More 10th birthday list shenanigans for With Just A Hint Of Mayhem. Today it is my ten favourite bands of all time, although as with other lists this might be different if I did it again next week! Obviously this is in no particular order. Regular readers will know that so far I have shared with you top ten most viewed posts on the blog since it began back in February 2009, the top ten countries that have given With Just A Hint Of Mayhem the most views, rock/ music related books, biographies and autobiographies and yesterday my top 10 Bowie songs. (Click here,here, here and here to view those again). Stay tuned, there are still five top tens to come after this! What will they be? Well sign up, follow or just check out this site regularly to find out! What are your favourite bands, be they current, ancient or defunct?
With Just A Hint Of Mayhem 10th birthday celebrations continue with another top ten. Today it is my ten favourite songs by the Dame a.k.a. David Bowie. Regular readers know that I am a big fan of the former Mr Jones, who incidentally has been tagged on my blog more than anyone else. I would love to hear what your own favourite Bowie tunes are. This time. Regular readers will know that so far I have shared with you top ten most viewed posts on the blog since it began back in February 2009, the top ten countries that have given With Just A Hint Of Mayhem the most views and yesterday rock/ music related books, biographies and autobiographies. (Click here,here and here to view those again). Stay tuned, there are still six top tens to come after this! What will they be? Well sign up, follow or just check out this site regularly to find out!
This top ten of my favourite Bowie songs is definitely not in order of preference and if I did it again next week it would most likely be different. In this list there are seven songs from the 70s, one from the 80s, one from the 90s and one from the 21st century. I have also excluded “All The Young Dudes” which I consider to be the greatest song Bowie ever wrote. I left it out because other than a demo and live versions he never formally recorded it. So without further adieu here is the list and don’t forget to let me know your own favourites. Love on ya x
It’s time for part 3/ day 3 of the With Just A Hint Of Mayhem 10th birthday celebrations with another top ten. This time rock/ music related books, biographies and autobiographies. Regular readers will know that so far I have shared with you top ten most viewed posts on the blog since it began back in February 2009 and yesterday the top ten countries that have given With Just A Hint Of Mayhem the most views. (Click here and here to view those again). OK but what about your favourite tunes and stuff I hear you say? Don’t worry there will definitely be plenty of music in the coming days including things like my top ten favourite singles, albums, bands and more stuff too! There was also a lot of music on yesterday’s post and with this book post too.
The book list is in no particular order, other than Ian Hunter being number one!
Diary Of A Rock ‘N’ Roll Star – Ian Hunter – an honest and very funny stroll through Ian Hunter’s early 70s diary
My Thoughts Exactly – Lily Allen – Lily opens her soul in this very honest and hard-hitting autobiography
Rod – Rod Stewart – probably the funniest autobiography that I have ever read
Life – Keith Richards – Keef proves how great a raconteur he is and that he remains a fan boy when it comes to the blues greats
Clothes, Clothes, Clothes. Music, Music, Music. Boys, Boys, Boys. : A Memoir – Viv Albertine – Easily among the best music related autobiographies ever written. Viv is sharp open and full of confidence
England’s Dreaming – Jon Savage – a detailed and colourful perspective on how the UK punk scene arose and its wider impact on social norms and social history
Scar Tissue – Anthony Kiedis – Kiedis tackles relationships, drugs and success. His description of an encounter with the Dalai Lama is proper laugh out loud
Last Train To Memphis: The Rise Of Elvis Presley – Peter Guralnick – this shows the human side of a young man from Tupelo who met with unprecedented success at supersonic speed. Almost scary at times
Hammer Of The Gods – Stephen Davis – if even half of these anecdotes are true then Led Zep are still truly legendary
Revolution in the Head: The Beatles’ Records and the Sixties – Ian MacDonald – an in-depth analysis of the Fab Four and their impact on pretty much everything in the 60s and beyond
Here we go with part 2/ day 2 of the With Just A Hint Of Mayhem 10th birthday celebrations. Regular readers will know that yesterday I gave you the top ten most viewed posts on the blog since it began back in February 2009 (Click here to view that again). Today I bring you the top ten countries that have given With Just A Hint Of Mayhem the most views. Don’t worry there will be plenty of music in the coming days including things like my top ten favourite singles, albums, bands and more stuff too! Don’t forget that you can also find us on Twitter and FaceBook .
So on with the countries who have visited the site most often
USA 173,833
UK 116,030
Chile 27,682
Germany 26,344
France 22,616
Canada 19,208
Mexico 15,273
Spain 14,654
Australia 11,828
Brazil 8,475
Incidentally there are a handful of countries that have never visited With Just A Hint Of Mayhem, well at least not yet. If you can make it happen for Svalbard, Western Sahara, Bujumbura, Chad, Turkmenistan, Kosovo, Djibouti and unsurprisingly, North Korea. There are also thirteen countries with only one view each in 10 years.
So to celebrate how about a few world related songs? Don’t mind if I do 🙂
Cast your memory way, way back through the mists of time to February 9th 2009, are you there now? Well that is the day that this blog was born and now it is nearly ten years old. I would like to thank Nick Horslen for planting the idea of blogging into my head and my long-suffering wife for putting up with me and my blog (especially the stats) all that time. As of now the blog has 1,698 followers, this post will be the 1,266th, there have been 885 comments and incredibly, more than 1.6 million views! I have big plans for With Just A Hint Of Mayhem in 2019, keep your eyes and ears peeled for what happens next. In the meantime and in the run up to the blogs official birthday I thought I would delight you with ten top tens. Kicking off with the ten most popular posts so far (nine of which are from that kick off year of 2009 and all ten of them have combined views of nearly 175,000);
Regular readers will know that as a die-hard, life long David Bowie fan it took ages for me to finally cave in and see a Bowie tribute act. That particular tribute act is Absolute Bowie and 2019 marks the third year in a row that I have seen the magnificent spectacle of an Absolute Bowie show. When I first came to see them at Fibbers back in 2017 I was determined not to like them, but I bloody loved them and still do. The show is empathetic, sympathetic and a stunningly well put together tribute to the late, great Dame David. This show was very special as it featured not just the usual two Bowie’s from my experiences, but no less than four different Bowie incarnations. Obviously Ziggy and the Spiders was first, kicking off proceedings with an explosive “Watch That Man” followed by many Ziggy period classics including another from ‘Aladdin Sane’ that I hadn’t heard for a while, “Panic In Detroit”. There were many highlights in that first set particularly the perfect rendition of “Aladdin Sane (1913-1938-197?)” including the warped jazz tinged Mike Garson piano licks from the supremely talented Alex Paolillo. When Bowie (John O’Neill) picked up the 12 string guitar I knew a treat was in store and I was not wrong, first a great version of my favourite Bowie song “All The Young Dudes” and then a crowd pleasing take of “Starman” which had the crowd singing at full volume.
After a brief interval the band returned in full Serious Moonlight mode and smashed 80s Bowie with rousing and authentic early 80s anthems; “Let’s Dance”, “Ashes To Ashes” and “China Girl”. The 80s was never my favourite David Bowie period, but it is impossible to deny that some of the songs are guaranteed party starters and the audience agreed and threw themselves into singing and dancing with gargantuan glee and amazing abandon. I am sure there were plenty of sore throats and aching muscles the next day. John O’Neill left the stage as 80s Bowie while the stupendously talented band carried on before he returned as a 90s Bowie and wowed us with “Hallo Spaceboy” and what you might call a deep cut, “Look Back In Anger” from the 1979 David Bowie album ‘Lodger’. I was intrigued about what the encore might be after the band left the stage. I was blown away. They kicked off the final three songs with a note perfect recreation of “Black Star”, a song that the real Bowie never got to perform live. O’Neill looked the part wearing the bandage style mask with those eerie black dot eyes. Taking on that song was for me one hell of a brave move, but it paid off, it was excellent and beautifully performed. How could Absolute Bowie follow such a mountainous peak? Quite spectacularly actually. Firstly with another outing for the 12 string on “Space Oddity” and a very passionate and moving “Heroes”.
Absolute Bowie were very worthy and deserving winners of the ‘Best Bowie Tribute’ and ‘Best Tribute Band in the UK’ at the Agents Association of Great Britain Awards last summer. On tonights performance they must be in with a good chance of winning many more awards. I should mention the people who form this magnificent band too. Obviously there is John O’Neill as Bowie, Chris Buratti on Guitar and as a very credible and believable Mick Ronson, Alex Face drummer extraordinaire who would almost certainly make Woody Woodmansey proud, Fabio Cascio a bass player who knows his way around classic rock bass lines and the previously mentioned keyboard wizard Alex Paolillo. If you have never seen Absolute Bowie then I urge you to do so. Even if you are like I used to be; a die-hard fan who hated the idea of a Bowie tribute. This lot is well worth the ticket price. My beautiful wife Catwoman joined me tonight and she loved it as did our good friends Nikki and David. I am sure that all four of us will be back next year!
Public Service Announcement: All the pictures, apart from the tour poster, were taken on my cheap android phone. The videos were found on YouTube. If any of the videos are yours let me know if you would like a credit or if you want a video removed.
When I first came across David Lowery I didn’t know that he would develop into a musical genius. I had heard the rather weird Camper Van Beethoven track “Take The Skinheads Bowling” back in the mid 80s. I probably heard it on the John Peel show and it was weird enough for me to prick up my ears. That song has been covered by Teenage Fanclub, Manic Street Preachers and featured in Michael Moore’s ‘Bowling For Columbine. If I am honest I had largely forgotten about this marvellous band, there were too many other things going on ok! That song actually made number 8 in the UK Indie chart in 1986, who’d have thought? A work colleague introduced me to then new band Cracker via their two early 90s albums; ‘Cracker’ and ‘Kerosene Hat’ and I really liked them. I am pretty sure that I saw them at the Reading Festival around that time (1992?). But once again Cracker were off my radar just like Camper Van Beethoven before them. Not because they weren’t any good, but simply there was way too much music to enjoy. But I never forgot either band and on my latest US business trip there was an opportunity to visit the Sony Hall in New York City for a headline gig by Cracker, supported by none other than Camper Van Beethoven. I sure as shit was not going to turn down that opportunity was I?
Camper Van Beethoven
I hadn’t been to the Sony Hall in NYC before and to before this is only the fourth gig I had ever attended in the USA, all in NYC so far. The ticket suggested that I would be standing, but actually the whole place was set out like a cabaret/ supper club with waiter/ waitress service at the table. Was that a safe option for an ageing audience? Maybe, but who cares? It is a great venue and this was one hell of an enthusiastic crowd. A five piece Camper Van Beethoven took the stage just after 8:15. How many styles of music can this classic band often labelled as ‘alternative’ actually handle? Bloody loads, including psychedelic, reggae, heavy rock. Americana and so much more. Early in their set we were treated to a truly magnificent cover of Status Quo’s sixties masterpiece “Pictures Of MatchStick Men” (a cover they released back in 1990). Jonathan Segel’s violin on this track was worth the admission price alone. Obviously “Take The Skinheads Bowling” was given an airing, one in which the crowd went absolutely mental, well as mental as a middle-aged seated crowd can go at least. Then there was the kind of medley (described as a rock opera of sorts by David Lowery) which included Led Zeppelin (“Dazed And Confused”, “Kashmir”) and the traditional Israeli folk song “Hava Nagila” along with some Camper Van Beethoven original material. Lowery and the band gave it their all, knowing full well that three of them would be back for the Cracker set. I wouldn’t have fancied Camper Van Beethoven on to that stage, but then I’m not Cracker and David Lowery.
Cracker
Cracker played a wide-ranging career spanning set with barely a stop for breath, the crowd lapped up every last note and sang along with passion and gusto throughout. There was definitely something for everything with “Teen Angst (What the World Needs Now)” and “Mr Wrong” from their eponymously named first album from 1992 up to around four songs from Cracker’s 9th album ‘Berkeley To Bakersfield’. Lowery’s vocals were solid and beautiful throughout, especially as he had sung his heart out in the earlier support set. If I was forced under pain of death to put Cracker into a genre I would have to say Americana with strong country and West Coast rock elements. At times I felt that they could easily compete with the Eagles; notably on the Johnny Hickman sung “California Country Boy” and “King Of Bakersfield”. Hickman’s guitar playing was sublime as was the heavenly slide guitar contribution on many of the songs, unfortunately I didn’t catch the slide guitarists name. There were many highlights from the bluesy rock out of “Low” and the fun and funky “How Can I Live Without You”. There was not a duff song or anything like one throughout the whole set they closed with “One Fine Day” and just when I thought it could never get any better the band returned for an encore in which for me they even topped the peaks they had reached earlier with a powerful, passionate call to arms consisting of “El Comandante” and perhaps the band’s finest song in my opinion, “Beautiful”. It was indeed a truly beautiful night which warmed me up against the very sub-zero temperatures outside. I smiled all the way back to my hotel and went to sleep smiling too. If you have never seen Cracker or Camper van Beethoven I suggest you kick off a late new year resolution to make sure that you do very soon!
Public Service Announcement: All photos and videos were discovered via Google and YouTube. If any of them are yours I would be happy to credit you or remove them.
have never been a fan of biographical faction style films of musicians and bands, some have had their good points, while many have been dire in my opinion. So I really wasn’t keen to see the Queen/ Freddie Mercury biopic ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’, but I was torn as everyone I knew that has seen it said it was stunning. They all told me I might need tissues to dry my eyes at times too, more of that later, but I thought they were bluffing. Anyway these last ten days or so I have been on an extended business trip to the USA. On Sunday I found myself downtown when it started to rain, so I thought why not pop into the conveniently close cinema. As luck would have it the next film on was ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ so I thought what the hell, I’ll give it a go!
The film certainly feels like it captures what life was like for Queen in the early days and how their life changed as they became successful. The story is told largely as Farouk Bulsara a.k.a. Freddie Mercury’s life but the interaction with all the other main players; Brian May, John Deacon, Roger Taylor, John Reid, Mary Austin, Paul Prenter and Jim Beach to name just a few is well portrayed and is full of pathos, humour and love. There are far too many highlights to mention all of them, you should see the film yourself if you haven’t already. But for me the gestation and recording of “Bohemian Rhapsody” is thrillingly done. The ongoing joke about Roger Taylor’s “I’m In Love With My Car” is hilarious. The Live Aid element, not just the concert but the lead up to it is heartwarming and highly interesting to us music anoraks. Finally the way Freddie tells his band mates that he has AIDS is so emotionally moving that yes I did need the tissues.
I never spotted it at first but EMI Executive Ray Foster was played by Mile Myers and perhaps more amusingly for Queen historians the guy in the truck stop scene who seems to be giving Freddie the come on is none other than Adam Lambert! The script, the acting, the production, the casting and the soundtrack are all brilliant. However the best thing about it for me is Rami Malek who so many times during the film made me believe I was watching a documentary. He had the emotional highs and lows spot on, especially in the highs and lows of his relationship with his family and his band family. Also the confusion of his long time relationship with Mary Austin. I am so very glad that I got to see this film and just sorry that it took me so long.
As far as iconic band names go Queen must be right up near the top right? Well I think so, however they did consider other names, Brian May was apparently particularly keen on Grand Dance while Roger Taylor submitted Rich Kids. I wonder if Glen Matlock, Midge Ure and their gang knew about Taylor’s choice? Maybe the Rich Kids 1978 hit was all about Roger Taylor’s idea for a name. Who knows?
Thanks to those rather nice people over at Noisy Ghost PR I have been given the opportunity to listen to the new track “Destination Nightmare” from Portland based Bryson Cone . It is a sublime slice of relaxing, jazzy, chilled-out funk with sweeping electronica overtones. I absolutely love the band’s interests as stated on FaceBook; “Cone is a state of transcendence provided to us through sub-conscious praise to Hydra”. How does one respond to that? In my view simply Hail Hydra and fuck off Steve Rogers! What do you think of this tune? For a song that has nightmare in the title I find it a bit dreamy and definitely evocative of space!
