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bigjackbrass.social.vivaldi.net.ap.brid.gy
Jon Hancock
@bigjackbrass.social.vivaldi.net.ap.brid.gy
160 followers 11 following 3K posts
Charlatan, Humbug and Imitation Humorist.

Former sporadic cartoonist and game designer. Occasionally #Outdoorsy, sometimes #Cycling. #Ukulele torturer […]

🌉 bridged from ⁂ https://social.vivaldi.net/@BigJackBrass, follow @ap.brid.gy to interact
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bigjackbrass.social.vivaldi.net.ap.brid.gy
This looks like being a terrific show for anyone closer to Camden than I am:

https://www.greennote.co.uk/production/phil-doleman-christopher-davis-shannon/

#ukulele #london #livemusic
Gig announcement showing two men sitting next to each other. Text: JAZZ AND BLUES UKULELE DOUBLE-BILL. CHRISTOPHER DAVIS-SHANNON & PHIL DOLEMAN. GREEN NOTE, 106 PARKWAY LONDON NW1 7AN. FRIDAY 20TH FEB 7:30PM £14. GREENNOTE.CO.UK
December 12, 2025 at 6:32 PM
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Peter DeRose (or sometimes De Rose), who wrote the music, and May Singhi Breen, who did the ukulele arrangement, were very well known at the time of this song with their own poular American radio programme, but I knew nothing about lyricist Jo (or Jo' as […]

[Original post on social.vivaldi.net]
Ukulele songsheet for "I Just Roll Along Havin' My Ups And Downs" by Jo’ Trent and Peter DeRose (1927). Lyrics, chord abbreviations and diagrams, unfortunately too much for alt-text. Sheet music cover for "I Just Roll Along Havin' My Ups And Downs" by Jo’ Trent and Peter DeRose (1927). Bright orange page with title in simple black lettering at the top. Black and white illustration of a suited man sitting at one end of a plank with the world, nestled in clouds, beneath it as the fulcrum of a seesaw. Swallowtail butterflies flit around him as he gaily waves what is probably a handkerchief, but could equally be a pair of knickers or a leg of lamb: it's not the best drawing. An inset black and white portrait photograph shows a man with a neat dark moustache alongside a woman with dark curly hair, captioned "Featured by May Singhi Breen and Peter DeRose".
December 12, 2025 at 3:16 PM
bigjackbrass.social.vivaldi.net.ap.brid.gy
And now a zippy little song about giving your girl the horn.

Depending on your vocal versatility this number will either work solo, or by drafting someone else in to handle the sound effects

https://youtu.be/tyij66xuOxo

#music #ukulele #1920s
Ukulele songsheet for "I'm Wild About Horns On Automobiles That Go 'Ta-Ta-Ta-Ta'" by Clarence Gaskill (1928). Lyrics, chord abbreviations and diagrams, unfortunately too much for alt-text. Sheet music cover for "I'm Wild About Horns On Automobiles That Go 'Ta-Ta-Ta-Ta'" by Clarence Gaskill (1928). White background with pale green streaks across the sky and colouring the broadly sketched trees and bushes. Cartoon illustration of a grinning couple wearing fashionable 1920s clothing zooming along in a bright red two-seater open motorcar, with the man leaning out to squeeze the rubber bulb of the elaborate, multi-tube horn mounted along the wing. A small white animal, probably meant to be a dog, looks on from the side of the road.
December 12, 2025 at 2:02 PM
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1925 Vendor of paper shopping bags in a New York City street scene.

(Via https://the1920sinpictures.tumblr.com/)

#1920s #history #photography #newyork
A vendor of paper shopping bags holding up his wares, New York City, 1920s. An advertising slogan on an umbrella in the background reads 'All Eyes Are on Bloomingdales'. (Photo by P. L. Sperr/Frederic Lewis/Archive Photos/Getty Images).
December 11, 2025 at 6:28 PM
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This Fats Waller number seems to be a low-key favourite of some bands even today, but despite quite a few terrific recordings over the years I couldn't find one with the complete vocals until Rebecca Kilgore's interpretation turned up. You can get the hang […]

[Original post on social.vivaldi.net]
Ukulele songsheet for "I’m More Than Satisfied" by Ray Klages and Thomas Waller (1927). Lyrics, chord abbreviations and diagrams, unfortunately too much for alt-text. Sheet music cover for "I’m More Than Satisfied" by Ray Klages and Thomas Waller (1927). Pale off-white cover with soft peach clouds, curves and rays, as if applied by a crude airbrush or pastel. Title in gentle arc of black lettering across the top. Large black and white portrait photograph of a grinning lean-faced man in black tie, done no favours at all by his severe short-back-and-sides haircut. Caption next to photograph: "Featured by The Sensation of the Coast EDDIE PEABODY THE WORLD'S GREATEST BANJO WIZARD".
December 10, 2025 at 9:52 PM
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I suppose I ought to put in some effort and start learning a few Christmas tunes, but not today. Too tired.

I did get the book off the shelf, so we'll call that Phase One accomplished.

#ukulele
Photo of a paperback copy of "Jumpin' Jim's Happy Holidays – Compiled and arranged by Jim Beloff". Minty green cover with illustration of a white ukulele with red stripes across the fretboard. Smiling white-bearded Father Christmas in a red hat. Holly and snowflake motifs. List of some of the songs included on the lower left side.
December 10, 2025 at 5:04 PM
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The transition from silent films to talkies wasn't smooth, nor was it a straight line, but it was quite rapid; and for many Hollywood actors it bumped them to stardom, while more established stars often either didn't sound the way the public expected or […]

[Original post on social.vivaldi.net]
Ukulele songsheet for "Ever Since the Movies Learned to Talk" by Walter O’Keefe, Bobby Dolan and James Cavanaugh (1928). Lyrics, chord abbreviations and diagrams, unfortunately too much for alt-text. Sheet music cover for "Ever Since the Movies Learned to Talk" by Walter O’Keefe, Bobby Dolan and James Cavanaugh (1928). Dark pink background with a large black triangle extending point down from the top to the bottom, perhaps a quarter of the way to the left of centre. The V-shaped frame this makes comtains a large , dramatically lit portrait photograph of Eddie Cantor. Title in black text against a white banner across the top of the page. Credits below that, to the right of the triangle, along with "As sung by Eddie Cantor in Ziegfeld's production WHOOPEE". The Word Whoopee is drawn to look as though made from loops of a rope. Below it is a picture of a woman riding a ferociously bucking horse and holding one end of the rope that forms the word, making it look like a lassoo.
December 10, 2025 at 3:16 PM
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Al Jolson is perhaps mainly remembered for his film "The Jazz Singer"—along with some sentimental "Mammy" songs and the uncomfortable connection to blackface performing—but the movie "The Singing Fool" which followed it was not only more technically […]

[Original post on social.vivaldi.net]
Ukulele songsheet for "There's A Rainbow ‘Round My Shoulder" by Al Jolson, Billy Rose & Dave Dreyer (1928). Lyrics, chord abbreviations and diagrams, unfortunately too much for alt-text. Sheet music cover for "There's A Rainbow ‘Round My Shoulder" by Al Jolson, Billy Rose & Dave Dreyer (1928). Pale orange background, title in bold blue letters at the top, blue, orange and white rainbow arcing from upper left to lower right. Picture of a smiling Al Jolson, thankfully not in blackface, wearing black tie and standing with arms spread, a megaphone in his right hand.
December 10, 2025 at 12:49 PM
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Thanks to some very effective ad blockers, I live in a sort of reverse "They Live" world.
Screenshot of an advert on the Wordle website. The page is blank aside from the boxed word ADVERTISEMENT in the middle, due to ad blocker software doing its thing.
December 10, 2025 at 9:51 AM
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First night using the CPAP machine went as well as I could hope. Monitoring software reports that all was well, I managed to sleep despite having to adopt an alien position compared to my usual choice, and I didn't wake up too often. Managed a whisker […]

[Original post on social.vivaldi.net]
A bearded middle-aged man raising an eyebrow and looking at the camera through an eye that's sitting on more bags than the Birmingham New Street lost property office. Strapped to his face is a clear medical nasal mask, attached with multiple flat grey straps, which is connected in elephant's trunk fashion to a very long wrinkled hose.
December 9, 2025 at 4:08 PM
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With December gradually moving up through the gears and gathering pace, let's take a moment to remember what the upcoming celebrations are all about.
December 8, 2025 at 9:59 PM
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I suspect that the biggest stumbling block to playing this sweet and cheeky number is going to be the [F] – [Cdim7] – [C7] progression that crops up several times throughout the song, but it's not as bad it might appear when taken slowly and it sounds […]

[Original post on social.vivaldi.net]
Ukulele songsheet for "What Do We Do On A Dew-Dew-Dewy Day" by Howard Johnson, Chas. Tobias and Al Sherman (1927). Lyrics, chord abbreviations and diagrams, unfortunately too much for alt-text. Sheet music cover for "What Do We Do On A Dew-Dew-Dewy Day" by Howard Johnson, Chas. Tobias and Al Sherman (1927). Orange background, title at top in black. Black and white cartoon illustration of a young couple snuggling close on a striped sofa while the rain lashes against the French windows. The smiling young man is reaching for the pull switch to the lamp on the table next to him.
December 8, 2025 at 9:10 PM
bigjackbrass.social.vivaldi.net.ap.brid.gy
A surprisingly frequent problem I encounter when writing up music sheets is the nonexistent chord. I find a chord I don't recognise, so I look it up on something like ukebuddy.com: "No chords found". I trawl through reference books and individual diagrams […]

[Original post on social.vivaldi.net]
Picture of a ukulele chord diagram from old sheet music.
December 8, 2025 at 8:30 PM
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Gee, this looks like it's going to be so comfy to wear while I sleep…
Photo of packaging for ResMed Mirage ™ FX Nasal mask. White plastic bag with four portrait photos of a man putting a nose mask, ventilator tube and straps on his head.
December 8, 2025 at 4:50 PM
bigjackbrass.social.vivaldi.net.ap.brid.gy
Time for some nautical nonsense from Arthur Le Clerq. Considering that recordings of this tune had to be split across two sides, even though they missed out some of the choruses, there was obviously no chance at all of my writing it up clearly and still […]

[Original post on social.vivaldi.net]
Sheet music cover for "He Played His Ukulele As The Ship Went Down" by Arthur Le Clerq (1932). It's a yellowed piece of unbleached paper with a black ink illustration on the cover, showing a man playing his ukulele by the figurehead of his ship as the vessel sinks stern first in shark-infested waters. He doesn't look too cheerful. Title in large black letters at about a thirty degree angle above his head. Price 6d net (sixpence). Page One of ukulele songsheet for "He Played His Ukulele As The Ship Went Down" by Arthur Le Clerq (1932). Lyrics, chord abbreviations and diagrams, unfortunately too much for alt-text. Page Two of ukulele songsheet for "He Played His Ukulele As The Ship Went Down" by Arthur Le Clerq (1932). Lyrics, chord abbreviations and diagrams, unfortunately too much for alt-text. Page Three of ukulele songsheet for "He Played His Ukulele As The Ship Went Down" by Arthur Le Clerq (1932). Lyrics, chord abbreviations and diagrams, unfortunately too much for alt-text.
December 8, 2025 at 3:47 PM
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Delayed by the seller not putting enough postage on the envelope (grumble harrumph) but here at last! Time to put the kettle on and type this up onto something less fragile than a piece of low grade 93 year old paper.

#ukulele
Photo of a hand holding sheet music for "He Played His Ukulele As The Ship Went Down" by Arthur Le Clerq (1932). It's a yellowed piece of unbleached paper with a black ink illustration on the cover, showing a man playing his ukulele by the figurehead of his ship as the vessel sinks stern first in shark-infested waters. He doesn't look too cheerful. Title in large black letters at about a thirty degree angle above his head. Price 6d net (sixpence).
December 8, 2025 at 1:39 PM
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Not as well remembered as some other songs by Milton Ager and Jack Yellen, numbers like "Ain't She Sweet" and "Happy Days Are Here Again," this one still has their typical lightness and polish.

https://youtu.be/2mAwOKXOeyE

#music #ukulele #1920s
Ukulele songsheet for "Who-oo? You-oo! That’s Who!" by Jack Yellen and Milton Ager (1927). Lyrics, chord abbreviations and diagrams, unfortunately too much for alt-text. Sheet music cover for "Who-oo? You-oo! That’s Who!" by Jack Yellen and Milton Ager (1927). Rose pink background with title in large black letters outlined with white. Portrait illustration of a smiling young woman with dark waved hair, makeup, and a rose pinned to the strap of her dress. Her head is framed by a solid white circle. Inset black and white photograph of Al Jolson, seated, wearing a dark three-piece suit.
December 8, 2025 at 1:24 PM
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Now Playing:

#music
Screenshot of music player showing the album "More Than Satisfied" by Nat Shilkret & The All Star Orchestra. Pale peach background with black and white circle in centre looking like a record label. In set portrait photo of a white man with a receding hairline. Track playing is "My Melancholy Baby".
December 8, 2025 at 10:30 AM
bigjackbrass.social.vivaldi.net.ap.brid.gy
A lot is made of this song being a huge college hit, presumably due to its poetic blending of romantic yearning and brick-to-the-face innuendo. Subtle enough that it doesn't seem to have actually been banned, at least.

It remained popular too, and you can […]

[Original post on social.vivaldi.net]
Ukulele songsheet for "Last Night On the Back Porch (I Loved Her Best Of All)" by Lew Brown and Carl Schraubstader (1923). Lyrics, chord abbreviations and diagrams, unfortunately too much for alt-text. Sheet music cover for "Last Night On the Back Porch (I Loved Her Best Of All)" by Lew Brown and Carl Schraubstader (1923). "The Big College Song Hit (with Ukulele Arrangement)". Orange background with title in black. Lyrics to the chorus are reproduced in a white box below it, with the composer details to the right. Black, white and orange illustration of a woman perched on a balustrade, looking up at a man standing and gazing down at her, touching her hands. Both figures are in silhouette. Orange Chinese lanterns hang near foliage around the edges of the porch, which has a chessboard tiled floor. An inset portrait photograph of a young woman with short waved hair is captioned AILEEN STANLEY.
December 7, 2025 at 9:28 PM
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Even decent pictures of the sheet music cover for this song are rare (although actually it's almost identical to that for other songs from the same show, "Rain or Shine," with only the title changing), but you can enjoy a fantastic performance by Nat […]

[Original post on social.vivaldi.net]
Ukulele songsheet for "Add A Little Wiggle" by Jack Yellen and Milton Ager (1928). Lyrics, chord abbreviations and diagrams, unfortunately too much for alt-text.
December 7, 2025 at 3:27 PM
bigjackbrass.social.vivaldi.net.ap.brid.gy
Some comic songs are a little deceptive when you come to look at them in depth. This very popular Leslie Sarony number doesn't have any extremely unusual or difficult chords, and the tricky ones it does include can generally be skipped without too much […]

[Original post on social.vivaldi.net]
Ukulele songsheet for 'I Lift Up My Finger And Say "Tweet Tweet"' by Leslie Sarony (1929). Lyrics, chord abbreviations and diagrams, unfortunately too much for alt text. A rather poor, adjusted scan of the sheet music cover for'I Lift Up My Finger And Say "Tweet Tweet"' by Leslie Sarony (1929). The colours are heavily oversaturated and the inset captioned portrait photo of Guy Lombardo is almost unreadable. Title in blue captial letters against a white rectangle in upper left. Cartoon illustration of a smiling man wearing blue blazer and white Oxford bags, one hand behind his back and the other extended with a finger raised. Red and white background of silhouettes in squares, consisting of a squirrel, swifts (possibly swallows, it's hard to tell from the drawing), and a geometric shape that looks regrettably like a reversed swastika.
December 7, 2025 at 2:23 PM
bigjackbrass.social.vivaldi.net.ap.brid.gy
@DarkestKale They should have used something like the plain clothes police drive.
Side view photograph of a bright tomato red Ford Gran Torino car with a white swoosh stripe extending over the roof and down the sides, tapering to a point just before the bumper. There is a magnetic flashing red light on the roof. The car is identical to the one used in the Starsky & Hutch TV series.
December 7, 2025 at 12:43 PM
bigjackbrass.social.vivaldi.net.ap.brid.gy
Comic book panel showing a frowning woman wearing a tailored red jacket and green jodhpurs. She is standing with her hands on her hips in a doorway. A man wearing a white shirt and jacket is sitting at a table with a book in his hands, looking up at her and speaking. Balloon text: "I CAME BACK HERE TO GET HELP - BUT I DIDN'T THINK YOU WERE REALLY IN TROUBLE, SO I WENT TO A PARTY INSTEAD!".
December 7, 2025 at 9:57 AM
bigjackbrass.social.vivaldi.net.ap.brid.gy
I first heard this song on a compilation album, where it was performed by Irving Aaronsen & His Commanders. It's a great version, but inevitably lacks the intro verse. To hear that you'll need to follow the second link to Sheet music Singer.

This is one […]

[Original post on social.vivaldi.net]
Ukulele songsheet for "Outside" by Frank Flynn (1928). Lyrics, chord abbreviations and diagrams, unfortunately too much for alt-text. Page of ten additional choruses for "Outside" by Frank Flynn (1928). This is a full sheet of lyrics which unfortunately will not fit in alt-text. Sheet music cover for "Outside" by Frank Flynn (1928). Cartoon illustration of a smartly dressed young man being extravagantly booted out of the door of a red brick house and into a thunderstorm by an elegant female leg clad in stocking and high-heeled shoe. Inset black and white photograph of band members posing with their instruments, captioned Palmer's Orchestra.
December 6, 2025 at 9:54 PM
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Dating whiplash so severe you might injure your neck just listening to it.

Aileen Stanley and Billy Murray perform a comic duet in this recording, with some lyrical alterations from the sheet music, but more traditional dance versions can be found by […]

[Original post on social.vivaldi.net]
Ukulele songsheet for "I'm Gonna Dance Wit De Guy Wot Brung Me (The Gum Chewer’s Song)" by Walter O’Keefe and Harry Archer (1927). Lyrics, chord abbreviations and diagrams, unfortunately too much for alt text. Sheet music cover for "I'm Gonna Dance Wit De Guy Wot Brung Me (The Gum Chewer’s Song)" by Walter O’Keefe and Harry Archer (1927). Black background with a cartoon illustration of a slim young woman in a fashionably short orange dress, dismissively turning her back on a young man as she extends a string of chewing gum the length of her left arm from her mouth to the tips of her fingers. The slick-haired young man, wearing a blue jacket, orange tie and wide white Oxford bags, responds with a shocked expression. Oversized orange and blue paper lanterns behind their heads fill in some of the upper background.
December 6, 2025 at 2:20 PM