With Just A Hint Of Mayhem

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

The Mayhem Monthly Top 20 Song Chart – July 2022 August 3, 2022


Here comes the fifth monthly Mayhem Top 20 Song Chart, this time for July 2022 and it is still as eclectic as most of the previous charts. July’s number one is “B-Side” from a very young York band, the Corsairs who I was lucky enough to see play their first gig a few weeks ago at the Fulford Arms. Another local band, Vaquelin has now remained in the chart for three months in a row with “Roads Leading Nowhere” which was number one in May, dropped to number 20 in June, and is now at number 17. Last months number one by Randy Newman falls to number 8. Stevie Wonder’s “You Are The Sunshine Of My Life” goes from number 3 last month to number 2 in July. The reggae flag is flown by Dave Barker’s “Smooths And Sorts” (no. 4) (for the fact fans Dave was the Dave from Dave and Ansell Collins) and “Your Honour” by Pluto Shervigton (No. 10). The Last Of The Fallen Angels featuring Hannah Robinson are at number 3 with the wonderful “Red Dress”. Hannah’s rather excellent single “Confusion” reaches number 7. Meanwhile another Last Of The Fallen Angels collaborator, MARQ Electronica is at number 5. Soul is represented by the aforementioned Stevie Wonder, Chris Clark, Michael Jackson, and a lost gem from Wilson Pickett’s time at RCA, “Mr. Magic Man”. This month’s number one in the artist charts was the late, great Sylvester, he is number 9 in the song chart with a classic b-side, “Was It Something That I Said”. As always there are some timeless classic artists there, notably the Sex Pistols and Steely Dan. Some more recent classic artists are her, Panic! At The Disco, and Biffy Clyro. Biffy arrive here courtesy of their cover of David Bowie’s “Modern Love” which is good news as this is the first time that the Dame has not appeared in the song chart himself! Toad The Wet Sprocket make their first appearance in the Mayhem charts while Hootie and the Blowfish take “Only Wanna Be With You” to number 6. The Hootie tune is there as I have been reading a review copy of Hootie drummer Jim Sonefeld’s rather spiffing new autobiography. That review will be on these pages soon! Finally, how did Slik (featuring a very young Midge Ure) make it to number 20 with “Forever And Ever”? Well, it is only me to blame, that is a bit of a guilty pleasure for me. We would love to hear your thoughts on the Mayhem Song Top 20 Chart. Check out the complete list below and click here to access a Spotify playlist of the whole top 20!

1 B-Side – The Corsairs
2 You Are The Sunshine Of My Life – Stevie Wonder
3 Red Dress – The Last Of The Fallen Angels
4 Smooths And Sorts – Dave Barker
5 You Do What You Want – MARQ Electronica
6 Only Wanna Be With You – Hootie and the Blowfish
7 Confusion – Hannah Robinson
8 You’ve Got A Friend In Me – Randy Newman
9 Was It Something That I Said? – Sylvester
10 Your Honour – Pluto Shervington
11 Modern Love – Biffy Clyro
12 P.S. – New Version – Toad The Wet Sprocket
13 No One Is Innocent – Sex Pistols
14 I Want To Go Back There Again – Chris Clark
15 Got To Be There – Michael Jackson
16 Viva Las Vengeance – Panic! At The Disco
17 Roads Leading Nowhere – Vaquelin
18 Dirty Work – Steely Dan
19 Mr. Magic Man – Wilson Pickett
20 Forever And Ever – Slik

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


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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“Just One Look And I Can Hear A Bell Ring” September 11, 2018


Swedish pop giants Abba scored their second UK number 1 in 1975 with “Mamma Mia”. The song was taken from the self titled ‘ABBA’ released the same year. It also hit the top spot in Australia, Ireland and Germany. Many of you will be familiar with it as it provided the title to the mega successful film musicals; ‘Mamma Mia: The Movie’ and ‘Mamma: Mia: Here We Go Again’. But did you know that the song was never intended to be a single and more importantly Abba had originally not planned to record it at all. The song was offered to the UK’s Brotherhood Of Man who won the Eurovision Song Contest two years after Abba. But Brotherhood Of Man turned it down, I wonder if they regret that? I also wonder what the stage musical and film musicals based around Abba’s music might have been called if Benny, Bjorn, Agnetha and Anni-Frid had not recorded it. The opening of the song features an African version of the xylophone known as a Marimba, an instrument used extensively by Earth, Wind and Fire in the 70s.

Talking of 70s soul and funk, Abba were apparently massive Stevie Wonder fans and they utilised and slightly reworked the bass line from Wonder’s “I Wish” on their sixth UK number one “The Name Of The Game”. In 1997 the Fugees sampled that Abba bass part on “Rumble In The Jungle”, a top 3 UK hit, which was the first time Abba had ever allowed one of their songs to be sampled.

 

“The Life I Love Is Makin’ Music With My Friends” August 9, 2017


Apparently the harmonica is the world’s best-selling music instrument. Who would have thought that such a small humble tool would be that successful? How many of you own a harmonica? Of those who do own one then how many of you can actually play it? While you’re thinking about that take a listen to ten of my favourite harmonica featuring tunes.

 

“I don’t understand it, for you it’s a breeze” February 5, 2017

Filed under: Trivia — justwilliam1959 @ 7:36 pm
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Back in 1984 the first ever UK number one single to be written, produced and performed by the same artist hit the top of the chart. Sadly it was a song that I really don’t care for, “I Just Called To Say I Love You” by Stevie Wonder. However Stevie has written, produced and performed so many brilliant songs I am happy to forgive him that one. If only that song had not reached the chart summit then the first single to top the chart that was written, produced and performed by the same artist would have been “A Different Corner” by the late, great George Michael. A far, far better song in my opinion.

 

 

 

Nag Champa – EP November 8, 2016


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Nag Champa have just released their first EP and this Yorkshire based British band produce authentic sounding jazz. “Authentic” did I really say that? It translates as bloody good jazz music! I believe that they are all students at the Leeds College of Music. Back in the olden days as my eclectic music taste developed I was very much into jazz funk. As a result I explored the music of a lot of jazz artists; Norman Connors, Roy Ayers and Herbie Hancock to name but a few.

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Nag Champa seem to draw their influences from a lot of jazz greats, including some of those that I have come across before. The opening track on the EP, “Slow Me Down” builds up to a very funky workout reminiscent of the Crusaders. Maya Kally’s vocals are both easy on the ear and soulful at the same time. The band are very tight, but I would like to see them play in a live setting to see how well that recorded excellence translates in the live setting. I do have it on good authority though that they are even better live.

Is there a strong market for jazz music these days? Of course there is and the success of likes of Gregory Porter and Jamie Cullum are proof of this. Nag Champa take on Stevie Wonder‘s “Superstition” on this EP and they pull it off brilliantly. They handle a cover just the way I believe covers should be handled, by making them very different from the original and they take the song in a new direction. “Daydreamer” has a nice dreamy feel of chilled but funky jazz and along with the previously mentioned “Slow Me Down” has lyrics written by singer Maya Kally. I also love the synth and keyboard wig out towards the end of this track which is very Herbie Hancockesque.

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If you like jazz or jazz funk then I am sure that you will love Nag Champa. If you don’t see yourself as a jazz fan check them out anyway, I don’t think that you will be disappointed. For a first release this is an accomplished set of songs and performances which highlights great potential for bigger things in the future. Definitely a band to watch out for. Check them out on BandCamp (where you can buy the EP) and Facebook. Can we see them at Live In Leeds and the Apollo Festival in York next year please?

 

“The trial was a pig circus, he never had a chance” February 3, 2016


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The other day I decided to take a quick count of all the artists in my album collection where I have at least 10 albums by a single artist. I included CDs, LPs and cassettes (although the only non compilation cassettes that I have are David Bowie bootlegs). Oh and while I’m on bootleg recordings obviously I have included them whether they are live, studio outtakes or simply unreleased stuff. I have not included digital recordings. I was surprised to find that there are 4o artists where I have at least ten releases by them. The list is below, (artist followed by the number of albums) there are no real surprises for me, are you surprised at any on this list? Have you ever done anything similar? I have also added a song from each of the top ten artists 🙂

David Bowie 141
Bob Dylan 30
Johnny Nash 26
Bruce Springsteen 26
Beatles 25
Neil Young 25
Elton John 19
Bob Marley 19
U2 19
Rod Stewart 18
Pink Floyd 17
REM 17
Elvis Costello 15
The Eels 15
Prince 15
Paul Weller 15
Ryan Adams 14
Led Zeppelin 14
Madonna 14
The Clash 13
Elvis Presley 13
Radiohead 13
Kate Bush 12
Oasis 12
Lou Reed 12
Stevie Wonder 12
Morrissey 11
Tom Waits 11
ZZ Top 11
Jeff Buckley 10
Julian Cope 10
Johnny Cash 10
Michael Jackson 10
John Lennon 10
Manic Street Preachers 10
Kylie Minogue 10
Iggy Pop 10
Rolling Stones 10
Frank Turner 10
The Who 10

 

The Voyeurs, Avalanche Party & Blind Eye – The Duchess, York – Tuesday 24th February 2015 February 27, 2015


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I once again had the honour of being on the Avalanche Party cheap list. It’s a badge I wear with pride! Anyway there’ll be more about Avalanche Party later.

blind eye

First up tonight were Blind Eye and I think that it would be more than fair to say they were miles better than the similarly named and now defunct, Beady Eye. This band have funk, rhythm, talent and enthusiasm in equal measures. Their choice of cover versions suggests that they know their rock history or that their parents have great record collections. They played very good versions of Stevie Wonder‘s “Superstition” which was more in line with the Jeff Beck version of the song. They also gave us a storming version of the BeatlesCome Together“. But Blind Eye are more than just a covers band, their own songs are very good too. They seem very young but I think they have great potential. This century’s Cream one day maybe?

avalanche party

Now this blog (i.e. me) has raved about Avalanche Party before and I will continue to do so now. I have a question for promoters, festival organisers and their ilk; why are this band not bigger? Why have you not given them the opportunity to play larger stages? Could they handle that transition? Of course they could! Avalanche Party rock like proverbial fuck! The band was pretty damned good when I saw them last year and now they are even better. A really tight and well rehearsed band with powerful playing and great songs. “Mountain” has classic rock potential and their new single “Money” is superb and has a great lyrical play on some very familiar words from a rock ‘n’ roll standard. Have you seen Avalanche Party yet? If not I want to know why. I don’t want feeble excuses, your reasons for not having seen them should be accompanied by a letter from your parents. I mean you really do need to see them even if it means having to sell your Granny!

voyeurs

Tonight’s head-liners were the Voyeurs who recently signed a deal with Heavenly Records. They are a band who probably would not exist if there had been no Velvet Underground. The keyboard player even sported a Nico T Shirt. They are masters of drone rock and I do mean that in the nicest possible way. They suffered some technical problems with keyboards and the tiny audience would have put off many bands. But the Voyeurs took it in their stride. I don’t smoke dope, but if I did then the Voyeurs would be a great soundtrack for imbibing the herb. I would love to see them on one of the smaller stages at Reading this year. I would definitely enjoy them in that kind of setting. Have any of you seen them?

As regular readers probably know I really can’t be arsed to take video and pictures with my phone at gigs, I prefer to enjoy the experience. This means that none of the pictures or films shown here were shot or taken by me!

 

“And she never walk down Lime Street any more” January 3, 2014


joe anderson liverpool mayorAccording to Joe Anderson, the Mayor of Liverpool, his city’s artists can claim more UK number one singles per head of population than any other city in the world. There have been 57 so far, including 17 from the Beatles. Let’s stick to cities and not smaller towns and villages though, otherwise Westlife might put Sligo on top of the list with their 14 UK number one singles. Incidentally I wonder how many number one singles London has had? Or any other city for that matter.beatles and boris

Joe was writing in Q Magazine to counter London Mayor Boris Johnson‘s ridiculous claim that London ‘made’ the Beatles. Surely it was Liverpool and possibly a degree of Hamburg that ‘made’ the Fab Four? What do you think of Boris’ comments? I think he is a complete arse!

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Here are those Liverpool acts and their UK number ones;

14 March 1953 : Lita Roza – “(How Much Is) That Doggie in the Window?”
25 January 1957 : Frankie Vaughan – “The Garden of Eden”
14 February 1958 : Michael Holliday – “The Story of My Life”
29 January 1960 : Michael Holliday – “Starry Eyed”
7 December 1961 : Frankie Vaughan – “Tower of Strength”
11 April 1963: Gerry and the Pacemakers – “How Do You Do It?”
2 May 1963: The Beatles – “From Me to You”
20 June 1963 : Gerry and the Pacemakers – “I Like It”
8 August 1963: The Searchers – “Sweets for My Sweet”
22 August 1963: Billy J. Kramer and The Dakotas – “Bad to Me”
12 September 1963 : The Beatles – “She Loves You”
31 October 1963 : Gerry and the Pacemakers – “You’ll Never Walk Alone”
28 November 1963 : The Beatles – “She Loves You”
12 December 1963 : The Beatles – “I Want to Hold Your Hand”
30 January 1964 : The Searchers – “Needles and Pins”
27 February 1964 : Cilla Black – “Anyone Who Had a Heart”
19 March 1964 :  Billy J. Kramer and The Dakotas – “Little Children”
2 April 1964 : The Beatles – “Can’t Buy Me Love”
7 May 1964 : The Searchers – “Don’t Throw Your Love Away”
28 May 1964 : Cilla Black – “You’re My World”
23 July 1964: The Beatles – “A Hard Day’s Night”
10 December 1964 : The Beatles – “I Feel Fine”
22 April 1965 : The Beatles – “Ticket to Ride”
5 August 1965: The Beatles – “Help!”
30 September 1965 : Ken Dodd – “Tears”
16 December 1965 : The Beatles – “Day Tripper”/”We Can Work It Out”
23 June 1966: The Beatles – “Paperback Writer”
18 August 1966: The Beatles – “Yellow Submarine”/”Eleanor Rigby”
19 July 1967 : The Beatles – “All You Need Is Love”
6 December 1967: The Beatles – “Hello, Goodbye”
27 March 1968 : The Beatles – “Lady Madonna”
11 September 1968 : The Beatles – “Hey Jude”
11 December : 1968 The Scaffold – “Lily the Pink”
23 April 1969 : The Beatles with Billy Preston – “Get Back”
11 June 1969: The Beatles – “The Ballad of John and Yoko”
30 January 1971 : George Harrison – “My Sweet Lord”
3 December 1977 : Wings : “Mull of Kintyre”
20 December 1980 : John Lennon – “(Just Like) Starting Over”
10 January 1981 : John Lennon – “Imagine”
7 February 1981 : John Lennon – “Woman”
24 April 1982 : Paul McCartney with Stevie Wonder – “Ebony and Ivory”
14 January 1984 : Paul McCartney – “Pipes of Peace”
28 January 1984 : Frankie Goes to Hollywood – “Relax”
16 June 1984: Frankie Goes to Hollywood – “Two Tribes”
8 December 1984 : Frankie Goes to Hollywood – “The Power of Love”
9 March 1985 : Dead or Alive – “You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)”
15 June 1985: The Crowd – “You’ll Never Walk Alone”
29 August 1987 : Ferry Aid – “Let it Be”
20 May 1989 : Various artists – “Ferry Cross the Mersey”
22 July 1989  : Sonia – “You’ll Never Stop Me Loving You”
26 May 1996 : Baddiel, Skinner & The Lightning Seeds – “Three Lions”
14 June 1998: Baddiel, Skinner & The Lightning Seeds : “Three Lions ’98”
March 26 2000: Melanie C featuring Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes – “Never Be the Same Again”
August 13 2000: Melanie C – “I Turn to You”
February 4 2001: Atomic Kitten – “Whole Again”
July 29 2001: Atomic Kitten – “Eternal Flame”
January 20 2002: George Harrison – “My Sweet Lord”
April 28 2002: Sugababes – “Freak Like Me”
August 18 2002: Sugababes – “Round Round”
September 1 2002 : Atomic Kitten – “The Tide Is High (Get the Feeling)”
October 19 2003 : Sugababes – “Hole in the Head”
September 30 2007 : Sugababes – “About You Now”
Christmas number one 2012 : The Justice Collective – “He ain’t heavy, he’s my brother”

 

“Spike heels make a hole in a life boat, drifting away when I’m talking and laughing as we float” – Advent day 16 December 16, 2013


16It’s December 16th and therefore day 16 of the With Just A Hint Of Mayhem advent posts. I’m enjoying the music in these advent posts and I hope that you are too.  So on to two songs with the number sixteen in their title.

tennesseeeerniefordThe first song for today is from Ernest Jennings Ford who was better known as Tennessee Ernie Ford. The song is about working in a coal mine and it is called “Sixteen Tons” it reached number 1 in the US charts in 1955. The song has been recorded by many artists; including Stevie Wonder, the Redskins, Tom Jones, Johnny Cash, Bo Diddley, Robbie Williams, Dandy Warhols, Tom Morello and the Eels. Whilst Elvis Presley never recorded the song he did play it live when touring the US in 1955. The Clash had the Ford version of the song played just before they came on stage during their ‘Sixteen Tons’ US tour in 1980.

Jack White took over the cover of the May 2012 issue of Interview magazine-815282The second for today features an artist that appeared as part of one of his earlier bands on day 7 of my advent posts. It’s Jack White with a track taken from his first solo album, ‘Blunderbuss’ released in 2012. White says that the inspiration for the song came from his daughter. When Jack asked her what she would like as a snack she said sixteen saltine crackers, he said she could have three. The singles B Side was a cover of U2’s “Love Is Blindness“. The single was sadly largely ignored in the UK reaching only number 129 in the UK singles chart. The album went to number one in the UK though and also reached the top in Belgium, Canada, Switzerland and the USA.

 

 
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