An Interview with
Luke Bailey and his Ukulele
By Tony Macaluso
There are only a few names that come to mind when you think of the ukulele. More than likely you started singing ‘Tip-Toe through the Tulips.’ While Tiny Tim may have played the ukulele, you can’t say he made it cool, or popularized the instrument. There’s a reason for that. One man and one man only, has single-handedly brought the baritone ukulele out from obscurity and into the spotlight. That man is none other than Luke Bailey. There are no actual facts to support that claim, but it sounds good and I want you to read the rest of this article.
Luke Bailey is a talented performer, song-writer, extraordinarily funny, and the host of his own weekly radio program ‘The Luke Bailey Show’ on WPRK FM, Rollins College Radio. Tony Macaluso is a founding member of Luke’s band (The Bondsmen) who secretly recorded a recent conversation. Here are some excerpts:
Tony Macaluso: Do you hate that Tiny Tim comes up every time you tell someone you’re a ukulele player?
Luke Bailey: Only if I’m wearing sweat pants.
TM: I read somewhere recently that you like to meditate?
LB: That was a spelling error.
TM: Tell us about ‘The Luke Bailey Show.’
LB: I’m proud to say that The Luke Bailey Show is the #1 rated program of its kind, on Tuesday mornings, between 6:00 and 8:00 a.m. Thanks to all you out there tuning in, keep it up and spread the word.
TM: What station is that?
LB: The best radio station in Orlando, 91.5 FM, WPRK. We’re on every Tuesday morning from 6:00-8:00 a.m. (EST).
TM: Can I listen on-line?
LB: www.wprkdj.org
TM: Who’s on the air with you?
LB: We’ve got Mr. Radio and Dr. Gory…and of course, you (Tony) have an open invitation.
TM: Shucks!
TM: Any cool guests?
LB: Paris Hilton called last week. We’ve had Dr. Jane Goodall; Mayor Buddy Dyer…Syd Zed is a regular…El-Vez (the Mexican Elvis) recorded a promo for us…Dr Gory erased it though. You never know who’s gonna stop by, or call.
TM: Do you play any music?
LB: WPRK is community radio. So we play music between segments…instead of going to commercial. From me, you’ll get things like bad Elvis songs, Mrs. Miller, William Shatner, Cheech and Chong….Dr. Gory will squeeze in some Sci-Fi-Lounge-Spy-Surf-music by anyone from The Ventures to Leonard Nimoy. Mr. Radio is a bit of a metal head…and he might play AC/DC, or Hayseed Dixie, or an Iron Maiden song…And of course we play local (central-Florida-based) artists like Syd Zed, Terri Binion, and Jim O’Rourke. So send me your cds…and I’ll play em on the air.
TM: What do you talk about?
LB: Anything! Everything! Could be what we did over the weekend…What we shouldn’t have done over the weekend…Something from the news, births, deaths…We might spend the whole show laughing and talking about something one of us said, or did at 6:01 am. When you (Tony) call, it’s usually what’s happening in your bathroom…and we always spend the last 15-minutes poking fun at the next DJ, whoever she or he may be. The show is so-much fun to do…I’d probably do it for free.
Check out Luke’s official web-site at lukebailey.com . And check out the Luke Bailey Show web-site. Tony Macaluso can be reached at tony@beefstewdios.com.
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