Did 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?
“Hey man save one chick for me” December 18, 2013
“And on the jukebox Johnny sang about a thing called love”
Did 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
It’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?
The 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.
Next 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
It 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!
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.
The 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.
“Spike heels make a hole in a life boat, drifting away when I’m talking and laughing as we float” – Advent day 16 December 16, 2013
It’s December 16th and therefore day 16 of the With Just A Hint Of Mayhem advent posts. I’m enjoying the music in these advent posts and I hope that you are too. So on to two songs with the number sixteen in their title.
The first song for today is from Ernest Jennings Ford who was better known as Tennessee Ernie Ford. The song is about working in a coal mine and it is called “Sixteen Tons” it reached number 1 in the US charts in 1955. The song has been recorded by many artists; including Stevie Wonder, the Redskins, Tom Jones, Johnny Cash, Bo Diddley, Robbie Williams, Dandy Warhols, Tom Morello and the Eels. Whilst Elvis Presley never recorded the song he did play it live when touring the US in 1955. The Clash had the Ford version of the song played just before they came on stage during their ‘Sixteen Tons’ US tour in 1980.
The second for today features an artist that appeared as part of one of his earlier bands on day 7 of my advent posts. It’s Jack White with a track taken from his first solo album, ‘Blunderbuss’ released in 2012. White says that the inspiration for the song came from his daughter. When Jack asked her what she would like as a snack she said sixteen saltine crackers, he said she could have three. The singles B Side was a cover of U2’s “Love Is Blindness“. The single was sadly largely ignored in the UK reaching only number 129 in the UK singles chart. The album went to number one in the UK though and also reached the top in Belgium, Canada, Switzerland and the USA.
“Did the cat get your tongue, did your string come undone” – Advent day 15 December 15, 2013
Excitement levels are rising, I’ve started to wrap the presents and I have even handed some over to Royal Mail for delivery too. I was out in Leeds for the work Christmas party on Thursday night. Friday night was spent nursing a serious hangover. But clearly I am so hardcore (not!) that I was out again on Saturday for Catwoman’s Christmas do. Both very enjoyable nights, but I’m glad that I have no more party nights lined up for a while!
So we have arrived at what seems a fast pace at December 15th which means as far as the With Just A Hint Of Mayhem Advent posts we have arrived at number 15 so todays two songs both have the number 15 in their titles. First up is a band I really loved from the first time I saw them back in the 90s at the Old Trout in Windsor. It is the fantastic boys of Gene with “Her Fifteen Years”. I got into Gene thanks to a bloke called Steve Walton who I worked with in the 90s at a large pharmaceutical company near Heathrow. Steve’s brother Daz was in an earlier incarnation of the band when they were known as Spin. Sadly a horrific road accident led to the demise of Spin. Steve if you’re reading this get in touch, it’s been a long while mate. Gene broke up in 2004 and I always hoped that they would get back together but so far they haven’t. However lead singer Martin Rossiter did release an excellent solo album via Pledge Music in 2012 entitled ‘The Defenestration Of St Martin’. You may wish to know that Martin is related to another famous Rossiter; his Great-Uncle was Leonard Rossiter the star of British sitcom ‘Rising Damp‘.
The second song for today comes from Radiohead, it is “15 Step” from the band’s self-released album ‘In Rainbows’. The album was released on-line and fans had the option to pay what they felt the album was worth. “15 Step” was among the songs that were debuted on Radiohead’s 2006 tour. The children that you can hear cheering on the track came from the Matrix Music School & Arts Centre in Oxford. ‘In Rainbows’ went on to become one of Radiohead’s most critically acclaimed albums. At one gig by the band Ed O’Brien‘s Mum was in the audience and she couldn’t see the stage very well. So Ed asked the woman in the seat net to her if she’d swap seats. The woman agreed and that woman was Madonna!
“Did it rain or did sunshine attend out first meeting?” – Advent day 14 December 14, 2013
I hope you all got through Friday 13th without any disasters, especially the superstitious among you. Anyway it’s now December 14th which means you are about to get your next helping of the With Just A Hint Of Mayhem Advent calendar number themed posts. You will have guessed by now that todays songs include the number fourteen in their titles.
The Bard of Barking brings the first song for today with “The Fourteenth Of February”. The track is taken from Billy’s 1996 album ‘William Bloke’ which made it to number 16 in the UK album charts. In 2008 at the NME Awards show Billy duetted with another great English singer songwriter and activist, Kate Nash. They played Kate’s “Foundations” and Billy’s “A New England”. I saw Billy Bragg play live in the 80s and I saw Kate play live in York and at the Reading Festival this year. In York she unleashed her storming support band, the fabulous Tuts!
Todays second song is from Beck Hansen and is taken from his fourth studio album ‘One Foot In The Grave’ released in 1994. (Is Beck a Victor Meldrew fan by any chance?). The song is called “Fourteen Rivers, Fourteen Floods”. The album never charted because it preceded his big breakthrough. Beck’s mother Bibbe Hansen was part of Andy Warhol’s circle and she appeared in a few Warhol films. When Beck dropped out of school he took a number of menial jobs which included; Truck Loader and Leaf Blower Operator.
“When the ink starts to itch, then the black will turn to red” – Advent day 13 December 13, 2013
Friday 13th December, one step closer to Christmas and a fabulous day unless you are triskaidekaphobic. So on with the show and today that show comes to you courtesy of two iconic music legends. One from the US and one from the UK. One is sadly no longer with us and the other is very much alive.
First up it’s the now departed Man In Black, Johnny Cash. The track I have chosen comes from the first of the albums that Cash recorded with Rick Rubin; ‘American Recordings‘ released in 1994. The song was written for Johnny by Glenn Danzig and it is called “Thirteen”. It took Danzig just twenty minutes to write the song. The album won a Best Contemporary Folk Album award at the 1994 Grammys. Cash joined the US Air Force in 1950 and for a time his role was to intercept morse code messages made by the Russian military. Apparently he was the first US radio operator to learn of the death of Joseph Stalin. The Cash family line could be traced back to 11th century Scotland.
The second song for today comes from that spikey, scouse minstrel Declan McManus who most of you know as Elvis Costello. The title of that song is “Thirteen Steps Lead Down” it is taken from 1994′ s ‘Brutal Youth‘ album. This was the first album that Elvis had recorded with the Attractions for eight years. The song was released as the lead track of an EP; the “Thirteen Steps Lead Down EP” which included three other tracks. Those were, “We Despise You”, “Basement Kiss” and “Puppet Girl”. Did you know that the backing band on Costello’s first album ‘My Aim Is True’ were called Clover and that they went on to form the nucleus of Huey Lewis and the News? Well you do now. I had the pleasure of seeing Mr Costello play live in June this year and he was brilliant.
“You ask how much I need you, must I explain?” – Advent day 12 December 12, 2013
I’m getting just a little bit more excited now it is the 12th of December after all. In keeping with this years With Just A Hint Of Mayhem advent posts I have two diametrically opposed songs for you today. But obviously two that have the number twelve in their titles.
First up is the timeless song “Twelfth Of Never” which was initially recorded by Johnny Mathis in 1957. He apparently didn’t like the song and it was demoted to the B Side of “Chances Are”. The song has been recorded by many, many artists since then. The Mathis version made it to number 9 in the US charts and Donny Osmond took it to number one in the UK and number 8 in the USA in 1973. The list of cover versions is almost endless and includes; Nina Simone, Barry Gibb, Cliff Richard, Tammy Wynette, Chi-Lites, Glen Campbell, Cher, Dolly Parton, Roger Whittaker, Barry Manilow, Andy Williams, Olivia Newton John, Hank Marvin and Jeff Buckley. Jeff’s version can be found on the Legacy edition of ‘Live At The Sin E’ and remains very faithful to the Nina Simone version of the song. The regular readers among you will know that I am a big fan of Texan crooner Johnny Nash. In fact I would go as far as saying that his singing voice is my favourite voice ever. Anyway I haven’t posted about Mr Nash for quite a while so I thought I would use his version of the “Twelfth Of Never” taken from his 1968 album ‘Soul Folk’.
The second song today flows from the Julian Casablancas post from yesterday. It is “12:51” by the band that Julian is a big part of; the Strokes. The song was written by Mr Casablancas and was the first single released from the bands second album ‘Room On Fire’ in 2003. The song made it to number 7 in the UK and reached the top 40 in Ireland, Canada, the Netherlands and Sweden. The songs original title was “Supernova”. The video for the song was directed by Roman Ford Coppola, the son of Francis Ford Coppola and the cousin of Nicolas Cage. It has a theme that is very reminiscent of the ‘Tron’ the 1982 movie. When the band played a number of Japanese dates to support the release of the ‘Room On Fire’ album in 2003 they included a cover of the Frank Sinatra classic written by Paul Anka “My Way”, only they sang it with Japanese lyrics!
“But don’t you dare get to the top and not know what to do” – Advent day 11 December 11, 2013
Can you believe it’s the 11th December already? Where the hell is the time going. Still I am very close to being in the smug zone; I’ve bought all my presents now it’s just a case of wrapping them, posting some of them and hiding the rest! Have you done all your Christmas shopping or will you be waiting until the turbo kicks in on 24th December? Anyway enough of all that, it is of course day 11 in the With Just A Hint Of Mayhem advent posts which means you get two songs with the number 11 in their title.
First up it’s U2 with “11 O’clock Tick Tock” which is the band’s second single released in May 1980. It was a non-album release produced by Martin Hannett who had previously produced Joy Division among others. There is also a great version of the song on the mini live album ‘Under A Blood Red Sky‘. In their early days the band often played the song twice during their set because they didn’t have much material. An earlier version of the song had different lyrics and was called “Silver Lining”
Second tune for today is from Julian Casablancas off of the Strokes; it is called “11th Dimension”. Casablancas is the lead singer of the Strokes and “11th Dimension” is so far his only hit outside the band. It was taken from his 2009 solo album ‘Phrazes For The Young‘. Describing the song as a hit is a little loose; it only charted in Japan where it reached number 48 in 2009. One of Casablancas’ most recent recordings was the vocal on “Instant Crush” from Daft Punk’s planet-conquering album, ‘Random Access Memories’. He has also inspired someone to write a song about him. Notably Courtney Love who included a song called “But Julian, I’m A Little Bit Older Than You” on her first solo album, ‘America’s Sweetheart’ in 2004.
With Just A Hint Of Mayhem 