Excitement levels are rising, I’ve started to wrap the presents and I have even handed some over to Royal Mail for delivery too. I was out in Leeds for the work Christmas party on Thursday night. Friday night was spent nursing a serious hangover. But clearly I am so hardcore (not!) that I was out again on Saturday for Catwoman’s Christmas do. Both very enjoyable nights, but I’m glad that I have no more party nights lined up for a while!
So we have arrived at what seems a fast pace at December 15th which means as far as the With Just A Hint Of Mayhem Advent posts we have arrived at number 15 so todays two songs both have the number 15 in their titles. First up is a band I really loved from the first time I saw them back in the 90s at the Old Trout in Windsor. It is the fantastic boys of Gene with “Her Fifteen Years”. I got into Gene thanks to a bloke called Steve Walton who I worked with in the 90s at a large pharmaceutical company near Heathrow. Steve’s brother Daz was in an earlier incarnation of the band when they were known as Spin. Sadly a horrific road accident led to the demise of Spin. Steve if you’re reading this get in touch, it’s been a long while mate. Gene broke up in 2004 and I always hoped that they would get back together but so far they haven’t. However lead singer Martin Rossiter did release an excellent solo album via Pledge Music in 2012 entitled ‘The Defenestration Of St Martin’. You may wish to know that Martin is related to another famous Rossiter; his Great-Uncle was Leonard Rossiter the star of British sitcom ‘Rising Damp‘.
The second song for today comes from Radiohead, it is “15 Step” from the band’s self-released album ‘In Rainbows’. The album was released on-line and fans had the option to pay what they felt the album was worth. “15 Step” was among the songs that were debuted on Radiohead’s 2006 tour. The children that you can hear cheering on the track came from the Matrix Music School & Arts Centre in Oxford. ‘In Rainbows’ went on to become one of Radiohead’s most critically acclaimed albums. At one gig by the band Ed O’Brien‘s Mum was in the audience and she couldn’t see the stage very well. So Ed asked the woman in the seat net to her if she’d swap seats. The woman agreed and that woman was Madonna!