On this day, 12th January 1955, even before I was born, should and blues legend Etta James released her version of “The Wallflower” (Roll With Me Henry)” (sometimes titled “Dance With Me Henry”, and took it to the top of the US R&B Charts. It is a classic 12 bar blues song and one of many recorded as “answer” songs to Hank Ballard’s “Work With Me, Annie” released in 1954. Obviously, Etta’s song is about dancing…..right? Or maybe it is a tad more sexual than that. Many radio stations in the USA deemed it far too risque to play. Which is an awful shame, because it really is a great song!
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Over the years Norway has given the world some spectacular hard rock and Black Metal and huge pop success via A-Ha and current pop icon, AURORA. But now there is another Norwegian act about to break big, they are from Oslo and are called Das Body. Following the release of their album, ‘Peregrine’ in 2019, they have blasted a string of fine singles into the world. The latest released last month is “You Look So Pretty When You’re On Your Knees”, and it combines everything that makes a perfect tune. It has sublime hooks, great beats, pop melodies, funky sounds, and vocals that would turn black metal heads into teddy bears. Vocalist Ellie has something of Kate Bush in her vocal style and that just adds another gorgeous layer to this wonderful track. The lyrics appear to straddle a line between fun and darkly strange. When this is playing you will dance, that is not an order, it is simply a fact! The single comes from the band’s forthcoming sophomore album, ‘True Vulture’, which is due out later in January.
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New Zealand music funksters and funsters SKRAM have a new single out; and with it, they have invented a new word, serendripity. This song oozes fun, and classy humour and makes you want and need to dance. It would fit perfectly alongside the Danish band Junior Senior’s 2003 smash “Move Your Feet” in any good playlist. “Serendripity” is chock full of hooks of both a pop and rock variety and in style owes some debt to the Scissor Sisters and Jamiroquai. The rap element perhaps pays homage to “Wham Rap” and Harry Enfield’s Loadsamoney character, but it works well. If the pop charts actually meant much anymore this song created by Kiwi music powerhouses Henry Ashby and Felix Nesbitt would be number one for months. The video is rather splendid too. The band has explained “Serendripity” or ‘serendipitous drip,’ as “the idea of wearing whatever you want, feeling safe and confident when venturing into the world. The act of wearing what you want, the “drip,” becomes a medium through which you express your unique identity and personality. “Serendripity” celebrates the freedom to make choices based on your own tastes, rather than conforming to societal expectations or trends.” Well, that certainly works for me!
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How many countries are there in the world? Well according to Worldometer there are 195 countries in the world today. This total comprises 193 countries that are member states of the United Nations and 2 non-member observer states: the Holy See and the State of Palestine. This means that Worpress sees countries slightly differently because, in the almost fifteen years since I started With Just A Hint Of Mayhem, it has been viewed in 226 countries, so I guess some of those are not “real” countries. On top of that, there are six countries (coloured grey on the map above) where no one has taken even a single view of With Just A Hint Of Mayhem. So if you reside in any of the following places, or you know someone who does, ask them to come and say hi to Mayhem. The countries/ places that are missing out on all the fun are Western Sahara, Chad, Eritrea, Burundi, Svalbard (Norway), and North Korea. Why have I written this post? Well, I am proud of the reach the blog has had, but it also allows me to feature some appropriate(ish) tunes. Before that, the top ten countries that have visited the site the most are (the full list can be seen at the end of this post)
1 United States 2 United Kingdom 3 Germany 4 Chile 5 France 6 Canada 7 Spain 8 Mexico 9 Australia 10 Italy
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The Full Mayhem World Domination List
1 United States 2 United Kingdom 3 Germany 4 Chile 5 France 6 Canada 7 Spain 8 Mexico 9 Australia 10 Italy 11 Brazil 12 Netherlands 13 Argentina 14 Ireland 15 Colombia 16 Sweden 17 India 18 Poland 19 Turkey 20 Belgium 21 Philippines 22 Peru 23 Indonesia 24 Russia 25 European Union 26 Norway 27 Denmark 28 Japan 29 New Zealand 30 Switzerland 31 Greece 32 Venezuela 33 Finland 34 South Africa 35 Malaysia 36 Thailand 37 Austria 38 Portugal 39 Czechia 40 Hungary 41 Romania 42 Ecuador 43 Israel 44 South Korea 45 Singapore 46 Croatia 47 Serbia 48 China 49 Saudi Arabia 50 Hong Kong SAR China 51 United Arab Emirates 52 Ukraine 53 Slovakia 54 Bulgaria 55 Costa Rica 56 Egypt 57 Pakistan 58 Taiwan 59 Algeria 60 Morocco 61 Guatemala 62 Vietnam 63 Slovenia 64 Uruguay 65 Lithuania 66 Bolivia 67 El Salvador 68 Puerto Rico 69 Estonia 70 Dominican Republic 71 Georgia 72 Panama 73 Cyprus 74 Bangladesh 75 Tunisia 76 Latvia 77 Malta 78 Bosnia & Herzegovina 79 Lebanon 80 Iceland 81 Kuwait 82 Honduras 83 North Macedonia 84 Paraguay 85 Sri Lanka 86 Armenia 87 Nigeria 88 Albania 89 Iraq 90 Trinidad & Tobago 91 Nicaragua 92 Luxembourg 93 Jordan 94 Jamaica 95 Azerbaijan 96 Qatar 97 Kenya 98 Libya 99 Belarus 100 Nepal 101 Isle of Man 102 Jersey 103 Moldova 104 Mauritius 105 Ghana 106 Myanmar (Burma) 107 Oman 108 Guernsey 109 Bahrain 110 Kazakhstan 111 Bahamas 112 Cambodia 113 Montenegro 114 Tanzania 115 Syria 116 Palestinian Territories 117 Mongolia 118 Brunei 119 Côte d’Ivoire 120 Maldives 121 Barbados 122 Ethiopia 123 Curaçao 124 Réunion 125 Uganda 126 Zimbabwe 127 Zambia 128 Namibia 129 Senegal 130 Yemen 131 Macao SAR China 132 Sudan 133 Haiti 134 Madagascar 135 Cuba 136 Gibraltar 137 Angola 138 Guadeloupe 139 Botswana 140 Belize 141 Martinique 142 Cayman Islands 143 Aruba 144 Guam 145 Grenada 146 Fiji 147 Uzbekistan 148 Cameroon 149 Rwanda 150 Afghanistan 151 Monaco 152 Andorra 153 Mozambique 154 Bermuda 155 Papua New Guinea 156 Turkmenistan 157 New Caledonia 158 Suriname 159 Iran 160 St. Lucia 161 Kyrgyzstan 162 Mali 163 Bhutan 164 Seychelles 165 American Samoa 166 Guyana 167 Malawi 168 Cape Verde 169 Antigua & Barbuda 170 French Polynesia 171 Greenland 172 Faroe Islands 173 U.S. Virgin Islands 174 St. Vincent & Grenadines 175 Laos 176 Djibouti 177 Åland Islands 178 French Guiana 179 Congo – Kinshasa 180 Dominica 181 Turks & Caicos Islands 182 San Marino 183 St. Kitts & Nevis 184 British Virgin Islands 185 Unknown Region 186 Gabon 187 Liberia 188 Benin 189 Mauritania 190 Togo 191 Gambia 192 Liechtenstein 193 Burkina Faso 194 Eswatini 195 Timor-Leste 196 Caribbean Netherlands 197 Guinea 198 Somalia 199 Northern Mariana Islands 200 Niger 201 Tonga 202 Cook Islands 203 Lesotho 204 Congo – Brazzaville 205 Mayotte 206 South Sudan 207 Samoa 208 Falkland Islands 209 Sierra Leone 210 Equatorial Guinea 211 Guinea-Bissau 212 Sint Maarten 213 Nauru 214 Tuvalu 215 St. Martin 216 Kosovo 217 Tajikistan 218 Solomon Islands 219 Anguilla 220 Vatican City 221 Vanuatu 222 St. Helena 223 Palau 224 St. Pierre & Miquelon 225 Micronesia 226 Central African Republic
It is nearly three years since I published the first of Mayhem’s Before They Were Famous series, kicking off with Noddy Holder. Click here to read that one.
So the second in the series is long overdue and it features the late, great soul legend William Harrison Withers Jr, a.k.a Bill Withers. Bill’s first job was making toilet seats for Boeing airliners. Probably not the Poopersonic planes. Apparently, he wrote “Ain’t No Sunshine” during that time. When that song became a big hit in 1971 he refused to resign from his job because he believed the music business was a fickle industry. He was probably right, but he was a hell of a talented artist. Before his toilet seat making role he spent nine years in the US Navy, finally leaving in 1965. “Ain’t No Sunshine” bagged him a Grammy for Best Rhythm & Blues Song in 1971. Bill famously walked away from the music industry in 1985 (in that he did not sign a further record contract) and by all accounts continued to live a happy and fulfilling life.
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This is the 20th in the Mayhem Virgins series where we showcase artists that have never featured on these pages before. This time it is the turn of the Bridge City Sinners all the way from Portland Oregon, where they began a busking journey. They formed in 2016 and are purveyors of country, punk, folk, dark sounds and so much fun. If goth bands smiled and made bluegrass music they might sound like the Bridge City Sinners. I imagined them coming from a parallel universe where the Charlie Daniels Band joined forces with Gogol Bordello! The instrumentation feels properly organic and includes stand-up bass and banjo among other fine instruments. Their current album, ‘Unholy Hymns’, is a classic, and even with streaming, you will not want to skip any of the fabulous songs. This follows their self-titled release in 2016 and ‘Here’s To The Devil’ in 2019. All were released on the band’s own Flail Records label. The current album ‘Unholy Hymns’ made it to number 70 on the US Billboard charts in 2021.
Reading about them online suggests that they are an incendiary force of nature on stage and I really want to see them soon. Their own bio says that their live show is as punk as fuck, now that sounds perfect to me! If you are in the USA they are playing dates in Reno, Vegas, and LA at the end of March. Before that, they play a show in Vancouver on 16th March. Scott Michaud plays double bass as though it is connected to his nervous system. Lightin’ Luke adds some demonic fiddle and wonderful vocals. King Strang plays some superb guitar and Clyde McGee is a banjo god! Lead singer Libby Lux is a superstar in waiting, and probably won’t have to wait for too long! It is worth checking out some of the band members’ solo material too, Libby Lux’s “Two Dollar Bill” video is included below.
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David Bowie, whom the NME cheekily used to refer to as the Dame was born on January 8th, 1947. He would have turned 77 today. Many people know that Elvis Presley was born 12 years before him on the same date in 1935. But did you know that a real Dame was also born on January 8th, but in 1937? Yes, it was Dame Shirley Bassey. On the former David Jones’s 19th birthday in 1966, he played a show at the Marquee Club in London with his band the Lower Third. On January 8th, 1970 Bowie began recording the original single of “The Prettiest Star” with Marc Bolan on guitar. On Bowie’s 66th Birthday Bowie made a spectacular and unexpected comeback by releasing “Where Are We Now” with no advance warning. It is one of his most reflective songs and the lyrics work through his time living in Berlin. He surprised the world again on his 69th birthday by releasing the stunning ‘Blackstar’, sadly he passed away two days later. Incidentally, that album, his 26th studio record, was the first not to feature Bowie on the cover.
This is David Bowie at his daughter’s birthday party
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This is the eighteenth song in the Play It Again Mayhem series, which began in 2020. Check out the previous entries along with this new one in the Play It Again Mayhem Spotify Playlist click here to take a listen! It has been 5 months since the last entry, so we are way overdue for another, right? It is back to the 70s once again for this song, 1976. In fact, 13 of the 18 songs so far are from the 1970s. It is called “What A Way To End It All”, and it is by the iconic cult Liverpool band Deaf School. After the band broke up, singer Bette Bright went on to some success as Bette Bright and the Illuminations. Keyboard player Max Ripple, a.k.a John Wood, is now Emeritus Professor of Design at Goldsmiths College, University of London. Deaf School‘s master of woodwind was Ian Ritchie. He has toured as a saxophonist with Roger Waters and he played sax on “See the Day” by Dee C Lee, “Club Tropicana” by Wham!, and “C’est La Vie” by Robbie Nevil. The band also featured someone who went by the name Cliff Hanger on guitar. Mr Hanger was actually Clive Langer. He went on to produce many top acts mostly with Alan Winstanley. Those acts included Madness, Elvis Costello, The Teardrop Explodes, and Dexys Midnight Runners, to name just a few.
I used to own “What A Way To End It All” on 7-inch vinyl. It is still a great song in my opinion. It has a great chorus, fabulous carnival, circus, music hall style instrumentation, and at times the vocals remind me of Sparks. If you have never heard it, get on it now!
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Is there a new Frank Turner album on the horizon? Possibly, given he released a brand new single on January 4th. It is called “No Thank You For The Music” and it sounds and feels like angry Frank is back! I am very happy about that! It is most definitely a rock number with a great pop vibe. I can see some of those lines being sung by festival choir crowds for years to come, myself included. Particularly “I don’t want to be in any gang that you’re in. I refuse to take part in gatekeeping people’s art“. I have been a Frank fan for years and this is one of his best! Apparently, Mr. Turner says this about the track, “a song about defiance, rejection of mainstream culture, pride in the underground, and staying angry as you get older.” Check it out!
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Just before Christmas Vaquelin unleashed their new single, “Centrefold” and in case you wondered, it is NOT a cover of the J Geils Band 80’s hit “Centerfold”, it is so much better than that. It is heavier than a planet. The armada of spectacular riffs stuns you into submission and highlights an air of dark menace in the music. Is this the best Vaquelin song yet? Probably! Take a listen and let me know what you think.
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With Just A Hint Of Mayhem 