Back in the 1920s, Dublin was alight with the sensational song and dance exploits of one Mr. Billy Harmon; a ukulele-playing, tap-dancing, piano-jamming, song-singing force of nature. His grandson is none other than Jonathan, so it seems J caught the same bug as his grandad.
Billy was a regular performer at the Theatre Royal, the Gaiety and the Fr. Matthew Hall, where he was to meet his future wife (J's grandmother), a soprano opera singer called Nelly Porter (see?... more relevant DNA, this is like CSI).
The pair entertained the city together, he on piano duties, herself on vocals.
Such was Billy's authority on the scene, that he appeared on Ireland's first ever radio broadcast, the opening night of what was called '2RN'. Not a very jazzy name for a radio station, is it? A better name would have been 'FUNK-0-1'.
Billy played some Irving Berlin tunes and then strode off into the night with his characteristic gold-top cane (hate the game, not the player baby) and probably went to the 1920s equivalent of Lillie's, whatever that was.
So keep the fires burning; the family tree and ukuleles are intertwined,
come check out the history-repeating, legacy-living, musical Kooky Ukes!
