Here is the Mayhem chart for November 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 one point to 96% more obscure than the rest of the UK! The chart remains contemporary-ish (but if a classic artist releases something new they might feature in the chart). However, last month’s top three “Legacy” artists were David Bowie, U2 and the Four Tops. Obscurify also suggests the most obscure artists I have listened to for November: Liz Davinci, Vaquelin, and Sleuth Gang. There is a top ten artists chart and a top 5 songs chart. There is the usual eclectic mix of artists, including two that were in the top ten last month; Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds (Up from number 10 to number 2), and Delilah Bon (falling from number 8 to number 9). Delilah has been in the artist charts now for a whole year! Three artists appear in both lists for November: ALT BLK ERA, Joshua Idehan and the artist chart toppers Sleuth Gang. The number one song is “Age Of Stupid” by the Jellybricks. So without further ado here are those charts in full! Click on the Spotify link below to listen to the famous (or infamous) five!
Mayhem Artist Chart November 2024
1 Sleuth Gang 2 Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds 3 Joshua Idehen 4 Stress Dolls 5 Blue Violet 6 ALT BLK ERA 7 HerOrangeCoat 8 tiLLie 9 Delilah Bon 10 Not Now Norman
Mayhem Song Chart November 2024
1 Age Of Stupid – Jellybricks 2 Falling – Apollo Junction 3 Pity Party – Sleuth Gang 4 My Drummer’s Girlfriend – ALT BLK ERA (featuring Wheatus) 5 Mum Does The Washing – Joshua Idehan
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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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Many of you are probably aware that I have never been a huge fan of tribute acts and I have only seen a handful over the years. Some that were very good and many that, let’s say politely, weren’t. As far as David Bowie tribute acts went I really wasn’t interested, but then I went to Fibbers in York in January 2017, a year after David Robert Jones’ death to see Absolute Bowie. Let me be completely honest, I really didn’t want to enjoy it, but I did. In fact, I enjoyed it so much that I have now seen Absolute Bowie five times including this 2024 show at the wonderful Crescent in York. To paraphrase the words of the Dame himself I had drunk a lot (well a couple of glasses) of wine and I was feeling fine and ready for a night of Bowie nostalgia. I was lucky enough to see the real David Bowie 13 times. That is never going to happen again, so I am happy to accept a classy show from Absolute Bowie, fronted by probably the best Bowie tribute in the world, John O’Neill.
This tour consisted of two sets. The first was an early 70s Ziggy fest, second was a a great selection of mostly 80s hits. The costume changes in the first set were truly spectacular and included facsimiles of many of Ziggy’s weirdest and most extravagant costumes. All the classic Ziggy period tunes were there. Every one of them a highlight for me “All The Young Dudes” was the best moment of the first set. The Spiders costumes were spot on too, especially Mick Ronson a.k.a Andy Marr. But it wasn’t just Marr’s costume that was perfect, so was his emulation of Ronson’s greatest riffs. The singalong opportunities provided by the second set were incredible and I reckon everyone in the house was singing. “Fashion” and “Cracked Actor” really tested my vocal chords. Ending the show with “Heroes” is always a good sign too. I would urge any Bowie fans who feel negative towards tribute acts to get yourselves along to an Absolute Bowie night. (There are a lot of shows still to come on this tour). We know it’s not the real thing, but it is certainly the closest you are ever likely to come. A truly maximum rock ‘n’ roll night and immense fun remembering the Dame in all his glory!
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This is the 30th song in the Play It Again Mayhem series and finally the Dame appears. It is “When The Wind Blows” by David Bowie. This was released in 1986 as the theme tune for the film adaptation of Raymond Briggs’s incredible book ‘When The Wind Blows’. Originally Bowie was pencilled in to write the whole score, but he ran out of time and eventually only offered this gorgeous song he co-wrote with Turkish multi-instrumentalist Erdal Kızılçay. What do you think of this song and the playlist?
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On September 7th, 2010 Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody” was voted the greatest “lighter in the air song of all time” by lighter company Zippo. I am guessing that that would be the phone-in-the-air anthem nowadays! Led Zeppelin’s “Stairway To Heaven”, was voted in at No. 2 and Meatloaf’s “I Would Do Anything For Love (But I Won’t Do That)” was at No. 3 in the survey.
Meanwhile, in 1985 on 7th September David Bowie and Mick Jagger were at Number 1 on the UK singles chart with their version of the Martha Reeves and The Vandellas 1964 hit “Dancing In The Street.” The song was recorded to raise money for Live Aid/ Band Aid. The original plan was to perform a track together live, with Bowie performing at Wembley Stadium and Jagger at the JFK Stadium, but someone recognised that there would be a half-second delay making the idea impossible to achieve. But aside from all that satellite shenanigans stuff, is this one of the worst-ever cover versions? I certainly think so!
7th September 1968 saw Jimmy Page, Robert Plant, John Paul Jones, and John Bonham make their live debut, allegedly, as Led Zeppelin, albeit billed as The New Yardbirds at the Teen Club in Gladsaxe (a suburb on the outskirts of Copenhagen, Denmark). Around 1,200 young folks attended the show at Egegard School. Teen Club President Lars Abel, while introducing the New Yardbirds on stage called Robert Plant Robert Plat!
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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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On 26th July 1968, The Jackson 5 signed a one-year contract with Motown Records after label executive Hank Cosby was blown away by their audition, in which the five brothers played and sang James Brown’s “I Got the Feeling.” among other classic tunes. The group broke US chart records soon after when their first four singles; “I Want You Back,” “ABC,” “The Love You Save,” and “I’ll Be There” all reached number 1 on the Billboard chart. The group appeared on the UK BBC Top Of The Pops show many times, if you include the moments when their song was featured as a dance section by in-house dancers Pan’s People it was 23 times. The first was in February 1970.
While we are talking about Top Of The Pops on July 26, 2006, the final edition of the iconic British music TV show was recorded at London’s BBC Television Centre in front of a studio audience of just 200 lucky punters. It was first broadcast on New Year’s Day 1964 (my fifth birthday!), the series ran to 2,260 episodes, making it the world’s longest-running music show. Sadly, with hindsight, it was co-hosted by Jimmy Saville. But there were plenty of other hosts; Janice Long, Mike Read, Dave Lee Travis, Tony Blackburn, Pat Sharp, Sarah Cawood, Rufus Hound and Reggie Yates. There were no acts in the studio for the final episode but plenty of classic clips including; The Rolling Stones (they kicked the show off with, rather appropriately, “The Last Time”), Spice Girls, Sonny and Cher, Wham!, Madonna, Take That, Beyonce, David Bowie, Gnarls Barkley, Michael Jackson and Coldplay. The show ended with a video of Shakira and Wyclef Jean performing that week’s number one song, “Hips Don’t Lie”. I miss Top Of The Pops, but I don’t miss Saville, he can rot in hell!
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On May 30th, 1968, The Beatles began work on their 30-track self-titled double album (popularly referred to as The White Album, due to its all-white sleeve design). Nineteen of the songs that ended up on the record were written while the band was on a Transcendental Meditation with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi in India. It took more than six months to record and the first track to be laid down was “Revolution.” In my opinion, this is one of the best Beatles albums.
In 1987, also on 30th May, David Bowie kicked off his Glass Spider tour. It was believed to be the largest touring set ever at the time, the stage was designed to resemble a giant spider. The tour was in support of one of his poorest albums, ‘Never Let Me Down’. 43 trucks transported the set to each of the tour’s 87 shows. I was at one of those shows, Wembley Stadium in June. I recall that Big Country was one of the support acts the day I went.
May 30th, 2009 saw Mick Jagger offer to buy an ice cream van but his offer was turned down by its owner, Guiseppe Della Camera. Guisseppe had spent ten years restoring the rusting van to perfection after he saw it on a farm being used as a chicken coop. Jagger offered to buy the van when he saw it at a show on Wandsworth Common. Guisseppe said, “Jagger told me he’d really fallen in love with my van and asked me if I would consider selling it. I was stunned when he offered me £100,000“. One reason that Guisseppe turned down such a generous offer was that he had promised his daughter he would drive her to her wedding in it. Maybe Jagger just wanted Forty Licks!
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Here is the Mayhem chart for April 2024. Regular readers know that the chart is based on my Spotify listening habits over the last month gathered together by obscurify.com. Apparently, my tastes are 99% more obscure than the rest of the UK! 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 are David Bowie, the KLF, and Public Image Ltd. Obscurify also suggests the most obscure artists I have listened to and for March those are Liz Davinci, The Apocalypse Disco, and Kindelan. There is a top ten artists chart and a top 5 songs chart. There is the usual eclectic mix of artists, including just one that was in the top ten last month, Delilah Bon! Delilah is one of only two artists to feature in the artist chart and the song chart for April, the other is the Blackheart Orchestra. Delilah Bon has been in the artist charts for five consecutive months and after topping the March song chart with “Maverick” she sits at number two with her new single, “Finally See Me”. Joe Solo, who we interviewed recently, tops the artist chart and Everything After Midnight takes the top spot on the song chart with their cracking new single “Little Hints” So without further ado here are those charts in full! Click on the header of the song chart for the playlist on Spotify.
MAYHEM ARTIST CHART APRIL 2024
1 Joe Solo 2 Grace Potter 3 Ian Hunter 4 Frank Turner 5 English Teacher 6 Julia Othmer 7 The Blackheart Orchestra 8 Delilah Bon 9 Avalanche Party 10 Paraorchestra
1 Little Hints – Everything After Midnight 2 Finally See Me – Delilah Bon 3 Cinderhaze – Stumbleine 4 The Tide – The Blackheart Orchestra 5 Manoeuvres – Carol Hodge
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On April 24th 1961 Bob Dylan made his first officially released recording, he earned $50 for playing harmonica on the title track of Harry Belafonte’s LP, ‘The Midnight Special’. Bob made his debut recording five months previously on a record by folk singer Carolyn Hester, but this wasn’t released until after the Harry Belafonte album.
In 1968, also on 24th April, the Beatles’ new Apple record label turned down an opportunity to sign David Bowie, who had just left Deram Records. Bowie’s manager at the time, Kenneth Pitt submitted a demo tape, only to receive a letter from the company’s A&R chief, Peter Asher, stating that “Apple Records is not interested in signing David Bowie. The reason is that we don’t feel he’s what we’re looking for at the moment.” I wonder how Bowie’s career might have gone had he signed to Apple?
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