Video: Poontang! (yup, poontang)

Now that I got your attention... Nah, I'm not joking. This really is a poontang video. Heh. I'm having a pretty good time here using the word poontang in a somewhat legitimate manner...... POONTANG!

Ok. I think I got that out of my system.  We can start for real.  As you may or may not know, I'm a freaking sucker for novelty songs.  I know what you are thinking, "Wait a minute, he likes ukuleles and novelty music?  High school must have been awesome for him!"  Surprisingly enough, it wasn't, but that's neither here nor there.

On one of my various novelty compilations, I first heard the song Poontang by the Treniers and I was amazed!  Frankly, I wasn't even sure the word poontang existed in 1953.  Turns out, it did.  After I heard the song I did a little bit of research and it sounds like The Treniers were pretty much party animals.  The drank and recorded rad songs.  In fact, to promote this song, they made custom labels for beer cans that said something like "Sweet Alabama Poontang" on them.  Then they sent the beer to radio station disc jockeys to get them to play it.  Freaking rad!

Anyway, I've been wanting to make a video for this for ages but kept putting it off.  So, today I just grabbed my aNueNue Banjolele and my Flip and busted out this video in a single take.  Boosh!

If you want to hear the original, check out this video:

And if you wanna play along (and who wouldn't, right?) here's some chords that I wrote up for Poontang!

Poontang by The Treniers
covered by Ukulele Guy

                  10 9 8 8 
...POON is a hug!
                  10 9 8 8 
TANG is a kiss!
C x7 (5433)
F          
I've been marooned on an isle in the South Pacific
Bb
Missing my loving each night
C
Now that I'm home I'll go right
                    E  F
Out and get me some POON-TANG!
F
Tired of talking to tigers and kangaroos,
Bb
Or singing a song to a goose.
C
Now that I'm home on the loose,
                  E   F
Gonna get me some POONTANG!

Bb 
Now Poon is a hug. I wanted a hug so badly
      D# (3331)
I was Blowing my tropical top.
C
A Tang is a kiss, I wanted a kiss so badly
       C                 E
Wanted Poontang never to stop.
F
I don't want to eat And I don't want to sleep;
Bb
I've got a yen that I'm dying to please.
C
Till I get weak in the knees,
                  E   F
Gonna get me that Poontang.
F
POON-TANG!
F
POON-TANG!
Bb
POON-TANG!
F
POON-TANG!
C
POON-TANG!
F
POON-TANG!

F
A-huggin and a-kissin...that's POON-TANG!
F
A-huggin and a-kissin...that's POON-TANG!
Bb
A-huggin and a-kissin...that's POON-TANG!
F
A-huggin and a-kissin...that's POON-TANG!
C
A-huggin and a-kissin...that's POON-TANG!
F
POON-TANG!

Rock break.

Bb
A Poon is a hug. I wanted a hug so badly
D#
I was blowin' my tropical top.
C
A Tang is a kiss, I wanted a kiss so badly
                    E
Want-a-Poontang never to stop.
F#
I don't want to eat and I don't want to sleep;
B
I've got a yen that I'm dying to please
C#
Till I get weak in the knees,
                  F   F#
Gonna get me that Poontang.

POON-TANG!

POON-TANG!

Gonna get me some, gonna get me song... poon tang!

Tabs: Hot Tamales (They’re Red Hot)

So, there's probably a thousand ways to play this song, but this is the version that I did in my video.  I should have posted this yesterday but I got lazy.  Thankfully, AnIdleDad called me out on that.  So, here ya go.

Hot Tamales (They're Red Hot)
by Robert Johnson
Tabs by: Ukulele Guy (http://ukuleleguy.com)

C   - 0003
C7  - 0001
E7  - 1202
A7  - 0100
D7  - 2223
G7  - 0212
F   - 2010
Fm  - 1013
G   - 77710
G6  - 7777
G+5 - 0332

C     E7                A7
Hot tamales and they're red hot
D7        G7         C
Yeah, she got em for sale
C	   E7               A7
Hot tamales and they're red hot
D7                   G7
Yeah, she got em for sale
        C                 C7
She got two for a nickel, four for a dime
F                         Fm
I would say more but they ain't none of mine
C       E7              A7
Hot tamales and they're red hot
D7        G7         C
Yeah, she got em for sale, I mean
D7        G7        C
Yeah she got em for sale

During the crazy thing at the end I'm doing

D7 G G6 0535
C C7 F Fm C G+5 (throw the ukulele in the air, good luck) C

Video and Tabs: Livin’ Thing – ELO (Wellington International Ukulele Orchestra)

I got an e-mail from a "Joe" about 9:31 this morning. He turned me onto this video of the Wellington International Ukulele Orchestra doing "Livin' Thing" by ELO. Check it out, it's pretty damn great, plus it's got Bret from Flight of the Conchords in there!

Joe asked if I could post tabs for this song. I typically try not to disappoint, so here ya go. The chords repeat the same pattern on the 2nd and 3rd verses. Sorry I didn't write them out, but I'm technically supposed to be working right now. Shh.... don't tell my boss.

Livin' thing
Electric Light Orchestra
C   - 0003
Am  - 2000
Ab  - 5343
Fm  - 1013
Em  - 4432
Dm  - 2210
F   - 2010
G   - 0232
D7  - 2223
G+  - 0332
Bbm - 3111
   C	                                           Am
   Sailin' away on the crest of a wave, it's like magic
   Ab	                                            Fm
   Rollin' and ridin' and slippin' & slidin', it's magic
    Em	                    Dm
And you, and your sweet desire,
         Em     Dm  Em	       F	   G
You took me, oh-oh, higher and higher, baby   

 	C C C        Am           F 
 	      It's a livin' thing,
        D7      G+       C
It's a terrible thing to lose
       Am         F       
It's a given thing
       D7       G+       C 
What a terrible thing to lose.

 	Bbm             F              G
 	(Taking a dive) (halt the slide)  	 

Making believe this is what you've conceived
From your worst day,
Moving in line then you look back in time
To your first day

Takin' a dive 'cos you can't halt the slide
Floating downstream,
So let her go don't start spoiling the show
It's a bad dream

Video and Tabs: Tonight You Belong to Me from The Jerk

So, a few weeks (months?) ago a good friend of mine (and Missoula's award-winning bartender), Al Pils, sent me a Youtube video of the great Steve Martin and Bernadette Peters song from the 1979 movie, The Jerk.  I decided I had to learn it.  Especially because if you want Steve's fingers it seems like the sound is especially fancy for what he's doing.  Wait... what?  You mean movies aren't always real?  Huh.  I'm not buying it.  Anyway, take a peak at the video first to get some context:

Anyway, I went looking for tabs but everything I found was in the wrong key or too simplified or both. Then I found the following video from mbrenne72.  I feel like he pretty much nailed it.  Although, some other folks seem to think you should tune your C string down a full step and every other string down 1/2 step, but that seemed much too difficult.  Anyway, if you tune your uke down 1/2 step and play it like I do then it sounds pretty good with the movie.  And, no, I didn't tab the coronet solo.

So... here's my video:

And for those of you who want to do this from the comfort of your own home, here's the tabs:
Tonight You Belong to Me
Tabs: Ukulele Guyhttp://ukuleleguy.com
Based almost entirely on: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ib6-FxuHTwo
If playing along with the movie, tune your ukulele down ½ step.
NOTE: I'm Ukulele Guy, not Music Theory Guy or Ukulele Expert 😉

G	 = 0232
Gsus4	 = 0233
G6	 = 0202
G#6	 = 1313
G7	 = 0212
G7sus2   = 0210
G+5	 = 0332
A7	 = 0100
D7	 = 2223
D#-5	 = 0330
Cmaj7	 = 0002
C6	 = 0000
Cm6 	 = 2333
E9	 = 1222
E7	 = 1202
F#maj	 = x121 (3121)
Walk Part:
Dmaj-D7-D6-D =  2225-2223-2222-2220

Intro:
G6 G#6 G6 plucked G string
G6 G#6 G6 D7

G
I know (I know)
      G7-G7sus2   Cmaj7-C6  G+5-D#-5
You belong     to somebody  new
      G         D   D7    G  Gsus4 G Dmaj-D7-D6-D
But Tonight you belong to me
G
Although (although)
      G7-G7sus2
we're apart
     Cmaj7-C6   G+5-D#5
Your part of my heart
      G         D   D7    G   Riff Part
And Tonight you belong to me

    Cm6     E9  Cm6
Way down by the stream
             E9   Cm6
How sweet it will seem
     G         F#maj  E7
Once more just to     dream
       A7
In the moonlight
D7
My honey
  G
I know (I know)
         G7-G7sus2  Cmaj7-C6    G+5-D#-5
With the dawn  that you will be gone
    G           D  D7     G
But tonight you belong to me
        D          G       77710
Just to little old me

There ya have it. Now, get out there and have fun and don't let anyone give you hard time. Ukulele elitism isn't good for anyone... plus, it's silly.

Tabs: Martian Hop by The Ran Dells

So.  Here's the deal (and try not to look shocked when I reveal this), I'm freaking addicted to "Novelty" music.  Yup, I know.. scandalous, right?  Anyway, in my family you don't have to look to far to find a "25 All-Time Novelty Hits" (or equivalent) Record or CD.  There's almost always one within arm's reach.  Anyway, one thing most of these novelty compilations have in common is The Martian Hop.  My kids can't get enough of it!

We've almost got it to the point where one of us does the "Pama em me meh" and the other one does the high pitched "Ee-ee-ee", meanwhile I play it on the uke.

I found chords for this somewhere online so I just reprinted them here with the fingerings for ukulele.  There is a modulation through the song (where it goes to G/C/D).  But, if you are having a hard time with the F#/B/C#7 fingers, just play the whole song using G/C/D instead.  It'll still sound fine.

Wait.  What?  You've never heard The Martian Hop?  Seriously?  Freaking public schools letting everyone down!  Ok.  Here ya go:

And here's the chords:
The Martian Hop:The Ran Dells.
Chords:
F# - 3121
B - 4322
C#7 - 1112
G - 0232
C - 0003
D - 2220

INTRO:(Slow)
F#            B            C#7                  F#
We have just discovered an important note from space.
F#            B            C#7                  F#
The Martians plan to throw a dance for all the human race.
(Fast)
F#            B            C#7                  F#
Papa em meh meh, papa em meh meh, papa buppa buppa buppa em meh meh..
F#            B            C#7                  F#
Papa em meh meh, papa em meh meh, papa buppa buppa buppa em meh meh..
F#            B            C#7                  F#
Ee-ee-ee-ee-ee-ee-ee-ee-ee-ee...Ee-ee-ee-ee-ee-ee-ee-ee-ee-ee..

#1.
F#            B            C#7                  F#
I got into my rocket ship to see the Martian Hop.
F#            B            C#7                  F#
I saw the planet shining red so there I made my stop.
F#            B            C#7                  F#
But as I opened up the door and climbed the ladder down.
F#            B            C#7                  F#
I saw the Martians on the floor a-dancin` to this sound.
F#            B            C#7                  F#
Ee-ee-ee-ee-ee-ee-ee-ee-ee-ee(The Martian Hop)
F#            B            C#7                  F#
Ee-ee-ee-ee-ee-ee-ee-ee-ee-ee..

#2.
F#            B            C#7                  F#
It seemed I was the first one there and so I was surprised..
F#            B            C#7                  F#
To see the Martians Twist and Stomp before my very eyes.
F#            B            C#7                  F#
They did the Locomotion and the Hully-Gully, too.
F#            B            C#7                  F#
I couldn`t name a single dance the Martians couldn`t do.
F#            B            C#7                  F#
Ee-ee-ee-ee-ee-ee-ee-ee-ee-ee (The Martian Hop)
F#            B            C#7                  F#
Ee-ee-ee-ee-ee-ee-ee-ee-ee-ee..

(Change keys.)
G           C          D  G
Ee-ee-ee-ee-ee-ee-ee-ee-ee-ee..
G           C          D  G
Ee-ee-ee-ee-ee-ee-ee-ee-ee-ee..

#3.
G		     C		          D	         G
Now right around the stroke of twelve the dance had just begun.
G			    C	              D			G
The Earth kids parked their spaceship down on Mars to have some fun.
G	         C		        D	        G
And so I left my friends, the Martians, stomping on the ground.
G		    C	          D			G
And even though I`m back on Earth I still can hear this sound.

G        C	    D			G
Ee-ee-ee-ee-ee-ee-ee-ee-ee-ee..(The Martian Hop)
G	 C	    D			G
Ee-ee-ee-ee-ee-ee-ee-ee-ee-ee..

OUTRO:
G		 C	          D			 G
Papa em meh meh, papa em meh meh, papa buppa buppa buppa em meh meh..
G		 C		  D			 G
Papa em meh meh, papa em meh meh, papa buppa buppa buppa em meh meh..

G		 C		  D			G
Papa em meh meh, papa em meh meh, papa buppa buppa buppa em meh meh..
G		 C		  D			G
Papa em meh meh, papa em meh meh, papa buppa buppa buppa em meh meh..(Fade.)