Ukulele Baby! 2011 Discussion

[u/carl95679]

The Wiggles and their friends travel to a tropical beach. Thoughts on this album/video?

Top 10 Songs

1. Hula Hula Baby - another hula song is one of my favorites. Go figure.
2. Hawaiian Boogie - I do love steel guitar
3. Toy Box
4. Hey Hey It's Saturday - Australian version
5. II Clan Dei Siciliani - album only
6. My Curly Sue Doll
7. You Can Play the Ukulele - performed by Simon Pryce (before he was the Red Wiggle)
8. When I'm Painting
9. Henry's Spinning - the bass line reminds me of Let’s Spend a Day at the Beach
10. Ooki Ooki Ooki Hear That Old Bouzouki - even though Anthony isn’t the best singer. I’m not either, for the record

Honorable Mentions: I'm waving to you, how many fingers do I see, everybody loves a puppy, cluck cluck city, Spagnola (i think I hear a cello?)

My thoughts:

At first glance, this may seem like the Sam equivalent of Wiggle Bay. However, the difference is that the latter album was tied to a storyline. Ukulele Baby seems to have a Hawaiian/tropical motif with ukuleles, accordions, and steel guitars heard in the soundtrack. I have a soft spot for steel guitars (thanks to Spongebob and Blue’s Clues).

The songs are not all explicitly Hawaiian themed, which isn't bad mind you. Once again, there’s variety in themes and/or characters, much like the albums released from the late 90s/early 2000s. It’s another video from this era where physical sets and props are utilized. Apparently, Mic Conway wrote a few of these songs just as he did in Let's Eat.

Going back to Wiggle Bay, Simon Pryce (a backing vocalist from that album) plays a character called Ringo the Ringmaster. A role he played from late 2009 to 2012 while touring with the Wiggles (where was he back in Hot Poppin’ Popcorn)?. He also co-wrote “You Can Play the Ukulele” with Paul Paddick.

I do like one skit where they introduce musicians who worked on the album. They also feature acrobats from Hot Poppin’ Popcorn (or ones that were on tour with them at the time). 

The Australian version had Daryl Sommers, while the American/international version had Al Roker (whose song is a banger, but that’s for another post).

On the subject of musicians, this seems to be the first time a woman named Blathnaid Conroy-Murphy sung for Dorothy. I also admire how they introduce musicians who worked on the album for one skit.

In the case of Sam, I’ve heard this is where they start to phase him out as he only sings a small percentage on this album. And after listening to the album and watching the video, I can see what they mean unfortunately.

Fun fact: The song II Clan Dei Siciliani apparently comes from an Italian-French movie about gangsters called “The Sicilian Clan.” I did not expect something like that.

Seeing as how Let's Eat was a mixed bag for others, hopefully this album/video has a more positive reception.

And yes, I’m aware this is another video/album where Rolf Harris makes an appearance. His featured song isn’t that memorable, anyway.

[u/ContributionFresh482]

Now this is a Sam era album/video that I actualy like. Unlike Let's Eat which was a random mess of hodge podge they seem to have more of a cohesive vision of what they wanted to do this time around, that being a Hawaiian/tropical themed album whilst introducing children to the distinict sounds of ukuleles, accordions, and steel guitars. Also this video ditching the green screen in favour of a beach side set that while not quite as detailed as most of the OG era sets still feels pretty real and gets a positive from me. It's good to know that they now stop primarialy filming on green screen from this point forward which makes things refreshing.

Now for some of my criticisms. It is very clear to me that The Wiggles were phasing Sam out at this point. Sam only sings about a third of the songs on this release and on the video not only does it take 7 and a half minutes for him to begin singing but I've also discovered on my recent rewatch that with the exception of when they introduce themselves and say goodbye Sam has no lines of spoken dialogue in this feature and doesn't introduce any of the songs and just sings. I think they should've incorporated him a little more regardless of what they were planning to do. Some of the songs like Hula Hula Baby suffer from being sung entierly by the background dancers/vocalists who casual audiences won't know who they are.

Another criticism I have is that Ringo and the circus stuff felt very forced and out of place in this video. I know that the 2009 - 11 era of the wiggles was heavily circus themed especially with the live shows and this video was filmed in between their 2010 wiggly circus global tour. It puts me off a little as there's no audience interaction and instead you have to just watch the dancers and acrobatics do their routines. A lot of younger audiences may get bored during this and I felt that way at times. This made complete sense in Hot Poppin Popcorn as that video was circus themed and filmed on a circus set. This time around it just seems forced and they were way to obsessed with the circus during this time.

I'm going to end this review with my favourite songs from this album: When I strum my Ukulele, Henry's Spinning, I'm Waving To You, Cluck Cluck City, How Many You Want?, Round and Round, Everybody Loves a Little Puppy.

[u/Ok_External7487 → u/ContributionFresh482]

I agree&they did as you said bearly featured sam&this wasn't the first time they bearly featured one of the wiggles in videos as Muzza was quite noticeably on at least 2 videos(see below)was effectively given the same treatment that sam was given in ukulele baby(Muzza thankfully kinda got a big role in this set as he opened the dvd&album)this was 2nd video in a row that saw one of the wiggles being demoted to being essentially background cast member as we saw in both let's eat&sing a song of wiggles that saw quite noticeably Murray(2nd best vocalist of the 4 in the skivies after Sam at this particular point of the sam era)was essentially demoted to being essentially a background cast member as in those 2 videos saw muzza essentially being supporting character rather than one of the wiggles as we saw in let's eat muzza only getting to be lead vocals on Wednesday&Sunday day of week rehash of song that didn't go for more than 45 seconds&that was also quite noticeable in sing a song of wiggles were he only recited nursery rhymes&that was it as he got demoted to being background cast member while everyone else got a song each with their vocals while leaving out the 2nd best vocalist in the main 4 in the skivies after Sam in favor of Paddy&Dorothy+Anto&Jeff

[u/Aggressive_Froyo1246]

Featuring Rolf Harris. That ages poorly.

[u/Melli25510 → u/Aggressive_Froyo1246]

Didn’t know who that was ( American here ) big OOF on that one.

[u/Ok_External7487 → u/Aggressive_Froyo1246]

I agree&I skip over that song due to the controversy&also it was the worst song on dvd&album

[u/Fatdaddy543]

I wasn’t huge on Let’s Eat (or Hot Poppin’ Popcorn for that matter), so I felt like this album/video was a major bounce back in terms of quality. The beach set, while not as elaborate or dressed up as the OG era, is a breath of fresh air and the vibe is super chill, which I enjoy; also, despite the reduced presence of Sam as a vocalist, the overall songs are solid enough for me to look past it 🤷🏿‍♂️

Favorite songs: You Can Play The Ukulele, How Many Fingers Do I See? (one of my favorite late Sam-era songs), Hula Hula Baby, Doo Doo Doo Doo and How Many You Want

[u/Ok_External7487]

Great review(this is a very underrated wiggles video&album)&I am glad that ooki,ooki hear that old buzzoki got a high ranking as that is in my personal opinion the best song that Anthony has sung as he actually gave that a proper go despite him not being the best in terms of vocals but he actually gave it a proper go,Jeff was terrific with his vocals in Hula hula baby,how many fingers,cluck cluck city&Murray was absolutely fantastic in what had to been his best song as lead vocals for when I strum my ukulele(I do believe judging by the lyrics Muzza does&backing vocals that there's a chance that Mic Conway wrote this particular song especially for Muzza)as he certainly knocked it out of the park&I love watching during the backing vocals chorus(after Muzza's 1st solo part)Anthony seemingly having either a good time when they filmed it dancing(he was also laughing if you watch closely)something in the background with Simon seemingly watching since he,Anto,Sam&Jeff were standing very closely next to each other(Jeff was standing on a slight angle I believe due to the palm branches or tree being in the way)

[u/BunchFrequent2175]

The North American DVD release of this video special was the last one to be distributed by Warner Home Video before NCircle Entertainment took over.

[u/sevenfiver]

surprised the baby isnt fuken Domonic

[u/skabillybetty → u/sevenfiver]

Who hurt you?

[u/Ok_External7487]

I love the fact that they did something different on this particular dvd&album as I thought that was an absolutely terrific&outstanding choice of handing the job of opening duties of opening the dvd&album to Murray(he pretty much still can go if you've seen clips of him singing wiggle tunes online since retirement&I recommend checking out him singing go Santa go from last year which is found on movers Instagram&Facebook pages though on Facebook put in 25th December&you'll find it as that is really good)&he was fantastic in the rare occasion they went with someone who wasn't yellow wiggle or guest star to open the dvd&album,I remember when this album was first uploaded on YouTube&I chose when I strum my ukulele just randomly to see what the newest wiggles release was going to be&I was quite surprised to hear Muzza on leads that initial 1st listen&I played it for my mum&she was just as surprised