On 21st October 1995, Green Day frontman Billie Joe Armstrong was arrested and fined $141 after mooning at the audience during a gig in Milwaukee. So does that mean he sang what made Milwaukee famous made a mooner out of me?
On 21st October 1972, Chuck Berry started a two-week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with “My Ding-A-Ling,” his first and only US and UK No.1, 17 years after his first chart hit. All those great songs and Berry will be remembered for playing with his ding-a-ling—well, that and the sex offences!
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Apparently, Susannah Hoffs of the Bangles sang the lead vocal of “Eternal Flame” in the nude after their producer Davitt Sigerson told her that Olivia Newton-John always recorded like that. Sigerson was pranking her, although Hoffs did surround herself with screens before undressing. There is no evidence to suggest that Olivia Newton-John ever recorded in her birthday suit! Hoffs said this of the experience “I imagined it would feel like skinny dipping—vulnerable yet freeing – and I decided to try it. Nobody could see me; there was a baffle in front of me and it was dark.” She liked the experience enough to sing all her vocals on the album, ‘Everything’, that way. Clearly, the naked recording process helped though, because “Eternal Flame” went to number one in nine countries!
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Lost Trends are back baby, and with a huge, I mean HUGE banger of a tune, “Antelope”. It is a classic dance sound with a Madchester attitude spliced with a post-punk vocal from Rusty. This will blow the roof of the Uni Disco and if it doesn’t get a lot of airplay then there is far more wrong with the world than we know. I bloody love this track.
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Goldie Lookin’ Chain addresses all the big questions on their new single “The Middle Of Lidl”. According to the band it is a rap on the meaning of life and asks; Why did the chicken cross the road? Why do men have nipples? And what’s another word for Thesaurus? Among many others. But while it is all of these things it is essentially a celebration of the magical, mystical, madness that is the middle of Lidl (I reckon you could say the same about Aldi, but that doesn’t rhyme as well). GLC has been around for more than 20 years and with this new track, they prove they still have it! I hope Lidl plays this in-store or uses it as part of their Christmas advertising campaign this year!
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Leeds singer-songwriter Molly Rymer has just released her EP ‘All You Can Eat’ and it is stunning, with six perfectly formed songs. An all-you-can-eat buffet means for one price you can eat as much as you like and trust me you will want to consume this beautiful musical buffet again and again. Kicking off with the sad and melancholy “Cowards And Heroes” a song which reminded me lyrically of some of the complex, emotional songs that George Michael wrote. Songs like “Older” and “Jesus To A Child”. Many of Molly’s songs deal in raw, passionate, and poignant tales of life and relationships, and the effortless, grace of “Something That Survives” epitomises that talent. There is an underlying jazz feel to “Say The Same” which is an upbeat tune with what feels like some deep and dark lyrics.
“Sleeptalking” showcases Molly’s wonderful confessional style of writing and performing. It is a delicate and gorgeous song in which her voice is the star, floating across the music like an angel’s wings. She has a soulful style and it feels like she is singing just for you. It feels almost fully formed, but “Just A Kiss” is a demo. It is just Molly using her voice and acoustic guitar with some exquisite multi-tracked harmonies. The sadness seeps through the notes and chords on this one. The EP closes with “Two Years This May” which is probably my favourite track on the EP. Everything is perfect; voice, music, and performance, and Molly delivers it with impassioned and expressive soulfulness. I have played the whole EP at least three times in 24 hours and it will get many more plays in the coming weeks and months. I was lucky enough to interview Molly in July, click here to listen.
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Before No Doubt’s success, lead singer Gwen Stefani was “Just a Girl” serving ice cream at a local Dairy Queen. She and her older brother Eric, also a No Doubt founding member, took turns dishing out soft serve to customers. Was that a bit of a cold and flaky job?
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Well, it has been an exciting Battle Of The Bands so far this year, six excellent heats and three semi-finals that were the closest ever! But only four bands can make it to the final and those talented bands are; Patience (Semi-final 1 winner), Theseus (Semi-final 2 winner), Offbeat (Semi-final 3 winner), and Sleuth Gang who were given the coveted Judge’s Wild Card. They were my wild card choice!) I have been involved as a judge in this fine contest for three years now (and sometimes stand-in compere) and it gets better. The talent in the music scene in York and Yorkshire is huge. Who will win? I have no idea it could be any one of these four amazing bands. I reckon it will be very close again too. Have you got a ticket? I hope so because they sold out in something like eight hours! It might not be as exciting as the other prizes on offer but if any of the bands would like to do an interview at With Just A Hint Of Mayhem sometime after the final, just give me a shout! (Theseus are ahead of the game and I am sorting out interview dates with them already!) See you on November 3rd! To get you ready check out the playlist below!
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Leo Vann is an Austin, Texas-based musician and multimedia artist and he has just released the first single from his album ‘In Color’ which launches next year. The single is called “Do Wrong”. The song is chilled to perfection and sounds like the Cocteau Twins had they been produced by the Avalanches and were broadcasting the song from Mars. The vocal is haunting, ethereal, otherworldly, and truly bewitching. This is a luxurious and sumptuous song that made me feel good seconds after it began. I want more of this, please!
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On 19th October 2007, Johnny Marr was made a visiting professor of music at the University of Salford in Manchester. The former Smiths guitarist and incredibly successful solo artist was set to deliver a series of workshops and masterclasses to students on the BA Popular Music and Recording degree. I bet, that the charming man that he is, wasn’t miserable after that.
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I must confess that National Album Day, which has been running for 7 years, has kind of passed me by. I am much more keen on Record Store Day. It feels like just a chance for the major labels to reissue loads of back catalogue under the guise of a special day. Yes, I know there is an element of that on Record Store Day. But RSD is targetted at independent record stores, not the likes of HMV. On top of that releases are generally quite limited which makes the whole day more interesting in my opinion. It seems that not too many independent labels are involved in National Album Day compared to RSD. The theme of the day today, 19th October is British Groups.
Back in 2019, I celebrated the tenth anniversary of With Just A Hint Of Mayhem, and part of that celebration was a list of my top ten favourite albums. I have extended that to a top 25 and ignored the British Groups theme (although my list does include 8 British Groups). These are simply my favourite albums of all time! What are yours?
1 Live At The Lyceum 1975 – Bob Marley and the Wailers – If I had a time machine I would go back to 1975 and be there for this gig. Probably the finest live album ever. 2 Diamond Dogs – David Bowie – My favourite Bowie album changes depending on my mood, but more often than not it is the dystopian tale of Halloween Jack and Hunger City 3 Dog Man Star – Suede – I loved Suede’s first album but this took them to a whole new level. Were they Britpop? If so then they were one of the best Britpop acts by far. 4 The Kick Inside – Kate Bush – Choosing the best Catherine Bush album is very difficult, but I go back to this one regularly. 5 OK Computer – Radiohead – There are still some people out there who don’t like, or maybe don’t get, Radiohead. Why the fuck not? This LP is a work of genius. 6 What’s Going On? – Marvin Gaye – Probably the best protest and message album in history and one which is sadly still very pertinent today 7 Delilah Bon – Delilah Bon – possibly the finest debut album of the century so far 8 The Miseducation Of Lauryn Hill – Lauryn Hill – is a great modern R&B record which makes Beyonce look like an amateur 9 The White Room – KLF – dance, trance, chill, weirdness. This has everything. But they should have paid PP Arnold! 10 24 Carat Diamond Trephine – Avalanche Party – Without a doubt, the greatest living UK band right now 11 Captain Fantastic And The Brown Dirt Cowboy – Elton John – In my opinion this autobiographical masterpiece is easily the greatest album Reg Dwight ever made 12 Skeleton Tree – Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds – How can anyone put so much emotion, empathy and sadness in a small collection of songs? I have no idea but Nick Cave certainly achieved it with this album. 13 Abbey Road – Beatles – I love many albums from the Fab Four, but this is the one I always come back to. 14 Never Mind The Bollocks – Sex Pistols – An incendiary début from one of the best punk bands ever. What might have happened if they had stayed together? Who knows but an album like this as your legacy is a great thing! 15 Maybe You’ve Been Brainwashed Too – New Radicals – There is not a track I would skip on this album. The band is effectively the genius that is Gregg Alexander who wrote and produced all the songs. 16 Back To Black – Amy Winehouse – stunning voice, sensational performance, what a sad loss to the world 17 Jagged Little Pill – Alanis Morrisette – A wonderful album with not a duff track in sight. She never surpassed this, but how can you beat perfect? 18 Ramones – Ramones – The high point and possibly the birth of punk, certainly in the USA 19 Songs In The Key Of Life – Stevie Wonder – So good I can forgive him for that bloody awful “I Just Called To Say I Love You” 20 Quadrohphenia – The Who – An absolute opus which I believe knocks the pants off Tommy 21 London Calling – The Clash – The album that showed they were not just a punk band 22 Sign O’ The Times – Prince – Forget Purple Rain. This was Prince’s Mona Lisa 23 The Lexicon Of Love – ABC – I often feel that music was really overproduced in the 80s. But this is sublime 24 Grace – Jeff Buckley – another great talent we lost too young. This is a monumental magnum opus 25 My Merry Go Round – Johnny Nash – This man, for me, has the most beautiful voice that I have ever heard in my life. This album from 1973 has remained among my favourite albums since its release.
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