Melbourne Ukulele Community

Would you like to celebrate International Strange Music Day?

This day was created by Patrick Grant, a New York City musician and composer, with the aim of getting people to play and listen to types of music that they had not before.

Join us on for a night of weird and wonderful tunes that will challenge your musical taste and make you laugh, dance, and sing along.

We have prepared a playlist of strange songs, from psychedelic rock to novelty pop, from satire to surrealism. You will play songs like:

- Bike by Pink Floyd, a trippy song about a man who offers his bike, clothes, and other possessions to a girl he likes.

- Safety Dance by Men Without Hats, a catchy synth-pop anthem that was inspired by the banning of pogo dancing in clubs.

- Poisoning Pigeons In The Park by Tom Lehrer, a dark comedy song about a man who enjoys killing birds with poisoned corn.

- Amish Paradise by Weird Al Yankovic, a parody of Coolio's Gangsta's Paradise.

- Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep by Lally Scott, a song about a baby bird that wakes up to find its mother gone.

- Sugarman by Rodriguez, a folk-rock song about a drug dealer who supplies various substances to his customers.

- Crazy by Gnarls Barkly, a soulful song that explores the feeling of losing one's mind and questioning one's sanity.

- How Bizarre by OMC, a pop-rap song that narrates a series of bizarre events involving the police, circus freaks, and elephants.

- Horse With No Name by America, a soft-rock song that describes a journey through the desert on a nameless horse.

- Ain't Got No Home by Clarence Frogman Henry, a rhythm and blues song that features the singer imitating the voices of a frog, a girl, and a boy.

- Psycho Killer by Talking Heads, a new wave song that depicts the thoughts of a serial killer who wants to run away from himself.

Don't miss this opportunity to discover some of the most unusual and fascinating music ever made. You might find your new favourite song or genre!

If you can only attend part of the session or can only join in late, feel free to do so - your entry will not disrupt the session because of the Zoom settings I have chosen.
If you know someone who wants to learn ukulele or just likes singing, do invite them to join in / observe. It's a great way to chill out.
What do I need?

• A ukulele (please tune it before starting - search Youtube for help)
• A computer/laptop/tablet - anything with a large screen to see the songsheet.
• Earphones/headphones - to get the clearest sound
• a reasonably good Internet connection

30 Aug 2025 is Play Music On The Porch Day, so we're having a special one-off uke session on Saturday! If the weather is good, we will play one or two songs outside the RSL.
Let's play all our favourite songs on this day. You name it - Beatles, Elvis, whatever you want.
There is also trivia night at 7pm later at the RSL. There is one round where I play riffs on the uke and people have to guess the song :) Let me know if some of you want to enter a team.

What to bring
Please bring your own ukulele. If you can't find one in time, I have two spare ukuleles that you can borrow for this meetup. You can reserve them by leaving a comment in the comments section below.

You can bring snacks/food to the venue. A wide range of non-alcoholic and alcoholic drinks are available for purchase at very reasonable prices.
The session is free but there is a donation box if you like our sessions and want to contribute to our operating expenses.

Meeting place
Venue will be the Flemington-Kensington RSL, 25-27 Rankins Road, Kensington, VIC 3031.

How to Get There
Train - From the city, catch a Craigieburn Line train and get off at Newmarket Station, which is 3 stops from Southern Cross Station or 2 stops from North Melbourne. Exit the station, walk 200 metres to Racecourse Road. Head east (away from the station) along Racecourse Road for 250 metres. Then turn right into Rankins Road. The RSL is about 100 metres down Rankins Road, on your left.

Tram - The No. 57 tram from the city to West Maribyrnong stops about 200 metres away from the RSL. Get off at stop 25 (Wellington St & Racecourse Rd). Head east along Racecourse Rd and turn right into Rankins Road.

Driving - Park along Rankins Road or Parsons Street (around the corner). If you park along Rankins Road outside the RSL, there is a 2-hour limit. But if you park further down Rankins Road (one block further), there is no limit.

How we conduct our sessions
For the first 20-25 minutes we usually play very easy songs which are suitable for beginners (even complete beginners), and serve as a warm-up for more experienced players. Beginners, try to attend this part of the session, it's the most important bit for you! The next 40 minutes is usually devoted to learning new songs, according to the theme of week. We will then have a 10-minute break. The last 50 minutes is spent playing songs that participants pick from a list.