With Just A Hint Of Mayhem

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

The Mayhem Monthly Top 20 Song Chart – June 2022 July 7, 2022

Filed under: Mayhem Top 20 Chart — justwilliam1959 @ 2:50 pm
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Here comes the fourth monthly Mayhem Top 20 Song Chart and it is perhaps more eclectic than previous charts. June’s number one is from an old singer songwriter who has not featured on the Mayhem chart before, Randy Newman with “You’ve Got A Friend In Me” from Toy Story. That is quite a turn after number ones from Prairie Brigade, the Hazy Janes and Vaquelin. This month has a few newer artists in the lower end of the chart, but it is mostly classic oldies. The newer acta are Glytsh (number 11), Ideal Husband (12), Ruby Addy (17) and Bull (18). Meanwhile for the first time since we started the song chart last months number one remains in the chart, at number 20 it’s Vaquelin. Those Vaquelin lads have made Mayhem Song Chart history! A few songs feature after my recent weekend at the David Bowie World Fan Convention, “Starman” (Bowie), “Warszawa” (Donny McCaslin), “Rêvalité” (-M-) and “Love Me Tender” (Mick Ronson). Soul gets a few entries with Stevie Wonder, Millie Jackson and Mel and Tim. Reggae goes top 5, at number 5 it’s Clancy Eccles with “Fattie Fattie”. I suspect that not many charts include both “Prince Andrew Is A Sweaty Nonce” by the Kunts and “Be My Little Baby Bumble Bee” by Doris Day, but the Mayhem song chart for June 2022 does. The Doris Day tune was written more than 100 years ago in 1912, I think her version was from the early fifties. Also featured are Fleetwood Mac, the Wonder Stuff, Carl Douglas and Thin Lizzy. We would love to hear your thoughts on the Mayhem Song Top 20 Chart as we hope to make it a regular feature. Check out the complete list below.

1 You’ve Got A Friend In Me – Randy Newman
2 Welcome To the Cheap Seats – The Wonder Stuff
3 You Are The Sunshine Of My Life – Stevie Wonder
4 Albatross – Fleetwood Mac
5 Fattie Fattie – Clancy Eccles
6 Starman – David Bowie
7 Warszawa – Donny McCaslin
8 Rose Coloured Glasses – Millie Jackson
9 I May Not Be What You Want – Mel and Tim
10 Love Me Tender – Mick Ronson
11 (Hard)core Memories – Glytsh
12 SBB (Lo Fi Demo) – Ideal Husband
13 Rêvalité – -M-
14 Kung Fu Fighting – Carl Douglas
15 Be My Little Baby Bumble Bee – Doris Day
16 The Boys Are Back In Town – Thin Lizzy
17 Sour Milk – Ruby Addy
18 Stuck! – Bull
19 Prince Andrew Is A Sweaty Nonce – The Kunts
20 Roads Leading Nowhere – Vaquelin

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“He’d like to come and meet us, but he thinks he’d blow our mind” November 26, 2013

Filed under: News — justwilliam1959 @ 9:18 pm
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milkyHave you ever heard of Milky Edwards and the Chamberlings? No? Nor had I until recently. They (if indeed they are a they) come across as a classic ‘lost’ Motown band, perhaps in the mold of the Four Tops. From what I have discovered on-line Milky Edwards first appeared on YouTube last year with a video showing a record playing a cover version of some classic early 70s rock with the supposed album cover propped up behind. The album cover is very reminiscent of a 1960s Supremes album cover (see below).

Supremes-1968-reflectionsIt never really took off until the links were posted last month on David Bowie’s Facebook page. Why were they published on Bowie’s page? Well largely because the cover versions were all taken from the Ziggy Stardust album. The songs published so far are; “Starman”, “Moonage Daydream” and “Soul Love“. Mark Ronson and Tom Jones have denied any involvement in the recordings as have Bowie’s camp. But for me I would be very surprised if Bowie himself has played no part in this. I also believe that it is a wonderful hoax. There is even a website with the strap-line ‘rediscover the music of Milky Edwards, click here to see it. What do you think of all this? Have any of you got the inside track on these recordings? Personally I bloody love these tracks!

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“You’ll take me aside, and say ‘Well, David, what shall I do?'” – David Bowie Is Happening Now – Cinema Event 13th August 2013 August 13, 2013

Filed under: Review — justwilliam1959 @ 10:10 pm
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Back in May it was my pleasure to visit the marvellous ‘David Bowie Is’ exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. Click here to see my post about the museum visit. Well that exhibition is now ready to go on tour and the exhibits will soon be on display in Toronto, Canada. The show at the V & A closed on Sunday 11th August, but as a special send off there has been a nationwide cinema event live from the museum as a kind of epilogue before it moves abroad.

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It was presented by the two curators Victoria Broackes and Geoffrey Marsh. Other guest presenters included author Hanif Kureishi who went to the same school as Bowie and wrote the Buddha Of Suburbia for which David wrote the soundtrack. Japanese fashion designer who provided many of Bowie’s more outlandish Ziggy garbs and choreographer Michael Clark also presented. The amusing and intelligent persona that is Jarvis Cocker had a chance to say his piece. There were many others too, but sadly no appearance from the main man himself.

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But a look behind the scenes and some wonderful background explanations from the curators made up for that to a small degree. It was a well put together and well-informed send off for such a major exhibition which was seen by more than 300,000 people and up to 20,000 in cinemas across the UK this evening. Like many people I was glued to the TV watching Top Of The Pops on July 6th 1972 when Bowie and the Spiders made that now seminal appearance to perform “Starman”. I was transfixed then and have been hooked ever since. If you plan to see this exhibition on its tour I would love to hear from you and I am sure it will blow you away!

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“For here am I sitting in a tin can” September 13, 2012

Filed under: News — justwilliam1959 @ 9:35 pm
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I still have heroes, do you? You might have guessed that David Bowie is one of mine and so is Neil Armstrong. Both men were in the news for very different reasons recently. Firstly there was the sad death of Neil Armstrong a true pioneer. Secondly the supposedly retired Mr Bowie has opened his archives to the Victoria & Albert museum in London for a massive exhibition of costumes, set designs, lyrics and many other delights next year. Click here to read the Bowie story.

I know I am a bit late posting about Neil Armstrong but a public memorial service has just been held to honour him in Washington. Click here to read about it on the BBC website. He is a man who I am sure will be remembered in thousands of years as the first human ever to walk on a body that wasn’t earth. Coincidentally he served as a pilot in the US Air Force in Korea in the early 1950s. Which was exactly the same time another of my heroes, my Dad saw active service there in the Royal Navy on board the HMS Belfast. Neil Armstrong RIP.

For this post I thought I’d choose a few space related Bowie songs and one that was produced by him for Lou Reed.

 

“The wall-to-wall is calling, it lingers, then you forget” June 3, 2012

Filed under: News,Observation,Trivia — justwilliam1959 @ 5:41 pm
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I couldn’t let the 40th anniversary of the release of Bowie‘s classic 1972 album ‘The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars‘ go unmentioned could I? It will be 40 years old on June 6th and of course being the Bowie fanatic that I am the vinyl reissue which comes with a DVD including some unreleased mixes is winging its way to me as I type. Bowie has said in the early 70s that the Ziggy album was a concept album, personally I don’t really see that, but that doesn’t make it any less of an album.

How many of you own at least one version of Bowie’s Ziggy album? lots of you I hope and if you don’t own it what’s keeping you, go out and buy it, download it, borrow it or steal it now! The album took just no more than 10 days to record, which by todays standards is faster than the speed of sound and light, or perhaps sound and vision, (get it?) combined.

So, as I’m sure you have heard the album many times I thought I’d present it in a slightly different way, by giving you all the tracks in their original order but performed by different artists. Some whom you may have heard of and others you may not have. But just to make sure you don’t miss out on the Dame himself I have tagged on two cover versions that might have made it onto the album but didn’t. The covers track listing is shown below. PLAY LOUD and Enjoy!

“Five Years” – Polyphonic Spree

“Soul Love” – Tim Kasher

“Moonage Daydream” – Killers

“Starman” – Culture Club

“It Ain’t Easy” -Raconteurs

“Lady Stardust” – Seu Jorge

“Star” – System Noise

“Hang On To Yourself” – Charles De Goal

“Ziggy Stardust” – Balzac

“Suffragette City” – Turbonegro

“Rock n Roll Suicide” – Black Box Recorder

Now it’s time for Dave does Chuck and Jacques or Bowie does Berry and Brel!

Bowie has a message for MC Hammer about big trousers……”U can’t touch these!”

 

“He’d like to come and meet us, but he thinks he’d blow our minds” November 8, 2011

Filed under: News — justwilliam1959 @ 11:47 pm
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In response to a formal request from the We The People website where any petition gaining 5,000 or more signatures will be considered, the US Government has stated that they have never had any contact with extra terrestrials. They went so far as to say that “no evidence that any life exists outside our planet”.

But there appears to be no formal denial of the existence of the Men In Black, although to be fair that question wasn’t asked! Personally, given the diversity of life on our little planet, I can’t believe that there is no life elsewhere in the universe. Remember people, ‘The Truth Is out There’ Click here to read about it on the BBC.

This post also gives me an opportunity to air a few David Bowie songs that may or may not relate to extra terrestrial life!

 

“They take some brain away, then turn my face around” January 8, 2011

Filed under: News,Observation — justwilliam1959 @ 11:43 pm
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Bowie was an early adopter of the guitar string floss method

OK perhaps a tad late, but it is still just about 8th January where I am. Anyway I would like you all to join me in a quick chorus of Happy Birthday for David Robert Jones, better known as David Bowie to most of you and possibly even the Dame to longstanding NME readers. I became a Bowie fan in September 1972 after that now legendary performance of “Starman” on Top Of The Pops. Many, many people had their Bowie epiphany from this performance, understandably too, it was otherworldly and alien. Even now it is quite a striking performance, especially subtle touches, like Bowie draping his arm around Mick Ronson‘s shoulders. It might all seem quite innocuous and tame nowadays, but in 1972 it was so very far out there.

That performance was shown on a Thursday night and two days later I raided my piggy bank and purchased four Bowie albums on cassette; “Space Oddity”, “The Man Who Sold The World“, “Hunky Dory” and “The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars“. After about 18 months I had worn them all out! I first saw Bowie in 1976 and have now seen him 8 times in total, although if the rumours are to be believed we may never see him in concert again. However if you’re reading this David, can we at least have another album or two?

I have another piece of very slightly related Bowie news. My good friend Nick Horslen appeared on BBC Radio Berkshire earlier this week to do an interview about his life as a business coach, small business supporter, charity volunteer and many other things. He chose a few songs to play during his slot, notably Mr Bowie’s “Heroes” alongside “Harvest For The World” from the Isley Brothers and “We Can Work It Out” by the Beatles. He interviewed really well and I would also like to thank him for the excellent shout he gave this very blog. You can still hear the interview on the BBC iPlayer for a few days at least. Click here for the link and wind it forward to around 2 hours and 4 minutes and you’ll be able to listen to Nick’s interview on BBC Radio Berkshire’s Phil Gayle Show.

Now take some time out to enjoy a couple of Bowie classics and a couple that don’t get played much. Happy 64th birthday Mr Jones!

 

 
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