Contrary to what you might conclude by checking out our “music” tag, we don’t only permit hip-hop, soul, and vintage ZZ Top to enter our eardrums. We’ve also taken quite a shine to ukulele music in recent weeks, a jag that has brought us in touch with the work of the late, great John King. True, you might quibble with the fact that King lived in Florida rather than Hawaii, the supposed motherland for ukulele music (though Portugal has a better claim to that title). But no one can dispute King’s mastery of the instrument, which he stretched into the virtuosic reaches of the classical realm.
We also appreciate the innovative means by which King maintained his focus during concerts:
John had a unique method for keeping his mind focused when he became distracted during a performance: he would visualize breasts. Beautiful, natural breasts. That, he said, would calm his mind and allow him to get “back in the zone.”
More of King in action here. Unlike Lord Finesse, it’s perfectly safe for work.
scottstev // Feb 17, 2010 at 4:00 pm
Strange, thinking of breasts leaves me quite agitated. Vive la Difference.
Brendan I. Koerner // Feb 17, 2010 at 4:50 pm
You’d never make it on the classical ukulele circuit. But there might be a spot for you in Motley Crue. (Sorry, too lazy to use HTML for umlauts.)
Yangshao // Feb 17, 2010 at 11:16 pm
i’ll bet you would have enjoyed the old KDVS radioshow on “Reggae, rocksteady, and Hawaiian slack-key guitar”…something like that.
Brendan I. Koerner // Feb 18, 2010 at 8:26 pm
@Yangshao: That comment made me go and look up KDVS. Listening to their stream right now–will be my soundtrack tonight as I write about the history of the Algerian military.