With Just A Hint Of Mayhem

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

Mayhem’s 12 Days Of Christmas 2024 – Day 11 “Eleven Pipers Piping” December 23, 2024

Filed under: Christmas — justwilliam1959 @ 9:28 am
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Here comes day 11 of Mayhem’s 12 Days Of Christmas posts. Santa is oiling his beard and the elves are packing for a long holiday! The theme for this series of posts is the classic cumulative song “The Twelve Days Of Christmas”. What gift was presented on the eleventh day of Christmas? It was of course Eleven Pipers Piping. The link to today’s tune is not very tenuous and features an actual piper, of the bagpipe variety!

Today’s tune comes from Ally The Piper a.k.a. Piper Ally a.k.a. Ally Crowley-Duncan. She is from New York and she plays the bagpipes like she was born to it. Despite my Scottish background (I am half Scots) I have never liked the bagpipes much. But the way Ally plays and what she plays is something special. She began as a YouTuber. Her mission in music seems to be the modernisation of the Great Highland bagpipe. She blends classic rock and heavy metal with Celtic influences, captivating audiences worldwide. She covers metal and contemporary songs alongside traditional tunes and really is a joy to listen to. She has received support from the likes of Metallica and Iron Maiden, to name just a couple. Ally is a bit of a multi instrumentalist too, when it comes to traditional musical instruments in particular. This post features her take on the classic “Crazy Train”

There will be a playlist of all twelve songs when we get to the final one. In fact that playlist is under the streaming Christmas tree already and ready for unwrapping tomorrow. What do you think the final song will be tomorrow?

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Mayhem’s 12 Days Of Christmas 2024 – Day 10 “Ten Lords A-Leaping” December 22, 2024

Filed under: Christmas — justwilliam1959 @ 6:19 am
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Here comes day 10 of Mayhem’s 12 Days Of Christmas posts. Mrs. Claus is mucking out the reindeer stables and an elf has been sent to get new batteries for Rudolph’s nose! The theme for this series of posts is the classic cumulative song “The Twelve Days Of Christmas”. What gift was presented on the tenth day of Christmas? It was of course Ten Lords A-Leaping. The link to today’s tune is not very tenuous at all!

The song is “Lord Lucan Is Missing” by the often and wrongly ignored and underrated Black Box Recorder. Lucan was a Lord. It seems that he leapt off the planet back in 1974. This is why I chose this for day 10. The song is a cover of a song originally written and recorded by the Dodgems. It was issued as a B-Side or extra track on a CD single. Was it released with “The School Song”? I can’t remember! Black Box Recorder were Sarah Nixey, Luke Haines (from the Auteurs), and John Moore (from the Jesus and Mary Chain). I have a few of their albums. This particular track is included in ‘The Worst Of Back Box Recorder.’ It’s a collection of B-Sides and the like from 2001.

There will be a playlist of all twelve songs when we get to the final one? In fact that playlist is under the streaming Christmas tree already. I will unwrap it soon for you! What do you think tomorrows song will be?

If you have enjoyed this article, feel free to follow the blog, or follow us on; Facebook, Instagram, Threads, Bluesky, Linkedin, and EMail.

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A Christmas Message From Herorangecoat December 21, 2024

Filed under: Christmas,Christmas Message — justwilliam1959 @ 8:50 pm
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Hello all you people on the nice list, and I suppose some of you on the naughty list too! Since COVID I have let the annual Christmas messages from bands and artists that we have featured or reviewed throughout the year slip a little. But now they are back kicking off with the uber-talented HerOrangeCoat. She released a fabulous EP, ‘Ballads For This Age’ which has been on constant rotation here at Mayhem Towers. It is a beautiful collection of songs. We will be interviewing HerOrangeCoat early in the new year and I am so looking forward to that! I haven’t seen her play live yet, but that is on my list for 2025! I hope to have another couple of Christmas messages coming soon, but I plan for their to be an abundance of them in 2025.

If you have enjoyed this article, feel free to follow the blog, or follow us on; Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Threads, Bluesky, Linkedin, and EMail. Are you interested in writing and reviewing for With Just A Hint Of Mayhem? If so then please get in touch.

 

Mayhem’s 12 Days Of Christmas 2024 – Day 8 “Eight Maids A-milking” December 20, 2024

Filed under: Christmas — justwilliam1959 @ 10:23 pm
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It is now time for day 8 Mayhem’s 12 Days Of Christmas posts. So Christmas is now well and truly on the way, Maria is fully defrosted and Noddy has said “IT’S CHRIIIIISTMAAAS”! By now I hope you know that this year, once again, the theme is the classic cumulative song “The Twelve Days Of Christmas”. What gift was presented on the eighth day of Christmas? It was of course Eight Maids A-milking. The link to todays tune is as expected very tenuous.

The song is “Milkshake” by Kelis, well the song does talk about a milk based product right? Plus in olden days Kelis might have been seen as a maiden. Equally I could have chosen something by Iron Maiden or perhaps Be Bop Deluxe’s “Maid In Heaven”, maybe next time? “Milkshake” was a huge success for Kelis back in 2003. It hit number one in Ireland, number two in the UK and top five in the USA, Australia, New Zealand and Sweden. The song was written by Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo a.k.a the Neptunes. Kelis has said that the song is about “something that makes women special”. What do you think it’s about?

There will be a playlist of all twelve songs when we get to the final one? In fact that playlist is under the streaming Christmas tree already. I will unwrap it soon for you! What do you think tomorrows song will be?

If you have enjoyed this article, feel free to follow the blog, or follow us on; Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Threads, Bluesky, Linkedin, and EMail. Are you interested in writing and reviewing for With Just A Hint Of Mayhem? If so then please get in touch.

 

Mayhem’s 12 Days Of Christmas 2024 – Day 7 “Seven Swans A-swimming” December 19, 2024

Filed under: Christmas — justwilliam1959 @ 11:46 pm
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Day seven of Mayhem’s 12 Days Of Christmas posts is upon us, well as I type this it is technically nearly over. So Christmas is now in the fast lane and Chris Rea is on his way home! All of you regular readers (thank you for sticking with me and welcome to all the new readers too) will know that this year, once again, the theme is the classic cumulative song “The Twelve Days Of Christmas”. What gift was presented on the seventh day of Christmas? It was of course Seven Swans A- Swimming. The link to todays tune is not as tenuous as some of the earlier entries.

Today’s track is by Public Image Ltd and it is “Swan Lake” from the ‘Metal Box’ album. The song was originally released as a single called “Death Disco” in 1979 but was remixed and retitled “Swan Lake” for ‘Metal Box’. Guitarist Keith Levene said this of the track “I realised that this tune that I was bastardising by mistake was “Swan Lake”, so I started playing it on purpose but I was doing it from memory. You can hear that I’m not playing it exactly right. It just worked. There’s a few versions of that. The one on Metal Box is version two, which is very different from the simpler, original 12-inch version.” The lyrics are based on John Lydon’s mother dying of cancer he has spoken about the lyrics many times and said “When I had to deal with my mother’s death, which upset the fuck out of me, I did it partly through music. I had to watch her die slowly of cancer for a whole year. I wrote “Death Disco” about that. I played it to her just before she died and she was very happy. That’s the Irish in her, nothing drearily sympathetic or weak.”. In addition to Lydon and Levene another member of the classic PIL line up played on the song, Mr. Jah Wobble. The melody comes from what many consider to be the finest ballet ever written, “Swan Lake” composed by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky.

There will be a playlist of all twelve songs when we get to the final one? In fact that playlist is under the streaming Christmas tree already. I will unwrap it soon for you! What do you think tomorrows song will be?

If you have enjoyed this article, feel free to follow the blog, or follow us on; Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Threads, Bluesky, Linkedin, and EMail. Are you interested in writing and reviewing for With Just A Hint Of Mayhem? If so then please get in touch.

 

Mayhem’s 12 Days Of Christmas 2024 – Day 6 “Six Geese A-Laying” December 18, 2024

Filed under: Christmas — justwilliam1959 @ 10:19 pm
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It is the halfway point of Mayhem’s 12 Days Of Christmas posts which means it is day 6. Which in turn means that Chrimbo is tantalisingly close! All of you regular readers thank you for sticking with me and welcome to all the new readers too) will know that this year, once again, the theme is the classic cumulative song “The Twelve Days Of Christmas”. What gift was presented on the sixth day of Christmas? It was of course Six Geese A-Laying. So that probably means eggs for breakfast, right? Another rather tenuously linked tune is the order of the day again!

The song is “goosebumps” by Jacques Bermon Webster II a.k.a Travi$ Scott. kendrick Lamar also features on the track. It was the third single from Scott’s second studio album ‘Birds in the Trap Sing McKnight’ which was released in September 2016. It hit number one in the USA and number 19 in the UK album chart. Apparently Travi$ Scott broke a Guinness World Record in 2017 for the most consecutive performances of a song during a show after he performed “Goosebumps” 15 times in a row. Seriously? Why?

There will be a playlist of all twelve songs when we get to the final one? In fact that playlist is under the streaming Christmas tree already. I will unwrap it soon for you! What do you think tomorrows song will be?

If you have enjoyed this article, feel free to follow the blog, or follow us on; Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Threads, Bluesky, Linkedin, and EMail. Are you interested in writing and reviewing for With Just A Hint Of Mayhem? If so then please get in touch.

 

Mayhem’s 12 Days Of Christmas 2024 – Day 5 “Five Gold Rings” December 17, 2024

Filed under: Christmas — justwilliam1959 @ 8:48 pm
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Day 5 of Mayhem’s 12 Days Of Christmas is here and the Bearded Weirdo in the red costume will be here soon too. Regular readers will know that this year, once again, the theme is the classic cumulative song “The Twelve Days Of Christmas”. What gift was presented on the fifth day of Christmas? It was of course Five Gold Rings. Presumably this had nothing to do with the Olympics. Todays song is another rather tenuously linked tune, although maybe a fraction less so. It is Freda Payne with “Band Of Gold”. I am happy to say that as a mobile DJ for many, many years I never played this at a wedding!

“Band Of Gold” is the title track of her 1970 album of the same name. The song was a huge hit (number 1 in the UK, number 3 in the USA and top 5 in Australia, Canada and the Netherlands. The song was written by former Motown stalwarts Holland Dozier Holland (under the pseudonym Edythe Wayne) and Ron Dunbar. HDH had to use a false name as they were in the middle of a contractual lawsuit with Motown. Initially Payne turned the song down, before eventually relenting and making it something very special. The bass is worth the listening journey alone, that was played by Bob Babbit. Freda’s younger sister, Scherrie Payne, who went on to sing with the Supremes sang backing vocals and the lead guitar was played by Ray Parker Jr. To be fair if you need great lead guitar, who you gonna call?

There will be a playlist of all twelve songs when we get to the final one? In fact that playlist is under the streaming Christmas tree already. I will unwrap it soon for you! What do you think tomorrows song will be?

If you have enjoyed this article, feel free to follow the blog, or follow us on; Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Threads, Bluesky, Linkedin, and EMail. Are you interested in writing and reviewing for With Just A Hint Of Mayhem? If so then please get in touch.

 

Mayhem’s 12 Days Of Christmas 2024 – Day 4 “Four Calling Birds” December 16, 2024

Filed under: Christmas — justwilliam1959 @ 9:37 pm
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Can we really already be on day 4 of Mayhem’s 12 Days Of Christmas. Regular readers will know that this year, once again, the theme is the classic cumulative song “The Twelve Days Of Christmas”. What gift was presented on the fourth day of Christmas? It was of course Four Calling Birds. Todays song is another rather tenuously linked tune, “Birds” by the abundantly talented Kate Nash. The song is the fifth track from her first album ‘Made Of Bricks’ from 2007. There was one non album single released beforehand called “Caroline’s a Victim”. It was released as a limited 7″ single, double A-Side with “Birds” on Moshi Moshi Records before her biggest hit to date “Foundations”.

There will be a playlist of all twelve songs when we get to the final one? What do you think tomorrows song will be?

If you have enjoyed this article, feel free to follow the blog, or follow us on; Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Threads, Bluesky, Linkedin, and EMail. Are you interested in writing and reviewing for With Just A Hint Of Mayhem? If so then please get in touch.

 

Mayhem’s 12 Days Of Christmas 2024 – Day 3 “Three French Hens” December 15, 2024

Filed under: Christmas — justwilliam1959 @ 3:40 am
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Where does the time go leading up to Christmas? It is already day 3 of Mayhem’s 12 Days Of Christmas This year, once again, the theme is the classic cumulative song “The Twelve Days Of Christmas”. What gift was presented on the third day of Christmas? It was of course Three French Hens. Todays song is yet another tenuously linked tune, “Chicken” by Maceo Parker.

This instrumental track was composed by jazz saxophonist Pee Wee Ellis a one time member of James Brown’s band. The tune was originally entitled “The Chicken” and it first appeared as the B Side to James Browns 1969 single “The Popcorn”. It has been recorded by many giants of jazz, including Jaco Pastorius, and became a jazz funk standard. The version I have included for Mayhem’s 12 Days of Christmas is by Maceo Parker and is taken from his 1991 album ‘Mo’ Roots’. Parker also played in James Brown’s band in the 60s, 70s and again in the 80s. He went on to work with Parliament/ Funkadelic in the 1970s and Prince in the 2000s. He has worked on collaborations with Candy Dulfer and De La Soul. He also had a hit in 1973 with “Parrty – Part I” under the name Maceo and the Macks. He has worked with artists as diverse as Ryuichi Sakamoto, Bryan Ferry, Keith Richards and 10,000 Maniacs to name just a few.

There will be a playlist of all twelve songs when we get to the final one? What do you think tomorrows song will be?

If you have enjoyed this article, feel free to follow the blog, or follow us on; Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Threads, Bluesky, Linkedin, and EMail. Are you interested in writing and reviewing for With Just A Hint Of Mayhem? If so then please get in touch.

 

Mayhem’s 12 Days Of Christmas 2024 – Day 2 “Two Turtle Doves” December 14, 2024

Filed under: Christmas — justwilliam1959 @ 9:42 pm
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Even if you haven’t yet read the first instalment of Mayhem’s 12 Days Of Christmas you might still have guessed from the title of this post the theme for this year is, once again, the classic Christmas song “The Twelve Days Of Christmas”. What was the gift on the second day of Christmas? It was of course Two Turtle Doves. So with yet another tenuous link, todays song is by Krautrock Kings Can with the song “Turtles Have Short Legs”, I already said the link was tenuous, right? The song was recorded during the ‘Tago Mago’ sessions, although it was not included on that album. It was the band’s second single under the Can name and was issued in March 1971. The lyrics are wonderfully quirky and just a tad strange with lines like “Turtles have short legs, not for walking”. I love a bit of Can, do you? There will be a playlist of all twelve songs when we get to the final one? What do you think tomorrows song will be?

If you have enjoyed this article, feel free to follow the blog, or follow us on; Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Threads, Bluesky, Linkedin, and EMail. Are you interested in writing and reviewing for With Just A Hint Of Mayhem? If so then please get in touch.