With Just A Hint Of Mayhem

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

On This Day In 1996, Mr. Jones Played Outside in France…. Or Did He? February 18, 2024

Filed under: On This Day — justwilliam1959 @ 1:57 am
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On February 18th, 1996 David Bowie played the Parc Expo Rennes Aéroport, Bruz, France as part of the ‘Earthling’ tour. The setlist was predominantly from the aforementioned album. It included the songs; The Motel, Look Back in Anger, The Hearts Filthy Lesson, Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps)’ I Have Not Been to Oxford Town, Outside, Andy Warhol, The Voyeur of Utter Destruction (As Beauty), The Man Who Sold the World, Strangers When We Meet, Diamond Dogs, Hallo Spaceboy, Breaking Glass, We Prick You, Nite Flights (The Walker Brothers cover), Teenage Wildlife, Under Pressure (Queen collaboration) and Moonage Daydream. Eleven of the 18 tracks were earlier Bowie classics. I was lucky enough to see the Dame perform a similar set at the Wembley Arena in November 1995.

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On This Day Catherine Gets High And Wuthering While Waiting On An Inside Kick! February 17, 2024

Filed under: On This Day — justwilliam1959 @ 6:00 pm
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On 17th February 1978 Catherine Bush, a.k.a. Kate Bush released her debut album, ‘The Kick Inside’. It included her UK number one single “Wuthering Heights” which had been issued a few weeks before. With that song, she became the first female singer-songwriter ever to top the UK singles chart. She was still only 19 years old at that point and many of her songs had been written in her early teens. She remains one of my all-time favourite artists.

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“Energy” – Ell February 16, 2024

Filed under: Review — justwilliam1959 @ 10:45 pm
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Ell (a.k.a. Loretta Taika) is a singer/songwriter from the small nation of the Solomon Islands. She has a deep passion for music and finds her creative spirit by being at one with nature and takes pride in her rich cultural background. All of that is evident in her new single “Energy”, a delicious electronic reggae cut that oozes energy, fun, and dance vibes. Put this on and try to sit still while it is playing, I guarantee you won’t succeed, you will have to move! It is lively and well-produced, and Ell’s voice is stunning on this awesome earworm of a tune. The lyrics are a fusion of English and her native Renbel Dialect. She displays the angelic delicacy of Johnny Nash’s voice, particularly how he used it when he interpreted a Bob Marley tune. Check it out!

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“Best Year Of My Life” – ELL!S

Filed under: Review — justwilliam1959 @ 10:25 pm
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ELL!S a.k.a. Ellis Watson, is a singer-songwriter from the Cotswolds in England. There are some beautiful places there, and now there is some beautiful music emanating from those parts thanks to ELL!S. There have been musical connections with the region in the past. Elgar and Holst spent time there, and the Who’s bass player John Entwistle is buried there. Unsurprisingly The Who’s Keith Moon once owned a pub in the area. But there hasn’t been much music of note this century so far. ELL!S says that he began writing songs when he was 9 or 10 and has several musical influences which include Roddy Frame, the Trashcan Sinatras, The Sundays, Elliot Smith, and Suzanne Vega. I can hear some of those providing a small influence in his new track “Best Year Of My Life” released at the tail end of last year. It floats along in a soft, ethereal folk rock march and soaks into your brain like some of the finest acoustic tunes do. He seems to have great pop sensibility, and listening to this song it really feels like he is singing about the best year of his life. But if he keeps producing songs like this I suspect there may be even better years ahead! Incidentally, I discovered ELL!S while searching for something else on Spotify, what a lucky find that was!

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Mayhem’s Before They Were Famous – 3. Malcolm Young (AC/DC)

Filed under: Before They Were Famous — justwilliam1959 @ 4:23 pm
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The late, great Malcolm Young magnificent AC/DC guitarist worked in a bra factory as a sewing machine mechanic before the band took off. Do you think that skill helped him play guitar better?

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Play It Again Mayhem – “Far Away Eyes” – The Rolling Stones

Filed under: Play It Again Mayhem — justwilliam1959 @ 1:09 pm
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This is the twentieth song in the Play It Again Mayhem series, which began in 2020. Check out the previous entries along with this new one in the Play It Again Mayhem Spotify Playlist click here to take a listen! It has only been just over 2 weeks since the last entry, so do you fancy a quick one while she’s away? OK, that was a big tease, this post does not feature the Who! Once again it is back to the 70s though, to 1978. This means that so far, 15 of the 20 songs are from the 1970s. This time it is the turn of the Rolling Stones. This is the first non-single track to make the Mayhem Play It Again Playlist, although it was a B-Side. It appeared on the flip side of the Stones’ huge 1978 disco-funk-styled smash “Miss You”. It is called “Far Away Eyes” and like “Miss You” appears on the band’s 1978 album ‘Some Girls’. It is a delightful country pastiche or homage from the Stones. Jagger’s vocals are very much in a great country style and are split between spoken and sung. It is a lazy, lolloping rhythm. Ronnie Wood plays a fabulous slide guitar on it. This, maybe surprisingly, is my favourite ever Rolling Stones song. What is yours?

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“Whatever It Takes” – Patience

Filed under: Review — justwilliam1959 @ 8:20 am
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The multi-talented Cjhloe Munt who has appeared on these pages before as her solo alter ego Pick The Flowers and as frontwoman of My Wonderful Daze and Please Remain Calm is back as vocalist for Patience. The single, “Whatever It Takes” is out now. Her soaring vocal reaches new heights atop a fabulous driving piece of music, the drums are immense and the harmonies are heavenly. This is fully charged emotional pop rock with some proggy overtones and awesome metal flurries and I love it! Possibly Chloe’s best recorded vocal performance so far, and there have been some brilliant ones! Patience was formerly a band called Japanese Racoon Dog. The name change coincides with Chloe joining them. I saw them as Japanese Racoon Dog at the Fulford Arms Battle Of The Bands some while ago. They didn’t have a vocalist with them that night and they were very good, but with the recruitment of a powerful new vocalist, they sound amazing. The band also has a new bassist, Austin Bowers. If they can sound this good live, and I can see no reason why they can’t, their live show will be stunning!

Short notice, but you can catch them in Leeds tonight 🙂

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“It’s Over Now” – Oli Barton

Filed under: Review — justwilliam1959 @ 8:19 am
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Oli Barton has just released his debut solo single, “It’s Over Now” and it is a raucous, rockin’ romper stomper of a tune. This will be the song to take the Indie Disco night to another level. Everything is absolutely bang on; music, Oli’s vocals, the song, the overall performance. It is an earworm that is more addictive than hard drugs. It is everything a great pop single should be, 3 minutes of absolute music heaven! The track was produced by Alex O’Donovan (Sea Girls) and mixed by Cenzo Townshend (Inhaler). If it gets the airplay it deserves this should make a great showing in the charts, hopefully not just in the UK. Oli says of the track, “It’s in the whole world of teenage heartbreak and social media. The way that jealousy gets inside us and really makes us into a whole different person and perhaps distorts the decisions we make.” Whilst I am glad I am not a teenager in this age, I am really pleased that teenagers can still enjoy some fabulous new music, like this one from Oli! I hear that Oli’s live show is bloody good and I am looking forward to seeing him sometime soon. He has supported Kid Kapichi, Baxter Dury, and Starsailor. Bring on that headline tour and some festival appearances too!

Photo by Alice Denny

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Weird Music Facts From Mayhem #2 February 15, 2024

Filed under: Weird Facts — justwilliam1959 @ 10:50 pm
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The toilet queue at the Woodstick Festival

Apparently, termites will eat wood two times faster when listening to rock music. This is based on a study done in Florida in 1968. While it was discovered they ate wood faster it was also found that they abandoned social responsibilities like taking care of the queen. The behaviour would most likely endanger the colony because the termites neglected their other duties as workers. I wonder if they react differently to different genres. Maybe slower for ballads and super fast to thrash metal? If any scientists or termite experts are reading this, although my stuff is quite low-brow, so I doubt it, please tell me more!

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Mayhem Does Classic Album Listening Parties!

Filed under: Listening Party — justwilliam1959 @ 4:36 pm
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In October last year I started the Mayhem Classic Album Listening Parties at the Artful Dodger Bar here in my adopted City of York. We started with two double headers; Aladdin Sane- David Bowie and For Your Pleasure – Roxy Music, followed by a double of Pin Ups – David Bowie and These Foolish Things – Bryan Ferry. We closed 2023 with London Calling by the Clash in November. At the end of January, it was the turn of Led Zeppelin II. Album number 7 in the series will be ‘Exodus’ the Bob Marley & The Wailers classic from 1977. That album, along with ‘Kaya’ from 1978 established Marley as a global superstar. I suspect I will also give some of ‘Kaya’ a spin too! Come and join us and soak up some sublime reggae riddims at the Artful Dodger Bar in York at 7:30 pm on Sunday 25th February! THIS HAS NOW MOVED BACK A WEEK TO SUNDAY 3RD MARCH!!! Click here to find the details via the FaceBook event page and click here to register for a free ticket via Eventbrite. It is a free event, but registering gives us an idea of numbers.

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