Ukelele Orchestra Of Great Britain

The Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain (UOGB) is a musical ensemble featuring ukuleles in different registers. They play and sing music from a variety of musical genres, all on the ukulele. The band was formed “to challenge people’s expectations of the ukulele,” according to Uke Richie Williams. A typical UOGB concert comprises songs and instrumentals from a variety of musical genres: regulars include a cover of Wuthering Heights reworked as a swinging jazz number, Ennio Morricone’s theme to The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, Tchaikovsky’s ‘Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy’, ‘Anarchy in the UK’ performed in the style of Simon and Garfunkel, and the theme tune from Shaft. The Orchestra also compose and perform their own pieces, as well as arranging medleys – for example, David Bowie’s ‘Life on Mars?’ is melded with ‘My Way’.

Their version of Wuthering Heights was first released on the CD ‘A Fist Full Of Ukeleles’ in 1994. They have since performed the track live many times.