With Just A Hint Of Mayhem

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

“And all I wanted was a word or a photograph to keep at home” July 27, 2010

Filed under: Observation — justwilliam1959 @ 10:48 pm
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What a bummer, no one told us that it wasn’t fancy dress!

Last Friday I had the pleasure of accompanying the wonderful Catwoman to York Races. It was an evening meeting with six races. Obviously we pushed the boat out big style with really expensive tickets and a massive budget for betting. Well ok that was a slight exaggeration; the tickets were a free gift from our good friends Rachel and Andy who had bought them and were then unable to attend. Our betting budget was only massive if you consider £5 per race to be that size. We used a very scientific means of selecting which horses to place our wagers on. You may have used a similar method yourself, let me explain. All you do is pick a name that you like. That’s it, it’s really as simple as that! But science let us down and we won zilch, zero, nada, nothing! Although one of our nags was in front for most of its race, alas it was not there for the most important part, as in where they cross the finish line.

So in keeping with this being a music blog and all that I thought I would round-up a few horse related songs for your listening and viewing pleasure;

“White Horses” – Jacky

“Wild Horses” – Rolling Stones

“A Horse With No Name” – America

“Chestnut Mare” – Byrds

“Crazy Horses” – Osmonds

“Theme From The Adventures Of Black Beauty”

It was clear that our jockey didn’t have the experience needed, nor indeed a big enough horse!

Madness point to the winning post, but clearly none of our horses followed their directions

Apparently at many lengthy sporting events these days such as horse racing and Formula 1 there is often a musical act to close the day. It was Madness, the original Nutty Boys, who closed the show for us on Friday. I am so glad that Rachel and Andy didn’t give us tickets for Saturday as that held the delights of some former X Factor finalists and Lee Ryan off of Blue. The merest thought fills me with dread! Anyway, on to Madness, sadly I can only report that they were very professional, probably very entertaining and they played most of the hits. They even played “The Prince” a firm favourite of my good mate Jes Hyde, who was quite envious of me as he has been a big fan of the Suggs and the boys for many years. Why would I give such an excellent band a lukewarm review? well largely because the sound was bloody awful. I would go so far as to say that it was one of the lowest volume and poorest quality sound mixes I have ever heard at an outdoor gig. So let’s remember Madness in their prime to make up for it.

 

“Oh what fun we had, but did it really turn out bad?” January 1, 2010

Filed under: Trivia — justwilliam1959 @ 5:43 pm
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Happy New Year to all my regular readers and to all of you who have chanced upon my blog by some kind of awful accident. If you are one of the latter feel free to stay, you won’t catch anything, I promise!

My first post of 2010 relates to one of the last big news stories of 2009; the attempted bombing of the plane over Detroit a few days ago. Firstly let me make an apology up front. I know this is a serious matter but for me there is quite a degree of humour in it, also no one was seriously hurt. So if you are offended by even the mildest of sick jokes then please stop reading now. I am often known by my good friend Fraser as a sick puppy, you may tend to agree.

OK so what is the issue here? Well I have a beef with the fact that Richard Reid who attempted to blow up a plane a few years back by concealing explosives in his shoes is now universally as the Shoe Bomber, whilst Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab who concealed explosives in his underpants is being called the Plane Bomber by most of the British Press. He must be known as the Underpants Bomber surely? Is joking about people like this wrong? I don’t think so, indeed the anti Hitler propaganda in Britain during the Second World War focussed on making Hitler in to a figure of fun (who hasn’t heard the “Hitler has only got one ball refrain”?). Let’s not forget that Abdulmutallab was a ‘failed’ suicide bomber who had agreed to blow himself up starting with his wedding tackle. Actually whoever persuaded him to do that did one hell of a job, how many men do you know who would effectively agree to strap explosives so close to their private parts?

Anyway in the event it was a complete balls up or a cock up if you prefer. It was a real bummer and let’s face it the plan was pants. I dread to think how bad the skidmarks on his pants were. I am sure you can come up with plenty more, post them in the comments section.

Another amusing aspect of this whole story for me was the way it was reported initially. Apparently the Underpants Bomber went to the toilet for twenty minutes and then complained of stomach pains shortly after returning to his seat. It was then said that passengers nearby heard a popping noise and then smelt something horrible. I rest my case!

Johnny Fartpants off of Viz (shown on the side of an RAF Plane)

As I have said before this is ostensibly a music blog so enough about bombing and onto a few mildly appropriate songs

The Underpants Song – Rudy

I’ve Parted (Misprint) – Ivor Biggun and the Red Nosed Burglars

The Cheeky Song (Touch My Bum) – Cheeky Girls

Thong Song – Sisqo

Baggy Trousers – Madness

Of course if you can think of any other appropriate songs just let me know

And finally a great YouTube clip from the Singing Butts. I turned 51 today and I have always believed that I would become mature when fart jokes were no longer funny, so I am now able to confirm that as yet I am still not mature 🙂

 

“Bernie Rhodes knows, don’t argue” March 19, 2009

Filed under: Trivia — justwilliam1959 @ 5:45 pm
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OK let’s get back to normal (bloody hell I’m not really normal am I?) service for this post. Before the birthday and ‘onthisday’ stuff let me start by saying that I’ve really been hammering the Soft Toy Emergency CD that I picked up for free at the Fibbers gig the other night. It’s bloody brilliant! You MUST check these guys out.

Whilst I’m on the MUST check out vibe, here is yet another shameless plug for my son Luke’s rather excellent band, Steal The Smile. Click on the name to head to their MySpace page.

As a follow up to celebrities some of the readers may know or indeed have met and following the piece on Justin Hawkins in a recent post, check out this picture of Simon P with Mr Hawkins. Feel free to send in your own starstruck pics and I’ll be happy to include them here.

Simon picks up some nail varnish tips from Justin

Simon picks up some nail varnish tips from Justin

Thank you to the wonderful people at Popbitch for this info but if you’re a Boy George fan and you’d like to write to him while he is banged up (oooo errrrr missus!) here is his new addresss; George O’Dowd, HMP – Edmunds Hill, Stradishall, Newmarket, Suffolk, CB8 9YN.

Popbitch also provided a link to this excellent clip of Ricky Gervais meeting Elmo, you have to watch it’s bloody funny

I also stole this musical related joke from Popbitch (and you’ll find the link to the Popbitch site in my favourite websites on the blog)
Q: What do you get when you cross Feargal Sharkey with Bernard Manning?
A: Racist undertones.

So onto just the one birthday for today, 19th March. It is the 50th birthday of Terry Hall off of the Specials (now reformed), Fun Boy Three, the Colourfield, Vegas and indeed solo. The Specials were originally known as the Coventry Automatics, Coventry being where the band originated from. As with so many excellent bands it was the late and very very great (very big l’s & g’s here) Mr John Peel who first played them on the radio. He played the rather excellent “Gangsters” on his show in early 1979. Hall left the Specials with Lynval Golding and Neville Staples to form the Fun Boy Three just after the massive success of “Ghost Town”. The Fun Boy Three also had two separate collaborations with Bananarama; “It Ain’t What You Do (It’s The Way That You Do It)” and “(He Was) Really Saying Something” It was of course the Specials, thanks to Jerry Dammers setting up Two Tone Records, that helped drive the late 70’s early 80’s ska revival forward. This was a great launch pad for many bands; Madness, the Beat (the English Beat in the US), the Selecter and many more. The Specials were invited to open for the Clash on the ‘On Parole’ Tour after Joe Strummer saw one of their gigs in 78/79. Here’s one for you fact fans, do you know who produced the first Specials album in 1979? No? well it was none other than Declan McManus better known as Elvis Costello. One of my favourite Specials songs is “Do Nothing” click the title to hear it and see it.

The Specials during their pole dancing period. The boys hadn't realised that it was supposed to be just one person at a time on the pole!

The Specials during their pole dancing period. The boys hadn't realised that it was supposed to be just one person at a time on the pole!

Sticking with the Specials for a moment or in fact I think it was the Special AKA, after Terry Hall had left. You may recall they released a song called “Free Nelson Mandela”. The week after the song was released there was an excellent letter in the NME. It was something like “I loved the Special AKA single so much that I bought it on the day of release. However I was extremely disappointed not to receive my free Nelson Mandela like it said on the cover” I wish that I had written that! Anyway here is the wonderful Amy Winehouse and a cast of thousands with an excellent version of “Free Nelson Mandela” from the Mandela Birthday Concert in Hyde Park last year.

A Pizza To You Rudy perhaps? I wonder if they received a free Nelson Mandela with that?

A Pizza To You Rudy perhaps? I wonder if they received a free Nelson Mandela with that?

On this day in 1965 the ‘Tailor And Cutter’ magazine published an article asking the Rolling Stones to wear ties to save tie makers from financial ruin. What the bloody hell is that all about then. I’ve had to wear a tie for most of my working life and indeed at school too, which started before many of you readers were born. I’ve never enjoyed wearing a tie, I’ve never seen the point. let’s face it they don’t keep you warm or keep your shirt buttoned up. OK maybe they act as a bib or napkin for messy eaters. But seriously what is the point of tying a coloured piece of cloth around your neck. You may well wonder why I still do it, I have two words in my flimsy defence; peer pressure! Yeah it’s feeble isn’t it. OK then let’s have your tie comments please.

Clearly no one had told new boy Ronnie Wood about the no ties rule

Clearly no one had told new boy Ronnie Wood about the no ties rule

On this day in 1976 the death of late great (here are those lovable l’s & g’s again) Paul Kossoff off of (now say that fast!) Free and Back Street Crawler and also the son of the excellent actor David Kossoff. He died of heart failure whilst on a flight from LA to New York aged just 25. He had a long history of drug abuse. Kossoff was with Free from 1968 to 1973, appearing on their final album and also one of my favourite albums of all time ‘Heartbreaker’ Although the band actually broke up for a few months during 71/72. When the band formed in 1968 their ages ranged from just 15 to a rather ancient 18. Kossoff was 17 at the time. Here are Free with the title track from the “Heartbreaker” album

That was either an enormous amp or Paul was very small

That was either an enormous amp or Paul was very small

 

“nothing more, nothing less, love is the best!” February 14, 2009

Filed under: Trivia — justwilliam1959 @ 7:17 pm
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Happy Valentine’s day good people and before we start the proceedings with a classic love song here’s a useless but interesting fact. UK singer Dickie Valentine, in spite of his name, had no hits about this wonderful day for lovers, but he did have three Christmas hits in the UK charts during the early 50s. So tell me did you all remember to do something nice for your partner/ lover/ cousin (Arkansas only!)/ Sheep (New Zealand/ Wales only)? Either way, have a great day and to kick things off here are Madness with a superb love song “It Must Be Love“. You can hear the original version of the song if you click on Labi Siffre’s name too

The Nutty Boys strike a classic pose

The Nutty Boys strike a classic pose

Mr Labi Siffre

Mr Labi Siffre

So enough of the love stuff (or maybe not!) and on to the birthdays. Today would have been the 62nd birthday of the late great (l & g’s here they come again) Tim Buckley who died of a morphine and heroin overdose in 1975. Sadly his son Jeff Buckley also died young after wading into the Mississippi for a swim during the recording of his second album in 1997. If you’re a fan of the UK band Starsailor you probably already know that they named themselves after Tim Buckley’s 1970 album “Starsailor”, prior to that they were known as Waterface. I’m not a fan, but the new name is so much better. Check out Tim singing his absolute classic “Song To The Siren” Click on the song title to hear Jeff’s version of the great Leonard Cohen song “Hallelujah” recently a big hit again in the UK, sadly somewhat surpassed by the Alexandra Burke version. Three of Tim Buckley’s albums feature in the book ‘1001 albums to hear before you die’ Tim quit the music business for a year in 1972 and worked as a chauffer and a taxi driver. That same year he also made a cameo appearance in the movie “Why?” with none other than that nice bloke everybody loves……… OJ Simpson
The late and exceptionally great Tim Buckley

The late and exceptionally great Tim Buckley

The final birthday for today is that of Kenny Hyslop who is 58 today. Pardon me? Did you say who the hell is Kenny Hyslop? Aaah I see, well ok then, Mr Hyslop is a drummer and found fame with numerous beat combos including Slik (of whom more later) The Skids and Simple Minds. Kenny’s first step in the music biz ladder was to join the band ‘Salvation’ with one Midge Ure, remember him? Anyway that band later became ‘Slik’ and here they are performing their UK number one from 1976, “Forever and Ever” NOT a cover of the Demis Roussos song but strangely sounding very similar to the Bay City Rollers in my opinion. This was back in the days when Midge had hair, but let’s be fair, even I did then!
Slik - Midge Ure is top left

Slik - Midge Ure is top left

back to the usual On This day format again now and on February 14th 1970 the Who recorded the excellent album “Live At Leeds” at Leeds University in the UK. A bit of an obvious title, but it does what it says on the tin and is one of my favourite live albums. Have a listen to the live version of “Substitute” from that very album. A few weeks before that recording, in January 1970 Keith Moon accidentally ran over and killed his chauffeur, Neil Boland while trying to escape from a gang of skinheads outside a club in Hatfield, Herts in the UK. Keith was famously a non-driver, I guess that proves why!
The loudest band in the world Live At Leeds

The loudest band in the world Live At Leeds

Also on this day in 1977 singer songwriter Janis Ian received 461 Valentine Cards after fans took to heart the comment in her excellent song “At Seventeen” where she claimed she had never received any. As usual click the song title to hear the song
Janis Ian

Janis Ian

Love really must have been in the air when the then very much in the closet Elton John married recording engineer Renate Blauer…. a woman! as you’d expect it didn’t last too long and Elton is now very much ‘out’ and famously gay. Incidentally you may know that he used to be called Reginald Dwight, but did you know that his real name now is in fact Elton Hercules John. The Hercules picked from the old UK sitcom, ‘Steptoe and Son’ where the loveable old cart horse was called ironically, ‘Hercules’. So there we have it, an Elton John Valentine tale, so what better song to celebrate it with than Elton’s very own “Kiss The Bride“
Elton was gutted when he saw his bill for the wedding...........<groan!>

Elton was gutted when he saw his bill for the wedding...........

And for no other reason than that it is a truly awsome pic that someone sent me yesterday let’s end with a Star Wars picture. What do you think of it?
can you feel the force Luke?

can you feel the force Luke?