"When I'm Cleaning Windows" is a comedy song performed by Lancastrian comic, actor and ukulele player George Formby.
[2] The corporation's director general John Reith stated that "if the public wants to listen to Formby singing his disgusting little ditty, they'll have to be content to hear it in the cinemas, not over the nation's airwaves";[3] Formby and his wife and manager Beryl Ingham were dismayed with the block on the song.
[6][7] A dance mix of the song, sampling the first eight lines of Formby's original vocals from the first version, appeared in the UK Singles Chart in December 1994 by 2 in a Tent, who were Amadeus Mozart and Andy Pickles (Jive Bunny/Hyperlogic).
[8] The video for this release featured Mozart, Pickles and Stars in Their Eyes finalist David Clarke as George Formby.
The Manchester-born poet, Les Barker released a parody of the song on Mrs Ackroyd’s Records on his 2001 album “Arovertherapy” entitled Reinstalling Windows, mocking Microsoft's repeated requests to computer users to accept upgraded versions of its software.