With Just A Hint Of Mayhem

Music reviews, gig reviews, fun trivia and extra added random stuff!

“I won’t always love these selfish things” – Advent day 23 December 23, 2013

Filed under: Christmas,Trivia — justwilliam1959 @ 6:07 am
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The_Number_23_by_BrettYoncakI think it’s really starting to feel like Christmas now. It’s 23rd December or Christmas Eve Eve as some like to call it. The With Just A Hint Of Mayhem advent posts have reached day 23 and you will now be entertained by two songs with the number 23 in their title.

Strawberry Letter Twenty 'Fro perhaps?

Strawberry Letter Twenty ‘Fro perhaps?

One of my favourite songs of all time is first and it is a song that I have blogged about quite a few times before. I give you the Brothers Johnson with the magnificent Shuggie Otis penned “Strawberry Letter 23”. Shuggie wrote and recorded the song for his 1971 album ‘Freedom Flight‘. George Johnson was dating one of Shuggie’s cousins a few years later who gave him that Shuggie album. George was so taken with the song that he and his brother Louis, the pair were known as the Brothers Johnson recorded it. It appeared on their album ‘Right On Time’ in 1977 and was also released as a single that year. The Brothers Johnson recording was produced by Quincy Jones and featured Lee Ritenour on lead guitar. It made it to number five in the US charts and number one in the US R & B chart. But sadly barely troubled the UK chart reaching a lowly number 35. I was always miffed about that given the shite that does sell by the bucket load. I have so far only ever met one other person who sees this as one of their favourite songs; take a bow Fraser Matthews.

A2ED8BD34DAB1DE828C516F4C45865F0Jimmy Eat World get the next song, simply called “23”. It is the closing track on their fifth album, ‘Futures’ from 2004. Along with three other tracks from the album (“Kill”, “Work” and “Polaris”) “23” was used to soundtrack part of the TV series ‘One Tree Hill. The band formed in Arizona in 1993. The name came from a spat between the younger brothers of guitarist Tom Linton. The brothers are called Jim and Ed and they often fought. After one argument Ed Linton made a crayon drawing of Jim shoving the planet Earth into his mouth. He had captioned it ‘Jimmy Eat World’. They should be touring in the UK next year. I hope that means that they will be putting in an appearance at the Reading Festival in 2014.

 

“Fifteen quid is all she asks for everybody’s got their vice” – Advent day 22 December 22, 2013

Filed under: Christmas,Trivia — justwilliam1959 @ 12:34 am
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number_22Just two more days at work for me before Christmas now. Then it’ll be eight days of over indulging in food and drink before going back to the office in January probably considerably fatter than when I left. December 22nd or day 22 of the With Just A Hint Of Mayhem advent posts for 2013. Clearly you know the drill, this means that you get two songs with the number 22 in the title.

Is Bradley that tall? Or is Weller just short?

Is Bradley that tall? Or is Weller just short?

The first of those is from the Modfather, Paul Weller. The song is “22 Dreams“, the title track from Paul’s double LP (single CD) released in 2008. The song was also part of a single coupled with “Sea Spray” from the same album. Sadly it only made it to number 59 in the UK singles chart. The album fared much better though, reaching the number one spot in the UK album chart in 2008. This was Weller’s third solo album to reach the top spot. The song was co-written by Weller and Simon Dine. The latter also plays, cowbell, horns, guitar and bizarrely, siren on the track. It was one of eight tracks on the album that Dine had a hand in writing. Although the album was called ’22 Dreams’ it didn’t quite match that number for tracks. The standard issue of the album has 21 tracks.

funny-boy-iron-man-costume-tutu-maiden-picsThe second of todays songs comes from another iconic British act, Iron Maiden with “22 Acacia Avenue”. The song is taken from the band’s 1982 UK number one album ‘The Number Of The Beast’, but it wasn’t released as a single. Iron Maiden are one of the most succesful heavy metal bands in history with 85 million album sales worldwide. The band were formed back in 1975, appropriately for these posts on Christmas Day. So they are close to their 38th birthday. Steve Harris is credited with choosing the name after he saw a film based on the Alexandre Dumas novel ‘The Man In The Iron Mask‘. The band went through many personnel changes in their early years. Perhaps the best known Maiden vocalist is Bruce Dickinson. He replaced Paul Di’Anno in September 1981. Prior to that Dickinson had been the lead singer for another UK band, Samson.

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“Thug of the family, who could I be?” – Advent day 21 December 21, 2013

Filed under: Christmas,Trivia — justwilliam1959 @ 7:33 am
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slide_21_2090656aIt’s the 21st December, we can almost count down to Christmas in hours now. I am guessing that many of you have finished school, college and work for the holidays. I haven’t broken up yet; I am a money grabbing bastard so I’ll be working right up to Christmas Eve! Anyway all this means it’s day 21 of the With Just A Hint Of Mayhem advent posts. So by now the regular readers among you will know that today will therefore bring you two songs with the number twenty-one in their title.

so-solid-crewBattersea’s finest hip hop collective, the So Solid Crew kick us off today with their 2001 UK chart topper “21 Seconds”. The song comes from their début album ‘They Don’t Know’ which reached number six in the UK album chart. That album spawned three more UK top 20 hits; “They Don’t Know” UK no. 3), “Haters” (8) and “Ride Wid Us” (19). MC Harvey, MC Romeo and Lisa Maffia  all appeared on ‘The Games’ a Channel 4 reality TV show in 2003, 2004 and 2005 respectively. Lisa and Romeo could only manage a bronze medal from the show. But Harvey bagged himself a gold medal. In 2012 Harvey and Romeo also made an appearance in two separate series of Celebrity Big Brother. Yes there were two series of it in one year; how awful is that? The group have had their fair share of controversy too with their former producer Carl Morgan convicted of murder in 2005. Band member Megaman was also accused but he was cleared after a retrial. The full album version of the song gives everyone at least a couple of lines in this order of appearance; Megaman, Asher D, Mac, Kaish, G-Man, Harvey, Romeo, Lisa Maffia, Face and Skatt D.

king_crim_courtfThe second song of the day is “21st Century Schizoid Man” from King Crimson. Is this the first time ever that So Solid Crew and King Crimson have been mentioned in the same blog post? I’ll take the credit for that if it is! If you thought that So Solid Crew had a lot of members it’s fair to say that the Crimson have had plenty over the years too; 18 band members plus three lyricists. I reckon King Crimson should have sponsored a revolving door manufacturer with that kind of turnover. Robert Fripp is the only band member to have been with them since they began in 1968. “21st Century Schizoid Man” is from King Crimson’s 1969 album ‘In The Court Of The Crimson King‘. The track was released as a single in 1976 which failed to chart. It had been included on a compilation album that year entitled ‘A Young Persons Guide To King Crimson’. Greg Lake off of Emerson, Lake and Palmer played bass and provided the distorted vocal on the song.

 

“I move like a cat, charge like a ram” – Advent day 20 December 20, 2013

Filed under: Christmas,Trivia — justwilliam1959 @ 8:37 am
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number-20-300x256Have you been pestered by teenage carol singers with shite voices yet? I saw some on the way home from work but I think the weather was a tad too inclement for them! But I’m sure the greedy untalented little gits will be back. Greedy, untalented little gits? I could have been talking about the majority of X Factor contestants there couldn’t I? Anyway we really are sliding down the slope towards Christmas now, it’s 20th December! So that means it’s day 20 of the With Just A Hint Of Mayhem Advent posts and you know you’ll be getting two songs with twenty in their titles.

8MarcBolanFatherChristmas_bT.Rex are first up with the magnificent “20th Century Boy” a UK number 3 hit from 1973. The song hit the top of the charts in Ireland. It was the penultimate single in a run of 11 UK top 4 hits between 1970 and 1973 which included four number ones. In fact Bolan and T Rex never made the UK top 10 after 1973 let alone the top 5. “20th Century Boy” was not taken from a T Rex album but it was included on a reissue of the ‘Tanx’ album which was originally released in 1973. The song was used as the soundtrack to a Levi’s Jeans ad campaign in 1991. It was re-released to accompany that and made it back into the UK chart where it peaked at number 13. Siouxse and the Banshees, Girlschool, Adam Ant, Def Leppard and Placebo have all covered this T Rex classic. Placebo performed the song live at the 1999 Brit Awards with David Bowie.

Eddie_Cochran_VIIIFrom a song featuring the late, great Marc Bolan let me now take you to a song from the late, great Eddie Cochran, “Twenty Flight Rock”. Cochran can be seen performing the song in the 1956 film ‘The Girl Can’t Help It’ and it was released as a single in 1957. It was this Cochran song that a 15-year-old Paul McCartney played as part of his audition for John Lennon which led to him becoming one of the Quarrymen. McCartney has said that he thought that what impressed Lennon the most was that he knew all the words. Many artists have covered the song including Robert Gordon, Rolling Stones, the Stray Cats and Commander Cody And His Lost Planet Airmen.

 

“None of them received a heroes welcome” – Advent day 19 December 19, 2013

Filed under: Christmas,Trivia — justwilliam1959 @ 7:01 am
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slide_19_2087154aDefinitely on the home straight now, we’re on the 19th December. So day 19 of the With Just A Hint Of Mayhem Advent posts brings two songs with the number 19 in their title. Can you guess what the f-f-f-f-first one is going to be?

Paul+HardcastleI’ll put you out of your misery the first tune is Paul Hardcastle‘s “19” which was his fifth solo single. It went to number one in the UK in 1985 and made the top spot in Ireland, Switzerland, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, Germany, Austria and Italy. It was also number one on the US Dance charts. Hardcastle was inspired to compose “19” after watching a documentary about the Vietnam war called ‘Vietnam Requiem‘. he was shocked that the average age of the US combat soldier killed in Vietnam was 19. That was his age when he saw the documentary. The song may have performed better in the US had it received more airplay. It stalled at number 15 in the Billboard charts after many US radio stations refused to play it as they considered the song to be anti-American. Hardcastle has always denied this and I believe he is right. He is quoting statistics. Although the average age of 19 statistic has been challenged and various sources have suggested that between 20 and 23 are more realistic. That is still bloody young though! Paul Hardcastle’s 1986 single “The Wizard” became the theme tune to Top Of The Pops from April 1986 to September 1991. He also produced Rory Bremner‘s parody recording of “19”; “N-N-Nineteen Not Out” which was released under the name the Commentators and reached number 13 in the UK charts in 1985.

1349963354063_1483409The second song on day 19 comes from those ancient geezers the Strolling Bones, well that’s what they look like these days right? I am talking of course about the Rolling Stones with their 1965 UK and US Billboard number two hit “19th Nervous Breakdown” It broke a run of five consecutive UK number ones for the band that stretched from April 1964 to September 1965. Those five songs were; “It’s All Over Now”, “Little Red Rooster”, “The Last Time”, “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” and “Get Off Of My Cloud”. The number 19 is an important number in Stephen King’s ‘Dark Tower Series‘ and this song is referenced a few times within those tales. The song has been covered by the Standells and the Wedding Present. On the US TV show Saturday Night Live in 2012 Mick Jagger performed the song with the Foo Fighters.

funny-bar-table-man-woman

 

“Ronnie Biggs was doing time ’til he done a bunk” December 18, 2013

Filed under: News — justwilliam1959 @ 9:54 pm
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ronniebiggs_460x276OK I know he was a criminal and I know that a man died as a result of the violence used in the Great Train Robbery back in 1963. But if only the gang had not coshed the driver of the train they would surely have become folk heroes for taking so much without really hurting anyone. Anyway I thought I would mark the passing of Ronnie Biggs the most obvious way I can given that this is a music blog. Here is Ronnie from 1978 as guest vocalist for the Sex Pistols. McLaren never shied away from bad publicity did he?

Sex-Pistols-Punk-prayerRonnie died earlier this week aged 84. He recorded a track with the Pistols while he was holed up in Brazil and they were in free fall after the departure of Johnny Rotten/ John Lydon. The B Side of the “No One Is Innocent (A Punk Prayer By Ronnie Biggs)” single was the Sid Vicious version of “My Way”. The single made it to number 7 in the UK charts.

RIP Ronnie Biggs

 

“Hey man save one chick for me”

Filed under: Trivia — justwilliam1959 @ 9:37 pm
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Foto-Paul-5Did you know that John Lennon and Paul McCartney both had cats named Jesus? Nor did I. I wonder if the Beatles were more popular than both cats?

jesus-cat-600x450

 

“And on the jukebox Johnny sang about a thing called love”

Filed under: Trivia — justwilliam1959 @ 12:30 am
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The+Pogues+-+Rum+Sodomy+&+The+Lash+-+CD+ALBUM-421027Did you know that the title of the Pogues second album ‘Rum, Sodomy And The Lash‘ released in 1985 supposedly took its title from a Winston Churchill quote. Apparently when asked about seafaring traditions Churchill said “Naval tradition? Don’t talk to me about naval tradition. It’s nothing but rum, sodomy and the lash. The band’s drummer Andrew Ranken found the quote and suggested it for the album title. The album was produced by Elvis Costello who married band member Cait O’Riordan the following year. The LP reached number 13 in the UK album charts.

 

“Foreign life forms inventory suspended state of cryogenics” – Advent day 18

Filed under: Christmas,Trivia — justwilliam1959 @ 12:07 am
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slide_18_2087138aIt’s the 18th December and by now the regular readers among you will know exactly what that means won’t you? yes it’s day 18 of the With Just A Hint Of Mayhem advent calendar posts. So the songs for today both have the number 18 in their title. we are so far down the line now towards Yuletide that my Spiderman Advent Calendar has hardly any chocolate left in it. What Advent Calendar do you have?

wing1The first song for today remains one of my favourite 70s songs. It is “Eighteen With A Bullet” from Pete Wingfield. The bullet in this instance is used to describe a particularly well performing song on the US singles chart. strangely enough the song did enter the US top 20 at number eighteen, presumably with a bullet back in 1975. It reached its peak of number 15 a week after that. In the UK it made the top 10 reaching number 7. Reggae singer Derrick Harriott did a great cover of the song. Wingfield has been quite an active session player and producer. He produced Dexys Midnight Runners first album, ‘Searching For The Young Soul Rebels‘ , the Kane Gang’s first album ‘The Bad And Low Down World Of The Kane Gang’ . Pete also produce “I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles)” and the album ‘Sunshine On Leith’ by the Proclaimers. “Eighteen With A Bullet” can also be found on the soundtrack to Guy Ritchie‘s 1998 film ‘Lock, Stock And Two Smoking Barrels‘. The Pasadenas (who I once saw at a corporate function) biggest hit “Tribute (Right On)” was written by Mr Wingfield too.

1991-hangar_18_fcNext up it’s the mighty, massive, metal Megadeth with “Hangar 18”. The song was released as a single in 1991. It made it to number 26 in the UK and number 25 in the Irish charts. It comes from the band’s album ‘Rust In Peace’, a UK number 8 that was released in 1990. The song relates to alien conspiracy theories involving the 1947 crash at Roswell. Hangar 18 at an US Air Force base near Dayton, Ohio is supposedly where some of the alien remains and the alien spacecraft is stored. The lyrics were written by the band’s drummer Nick Menza with the music coming from frontman Dave Mustaine. Slash jammed with the band at one point and while some people thought that he might join them he decided to stay with Guns ‘N’ Roses.

 

“We don’t care about long hair” – Advent day 17 December 17, 2013

Filed under: Christmas,Trivia — justwilliam1959 @ 12:07 am
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advent-day-17_2084082aIt seems like just days since I started this years With Just A Hint Of Mayhem Advent blog posts and yet here we are at Day 17 already. More than two-thirds of the way through. So not only is it December 17th it is also the day that you get two songs with seventeen in the title. I’m getting a little concerned that I’ll be able to find two at least half decent songs for each day up to 25th December. But I think I can!

At_seventeen_(Janis_ian_single_cover)Anyway enough of my mindless prattling, what is the first song for today I hear you cry. Well it is a beautiful song from 1975; it is Janis Ian with the Grammy winning “At Seventeen”. The song failed to chart in the UK although I seem to recall that it got a lot of airplay in 1975/ 76. It went to number three on the US Billboard chart and remains her biggest hit. Janis didn’t want to release the song at first as she felt it was too personal. The song has been covered by Celine Dion for her current album ‘Loved Me Back To Life’. In addition to piano and guitar Janis also plays organ, harpsichord, French horn and flute. She had mastered all of these by the time she reached her teens. Janis also writes science fiction and has had a number of short stories published.

4541100486The second song today comes from punk icons the Sex Pistols and is called “Seventeen”. The song was the first track on side two of their only studio album; the timeless punk classic ‘Never Mind The Bollocks Here’s The Sex Pistols’. The bass on the album was played by either Glen Matlock or Steve Jones as Sid Vicious was not a particularly competent bassist. However it seems that Mr Vicious may have played his bass on the album’s eighth track; “Bodies”. “Seventeen” was one of 15 songs that the band played at their final gig (not including reunions) at the Winter Ballroom in San Francisco on January 1978. US hardcore punk band Total Chaos have covered the song for the ‘Never Mind The Sex Pistols, Here’s The Tribute’ album in 2000.