With Just A Hint Of Mayhem

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

“The tyranny of distance, didn’t stop the cavalier” – Advent post day 6 December 6, 2013

Filed under: Christmas,Trivia — justwilliam1959 @ 12:22 am
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Are you excited yet? It’s less than three weeks to the big day where we all eat too much, drink too much and regret that over indulgence the next morning! But in the meantime I am rationing my chocolate intake to what is behind the pathetic little doors of my Spiderman advent calendar. I’ve said it before but why is all the chocolate shaped like Christmas things? How about some shaped like doctor Octopus, The green Goblin, the Lizard or even Spidey himself? Chocolate manufacturers please take note!

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az_2222_Becoming%20X_Sneaker%20PimpsAnyway it’s December 6th which means that todays songs will contain the number six. It’s an easy concept really isn’t it. The first song for today is “6 Underground” by Sneaker Pimps. The song comes from the Hartlepool bands album ‘Becoming X’. It was their first chart single when it reached number 15 in the UK when it was released in 1996. It was re-released the following year when it made the top ten at number 9. It also made it to number 45 in the US charts that year too. The song was used in the film ‘The Saint’ in 1997 which led to its reissue. The open melody on harp is a sample from the soundtrack of 1964’s James Bond movie ‘Goldfinger’. The band took their name from and article in the Beastie Boys ‘Grand Royal’ magazine. It was about a man who the Beasties used to tracked down classic box fresh trainers and sneakers.

split_enz_wideweb__470x340,0The second song for today comes from down under and it is New Zealand’s Split Enz with “Six Months In A Leaky Boat” taken from their album ‘Time And Tide‘. The song is about the time it took for early pioneers to sail from Europe to New Zealand and Australia. It was released in 1982 and because of the Falklands war it received hardly any airplay in the UK. The Powers That be felt that references to leaky boats in a time of naval conflict would be inappropriate, so it only managed to reach number 83 in the UK and an even more lowly 104 in the US charts. It fared better in Australia where it went to number 2. It also made it to number 7 in both New Zealand and Canada. The song was written by Tim Finn brother of Neil Finn who was also in Split Enz. the pair went on to form Crowded House. The tune has been covered by artists ranging from Marillion to the Wiggles.The band were originally called Split Ends but they changed to Split Enz before their first Australian tour to emphasise their New Zealand heritage with the nz in the name.

 

“You’re so deaf that you cannot hear him” December 5, 2013

Filed under: News — justwilliam1959 @ 10:32 pm
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RIP NELSON MANDELA

mandela

 

“All I Want For Christmas Is A Guitar”

Filed under: Review — justwilliam1959 @ 10:26 pm
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Let’s face it most new Christmas songs in recent years have been pretty shit haven’t they? You can almost hear the sound of the barrel being scraped with some Christmas albums as well. Leona Lewis another short-lived X Factor success has one out this year. I reckon that will go from stocking filler on a small-scale this year to the charity shop or the recycling plant next year.

tumblr_mw81u4QcjS1sv4c0bo1_1280But trust me all is not lost. Those feisty, punky and talented girls known to the world have released a Christmas song as part of the magnificent Kate Nash‘s first ever Christmas release, an EP entitled “Have Faith With Kate Nash This Christmas”. The Tuts contribution is called “Christmas Is In The Air”. It starts off in an acoustic vein, probably just to lullaby you into a false sense of security. But then it comes to life stupendously with a rather spiffing chorus. I loved this song after the first listen and it will definitely be on my Christmas playlist. The video is darned good too. Special guests include Colour Me Wednesday and a festive jumper sported by Nadia Tut that probably should never be allowed out on it’s own. Enjoy the video, listen to the song and then buy the EP ok? I know where Santa’s Evil Elves live and if I find out that you haven’t bought the EP I will send them to your house. You wouldn’t want me to do that would you? TUTS ROOL YULE OK!

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“I’m gone, beatin’ my chest like King Kong” – Advent post day5

Filed under: Christmas,Trivia — justwilliam1959 @ 12:35 am
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stock-vector-number-christmas-tree-decoration-part-of-a-full-set-vector-7696528Wow this December is flying past at a right old pace isn’t it. I have just ripped off the cardboard flap marked number 5 on my Spiderman advent calendar. Incidentally it’s a Spiderman advent calendar so why is there a chocolate teddy bear behind the door? Anyway along with this years blog advent calendar theme I have two great songs with the number five in the title for you today.

the-stranglers-5-minutesFirst up is the Stranglers with “5 Minutes”. It was the band’s fifth UK top 50 hit when it reached number 11 in 1978. The song was written by the band and sung by Jean-Jacques Burnel. It was produced my much-lauded UK producer Martin Rushent. The song is about a rape that took place in a flat he shared in the 70s. It conveys his feelings on discovering the five men who committed the attack and has both English and French lyrics. Burnel is a karate 6th Dan Black belt and heads up Shidokan UK. When the band first formed in 1974 they were known as Wanderlust and then became the Guildford Stranglers before finally becoming the Stranglers.

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The second song to offer you tremendous aural pleasure today comes from Luniz with their 1995 hit “I Got 5 On It”. The song made it to number 3 in the UK charts and number 8 in the USA. It was taken from their album ‘Operation Stackola’. The band were originally called Luni-Tunes and consisted of two key members; Yukmouth (born Jerold Ellis III) and Numskull (born Garrick Husbands). The meaning of the phrase ‘I Got 5 On It’ in the songs context is to go halfs with someone else on a $10 bag of dope. Anyone up for that? Where’s me Rizlas?

 

“Last night I told her this time it’s all over, making ten times I told her goodbye” – Advent post day 4 December 4, 2013

Filed under: Christmas,Trivia — justwilliam1959 @ 5:56 am
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www.topiarygarden.co.ukIt’s the 4th of December and time to open yet another door on my Advent Calendar musical extravaganza. As it is a songs with numbers in the title theme this year it is obviously number four today. I have two very different but excellent songs for you today.

661888First it’s the Boomtown Rats with “Mary Of The Fourth Form” or “Mary Of Year 10” as it would have to be called nowadays. The song was released in 1977 and became the band’s second hit. It reached number 15 in the UK and number 12 in Ireland. The band broke up in 1986 and reformed earlier this year with great success. Albeit without two of the original members; Gerry Cott and Johnnie Fingers. Singer Bob Geldof once wrote for the NME. The band also number a few famous people among their fans, including Jane Horrocks, J K Rowling, Jim Kerr off of Simple Minds and Courtney Love.

youngSecond song of the day today comes from the late, great country star Faron Young. It is a song that was originally released in 1971 it reached the number 3 spot in the UK the following year. It only made it to number 92 on the Billboard chart in the US. However it did become Faron’s first number one on the country music charts. A live clip of Faron Young singing the song was the first song to be played on the Country Music Television (CMT) cable channel when it was launched in 1983. The song has been covered by Tom Jones in the 1980s. It is also heavily referenced in the fabulous “Faron Young” from Prefab Sprout which was a UK single in 1985. Disappointingly it only made number 74 in the UK charts. The cat owned by Frieda in the Peanuts cartoon strip was named Faron as Charles Schultz admired the singer.

 

“I got soul but I’m not a soldier” December 3, 2013

Filed under: Trivia — justwilliam1959 @ 8:51 pm
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Brandon-Flowers-for-Weeke-001Brandon Flowers off of the Killers is a self-confessed David Bowie fan. He believes that ‘Heathen‘ is the last great Bowie album. So much so that he readily admits that the Killers stole the bass line for “All These Things That I’ve Done” from Bowie’s “Slow Burn” which was one of the singles released from ‘Heathen’. Do you think it is a definite steal?

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“Paint my face with clown make up and a smiley face I’m insane”

Filed under: Trivia — justwilliam1959 @ 8:37 pm
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During Insane Clown Posse‘s (ICP’s) early success in 1997 after their albums ‘Riddle Box‘ and ‘The Great Milenko‘ had shifted some big numbers they were handed a party flyer by a young man who was to become their nemesis. The flyer was an invite to a party featuring Esham, Kid Rock and ICP (maybe). Violent J of ICP bawled the young man out asking why he had put ICP on the bill without telling them. The young man replied “it says maybe and I’m asking you now. Are you coming?” Violent J said “Fuck no! But we might have if you hadn’t put us on the flyers first!” That young man was Marshall Mathers III who went on to diss ICP many times and clearly became far more successful than they ever were.

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“Move to the flow of the pyramid blaster” – Advent post day 3

Filed under: Christmas,Trivia — justwilliam1959 @ 8:10 am
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Are you ready to open the next box on the advent calendar? What delightful chocolate awaits us? well none actually because this is the With Just A Hint Of Mayhem Advent Calendar blog post for 3rd December so instead of chocolate you’ll get two songs. Incidentally what advent calendar do you have at home? Does it contain sweets or chocolate? Mine is a Spiderman one and Catwoman, my lovely wife, has a Maltesers calendar.

Is Mr Richie wearing a Christmas jumper?

Is Mr Richie wearing a Christmas jumper?

The first of todays number themed songs is the Commodores smash hit from 1978, “Three Times A Lady”. The song which was written by Lionel Richie was a number one in the UK and the US. It comes from their album ‘Natural High’. Personally I preferred their more funky efforts and this song for me saw the band and indeed Mr Richie plunge into some bland identikit ballad territory. Songs such as “Still” and “Hello” just didn’t do it for me. I do love a good ballad though and the Commodores have some that are far better than “Three Times A Lady”. In particular “Just To Be Close To You”. “Three Times A Lady” has been covered by artists as diverse as Cobra Starship, Kenny Rogers, Conway Twitty and Bill Bailey. Bill included a German translation of the song in his Part Troll live show. I first saw the Commodores when they supported the Jackson 5 in 1972. Yes I really am that old!

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The second song on todays posts comes from one of my favourite acts of all time; the Kopyright Liberation Front, better known as the KLF and sometimes the Justified Ancients of Mu Mu or the JAMMs. This sadly short-lived band was the brainchild of Bill Drummond and Jim Cauty. Drummond co-founded Zoo Records and was also manager of Echo and the Bunnymen and the Teardrop Explodes. In addition to the music the KLF were also infamous for acts of art terrorism which included burning a million pounds on a remote Scottish island. The song I have chosen is the bands only UK number one as the KLF “3 a.m. Eternal (Live At The S.S.L)” from 1990. They also hit the UK number one spot in 1988 as the Timelords with “Doctorin’ The Tardis“. This was apparently achieved by following the rules set out in their book; ‘The Manual (How To Have A Number One The Easy Way)’. Remaining true to their words Cauty and Drummond by withdrawing their back catalogue from sale. This remains the case for most of the world, although some copies of their output are produced via Arista in the USA.

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“It’s not my problem, it’s not my problem” – Advent post day 2 December 2, 2013

Filed under: Christmas,Trivia — justwilliam1959 @ 8:47 am
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G7497_thumbpacksIt’s now just over three weeks until the big day when the bearded weirdo arrives at your house and drops down your chimney. Are you excited yet? If not then I hope that the two tunes with numbers in their titles that I have selected for day 2 get you at least a little bit revved up. So behind the colourful little cardboard flap today we have a couple of classics for singing along to when drunk.

Pull the udder one Damon

Pull the udder one Damon

First it’s Blur with an excellent if rather unimaginatively titled song; yes it’s “Song 2” from 1997. It came from an album which also didn’t need much creative juice when it came to choosing a title; it was simply called ‘Blur’. However forget the issue I have with those titles for me it remains one of the band’s finest albums. Sadly it only made it to number 2 in the UK charts, but it did hit the top spot in Canada. It has been covered by a wide range of artists, including; Avril Lavigne, Scooter, Robbie Williams and Vampire Weekend. It was also sampled by Pink on her song “Slut Like You”. “Song 2” has featured in episodes of Torchwood, the Simpsons and South Park. It is said that the US military wanted to use the song at the launch of a new Stealth Bomber, but Damon Albarn refused them permission. Rightly so in my opinion.

5032556118026The second song from day 2 is the wonderful “Two Pints Of Lager And A Packet Of Crisps Please” from Splodgenessabounds. The song was released in 1980 when it made it to number 7 in the UK charts. The B side was the rather excellently titled song “Michael Booth’s Talking Bum”. In a throwback to the early days of punk many of the band members gave themselves some rather clever stage names; including vocalist Max Splodge, guitarist Pat Thetic Noble and Miles Flat also a guitarist. The band still tours, often with Bad Manners and appeared at the Rebellion Festival for the 19th time earlier this year.

Indeed!

Indeed!

 

“I picture the rain on windows and I think of home” – Advent post day 1 December 1, 2013

Filed under: Christmas,Trivia — justwilliam1959 @ 12:08 pm
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211061_511805772225628_391093463_nWho would have thought that time passed so quickly? It seems like only yesterday that I was posting my twelve days of Christmas  advent blog. But here we are almost a year further on. So are you ready for this years With Just A Hint Of Mayhem Advent Calendar blog posts? I hope so because I have chosen a really eclectic mix of music for you. The theme is songs with numbers in their title and the plan is to count up from number one today to number 25 for Christmas Day.

58711So for today, 1st December I have two songs for you, starting with the Tremeloes. The band was originally called Brian Poole and the Tremeloes and were signed by Decca Records instead of the Beatles allegedly because the band were more accessible geographically as they were in London with the Beatles being from Liverpool. Interestingly the first chart hit for the Tremeloes was in late 1963 with a cover of the Isley Brothers song “Twist And Shout” which had also been a hit as part of an EP for the Beatles earlier in the year. Brian Poole’s daughters Shelly and Karen were also successful in the music business after becoming Alisha’s Attic and having a string of top 30 hits from 1996 to 2001. But the Tremeloes song I have chosen reached number two in the UK in 1969 (and only number 27 in the US) and it is “(Call Me) Number One”. This one doesn’t feature Brian Poole. It’s a bit of a shame when you name your song that and then it doesn’t make it to number one isn’t it?

daftpunk_interstella5555The second song hiding behind the little cardboard flap of the advent calendar today is by the band that has one of the best-selling singles of 2013 with “Get Lucky”; Daft Punk. I have picked their big hit from 2000, “One More Time” which reached number one in France and Canada and number two in the UK charts. It was the first of six singles taken from the album ‘Discovery’. In 2010 “One More Time” was voted the greatest dance record of all time by readers of Mixmag magazine.