. I’ve written elsewhere about how that was such a fertile time musically, about how there was just so much variety, and so much exciting new stuff both in the charts and in more obscure corners. And so it should come as no surprise that this songbook has finally found its way out there.
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A couple of musical threads which overlapped during that period were the rise of electronic music, particularly the more commercial brand that came to be referred to as synthpop, and the New Romantic movement. The latter grew initially out of the legendary Blitz club in London and, whilst borrowing from the anybody-can-do-it mindset that punk had unleashed a few years earlier, was in many ways a reaction to the often dour and black-and-white world that it had created. New Romantics were characterised by flamboyant, extravagant costumes and make-up, adopted a far more hedonistic lifestyle, and their music was all colour and drama. Whilst a relatively short-lived phenomenon, it gave a platform for a series of colourful characters (Boy George, Steve Strange, Marilyn), provided an lightning rod and incubator for a number of subsequently hugely successful bands (Duran Duran, Spandau Ballet) and lent its sheen to a number of other artists who were on its periphery (not least of which was Adam Ant, who re-imagined himself in increasingly more glamorous and eccentric forms).
At the same time, the availability of cheaper electronic instruments created its own revolution, often inspired by true trailblazers such as Kraftwerk. The Human League were early out of the blocks, but initially had their thunder stolen by the upstart Gary Numan. But by 1980/81, you couldn’t move for electonic bands who were attempting to bring the left-field, subversive sounds that electronic music had originally rallied around into the charts. Bands like Depeche Mode, OMD, Soft Cell, Eurythmics, Yazoo, Tears for Fears, and many others rode on that wave. Often derided at the time, in a similar way to the way punk had been, for being talentless, one-finger keyboard operators, these artists often smuggled cutting edge contemporary themes into their songs and presentation.
On the surface, these songs and this genre are a thousand miles away from the world of ukulele. The sheer glamour of the New Romantics is not something that ukulele are renowned for. And the artificial, electronic sounds are not exactly what you associate ukulele with. But as has been proved in previous posts, and in a variety of ukulele groups around the country, these songs can actually translate quite well. Part of that comes down to the relatively straightforward nature of the songs, and the fact that – despite their origins – these are often classic, singalong songs. So I present you 30 songs that – to my mind, at least – are all classics of their kind, and translate really well to the humble ukulele. Give them a try, and enjoy!
Here is the songbook with all the songs in one place <songbook>
And here is the song list, with links to each of the individual song sheets:
- All Of My Heart – ABC
- All Stood Still – Ultravox
- Ashes To Ashes – David Bowie
- Bedsitter – Soft Cell
- Being Boiled – Human League
- Do You Really Want To Hurt Me – Culture Club
- Don’t Go – Yazoo
- Einstein A Go-Go – Landscape
- Enola Gay – OMD
- Fade To Grey – Visage
- Hold Me Now – Thompson Twins
- I Ran – A Flock Of Seagulls
- Joan Of Arc – OMD
- Living On The Ceiling – Blancmange
- Love Is A Stranger – Eurythmics
- New Life – Depeche Mode
- Nobody’s Diary – Yazoo
- Open Your Heart – Human League
- Pale Shelter – Tears For Fears
- Planet Earth – Duran Duran
- Rio – Duran Duran
- Save A Prayer – Duran Duran
- Say Hello, Wave Goodbye – Soft Cell
- See You – Depeche Mode
- Situation – Yazoo
- The Sound Of The Crowd – Human League
- Souvenir – OMD
- Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This) – Eurythmics
- Talk Talk – Talk Talk
- To Cut A Long Story Short – Spandau Ballet
- What! – Soft Cell
- You Spin Me Round (Like A Record) – Dead Or Alive
It’s fair to say that a few of the songs that I’ve posted lately haven’t exactly been the most well-known of songs. Today’s post should rectify that, as this is one of those timeless, universal songs.
