With Just A Hint Of Mayhem

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

“Sit yourself down, take a seat all you gotta do is repeat after me” December 1, 2011

Filed under: Christmas,Trivia — justwilliam1959 @ 12:06 am
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Here we are at December already and this will be the third year of my musical Christmas Advent calendar. In 2009 it was cover versions and last year it was UK Christmas number ones. So what will it be this year? It will be an ABC of Motown songs and I bet you can’t guess what is under that little cardboard flap for December 1st.

Well obviously it has to be “ABC” by the Jackson 5 doesn’t it? This song was one of my favourite 45s in my then fledgling record collection in the early 70s. I’m pretty sure I bought it at the old Uxbridge market, probably in 1970 or 1971. I no longer have the vinyl but I do have it on various CDs and on my iPod too. I was a real fan of the Jackson 5 in those days and this led to me going to see them at the Wembley Empire Pool in November 1973. I had actually wanted to go and see David Bowie in May of that year but my Dad wouldn’t let me! He said that Bowie was a ‘bloody weirdo’. It’s strange how things worked out isn’t it? But my Dad and I did have a laugh about that during the long conversations that we shared in the year before he died. If there is anything after this existence I’m sure he is chuckling now.

“ABC” was the second in a run of four consecutive US number one singles starting in 1969 with “I Want You Back”. The third was “The Love You Save” and the run ended with “I’ll Be There” in 1970. “ABC” was written by ‘The Corporation’ which consisted of Motown head honcho Berry Gordy along with Freddie Perren, Alphonzo Mizell and Deke Richards. This writing team wrote the first three of this quartet of songs. “ABC” only managed the number 8 spot in the UK.

Wilton Felder, a member of the Crusaders, played bass guitar on the track. Obviously it was a very young (just 11 years old) Michael Jackson who provided the lead vocal. The first airing of the song on US TV was on the American Bandstand show which coincidentally was on the ABC network. You can see that clip below. The song is one of the shortest titles ever to reach the top of the US charts.

The Jackson 5 on tour again sponsored by Jelly Babies

 

“Could laugh at the ocean just like the films” November 22, 2011

Filed under: Trivia — justwilliam1959 @ 11:21 pm
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It’s not often lately that I learn a new bit of David Bowie trivia, but this week I certainly have. I was reading the recent Bowie special published by Uncut magazine, in particular a bit about Bowie’s film career. Now personally I don’t see him as a brilliant actor. I think he was superb in just three movies; ‘The Man Who fell To Earth‘, ‘Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence‘ and ‘The Hunger’. The rest I really can just take or leave.

He also auditioned for a role in ‘The Eagle Has Landed‘ as Max Radl, who was eventually played by Robert Duvall. John Sturges the director referred to Bowie’s audition as “the ego has landed”. But what I found really interesting, assuming that it’s true, is the three roles he supposedly turned down;

1) The Bond villain Max Zorrin in ‘A View To A Kill‘ (Eventually played by Christopher Walken)

2) Captain Hook in ‘Hook’ (Eventually played by Dustin Hoffman)

3) The Joker in Tim Burton‘s ‘Batman’ (Eventually played in a really over the top style by Jack Nicholson)

That is one hell of a selection in my opinion. Personally I think he might have made a good Bond villain and maybe could have brought some of his ‘Labyrinth’ character to the part of Captain Hook. But I believe he would have been awful as the Joker. What do you think dear readers?

Now obviously I wasn’t going to close this post with no Bowie songs was I? So here are a couple for you to enjoy!

 

“Robin Hood, Robin Hood here we are again” November 5, 2011

Filed under: Trivia — justwilliam1959 @ 9:03 pm
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I learnt a piece of music trivia today that I am pretty sure I never knew before! Perhaps this should have been added to my With Just A Hint Of Learning blog, but as it is purely music related I have kept it here.

Anyway that bit of trivia concerns how Sham 69 got their name. The name supposedly came from some faded football related graffiti that Sham 69 front man Jimmy Pursey once saw on a wall in his home town of Hersham. The graffiti celebrated the local non league football teams success in winning the Athenian League in 1969. Allegedly the original graffiti said “Walton & Hersham ’69” Can you guess which bit had faded? In theory I suppose it’s possible that they might have been called Walt 69.

Enjoy the bands three UK top ten hits below;

 

“Look out you city slickers, we’re gonna burn that bastard down” October 24, 2011

Filed under: News,Trivia — justwilliam1959 @ 6:02 pm
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This post gives me an opportunity to publish the same one across two of my blogs. You are either reading this on With Just A Hint Of Mayhem or With Just A Hint Of Learning click on the name of the one that you’re not reading to check out more of my blogging collection. But they do have a slightly different title in keeping with the style of each blog.

I am sure that the majority of you are familiar with the famous (or infamous) Nokia ringtone. But how many of you know where it came from? Firstly before polyphonic sounds were available on mobile phones the Nokia tone existed in it’s more primitive form. The melody was chosen from a piece composed by a Spanish musician, Francisco Tarrega, in 1902. The age of the music meant that Nokia would not have to pay any royalties.

But it’s how the tone transformed into its polyphonic version that interests me. In the early 1990s a certain Mr Thomas Dolby was becoming fed up with the music industry and packed his bags and went to Silicon Valley in the USA. While there he set up a company that used polyphonic synthesiser software that enabled a computer to play not just one musical note but quite a combination including playing notes at the same time. His lucky break came when Nokia hired his company to produce a polyphonic update of the Nokia ringtone. That polyphonic ringtone synthesiser is now included in every Nokia phone along with many of the competitions devices. It is said that the, in my opinion, annoying ring tone can be heard more than two billion times each day. Now that is a lot of calls!

Thomas Dolby has now decided to make a comeback into the music world. He is touring soon and also has a new album; ‘A Map Of The Floating City’ out now. It is his first album for around 19 years, which is an even bigger gap between releases than the Stone Roses first two and Kate Bush’s last two combined. The album also features input from a number of other artists including; Mark Knopfler, Regina Spektor and Imogen Heap. The track listing is;

  1. Nothing New Under The Sun
  2. Spice Train
  3. Evil Twin Brother
  4. A Jealous Thing Called Love
  5. Road To Reno
  6. The Toad Lickers
  7. 17 Hills
  8. Love Is A Loaded Pistol
  9. Oceanea
  10. Simone
  11. To The Lifeboats

Below you will find some classic Dolby along with something from his new album. So put your headphones on and enjoy these songs and help block out those annoying ringtones that are probably going off all around you! You can also read the full article at the BBC by clicking here.

 

“Molars and fangs, the clicking of bones, spirits moaning among the tombstones” October 13, 2011

Filed under: News,Trivia — justwilliam1959 @ 8:28 pm
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Thanks to my good friend Nick Horslen for directing me to this rather amusing story on the BBC recently. Apparently the latest movie in the Resident Evil franchise is being filmed in Toronto and when a number of actors in Zombie guise were moving from one stage to another there was an accident. There were no major injuries, just cuts and bruises. However the best part of the story is the surprise of the emergency services when they arrived. Can you imagine turning up to an emergency only to find that the victims were covered in blood; mostly fake blood as it turns out!

You can click here to read the story on the BBC. Obviously given the music nature of this blog I simply had to include some Zombie related
songs. Maybe you should consider including some of these on your Halloween party soundtrack later this month! Keeping up that Zombie theme, how many of you are fans of “The Walking Dead”? I think it’s a superb horror series, enjoy the trailer for series two by clicking here.

“Zombie” – Cranberries – Not really a Zombie song as it relates to the troubles in Ireland.

“Pet Sematary” – Ramones – This is also not strictly a Zombie song but the classic Stephen King story centres around how things that are buried in an ancient native American burial ground come back to life. This song is the theme to the movie version. As I believe the strapline on the film poster and trailer said…….. ‘Sometimes dead is better’

“Call of the Zombie” – Rob Zombie – No Zombie song list would be complete without Mr Zombie himself would it. He recently made an appearance on the new Alice Cooper album “Welcome 2 My Nightmare” which is a sequel to, can you guess the title………… “Welcome To My Nightmare”. It’s rather a good album in my opinion.

“Zombie” – Fela Kuti & Africa ’70 – More of a tub thumping funky criticism of the Nigerian army than about zombies themselves. But an excellent song nonetheless.

“Thriller” – Michael Jackson – I guess this must be the Zombie song that everyone knows, especially the Zombie dance section. Did you
know that Vincent Price and Paul and Linda McCartney all appear as Zombies in the Zombie formation dancing section of the video.

I bet you can't guess who this fine looking Zombie is can you?

 

“We were born and raised in a summer haze, bound by the surprise of our glory days” July 17, 2011

Filed under: News,Trivia — justwilliam1959 @ 7:31 pm
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Hello once again dear readers. I have a few delightful tidbits from the world of music for you in this post. Firstly did you know that Adele’s “Someone Like You” is the first million selling download-only single. Adele, or to give use her full name Adele Laurie Blue Adkins has broken quite a few chart records as well recently. Notably she became the first act to achieve two top five singles and albums simultaneously in the UK charts since the Beatles in 1964.

Check out Niall O'Loughlin's superb artwork here http://nialloloughlin.blogspot.com

Terry Chimes, (aka Tory Crimes) the original drummer off of the Clash is now a chiropractor. He runs two Chimes Chiropractic clinics,which are based in South Woodford and Waltham Abbey. If you live in the area and need some treatment click here for the website and get yourself an appointment. Chimes played with the Clash three separate periods between 1976 and 1983. He later played with Hanoi Rocks, Generation X and Black Sabbath amongst others.

I’m loving the new song from Mann, it features Iyaz and Snoop Dogg. It gets it’s title from the source of its sample. It’s called “The Mack” and samples Mark Morrison‘s excellent “Return Of The Mack” which was one of my favourite 90s songs. What do you thing of Mann’s song and of course Mark Morrison’s original from 1996?

This next video is wonderful, it’s a cover version of “Killer Queen” by a chap called Fredde Gredde, it appears that he also has something in common with Dolly The Sheep. But I think Brian May‘s hair would be closer to Dolly than Fredde Gredde. I’d love to hear whether you like it or not. I mean the song not the hair! For me a great cover version should be very different from the original and I believe that this one certainly is.

Catwoman and I will be going to see Gary Numan at the recently reopened Barbican in York next Friday. We also have tickets to see Imelda May at the same venue in November. So look out for reviews for both those shows in a future post. Many of you know that Catwoman’s secret identity (in this blog anyway) is in fact Catherine Lee, the head honcho of the brilliant Kaleidoscope Virtual Assistant Services. If you need a Virtual Assistant (VA) then click here to go to her site. So why do I need to mention Catwoman’s secret identity in this post? Well we are getting married in September and have been choosing music for various parts of the day. Whilst researching Pachalbel’s “Canon In D” I chanced upon this wonderful comedy piece from a bloke called Rob Paravonian. It’s bloody funny and made me see so many songs in a very different way!

And finally a brilliant clip of a cat getting down to Slayer, truly inspiring. It also got me thinking about what our cat’s favourite music would be. His name is Benny the Ball (did you get the Top Cat reference?) and he is incredibly camp. So we believe he would be a big fan of the Village People. What acts do your pets like or what do you think they might like?

 

“And I know what you’re thinking, you still think I am crap” July 4, 2011

Filed under: News,Observation,Trivia — justwilliam1959 @ 10:23 pm
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So it appears that I now live in the place that everyone else in the country would like to live, according to a recent survey. I live in York, an obvious jewel in North Yorkshire’s and indeed the UK’s crown. I’m not sure it was the most popular place when I moved here in 2007 so I suppose I could assume that it has become so popular because I live here. What do you think? Anyway I really enjoy living in the north, in my opinion it is a million times better than London. But in fact that could be said of most other places in the UK. So what do I think are the best reasons to live in York, apart from the obvious one for me which would be my fiancée Catherine aka to regular readers as Catwoman. I will try to complete this as a top ten, but in no particular order.

The history – walking the wall is always a wonderful experience when you consider the thousands of years of history below your feet. Vikings, Romans and the Scots have all occupied York at some time or another

The Maltings – in my opinion the best pub with the best beer in York

Dusk – in the daytime a rather excellent coffee bar and at night a rather unique club (This is definitely not a view shared by Catwoman)

The Mediterranean Barbers – The only place in town you can get a full wet head shave (Just the thing for those of us, like me, that are follically challenged)

The Minster – I am not a religious person at all but the magnificence of this building transcends religion. Obviously I ought to mention Archbishop John Sentamu here, a truly wonderful character

Guy Fawkes – in my opinion probably the last person to enter parliament with honourable intentions and he was born in York

Rafi’s Spice Box – all the ingredients (apart from the meat or veg) and instructions that you need to make an excellent curry

Castle Museum – always something new and with a brilliant recreation of a Victorian Street (the National Railway Museum and the Yorkshire Museum are worth a visit too)

Travelling Man – it may be the only comic shop in York, but even if it wasn’t it would still be the best. Staffed by a great team who keep me supplied with the best Marvel has to offer!

Cedar Court Grand Hotel – this building used to be the railway offices which is where I worked when I first met Catwoman. It has been a hotel for just over a year and last October we went for a meal in the restaurant there, where I did the traditional popping the question on one knee. To complete the circle we will be getting married there in September. Does that mean I will become Mr Catwoman?

Apologies to the places and things I have missed. I could easily have come up with ten more. (Notable omissions which make up that additional 10 are; York City FC, Rowntree Park, Fibbers, The Duchess, Oak Street, Little Betties, The Blue Bicycle, City Screen, York Library, the Vinyl Record stall outside M & S) I would love to hear what your favourite things about York are whether you live here or not. If you’ve never visited this wonderful city yet then pull your finger out and get yourself along here. I may even meet you in the Maltings for a swift one! But I am half Scots so don’t expect me to buy you one! I have said on many occasions before that this is a music blog so let me finish with a few songs that are about city life.

Obviously there is a real dearth of songs about York itself, although there are thousands about it’s young offspring from across the pond. You know the place, so good they named it twice? Well my city is so good it only needs one name and that is York!

“Big City” – Dandy Livingstone

“In The City” – Eagles

“Paradise City” – Guns n Roses

“In The City” – Jam

“Dancing In The City” – Marshall Hain

 

“I worked there for a week once, I luckily got the boot” June 30, 2011

Filed under: Trivia — justwilliam1959 @ 7:13 pm
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Firstly let me warn you that this is a shameless piece of self promotion of one of my other blogs too!

Did you think that the word ‘punk’ was a modern word? I certainly did. However it is in fact a very old word, indeed it is over 400 years old. It was supposedly first recorded in the 1590’s. But the Bard himself, William Shakespeare to his folks and Ms Hathaway the term “taffety punk” in his “All’s Well That Ends Well” to describe a ‘well dressed whore’. He wrote it during 1604 and 1605, unless of course you believe the conspiracy theories in which case it was written by Philip Marlowe.

In the 1890’s the word was often used to describe a young male criminal as well as something worthless and rotten. I wonder if Mr Lydon knew that when he chose his moniker for the Sex Pistols. The first time the phrase punk rock was used was surprisingly (to me at least) in a piece written by Dave Marsh for Creem Magazine in 1971. This main body of this post also appears in my learning blog ‘With Just A Hint Of Learning’ as it is a bit ‘what have you learned today’ related.

 

“250,000 Miles On A Clear Night In June” June 27, 2011

Filed under: News,Observation,Trivia — justwilliam1959 @ 9:16 pm
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Just a few random things heading your way for this post. Let’s start with the sale of an iconic item of Michael Jackson’s clothing, it’s the jacket that he wore in the “Thriller” video. It sold recently for £1.1m in an auction in Beverley Hills. It was bought by an US Commodities Trader who plans to use it to raise money for children’s charities. Given the many allegations made against Jacko the use of his old clothes in that way does seem somewhat appropriate, doesn’t it? Click here to read the story on the BBC.

Lady Gaga is being sued in the USA for allegedly pocketing far more money than is appropriate in the sale of her Japan Earthquake Relief wristbands. The lawsuit, in which she is being sued for more than £3m, alleges that the wristbands are sold for $5 each and include shipping and tax costs meaning less than 10% would reach its beneficiaries. But obviously we don’t know how much of the detail Gaga herself is aware of, so watch this space and click here to read the story on the NME site.

Madonna will soon feature in a comic in the US. It will be in Bluewater Productions ‘Female Force’ series of comics. It’s hardly Batman or the Fantastic Four is it? Even more so when you consider that some of the other women to have featured to date are; Michelle Obama, Sarah Palin and Margaret Thatcher. I suppose that the latter two could almost pass as super villains though. Even though I have a large collection of comics I think it’s highly unlikely that I’ll be buying the Amazing Adventures Of Madge.

To coincide with the release of the new Muppets movie later this year a number of rock acts have recorded cover versions of many Muppet numbers. Amy Lee off of Evanescence has  recorded one of my favourite Muppet songs, “Halfway Down The Stairs” originally sung by Kermit’s nephew Robin. Weezer and Hayley Williams off of Paramore have covered “Rainbow Connection”. Other artists recording songs for the album are; Alkaline Trio, My Morning Jacket, Airborne Toxic Event and OK Go.

It's a tragedy that Gaga has not been allowed to record a Muppet song, especially after she murdered so many of Kermit's relatives to make her dress.

Did you see any of the Glasto coverage? I thought the BBC did a great job with it, although I didn’t see the Wombles anywhere! As for the headliners; I thought U2 were ok, Coldplay were bloody good and Beyoncé was truly amazing. She even managed to cover Eurythmics, Alanis Morrisette, Prince and the Kings Of Leon. despite the rumours that her man Jay Z would join her on stage, he didn’t, but she did a rather interesting duet with Tricky. My main thought as I watched her was how little talent the likes of Cheryl Cole actually have.

I’m loving the new Eminem video for “Space Bound”, what do you think of it? It does contain the usual element of controversy from Mr Mathers. This time gun related. But I really believe the man is on top form.

Gaga just get's everywhere doesn't she?

And finally would you like your girlfriend, wife or partner to wear knickers with a picture of Thom Yorke on them? personally I wouldn’t, but if you’re that way inclined you can actually buy them. Has anyone reading this purchased any of them? Click here to see for yourself.

 

“I Checked You Out From The Corner Of My Eye, You And The Devil Walking Side By Side” June 23, 2011

Filed under: Observation,Trivia — justwilliam1959 @ 9:22 pm
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As it’s been quite a while without a post from me, well apart from the two immediately before this one anyway, I thought I’d go back to an old favourite. So what were the first five songs that came on my iPod this morning using the shuffle option? Well here they are. Feel free to submit your first five songs on the shuffle option

 “Sunflower” – Paul Weller – This rather excellent Weller song was one of three singles to be taken from his second solo album ‘Wild Wood’ in 1993. It reached number 16 in the UK.

 “I lost My Heart To A Starship Trooper” – Sarah Brightman and Hot Gossip – i suppose of all the tracks here this is perhaps the most embarrassing, but do you know what? I really don’t care, I love this song. It’s also quite an amusing song given where Sarah got her big break (as a dancer with Hot Gossip) and where she went (Star of stage musicals and wife of Sir Andrew Lloyd Weber)

 “The Worst Job You’ve Ever Had” – Derek and Clive (aka Pete ‘n’ Dud) – This is obviously not a song and if you are a sensitive soul or easily offended I would strongly recommend that you do not listen to this. OK don’t say I didn’t warn you! This was what I suppose you could call a side project of Peter Cook and Dudley Moore. It ran for a few albums and personally I am neither a sensitive soul nor am I easily offended so I found it bloody hilarious. I recall the first time I heard any of the tracks and exactly where I was at the time. I had started work in October 1975 aged 16, I was based in London Transport’s Bus Schedules Office which was full of bus fanatics a.ka. ‘Frothers’. In those days everyone went to the pub on Friday lunchtime and stayed for a few hours, including those like me who were underage! We regularly visited a local hostelry called the Westminster Arms where the entertainment was provided by a number of young ladies who were clearly too hot as they were always removing their clothes when on stage. The pub clearly couldn’t afford a comedian so in the intervals between the clothes removing girls they played tracks from the first Derek and Clive album over the PA system. So maybe not a particularly interesting story but entirely true.

 “Apollo 9” – Adam Ant – Released in 1984 this once the once Stuart Goddard’s last UK top 20 hit when it reached number 13 that year. I’m not sure why he chose Apollo 9 as his title/ subject. Apollo 9 was the third manned mission in the Apollo launches and it was also the first to carry the Lunar Module. It was launched on March 3rd 1969, just a few months before the first successful moon landing with Apollo 11.

 “Shoorah Shoorah” – Betty Wright. Betty was originally known as Bessie Regina Norris. She released two singles in 1966 aged just 12 and also allegedly helped discover George and Gwen McCrae in 1967. This single was a minor UK hit in 1975.