Hippy Tony! – Well we’ve reached summer and the Ukes are barreling round a flotilla of festivals this year, click on the Ukes link for dates. This means that Tony can slip off his dinner jacket and shrug on his kaftan, exchange his silver cigarette case for a pair of Tibetan finger cymbals and light up a joint. However, notwithstanding a degree of paranoia brought on by puffing ‘jazz woodbines’, I am now slightly worried about DIVINE RETRIBUTION:

FACT 1 – did the Lord not smite the charming village of Helmsley in Yorkshire (shortly after the Ukes did two gigs there) with a biblical flood of epic proportions in May?

FACT 2 – did the lord not smite Glastonbury, yea, even unto their acoustic stage (one day before the Ukes played there in June) which he blasted with LIGHTNING for goodness sake!

Before, after, it all makes sense– the next bolt of lightning, shower of toads could be for old TP, why? Well, it may be that the tune ‘TWYL (Bibbely Babbley)’ from Soppy and the Sentimentals (and doing well on itunes) has seriously ****ed off the Almighty One –

1. Did I not cheekily compare our Lord to Eamonn Andrews/Michael Aspel in the television programme of the same name?

2. Did I not suggest that God carries around a large book, with ‘This Was Your Life’ written on the front, not unlike the aforementioned TV presenters?

3. Did I not suggest that you get what you deserve in this life (gulp)?

I shall continue round the festivals keeping a wary eye on the sky and walk with trepidation through the valley of the shadow of death (puffing on my joint) Amen.

On a brighter note, if you play the ukulele, I’ve put up my failed 1999 Eurovision Song Contest entry – ‘Après Ski’ up on the Ukulele site Sheep Entertainment – where you can laugh, weep and play along it.

Also, I had the good fortune to accompany the actor Alfred Molina while he sang ‘It was a lover and his lass’ from the upcoming Kenneth Branagh film ‘As You Like It’ (yes, by Shakey). I won’t be seen in the film as I dubbed on the ukulele to the soundtrack, but if you wait for about ten minutes after the film has finished you MIGHT see my name in TINY letters. Here’s a picture of me and my best mate Alfred (heavily cropped, due to EVERYONE in the recording studio insisting on being in it – aaaargh foiled again!).

Tony's Archives:

Naked As Nature Intended
Old Tony Penultimate Video Resurfaces
Berlin and the Best of America
Tony and the Faerie Queen
Tony Visits a Brothel
Bull Fighting The Penultimate Way
Tony and the Tax Man
Soppy and the Sentimentals  
Tony meets Alfred Molina
Autumn Tony
Naughty Tony