In 1966 on 8th August, the South African Broadcasting Corporation banned all Beatles records, in response to John Lennon’s remark about the band being “bigger than Jesus.” To be fair I think Lennon was correct. On the same day, the Beatles’ seventh studio album, Revolver, was released in the USA.
On 8th August 2002, The UK’s biggest undertakers Co-Op funeral services reported that bereaved families preferred pop songs to hymns at funerals. Top of the list was “Wind Beneath My Wings” by Bette Midler. Other songs included “Angels” by Robbie Williams and “My Heart Will Go On” by Celine Dion. They also reported some unusual choices including “Another One Bites The Dust” by Queen and “Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go” by Wham! I bet that many of those are still very popular at a celebration of someone popping their clogs! My Dad wanted “Disco Inferno” at his cremation, but my Mum forbade it. My ultimate funeral song is “No Woman No Cry” by Bob Marley and the Wailers, but it has to be the live version from the ‘Live At The Lyceum’ album from 1975.
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I thought you, dear readers might like a new series, so this is it. It will be a chance to share the newest post with the most views for a given month and the archive post with the most views. This one covers July 2024. The biggest read post is “Everyone Is A C*nt Except Me” – Judy Raindrop (Laughter Tracks)” posted earlier in July. 370 views in July and still rocking with a current total of 451! The most read archive post has been ‘Imelda May – York Barbican Friday 11th November 2011‘ from, you guessed it, 2011!
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Sometimes it is hard to shake off a great earworm of a song even if that song drops regular F-bombs and other profanities. Well, it certainly is hard for me at times, particularly with the first ten songs to appear in the new Mayhem’s Parental Advisory Playlist (The Tipper Gore Mix). Let me know if any songs like this get you singing along, although maybe not in the vicinity of your Nan! Click here to check it out!
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This is the 25th song in the Play It Again Mayhem series. Check out the previous entries along with this new one in the Play It Again Mayhem Spotify Playlist click here to take a listen! This is another ’70s song, of which there have been 17 so far. This time it is the turn of “Match Of The Day” by Genesis. It was the most played track from the ‘Spot The Pigeon’ EP released in 1977. The EP featured three songs that were recorded for but didn’t feature on the ‘Wind And Wuthering’ album. The EP peaked at number 14 in the UK charts. The two other tracks on the EP were “Pigeons” and “Inside And Out”. I really like “Match Of The Day” but Phil Collins clearly didn’t. In a 2004 interview, he said “Match of the Day”, It was also not our finest hour looking back at it now. I wrote the embarrassing lyrics and the track featured an attempt to bring some of the hipper grooves of the day into Genesis, with very suspect results.” What do you think of the track?
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West Yorkshire artist HerOrangeCoat has released the first song from her forthcoming EP. It is called “Ballad 1 (Sorry)” and it is transcendent and heavenly. The emotion in her voice and the sublime sparseness of the instruments made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up, not in fear, but in awe of such a sublime and pulchritudinous piece of music. Apparently, the song is not a cry for help, but rather a resolute, resigned defeat. It speaks to the vast mental health emergency, whilst detailing HerOrangeCoat’s own personal journey with anxiety. If the rest of the songs on the EP (‘Ballads for this Age’) are even half as good as “Ballad 1 (Sorry)” the EP will be a masterpiece.
She has a few dates coming up, I want to see her live, you should try and see her too!
Weird Garden, Lincoln 10 August Northern Green Gathering 15 August Bunkfest, Oxfordshire 30 August – 1 September Otley Folk Club, headline 4 September Circle Social, Leeds 13 September Saltaire Festival 21 September Supporting Bella Gaffney at the Topic Folk Club 14 November
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Here is the Mayhem chart for July 2024. Regular and constant readers know that the chart is based on my Spotify listening habits over the last month gathered by obscurify.com. Apparently, my tastes have fallen to 95% more obscure than the rest of the UK! A drop of 1% from last month. Blimey am I becoming mainstream? The chart remains contemporary-ish (but if a classic artist releases something new they might feature in the chart). However, the top three “Legacy” artists for last month were David Bowie, Elton John, and Alice Cooper. Obscurify also suggests the most obscure artists I have listened to and for July those were PERCY, WREX, and Tercelvoice. There is a top ten artists chart and a top 5 songs chart. There is the usual eclectic mix of artists, including three that were in the top ten last month, Kate Nash, Scene Queen, and Delilah Bon! Delilah has been in the artist charts for eight consecutive months. The only artist to appear in both lists for July is Kate Nash. Female artists and female-fronted bands make up 50% of the artist chart! The number one song is “Everyone Is A C*nt Except Me by Judy Raindrop (actually Judy doesn’t exist, the song was put together by those wonderful and funny people at Laughter Tracks). So without further ado here are those charts in full! Click here for the Spotify song playlist.
Mayhem Artist Chart July 2024
1 Eminem 2 Kate Nash 3 Eels 4 WREX 5 Tercelvoice 6 Bridge City Sinners 7 Millie Manders and the Shutup 8 Childish Gambino 9 Delilah Bon 10 Scene Queen
Mayhem Song Chart July 2024
1 Everyone Is A C*nt Except Me – Judy Raindrop (Laughter Tracks) 2 Collateral Damage – Avalanche Party 3 Typical Fantasy – Pennine Suite 4 So Naïve – Fever Dreams 5 Wasteman – Kate Nash
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It is now just a few weeks until the 2024 Leeds/ Reading Festivals and it must be time for a preview from me, so here goes. Are we back to one main stage again? The poster of the line-up suggests we are, which is wonderful news. Although there is still the silly joint headliner thing going on. But how do the acts on the main stage shape up? Personally, I will be sticking to the bands and artists appearing earlier in that part of the arena. On Friday 23rd August my tips for the best acts on the Main Stage are Pendulum and Crawlers. Who will I not be rushing to see? Well Liam Gallagher obviously, who needs an Oasis tribute act headlining a major festival? On Saturday I think headliners Blink 182 could be fun, even though watching middle-aged blokes with low-slung cargo shorts is a bit creepy sometimes, but I believe the band will rise to the occasion. I am optimistic for Two Door Cinema Club. Sunday’s Main Stage line-up is good with Bleachers, Fontaines D.C., Raye, and Lana del Ray likely to be highlights. The Last Dinner Party might pull it off if they can continue to live with the hype, but Fred Again.. as a headliner? Seriously? I know this festival has often been good at moving with the times, but I am not sure about this one.
The new and futuristic Chevron stage looks great for EDM and generic dance fans. Skrillex headlines on Friday and I find them quite a Marmite act, the Prodigy headline on Saturday, and even without the sadly departed Keith Flint I reckon they will smash it. The BBC Radio 1 Stage looks good, especially on Friday with Beabadoobee headlining and immediately preceded by Ashnikko. Confidence Man will be good on Saturday and the Sunday headliners are the Wombats, a real blast from the past. I imagine that I will be spending a lot of time at the Festival Republic Stage, particularly for the Japanese House, Rachel Chinouriri and Matt Maltese on Friday, Neck Deep, Bad Nerves and the Lambrini Girls on Saturday, and Kid Kapichi and Dream Wife on the final night. The BBC Introducing Stage is a favourite of mine and is a place where I have discovered some great artists. I am familiar with some playing the introducing stage this year, notably Sun King and Welly on Sunday. But shaping up to be the best act of the weekend is the magnificent Delilah Bon who headlines the BBC Introducing Stage on Friday. I predict that she will move to the main stage in 2025 or 2026. Who are you most looking forward to?
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WREX are an astonishingly original duo based in Brighton. Their new single, “Take A Walk” is a phenomenal clash of genres with its electro, pop-punk, and nu-metal onslaught. This is the third single from their upcoming EP ‘This Hell Goes a Long Way Down’ which hits the streets on 16th August. While I can sense Enter Shikari, Blink182 and maybe even Limp Bizkit this track is 100% WREX. Talking about the track dual vocalists Mae and George had this to say ““Take a Walk” is like going out and getting fucked up, and leaving a voicemail to yourself about all the things you hate about yourself. There is an angel and a devil at play in the lyrics; one voice is the embodiment of all those negative characteristics, and the other is at war with it to save you from becoming that person, and from digging your own grave.” Go take a walk with WREX now, you won’t regret it!
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Katy Hurt’s new single is a mountainous country blues remix by Rench of Gangstagrass and featuring R-Son the Voice of Reason. Gangstagrass is famed for bringing genres together that you might not expect; country, bluegrass, hip-hop, and many others. Katy’s original version of “Revved Up” was a feisty and fiery country stomper. This remix takes it to a whole new level, we need more of this. It deserves to be a huge hit this summer! Of this collaboration, Katy said; “Touring with the guys from Gangstagrass was one of the best experiences of my musical career. I’ve never felt so loved or had so much fun on the road. Every single night we were matching energies, hyping each other up, and just generally hanging out and playing songs together and we’ve been talking about doing something like this ever since. I’m so excited that Rench and R-SON were up for making this collaboration finally happen and I’m even more pumped that it’s finally going to be out in the world for everyone to hear”. Give it a spin right now, you will not be disappointed, and trust me, three minutes later you will be fully revved up!
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York and Leeds-based band Fever Dreams are rather classy and they have just launched their new single “So Naïve” into the world. It is a slice of luscious, blissful chilled indie pop which haunts your head in the nicest possible way. The tune is gorgeous in an understated delicate kind of way, but the lyrics deal with the experience of being in and getting out of a toxic relationship. The line “But I’m in love with the delusion” sums up toxic and controlling relationships perfectly. I love the way the song slows to a fade before ending with an orchestral drone. There are shades of Radiohead and Pale Waves, but this band is very original. This is a sublime song that suggests the future will be gloriously bright for Fever Dreams. If you want to see them live try and get to one of these dates;
16/8 – Northern Green Gathering Festival, 23/8 – York Fulford Arms, 4/10 – Leeds Fox & Newt and 8/12 – Double Denim All Dayer – Leeds Oporto
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