With Just A Hint Of Mayhem

“What you touch you don’t feel do not know what you steal” Blog Advent Calendar Day 12 December 12, 2014

Filed under: Christmas,Trivia — justwilliam1959 @ 1:30 am
Tags: Ace Of Hz, Advent Calendar, Ambulances, Black Cat, Black Plastic, Blondie, Blue Jeans, Burning Up, Christina Aguilera, Christmas, Daniel Hunt, Destroy Everything You Touch, Evil, FIFA 11, Ghosts, Helen Marnie, Human League, I'm With The Pilots, International Dateline, Ladytron, Liverpool, Mira Aroyo, Mirage, Nine Inch Nails, Open Your Heart, Playgirl, Reading Festival, Reading Festival 2001, Reuben Woo, Roxy Music, Runaway, Seventeen, Sims, Sugar, The Human League, Tomorrow, Versus, White Elephant

Only thirteen more big sleeps before Satan comes down your chimney. Whoops did I say Satan? Obviously I meant Santa. They both have the same letters in their name after all don’t they. Anyway it’s 12th December and therefore Day 12 of this years advent calendar blog posts. If you haven’t been reading them yet let me tell you that this years subject is the ABC of British bands and today it’s the turn of the letter ‘L’. That letter will be represented by super synth-poppers Ladytron.

Helen Marnie, Mira Aroyo, Reuben Woo and Daniel Hunt formed the band in Liverpool in 1999. Their name comes from the Roxy Music song entitled “Ladytron”. I bet you didn’t guess that did you? As well as releasing their own music they have also been arch-remixers. They have remixed tracks for many artists including Blondie, Nine Inch Nails and Christina Aguilera. As a band they have released five albums between 2001 and 2011. The first time that I saw the band was at the Reading Festival in 2001 and I recall that they were bloody good. The band also had a track on the soundtrack of the computer game ‘FIFA 11‘. It is called “Ace Of Hz”. They have also provided four songs for the Sims game soundtracks.

Four of their five albums reached the top ten of the US Dance chart. Sadly their highest charting UK single was “Destroy Everything You Touch” which reached number 42 in 2005 and was taken from their third album ‘Witching Hour’. In 2001 they recorded a rather good cover of the Human League‘s “Open Your Heart”. Now I urge you to open your heart (and your ears) and listen to some classy tracks from Ladytron.

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BBC Music Awards 2014 – December 11th 2014 December 11, 2014

Filed under: Review — justwilliam1959 @ 10:10 pm
Tags: BBC, BBC Introducing, BBC Music, BBC Music Awards, Calvin Harris, Catfish And The Bottlemen, Chris Evans, Christmas, Clean Bandit, Cody Wise, Coldplay, David Bowie, Ed Sheeran, Ella Henderson, Ellie Goulding, Fearne Cotton, George Ezra, God Only Knows, Gwen Stefani, Happy, Idris Elba, John Newman, Labrinth, Los Angeles, One Direction, Paloma Faith, Pharrell Williams, Sing, Tom Jones, Wand Erection, Will.i.am

December 11th 2014 saw the first ever BBC Music Awards. The show was broadcast live from Earls Court in London. Whilst there were only four awards there were plenty of live acts including; Coldplay (Stunning), Labrinth with Ella Henderson (Class), Clean Bandit (is there anyone that doesn’t love them?), Gregory Porter (why does he wear that balaclava?), George Ezra (a proper Buddha Pest), Wand Erection (whisper this, but I thought that they were alright!), Ed Sheeran (how can one man with a guitar be that bloody good?), Calvin Harris (super Scot) with John Newman (voice of the year and pearly king) and Ellie Goulding (sublime disco), Catfish and the Bottlemen (best newcomers and 70s fashion aficionados), Paloma Faith (quirky and wonderful), Take That (now known as Taxdodge That), Will.i.am (a bit Bollywood Disco, not a bad song, still.a.twat) with Cody Wise (better.than.will.i.am)

The first award was for Best International Artist. Chris Evans who co-hosted the show with Fearne Cotton picked a young Welsh lass from the audience to announce the winner, which was Pharrell Williams. He was presented with his award live in LA by Gwen Stefani.

Idris Elba presented the award for Song Of The Year and guess what? There was another trip to LA for Gwen Stefani to present yet another award to Pharrell Williams. This time for the stupendous “Happy”.

The BBC Introducing Award for Best Newcomer went to Catfish And The Bottlemen. A good choice methinks. I am really keen to see them play live now. The award was presented by Fearne Cotton after they played live.

Fuck me, Bowie was nominated for Best British artist but sadly he didn’t win it. Tom Jones presented the award to Ed Sheeran. I was surprised that Pharrell hadn’t been quickly given British citizenship. But then Sheeran’s “Sing” was a collaboration with Pharrell though.

Was this a better show than the Brits? Probably, but they need more awards. Also I thought Paloma Faith and Tom Jones finale had so much promise until they strangled “God Only Knows”. Was that as bad a cover of the song as David Bowie’s version in the 80s? Probably!

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“I’m a King Kong man, I’m a voodoo man” Blog Advent Calendar Day 11

December 11th, what a kinky day this is going to be. It is day 11 in this years advent calendar blog post series which regular readers will know is the ABC of British bands. The 11th letter of the alphabet is ‘K’ so todays band is the Kinks and that is why it is a Kinky day!

Brothers Ray and Dave Davies along with friend Pete Quaife formed the band in Muswell Hill, London in 1963. In spite of the sometimes acrimonious relationship between the Davies brothers the band kept going for more than 30 years before finally calling it a day in 1996. The band had their first UK chart hit in 1964 with “You Really Got Me” which went to number one. This song is often credited with being the first heavy metal riff. (Although the phrase ‘heavy metal’ was allegedly first heard a few years later in the lyrics of Steppenwolf’s “Born To Be Wild”). The Kinks had two further UK number one singles; “Tired Of Waiting” in 1965 and “Sunny Afternoon” in 1966. They also climbed to the top of the singles charts in Germany, Canada, Netherlands, Belgium and New Zealand. I can only assume that the band were a little too English for the Americans. Their first US singles chart hit came in 1981.

Ray and Dave Davies were the 7th and 8th children in their family, the first six were all girls. Their sister Rene died on Ray’s 13th birthday. She had given him his first guitar as a present that day. The band took their name after hearing the word kinky used in British 1960s TV show ‘The Avengers’. Pete Townshend off of the Who once said that Ray Davies was his favourite songwriter of all time. Whilst Marianne Faithfull said that Ray was ‘Very Gothic, creepy and silent. Uptight and fearful of everyone’. Either way I am definitely a fan of the Kinks and I would like you to take some time out to enjoy a selection of their best songs.

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“I get nervous in the New York City Streets, where my legacy treads” Blog Advent Calendar Day 10 December 10, 2014

Filed under: Christmas,Trivia — justwilliam1959 @ 1:02 am
Tags: Austria, Blow Your Mind, Canned Heat, Corner Of The Earth, Cosmic Girl, Deeper Underground, Didgeridoo, Don't Give Hate A Chance, Germany, Godzilla, Iroquois, Italy, Jamiroquai, Jason Cheetham, Jason Luis Cheetham, Jay Kay, Jeremy Clarkson, Karen Kay, Little L, Mexico, Netherlands, Nick Van Gelder, Radio, Rolf Harris, Runaway, Simon Cowell, Space Cowboy, Strictly Come Dancing, Stuart Zender, Switzerland, The Naked Chef, The X Factor (UK), Toby Smith, Top Gear, US Dance Chart, Virtual Insanity, Wallis Buchanan, White Knuckle Ride, X Factor

Already we’re into double figures in December. How did it get to become December 10th so quickly? Anyway that means that it is now Day ten in my advent calendar blog posts. The theme this year is the ABC of British Bands for those of you who are not regular readers? What’s that I hear you say? You’re not a regular reader? In that case feel free to sign up and join the millions of others who read this blog everyday! OK so I exaggerated, sign up and join the few hundred that come here everyday. More importantly join the 700+ who actually follow it. December 10th means it’s day 10, which in turn means that we have reached the letter ‘J’. Who will it be? That’s easy, it’s Jamiroquai.

The band was formed in 1992. The lead singer and main man of the band is Jason Luis Cheetham, although I’m sure that you know him better as the crazy hat wearing Jay Kay. His mother Karen Kay was a television personality in the UK and a cabaret singer. Jay Kay originally started the band along with Toby Smith, Stuart Zender, Nick Van Gelder and Wallis Buchanan. They played keyboards, bass, drums and didgeridoo respectively. Has there ever been another British band that featured a didgeridoo player? Well let’s not count disgraceful kiddie fiddler any longer. The band’s name comes from an amalgamation of jam session and the Iroquois tribe of North America.

Some of Jay Kay’s hats were made by his mother and emulating her TV career he has also appeared on many TV shows including Top Gear, Strictly Come Dancing, The Naked Chef and the X-Factor. The band had three UK number one albums between 1993 and 2001. Their albums have also hit the top of the charts in Mexico, Italy, Germany, Netherlands, Switzerland, Austria and in the US Dance Chart. Their only UK number on single so far has been “Deeper Underground” from 1998. The song appeared on the soundtrack for that years ‘Godzilla’ film. They have been very popular across Europe and have had number one singles in four other countries in addition to the UK. They also climbed to the top of the US Dance Singles chart an impressive five times between 1994 and 2006.

Now it is time for you to enjoy a selection of classic Jamiroquai cuts. I hope that you enjoy them.

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“An eagle lands and a planet full of people raises it’s hands” Blog Advent Calendar Day 9 December 9, 2014

Here we are at December 9th and edging closer to the visit of the big, bearded, red-coated house burglar on 25th December. That also means that it is day 9 of this years advent blog posts. The theme if you are not a regular reader is the ABC of British bands and day 9 means that we are at the letter ‘I’. What delightful British band do I have for you today? Well it’s none other than the marvellous Inspiral Carpets.

The band was formed in Oldham in the early 80s by Graham Lambert and Stephen Holt. Strangely I went to school with a Stephen Holt and I worked with a Graham Lambert; sadly different people from the founders of the Inspiral Carpets though. The band’s biggest success came between 1989 and 1995 when they had 14 UK top 50 singles. The biggest of those was 1992’s “Dragging Me Down” which reached number 12. They were dropped by their label, Mute, in 1995 and they broke up a little while after that. They reformed in 2003 and are still together now.

You may know that the band once had a certain Noel Gallagher working for them as guitar tech/ roadie. Obviously before his Oasis days. The Inspirals drummer Craig Gill formed another band after the break up. That band were named after a Creedence Clearwater Revival song, Proud Mary. That band were eventually signed to Noel Gallagher’s Big Brother record label. Another Inspiral Carpets roadie, Mike Collins, went on to bigger things too. He joined the Charlatans in 1991. Collins also went to school with Paul ‘Bonehead’ Arthurs off of Oasis.

My favourite Inspiral Carpets song ever is “Saturn V”, what is yours?

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“And then he said sent off your right back for taking the base from under his left-winger” Blog Advent Calendar Day 8 December 8, 2014

Filed under: Christmas,Trivia — justwilliam1959 @ 1:10 am
Tags: Achtung Bono, Advent Calendar, All I Want For Christmas Is A Dukla Prague Away Kit, Back In The DHSS, Back In The USSR, BBC 6 Music, BBC Radio, Beatles, Bono, Brookside, Byker Grove, C.A.M.R.A Man, Channel 4, Christmas, CSI Ambleside, David Lloyd, Dickie Davies, Dickie Davies Eyes, Evening Of Swing (Has Been Cancelled), Football Focus, Fred Titmus, Fuckin' 'Ell It's Fred Titmus, Half Man Half Biscuit, Hollyoaks, John Lennon, John Peel, Joy Division, Joy Division Oven Gloves, Lionel Rich Tea, Lionel Richie, Lord Hereford's Knob, Mr Cave's A Window Cleaner Now, National Shite Day, Neil Crossley, Nigel Blackwell, Outbreak Of Vitas Gerulaitis, Paintballs Coming Home, Paul Wright, Reading Festival, Rich Tea biscuit, Seal Clubbing, Simon Blackwell, Tending The Wrong Grave For 23 Years, The Coroner's Footnote, The Referees Alphabet, The Trumpton Riots, The Tube, The Wirral, Time Flies, Took Problem Chimp To Ideal Home Show, Totnes Bickering Fair, Tranmere, Tranmere Rovers, Trumpton, Vitas Gerulaitis

Today is December 8th and that is exactly 34 years since John Lennon was savagely murdered. So today’s advent blog post in the ABC of British bands series will feature a quirky band that I believe Mr Lennon would have approved of. It’s day 8 and therefore the letter ‘H’ so today I bring you the legendary Half Man Half Biscuit.

The band was formed in Birkenhead, Merseyside in 1984 by friends Neil Crossley and Nigel Blackwell. They were soon joined by Simon Blackwell (Nigel’s brother), Paul Wright and David Lloyd. The band is still performing and recording although Nigel Blackwell and Neil Crossley are the only original members. Their first album has a great title that is a bit of a word play on the Beatles song “Back In The USSR”; it is called ‘Back In The DHSS‘. They broke up in 1986 and then reformed in 1990 with an announcement on the John Peel show. Peelie had always championed the band and they recorded twelve sessions for his show.

The band once turned down an appearance on Channel 4’s ‘The Tube’ because it would have meant missing a Tranmere Rovers match. The band have been mentioned in many UK TV shows including Byker Grove, Hollyoaks, Football Focus and Brookside. Mainstream chart success sadly eluded them but they had many UK Indie chart number ones. ‘Back In The DHSS’ went to number one in the Indie album charts in 1985. EP ‘The Trumpton Riots’ hit the top along with “Dickie Davies’ Eyes” in 1986. Their highest UK Singles chart hit was an album track that made it to number 56 in 2010 thanks to downloads. That song was “Joy Division Oven Gloves” It was taken from their 2005 album ‘Achtung Bono‘ and was part of the online campaign to save Radio 6 with a sadly missed target of reaching number 6. So now I would like you to enjoy some music from a band that I saw live at the Reading Festival in 1990.

A man who perhaps should have joined Half Man Half Biscuit; Lionel Rich Tea 🙂

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“Keep them mowing blades sharp” Blog Advent Calendar Day 7 December 7, 2014

Seven days into December already so that makes it day 7 of this years blog post advent calendar. This year, if you haven’t been following it, is the ABC of British bands. December 7th makes it the letter ‘G’ so today I bring you Genesis.

Phil Collins appeared as a face in the crowd in the Beatles film ‘A Hard Days Night‘ he also played some percussion on George Harrison’s ‘All Things Must Pass‘ album. The band was formed at Charterhouse School and their name was allegedly chosen by kiddy fiddler Jonathan King. He also produced their first album ‘From Genesis To Revelation’.

Genesis were very much an albums band and they have had five UK number one albums. Their first was ‘Duke’ in 1980, which means none of the Peter Gabriel era albums topped the charts. They never had a UK number one single, but they did top the singles charts in Canada and the USA with “Misunderstanding” (1980) and “Invisible Touch” (1986) respectively. Now enjoy a wide selection of Genesis songs, My favourite is “I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe)”, what is yours?

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“They joined together and decided not to fight” Blog Advent Calendar Day 6 December 6, 2014

Filed under: Christmas,Trivia — justwilliam1959 @ 1:00 am
Tags: Advent Calendar, Alexandra Burke, All Together Now, Amelle Berrabah, British Red Cross, British rock, Chocolate, Christmas, Christmas 1914, Clash, Clean Bandit, David Gray, Farm, Gabrielle, Gorgon City, Groovy Train, Guy Chambers, Jermain Jackman, Liverpool, Madness, Massive Attack, Mick Jones, NME, Paul Heaton, Shara Nelson, Shorncliffe Trust, Spartacus, Suggs, The Beautiful South, The Farm, The Housemartins, The Voice

Not long to go now until the bearded weirdy drops down your chimney is it? Today is 6th December and that means it’s day six in this years Advent blog post series. In case you are new to this site let me remind you that this years theme is the ABC of British bands and today we are at the letter ‘F’. I have chosen Liverpool’s the Farm to appear behind the little cardboard door on todays advent calendar. Let’s face it, they’re better than chocolate aren’t they?

The band formed in 1983 although they didn’t score their first chart hit until 1990 when they had two UK top ten hits with “Groovy Train” and “All Together Now” both from their album ‘Spartacus’. That album was produced by Stan Cullimore and Paul Heaton off of the Housemartins and Suggs off of Madness.

“All Together Now” is about the unauthorised spontaneous truce between German and British soldiers on Christmas Day 1914. This was the first Christmas of the first world war and the soldiers stepped out of their trenches for a game of football. Sadly the powers that be made sure that it never happened again. The song has been rereleased for football reasons twice as well. For Everton’s 1995 FA Cup Final appearance and for the England team in their 2004 European Championships campaign. There is charity recording of the song scheduled for release on 15th December in aid of the Shorncliffe Trust and the British Red Cross. Shara Nelson, Clean Bandit, Gabrielle, Alexandra Burke, David Gray, Guy Chambers, Amelle Berrabah, Mick Jones (off of the Clash), Jermain Jackman and Gorgon City are among a number of artists who took part in the recording. Buy it, you know it makes sense!

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“Robin Hood and William Tell And Ivanhoe and Lancelot” Blog Advent Calendar Day 5 December 5, 2014

Filed under: Christmas,Trivia — justwilliam1959 @ 1:30 am
Tags: 10538 Overture, All Over The World, Beatles, Beatles Junior, Bev Bevan, Billboard Hot 100, Birmingham, Can't Get It Out Of My Head, Carl Wayne, Chuck Berry, Do Ya, Don't Bring Me Down, Electric Light Orchestra, Evil Woman, Hold On Tight, Jeff Lynne, John Lennon, Last Train To London, Living Thing, Move, Mr Blue Sky, Olivia Newton John, Roll Over Beethoven, Roy Wood, Shine A Little Love, Strange Magic, Sweet Talkin' Woman, Telephone Line, The Diary Of Horace Wimp, The Move, Turn To Stone, Wizzard, Xanadu

December 5th has arrived and it’s therefore day 5 of this years advent blog posts. As you know this years theme is the ABC of British bands, which means today we arrive at the fifth letter of the alphabet; ‘E’. My choice for today is the Electric Light Orchestra a.k.a ELO. The band was initially an offshoot of the Move and they set out to combine orchestral sounds with rock music. It may well have been Roy Wood‘s idea but he left early on to form Wizzard. Meanwhile Jeff Lynne made ELO into a world straddling colossus.

The band’s first UK hit was “10538 Overture“. The song was originally a b-side for the Move. Wood, Lynne and Bev Bevan (also off of the Move) added orchestral strings to it. After John Lennon heard one of my favourite ELO songs, “Showdown” he began referring to them as Beatles Junior. The band had number one singles across the world; and “Turn To Stone” and “Shine A Little Love” were number one in Canada and “Living Thing” topped the charts in South Africa. Sadly, in my opinion at least, there only UK number one was the rather dreadful “Xanadu” which also featured Olivia Newton John. That song was also a number one in the Netherlands, Germany and Ireland. The band had 15 UK top ten hits in the UK between 1972 and 1981. This was only bettered by their eighteen top ten hits in France from 1972 to 1986.

So now it’s time for you to enjoy a selection of ELO songs, apologies but I have not included the aforementioned “Xanadu”.

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“I’m a atom brained man with a heart of gold”

Filed under: Trivia — justwilliam1959 @ 1:05 am
Tags: Alien, Atomic Playboys, Atrocity, Attahk, Blondie (band), Brain Salad Surgery, Carcass, Carl Palmer, Celtic Frost, Danzig, Dead Kennedys, Debbie Harry, ELP, Emerson, Emerson Lake And Palmer, Eparistera Daimones, Floh De Cologne, Frankencrhist, Freiheit Fuer Die Sklaven, Giger, Hallucinations, Heartwork, How The Gods Kill, HR Giger, Jonathan Davis, KooKoo, Korn, Lake & Palmer, Magma, Mumien Kantate Fur Rockband, Pankow, Recesses For The Depraved, Sacrosanct, Steve Stevens, Switzerland, The Jam Was Moving, The Shiver, To Mega Therion, Triptykon, Walpurgis

I knew that late, great Swiss artist H.R. Giger had produced a number of LP/ album covers, but I hadn’t appreciated just how many there were. Many of you must know Giger from his amazing designs for the ‘Alien’ films, but check out his album art and let me know what you think. I reckon there is some great stuff there.

‘Brain Salad Surgery‘ – Emerson, Lake and Palmer (ELP)