With Just A Hint Of Mayhem

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

The Mayhem Charts – February 2025 March 12, 2025

Filed under: Mayhem Monthly Chart,Mayhem Top 20 Chart — justwilliam1959 @ 8:20 pm
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Here is the Mayhem chart for February 2025. Regular readers know the chart is based on my streaming listening habits. These are gathered over the last month by obscurify.com. After a slight blip last month my taste in music remains 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, last month’s top three “Legacy” artists were Gene, Roy Wood and Kate Bush. Obscurify also suggests the most obscure artists I have listened to for January and they are Liz Davinci, Not Now Norman and Kindelan. After being in the chart for months Delilah Bon dropped out last month, but she returned in February at number 9 in the artist chart.

An artist who featured in our latest Mayhem Virgins post, abs, sits at number 10. Top of the artist chart for February is a great favourite here at Mayhem Towers and a band we have championed for a long while. It is the wonderfully original and uber talented Jellybricks. Only one artist in the artist chart remains from last month and that is herorangecoat. Sitting at number two in the artist chart is my favourite living band, Avalanche Party. They are one of two artists to appear in the artist chart and the song chart. The other is the Last Of The Fallen Angels. Kindelan was number one in the song chart last month. She stayed in the chart for February, dropping to number 5. Push Puppets hit the top of the song chart with the stunning track “All Together On 3”. So without further ado here are those charts in full! Click on the Spotify link below to listen to the famous (or infamous) five! Nearly twenty minutes of great tunes!

Mayhem Artist Chart February 2025

1 Jellybricks
2 Avalanche Party
3 Antony Szmierek
4 Bowling For Soup
5 Rumer
6 The Last Of The Fallen Angels
7 Kendrick Lamar
8 Herorangecoat
9 Delilah Bon
10 abs

Mayhem Song Chart February 2025

1 All Together On 3 – Push Puppets
2 John Coltrane’s Moscow Skyscraper – Avalanche Party
3 BLOW – Kety Fusco
4 Amsterdam Flight – The Last Of The Fallen Angels
5 Drowning The Killer – Kindelan

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On This Day Catherine Of Kent Was Kicked Inside! February 17, 2025

Filed under: On This Day — justwilliam1959 @ 10:33 pm
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On February 17th 1978 Kate Bush released her debut studio album ‘The Kick Inside’ which included her UK Number 1 hit, “Wuthering Heights”. That song was the first time a female singer-songwriter topped the UK charts with a self-penned song. She was still only 19 years old and had written some of the songs when she was only 13. The album’s second single, “The Man With The Child in His Eyes”, reached Number 6 in the UK. The album made it to number 3 in the UK and number 1 in the Netherlands. It also reached the top 5 in Australia, France, New Zealand and Norway. “Moving” and “Them Heavy People” were issued as singles in some territories, but both failed to have any serious action in the charts. The latter made it to number 21 in the Netherlands. Kate appeared on the iconic US TV show ‘Saturday Night Live’ in December 1978. But sadly this did not help and the album failed to make the Billboard top 200. But who cares, Kate went on to achieve so much and yes, eventually even the Americans took to her!

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“Little Shrew/ Snowflake” – Kate Bush October 25, 2024

Filed under: News,Observation — justwilliam1959 @ 7:15 pm
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Kate Bush has made a slight return today with a vital and poignant message on behalf of War Child. She has helped create a wonderful, thoughtful, and heartbreaking animation about a little shrew who searches for Hope as she makes her way across a bombed-out city. She has provided her song “Snowflake”, the opening track from her 2011 album ’50 Words For Snow’. While Kate put together storyboard sketches for the film the final animation was produced by Inkubus. Kate was interviewed by Emma Barnett about the film on the Today programme on BBC Radio 4 earlier today. Click here to listen to the whole interview. She spoke at length about the film, life, and music. As for the latter Kate teased that she may be working on new music, for me and many of her fans that is incredibly exciting.

But in the meantime, please contribute whatever you can to help support War Child. If you don’t know who War Child are here is a brief summary of their aims and activities; “We protect, educate and stand up for the rights of children living through conflict. We go to the hardest-to-reach places to support those who are hardest hit. We aim to be there for children who need us most when they need us most. When conflict breaks out, we aim to reach children as early as possible and stay on to support them long after the cameras have gone home. We help keep children safe and help them to heal and learn. We understand children’s needs, respect and stand up for their rights, and put them at the centre of everything we do – because just one child caught up in conflict is one child too many.” Take a look at the truly gorgeous, stunning animation which is bleak and yet still filled with hope. Kate posted about the film on her website, click here to read it.

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National Album Day 2024 October 19, 2024

Filed under: News,Observation — justwilliam1959 @ 12:08 pm
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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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Baby Bushka – Pocklington Arts Centre – York Thursday 3rd October 2024 October 13, 2024

Filed under: Review — justwilliam1959 @ 8:26 pm
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Natasha Kozaily wanted a Kate Bush dance party in San Diego in 2017. Seven years later, what was born that night is almost at the end of their farewell tour. This is how Baby Bushka came into the world. Initially, I thought that they might be yet another Kate Bush tribute act, but they are so much more than that. Baby Bushka is an interactive, theatrical, interpretive, and often spiritual Kate Bush experience, with eight women who clearly love Kate and have an encyclopedia-style knowledge of her music. Even more remarkably they are American and Kate Bush was never huge across the pond. She rarely charted with singles in the Billboard chart until ‘Stranger Things’ helped “Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God)” reach number 3 in 2022. Albumwise the ‘Hounds Of Love’ album reached number 12 in the US in 1985. This was the first time I had seen Baby Bushka and sadly as this is the farewell tour it would be the last.

I love the mix of hits and deep cuts this Kate collective performs. The great thing is that so many of these tracks have never been performed live by the one and only Catherine Bush. The hits were stunningly well enacted and played. Those included “Babooshka”, “Wow”, “Hounds Of Love”, “Army Dreamers”, “The Big Sky”, “Wuthering Heights” and the previously mentioned “Running Up That Hill”. You could have heard a pin drop during a haunting take on “The Man With The Child In His Eyes”. While “Sat In Your Lap” was not well received on release in 1981, but here with Baby Bushka putting every ounce of their power, energy, and passion into one of the high points of the night it became something else completely, I have revisited the original recording many times since. “Mother Stands For Comfort” was a mountainous run through a great tune. I loved the throwing of Baby Bushka tenners into the audience during “There Goes A Tenner”. I actually managed to get one too. There was not a duff song in the set, and the pinnacle was a gorgeous medley of “Why Should I Love You”/ “Cloudbusting”/ “Under The Ivy”. For years “Why Should I Love You” has been one of my favourite Kate songs. She wrote, produced, and performed the original, but Prince played guitar, keyboards, and bass guitar, and sang backing vocals. How many shows have you seen where you get to see wolves, polar bears, and an astronaut on stage at various times? What a night and I so wish I had discovered Baby Bushka earlier.

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On This Day The Pistols Get Spots, Phil Gets Bronze And Kate Gets No Pictures! August 19, 2024

Filed under: On This Day — justwilliam1959 @ 3:35 pm
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On August 19th, 1977, the Sex Pistols started a six-date undercover UK tour as “The S.P.O.T.S.” (Sex Pistols On Tour Secretly). Their reputation meant they would be unlikely to be booked into venues that would be shut down by the police, so, they assumed a different name in each venue (including “Tax Exiles” and “A Mystery Band of International Repute”)

In 2005 also on August 19th, a life-size bronze statue of Thin Lizzy’s Phil Lynott was erected in his home city of Dublin, Ireland. Lynott, who died in 1986 at 36, was celebrated during an unveiling ceremony, that was attended by his former Thin Lizzy bandmates, including Gary Moore, Brian Robertson, and Scott Gorham.

19 Aug 2014
On 19th August 2014 Kate Bush requested that fans did not take any photographs or record footage using mobile devices at her upcoming 22-date residency at the Hammersmith Apollo in London. The then 56-year-old star said on her website: “I very much want to have contact with you as an audience, not with iPhones, iPads or cameras. It would mean “a great deal to me, although I know it is a lot to ask”.

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The Mayhem Charts – March 2024 April 2, 2024

Filed under: Mayhem Top 20 Chart — justwilliam1959 @ 8:47 am
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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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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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Mayhem Takes Over The World, Almost! January 9, 2024

Filed under: Observation — justwilliam1959 @ 7:15 pm
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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

 

The Mayhem Charts – December 2023 January 6, 2024

Filed under: Mayhem Top 20 Chart — justwilliam1959 @ 5:43 pm
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Here is the Mayhem chart for December 2023. Regular readers will know 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 Elvis Costello, Kate Bush, and Bobby Darin, and surprisingly David Bowie is not in the top 3. There is a top ten artists chart and a top 5 songs chart. There is the usual eclectic mix of artists, including three who were in the top ten last month (ALT BLK ERA, Delilah Bon, and tiLLie). In fact, this is now the fifth month in a row that ALT BLK ERA has featured in the artist’s top ten. Only two of the top five songs are by artists which feature in the top ten artist chart. Those two are Rebecca Ferguson and Jazmin Bean. girli and UGLY CLUB remain in the song top five from last month with UGLY CLUB moving up from 5 to 2 and girli moving from 3 to the summit! In case you are interested the top three Christmas tunes for December were “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)” by Darlene Love, “Christmas Time (Don’t Let The Bells End)” by the Darkness, and “Proper Christmas” by the Krackpots. So without further ado here are those charts! Click on the header of the song chart for the playlist on Spotify.

MAYHEM ARTIST CHART DECEMBER 2023

1 Jazmin Bean
2 Rebecca Ferguson
3 Poppy
4 100 gecs
5 Yussef Dayes
6 tiLLie
7 HANDSHAKE IN SPACE
8 Scott Bradlee’s Post-Modern Jukebox
9 Delilah Bon
10 ALT BLK ERA

MAYHEM SONG CHART DECEMBER 2023

1 Nothing Hurts Like A Girl – girli
2 What’s Wrong – UGLY CLUB
3 Digging For Gold – Rebecca Ferguson
4 Terrified – Jazmin Bean
5 SAOKO – Rosalía

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