George Formby
George Formby OBE was a Lancastrian singer-songwriter, comic and film star who had his biggest hits in The Thirties. Real name George Hoy Booth, he inherited the stage name from his father, who was a music hall comic. He often mixed comedy into his songs together with a healthy dose of Getting Crap Past the Radar. His signature musical instrument was the ukulele, or 'uke' for short.
His most famous songs are probably:
- "The Window Cleaner" (title universally mistaken as "When I'm Cleaning Windows").
- "Leaning On A Lamp Post"
- The "Mr Wu" songs, including "Chinese Laundry Blues", the World War II-themed "Mr Wu Is Now An Air Raid Warden" and "Mr Wu Is In The Air Force", and "Mr Wu's A Window Cleaner Now".
He lived on the Isle of Man for many years and died young at the age of 56 in 1961. The next year, The Beatles would rise to prominence; George Harrison was a fan of Formby's and often put references to him in his songs, most notably at the end of the Beatles reunion piece "Free as a Bird".
- Chinese Launderer: Mr Wu started out as owning a Chinese Laundry in Limehouse (a district of London where many Chinese immigrants settled in the 19th and early 20th centuries and where such laundries were associated with) but later moved on to greater things.
- Dawson Casting: Referenced in "The Window Cleaner":
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I know a famous talkie queen |
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- Double Entendre: Constantly. Probably the most blatant examples are in "With My Little Ukulele In My Hand" and "With My Little Stick Of Blackpool Rock". The latter was actually banned by The BBC in 1937 for its suggestive lyrics.
- Fair for Its Day: The "Mr Wu" songs have some dodgy lyrics for today, but at the time nobody else would have made songs about a Chinese immigrant--at least not portraying him in a sympathetic light. Especially noteworthy as the original "Mr Wu" was a Yellow Peril villain from a play in the 1910s who was taken up as a recurring character in music hall; Formby used the name for the recognition, but not much else.
- Getting Crap Past the Radar: Legendarily so. For example, in "The Window Cleaner":
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"Honeymooning couples too, you should see them bill and coo |
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- Inherently Funny Words: One reason why he often mentioned his ukulele in the words of his songs.
- Last-Second Word Swap and Subverted Rhyme Every Occasion: Fond of using these.
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"Oh Mr Wu, he's got a naughty eye that flickers |
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- Another example:
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"We landed home at half past two, I rang the front door bell, |
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- I Meant to Do That: "Sitting On The Ice In The Ice Rink" is based on this trope--it's George insisting that, no, he hasn't fallen while skating, he likes sitting on the ice in the ice rink with his skates on.
- Medley: His "British Isles Medley", which is a medley of patriotic and regional songs from across the United Kingdom (such as "Ilkley Moor Bah T'at" for Yorkshire and "Men of Harlech" for Wales). He later did an "American Medley" that did the same thing for the United States.
- Non-Indicative Name: His song about the Isle of Man, which makes puns on the fact that Formby sings its praises because it's full of easy women.
- Patriotic Fervour: Sort of averted, as he made patriotic songs during World War II but they were just as comedic as his usual fare.
- Richard Nixon the Used Car Salesman: Formby appears in the Thursday Next novels, having led the British Resistance after the Nazi invasion (Alternate History) and, after the liberation, becoming President-for-Life of England. "When I'm Cleaning Windows" becomes the new national anthem.
- Sequel: Many of his songs have sequels, most notably the 'Mr Wu' series.
- Sound Effect Bleep: One of the first to do the musical version:
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"They told me they would treat me swell, tucked inside my little cell |
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