Ukulele Videos on British Pathe

British Pathe made 3,500 hours worth of newsreels and ‘cinemagazines’ and have made their achieve available for download – free for low quality clips. They have everything from huge historical events to oddities and have a grand total of 29 ukulele clips. Here’s a round up of what you can grab.

Harry and Max Nesbitt

A pair of South African brothers who made it big in the British Music Hall (or made it medium at least). Max and Harry have six clips videos on the site. The above clip is a tour de force of acrobatic ukulele from Max – just skip past the ‘comedy’ at the beginning, it hasn’t aged well. The clip of them performing My Baby’s Got Red Hair and Freckles has also turned up on YouTube and features some nice strumming and a disturbing impersonation of a crying baby.

The Motley and Melody clip contains an extraordinary, and offensive by today’s standards, blacked up performance Zulu-land song.

The video of Georgia Got A Moon is from 1939 (the other Nesbitt clips are from 1930 and 1931). Max and Harry are noticeably older and the acrobatics of earlier clips are gone.

Max and Harry also crop up in What The Public Wants vol 4 (with a selection of uke backed songs) and the Radio Parade Reel 5 video but aren’t the one’s playing the uke. Stanelli and Edgar do an impression of a ukulele on the violin and the Houston sisters give us some banjo-uke before breaking out the ventriloquism.

Donald Peers

Donald Peers was a Welsh crooner who came to prominence in the post-war years and somehow manage to remain hugely popular during the 50’s rock and roll invasion (read this extensive Donald Peers bio). In a pre-feminism clip which has made its way onto YouTube, he lounges in a deckchair and ukes away while the womenfolk toil.

Felix Mendelssohn and his Hawaiian Serenaders

Felix Mendelssohn had a straight ahead, British band until the late thirties when he fell in love with Hawaiian music. He recruited Hawaiian musicians and dancers and started the Serenaders. He is not to be confused with the German composer of the same name (as the British Film Institute have done). The clips on British Pathe feature ukes and girls in grass skirts.

Geddes Bros.

The Geddes Brothers (Tom and Jock) put on a baffling musical performance. A typical pairing of dour one and one with ADHD. Their antics don’t come off as natural as those of the Nesbitts but it’s still fun to watch.

Motorcycle Band

A silent clip of a uke, a banjo-uke and a violin being played whilst riding motorcycles. The most dangerous trick sees a plank of wood balanced on the bike with a uke player at one end and a violinist at the other. Anything to get as far away as possible from that dreadful screeching noise.

Going Gay

“Let’s go gay!” A clip of a gay cruise in Sydney. A huge dixieland band consisting mainly of ukes cram onto the deck.