Here is the Mayhem chart for March 2024. Regular readers know that the chart is based on my Spotify listening habits over the last month. The chart remains contemporary-ish, rather than just an oldies chart However, the top three “Legacy” artists are Kate Bush, David Bowie, and Steve Harley/ Cockney Rebel. David Bowie returns to the chart after missing out for three months. Obscurify also suggests the most obscure artists I have listened to and for March those are Liz Davinci, The Apocalypse Disco and The Chinaskis. There is a top ten artists chart and a top 5 songs chart. There is the usual eclectic mix of artists, including four that were in the top ten last month (Crawlers, Bambi Thug, Delilah Bon, and Frank Carter and the Rattlesnakes). Four of the artists in the artist’s chart also appear in the song’s chart. Delilah Bon has been in the artist charts for four consecutive months and now she tops the song chart with the mighty “Maverick”. Drunk Mums crash straight to the top of the artist chart! 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 MARCH 2024
1 Drunk Mums 2 Caity Baser 3 James 4 Crawlers 5 Delilah Bon 6 SAHRA 7 Bambi Thug 8 Scene Queen 9 Mortimer Nyx 10 Frank Carter and the Rattlesnakes
MAYHEM SONG CHART MARCH 2024
1 Maverick – Delilah Bon 2 Wailing Night – Mortimer Nyx 3 Life’s A Fucking Miracle – James 4 Finger – Scene Queen 5 Celestial – Dying Habit
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I haven’t actually counted for a while, but I believe that I own around 120 books about David Bowie. Thanks to Nicholas Royle I now own 121, or at least thereabouts. I was completely unaware that Royle’s book ‘David Bowie, Enid Blyton and the sun machine’ existed until I took a look at the schedule for the 2024 York Literature Festival and saw the title. As a Bowie fan, I therefore had to be there for Nicholas Royle’s session at York St. John University to talk about his new book on Tuesday 12th March. Royle, who is the Emeritus Professor (English) at Sussex University, opened the session by playing Bowie’s older song “Memory Of A Free Festival” as this was the song that provided part of the book title with its repeated refrain “The sun machine is coming down and we’re gonna have a party”. Then he read from the book. But the most interesting part was the interview with Nick by Dr. Sam Reese originally from Aotearoa New Zealand, and now a senior lecturer at the Centre for Writing at York St. John University. Reese asked some insightful questions about how the book came about and what it actually is. In essence, the book came about thanks to Covid, well at least that was probably the catalyst and it is largely a memoir, or is it? Anyway, that whole evening saw me buy the book and get Nick to sign my copy and now, while on holiday in Cornwall (I am not sure why I said that, is it even remotely relevant?) I have got around to reading it.
I think that my fear was that this would be a very academic and deep tome that I might find difficult to read. It is academic at times but Royle writes in a style that even a bloke with one English O Level from 1974 can read and devour easily. One of the first things that intrigued me was the title. How can you write about Blyton and Bowie in the same book? Sure they are both associated with Beckenham and were great artists in their own spheres. Well, what Royle focuses on is their ability to access the undermind or the subconscious mind or self. I think from this book it is clear that both Bowie and Blyton were able to work in their own undermind with natural and unknowing skill. The memoir thread of the book takes the reader through Royle’s personal experience of Covid and lockdowns and his reacquaintance with both Bowie who he kind of lost touch with in the 1980s, and Enid Blyton. The book is written as a series of “ghost lectures” from a university lecturer who has opted for voluntary severance. The lectures flow together beautifully and are all anchored with a specific piece of music or song. Mostly Bowie songs but also some classical pieces.
I have not read anything by Enid Blyton since I was in junior school, but I am encouraged to go back and reread some of my favourites. The Famous Five, which features strongly in Nicholas Royle’s book and my personal memories of loving the Secret Seven series. Some of the insights into Blyton are drawn from biographies and also her own autobiography and perhaps something that is personal to Nicholas Royle’s family. His paternal grandmother and artist and illustrator had an affair with Enid Blyton sometime in the 1920s. There are many things that I love about this book, perhaps the biggest thing is the continued discussion about what a sun machine is. Maybe a time machine, maybe a way that an idea dawns on an artist, or something that might be different for every artist. Do I have an undermind? I hope so. Can I access my undermind? I hope so. If you are a fan of David Bowie, Enid Blyton, or indeed sun machines you need to read this book. It is eye-opening. I loved it! And finally, I was going to put together a playlist of all the music used in the book, but someone on Spotify has already done that! Thank you tommymackay1959, click here to play it.
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On March 20th, 1977, the iconic T.Rex played their final gig at The Locarno in Portsmouth, UK. This was the last show on the Dandy In The Underworld tour, which featured support act The Damned. In September of 1977, Marc Bolan died in a car crash. On the same date in 1977 Lou Reed was banned from appearing at The London Palladium in England because of his punk image. He had planned to play several shows at the Palladium to promote his album ‘Rock and Roll Heart’.
Meanwhile, some rather interesting nuptials took place on March 20th. On that date in 1970, David Bowie married his first wife Mary Angela Barnett a.k.a. Angie. They later divorced in 1980. On the same date in the previous year, 1969, John Lennon married Yoko Ono in Gibraltar.
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On 5th March 1953 Air Force Staff Sergeant Johnny Cash (yes, the man in black himself) intercepted a coded message from Russia. The message confirmed that Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin was dead. Cash enlisted in 1950 after he turned 18 and was assigned to the 12th Radio Squadron Mobile of the US Air Force Security Service at Landsberg, West Germany, where he proved his skill as a Morse Code operator.
5th March 1965 saw an 18-year-old David Bowie feature on the second Manish Boys single, “I Pity The Fool”. It was produced by Shel Talmy, (who also produced The Who and The Kinks). Jimmy Page was Talmy’s regular session musician and played the guitar solo on the track.
In 1955 on 5th March Elvis Presley made his US TV debut by appearing on the weekend show ‘Louisiana Hayride’ on KWKH TV, broadcast from Shreveport Auditorium in Shreveport, Louisiana. There are many different claims for his first hayride appearance, 5th March is the one I have found mentioned most times.
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On 28th February 1970 David Bowie played at the Basildon Arts Lab experimental music club at the Basildon Arts Centre in Essex. His band was spankingly new, so new that they did not have a name. They were billed as David Bowie’s New Electric Band. Sharing the bill with the Dame and his band were High Tide, Overson and Iron Butterfly. The Bowie band eventually became the rather shortlived The Hype featuring Bowie, Mick Ronson, Tony Visconti and John Cambridge. They had been known as Harry The Butcher for one gig.
28th February 1976 Paul Simon’s ‘Still Crazy After All These Years’ was named Album Of The Year at the 18th annual Grammy Awards. In his acceptance speech, Simon told the audience “I’d like to thank Stevie Wonder for not releasing an album this year.” That was becaues Wonder had won the award two years in a row with ‘Innervisions’ (1974) and ‘Fulfillingness’ First Finale’ (1975). Stevie Wonder triumphed again the following year (1977) when ‘Songs In The Key Of Life’ won the best album Grammy. Paul Simon had previously won the same award in 1971 with the Simon and Garfunkel classic ‘Bridge Over Troubled Water’
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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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I know it is hard to believe but With Just A Hint Of Mayhem has been with you for fifteen years. We began on 9th February 2009 with a tiny pffft sound and one day we might make that huge bang! Thank you to every single one of you who has visited, liked, commented, or participated in this endeavor! I thought an appropriate way to celebrate was with fifteen songs with 15 in their title, so without further ado, blow out those 15 candles, get your party trousers on, and feel free to sing me a happy birthday tune of your choice!!!!
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On January 26th, 1975, the Alan Yentob-directed documentary of David Bowie’s weird travels and travails in America was shown on BBC TV in the UK. It was filmed when Bowie was at the height of his cocaine addiction and magnified his paranoia and probably very fragile mental state. But, for me and many Bowie fans, it remains one of the best documentaries about the former David Robert Jones ever. Another piece of Bowie’s history took place on that date but in 1967. It was the day that he began recording one of his best-loved tunes, “The Laughing Gnome”. 😉
Meanwhile, on January 26th, 1961, Elvis Presley was number one in the UK singles chart with his sixth UK chart-topper, “Are You Lonesome Tonight”. It also hit number 2 in the UK when it was reissued in 2005. It was an old song written in 1926 by Roy Turk and Lou Handman. The Blue Barron Orchestra took the song to the US Billboard Top 20 in 1950. Apparently, Elvis recorded the song following a suggestion made by his manager Colonel Tom Parker. Marie Mott, Parker’s wife had said it was one of her favourite songs. Posting this piece also gives me a chance to once again share the laughing version of “Are You Lonesome Tonight”
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How many countries are there in the world? Well according to Worldometer there are 195 countries in the world today. This total comprises 193 countries that are member states of the United Nations and 2 non-member observer states: the Holy See and the State of Palestine. This means that Worpress sees countries slightly differently because, in the almost fifteen years since I started With Just A Hint Of Mayhem, it has been viewed in 226 countries, so I guess some of those are not “real” countries. On top of that, there are six countries (coloured grey on the map above) where no one has taken even a single view of With Just A Hint Of Mayhem. So if you reside in any of the following places, or you know someone who does, ask them to come and say hi to Mayhem. The countries/ places that are missing out on all the fun are Western Sahara, Chad, Eritrea, Burundi, Svalbard (Norway), and North Korea. Why have I written this post? Well, I am proud of the reach the blog has had, but it also allows me to feature some appropriate(ish) tunes. Before that, the top ten countries that have visited the site the most are (the full list can be seen at the end of this post)
1 United States 2 United Kingdom 3 Germany 4 Chile 5 France 6 Canada 7 Spain 8 Mexico 9 Australia 10 Italy
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The Full Mayhem World Domination List
1 United States 2 United Kingdom 3 Germany 4 Chile 5 France 6 Canada 7 Spain 8 Mexico 9 Australia 10 Italy 11 Brazil 12 Netherlands 13 Argentina 14 Ireland 15 Colombia 16 Sweden 17 India 18 Poland 19 Turkey 20 Belgium 21 Philippines 22 Peru 23 Indonesia 24 Russia 25 European Union 26 Norway 27 Denmark 28 Japan 29 New Zealand 30 Switzerland 31 Greece 32 Venezuela 33 Finland 34 South Africa 35 Malaysia 36 Thailand 37 Austria 38 Portugal 39 Czechia 40 Hungary 41 Romania 42 Ecuador 43 Israel 44 South Korea 45 Singapore 46 Croatia 47 Serbia 48 China 49 Saudi Arabia 50 Hong Kong SAR China 51 United Arab Emirates 52 Ukraine 53 Slovakia 54 Bulgaria 55 Costa Rica 56 Egypt 57 Pakistan 58 Taiwan 59 Algeria 60 Morocco 61 Guatemala 62 Vietnam 63 Slovenia 64 Uruguay 65 Lithuania 66 Bolivia 67 El Salvador 68 Puerto Rico 69 Estonia 70 Dominican Republic 71 Georgia 72 Panama 73 Cyprus 74 Bangladesh 75 Tunisia 76 Latvia 77 Malta 78 Bosnia & Herzegovina 79 Lebanon 80 Iceland 81 Kuwait 82 Honduras 83 North Macedonia 84 Paraguay 85 Sri Lanka 86 Armenia 87 Nigeria 88 Albania 89 Iraq 90 Trinidad & Tobago 91 Nicaragua 92 Luxembourg 93 Jordan 94 Jamaica 95 Azerbaijan 96 Qatar 97 Kenya 98 Libya 99 Belarus 100 Nepal 101 Isle of Man 102 Jersey 103 Moldova 104 Mauritius 105 Ghana 106 Myanmar (Burma) 107 Oman 108 Guernsey 109 Bahrain 110 Kazakhstan 111 Bahamas 112 Cambodia 113 Montenegro 114 Tanzania 115 Syria 116 Palestinian Territories 117 Mongolia 118 Brunei 119 Côte d’Ivoire 120 Maldives 121 Barbados 122 Ethiopia 123 Curaçao 124 Réunion 125 Uganda 126 Zimbabwe 127 Zambia 128 Namibia 129 Senegal 130 Yemen 131 Macao SAR China 132 Sudan 133 Haiti 134 Madagascar 135 Cuba 136 Gibraltar 137 Angola 138 Guadeloupe 139 Botswana 140 Belize 141 Martinique 142 Cayman Islands 143 Aruba 144 Guam 145 Grenada 146 Fiji 147 Uzbekistan 148 Cameroon 149 Rwanda 150 Afghanistan 151 Monaco 152 Andorra 153 Mozambique 154 Bermuda 155 Papua New Guinea 156 Turkmenistan 157 New Caledonia 158 Suriname 159 Iran 160 St. Lucia 161 Kyrgyzstan 162 Mali 163 Bhutan 164 Seychelles 165 American Samoa 166 Guyana 167 Malawi 168 Cape Verde 169 Antigua & Barbuda 170 French Polynesia 171 Greenland 172 Faroe Islands 173 U.S. Virgin Islands 174 St. Vincent & Grenadines 175 Laos 176 Djibouti 177 Åland Islands 178 French Guiana 179 Congo – Kinshasa 180 Dominica 181 Turks & Caicos Islands 182 San Marino 183 St. Kitts & Nevis 184 British Virgin Islands 185 Unknown Region 186 Gabon 187 Liberia 188 Benin 189 Mauritania 190 Togo 191 Gambia 192 Liechtenstein 193 Burkina Faso 194 Eswatini 195 Timor-Leste 196 Caribbean Netherlands 197 Guinea 198 Somalia 199 Northern Mariana Islands 200 Niger 201 Tonga 202 Cook Islands 203 Lesotho 204 Congo – Brazzaville 205 Mayotte 206 South Sudan 207 Samoa 208 Falkland Islands 209 Sierra Leone 210 Equatorial Guinea 211 Guinea-Bissau 212 Sint Maarten 213 Nauru 214 Tuvalu 215 St. Martin 216 Kosovo 217 Tajikistan 218 Solomon Islands 219 Anguilla 220 Vatican City 221 Vanuatu 222 St. Helena 223 Palau 224 St. Pierre & Miquelon 225 Micronesia 226 Central African Republic
David Bowie, whom the NME cheekily used to refer to as the Dame was born on January 8th, 1947. He would have turned 77 today. Many people know that Elvis Presley was born 12 years before him on the same date in 1935. But did you know that a real Dame was also born on January 8th, but in 1937? Yes, it was Dame Shirley Bassey. On the former David Jones’s 19th birthday in 1966, he played a show at the Marquee Club in London with his band the Lower Third. On January 8th, 1970 Bowie began recording the original single of “The Prettiest Star” with Marc Bolan on guitar. On Bowie’s 66th Birthday Bowie made a spectacular and unexpected comeback by releasing “Where Are We Now” with no advance warning. It is one of his most reflective songs and the lyrics work through his time living in Berlin. He surprised the world again on his 69th birthday by releasing the stunning ‘Blackstar’, sadly he passed away two days later. Incidentally, that album, his 26th studio record, was the first not to feature Bowie on the cover.
This is David Bowie at his daughter’s birthday party
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With Just A Hint Of Mayhem 