On March 20th, 1977, the iconic T.Rex played their final gig at The Locarno in Portsmouth, UK. This was the last show on the Dandy In The Underworld tour, which featured support act The Damned. In September of 1977, Marc Bolan died in a car crash. On the same date in 1977 Lou Reed was banned from appearing at The London Palladium in England because of his punk image. He had planned to play several shows at the Palladium to promote his album ‘Rock and Roll Heart’.
Meanwhile, some rather interesting nuptials took place on March 20th. On that date in 1970, David Bowie married his first wife Mary Angela Barnett a.k.a. Angie. They later divorced in 1980. On the same date in the previous year, 1969, John Lennon married Yoko Ono in Gibraltar.
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This is the seventeenth song in the Play It Again Mayhem series, which began back in 2020. Check out the previous entries along with this new one in the Play It Again Mayhem Spotify Playlist, click here to take a listen! It has only been 7 weeks since the last entry, so it must be time for another, right? Anyway, this is a song that has, perhaps in an ironic way, been in my head for the last couple of weeks given all the rain we have had in much of the UK recently. It is T. Rex with “Celebrate Summer”. After 10 top 5 hits, including 4 UK number ones, from 1970 to 1973, Marc Bolan’s glitter had faded a little. Although in 1977 he championed some of the younger punk bands and fronted his own weekly TV show, ‘Marc’. Some of the new bands he embraced included the Jam, the Damned, Eddie and the Hot Rods, and Generation X. The show also saw appearances by David Bowie and Hawkwind. But sadly his untimely death at far too young an age in September 1977 put to rest any chance of the diminutive former Mr Feld rising to the heights of the early 70s Bolanmania period.
“Celebrate Summer” is a non-album single and the last T. Rex single to be released while Marc was still alive. It came out on 12th August 1977 and he died in an awful car accident in Barnes on 16th September 1977. The song was performed on the ‘Marc’ TV show three times and despite some relatively good reviews, many of which cited a punk/ new wave influence, it failed to get much radio airplay and as a result, it failed to make the charts. Personally, I consider this track to be among T. Rex‘s best.
So to steal some lyrics from this rather wonderful ditty “Hey little punk forget all that junk and celebrate summer with me. Summer’s not a bummer. This is summer. And it’s now” Whatever you are doing and wherever you are I hope you make the most of your summer!
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The Mayhem Artist Top 20 artist chart for June 2022 is here. Many of you know that I am a keen user of a site called Obscurify. It claims to tell you how obscure your listening on Spotify is. Compared to the rest of the UK I achieved a level of 97% more obscure than other users in the UK this month, one point up from last month’s 96%. Regular readers will know that it also lists my most obscure artists, which currently are;
Promethium (The British metal titans are back on the list!)
Johnny Nash (Seriously, why is the greatest singer that ever lived listed as obscure?)
Apollo Junction (An absolutely brilliant band from Leeds, very nice lads too)
Vaquelin (One of York’s finest young bands. You will be hearing more about them on this site soon)
Millie Manders and the Shut Up (Fabulous ska-punk outfit, but they are so much more than that. Millie has huge talent and a fantastic band) – Check out the “Not OK” video below
As for the June Top 20, only Dame David remains from the last chart, but this time he climbs from number six back up to the top of the pile. This was probably driven by me being at the David Bowie World Fan Convention in Liverpool a few weeks ago. That wonderful visit also accounts for French artist -M- (at number 10) who the supremely wonderful human being that is Gail Ann Dorsey is working with, the marvellous Donny McCaslin sitting at number six and the late, great Mick Ronson at eleven. There is a good amount of soul this month, including Aretha Franklin, Millie Jackson, and Mel & Tim. Reggae is represented by Bob Marley and the Wailers, the Upsetters, and the Dynamites. Given his history, Johnny Nash could be represented in the soul or reggae camp. There are plenty of classic rock artists including the Beatles, Rolling Stones, T Rex, and the Who. More recent classic acts are well represented by the Wonder Stuff and Suede. Kate Bush is in at number sixteen and I haven’t even seen Stranger Things 4 yet! Half Man Half Biscuit are in there because I went to see them with my mate John at leeds Uni Stylus. Cigarettes After Sex are at number seven. I planned to see them while I was on a business trip to Bologna, but things conspired against me so, sadly I missed them. I would love to hear your thoughts on this chart. Oh and keep your eyes open for the fourth Mayhem Monthly Song Chart, just like an old-school top 20 singles chart! That one includes songs by a few of the artists featured in the June Artist Chart.
1 David Bowie 2 The Wonder Stuff 3 Johnny Nash 4 Aretha Franklin 5 Millie Jackson 6 Donny McCaslin 7 Cigarettes After Sex 8 Suede 9 Half Man Half Biscuit 10 -M- 11 Mick Ronson 12 Bob Marley and the Wailers 13 The Upsetters 14 The Dynamites 15 Mel and Tim 16 Kate Bush 17 Beatles 18 T Rex 19 The Who 20 Rolling Stones
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Here comes the third monthly Mayhem Top 20 Song Chart. This month’s number one is from a band that has featured on this site quite a few times and will continue to do so if they keep up the superb quality of their great music and live shows. They scraped into the artist chart at number 20 back in March. But now they follow Prairie Brigade and the Hazy Janes to hit the top spot in the song chart. Who am I talking about? A fabulous York band called Vaquelin with their current single “Roads Leading Nowhere”. They managed to hold off competition from Harry Styles who sits at number 2. There are a lot of oldies in this month’s chart, including Bill Withers, Love, Steely Dan, the O’Jays, the Clash, Mike and the Mechanics, Traffic, and the Sex Pistols. T.Rex take “Metal Guru into the top 20 for the second time in three months, it hit number 20 in March and sits at number 18 for May. David Bowie makes it three entries in a row and Roxy Music appear for their second month in a row. The oldest release on the list is “Alone Again Or”, a 1968 UK hit from Love at number 8. A really eerie cover of Bowie’s “Let’s Dance” by M Ward hits number 6 and my favourite Professor Elemental song, “I Love Libraries” gets to number seven. There are also appearances from Leeds band Astoria at a very creditable number 4, the Institutes, Let’s Eat Grandma, and Kendrick Lamar. Eight artists featured in the Mayhem Top 20 Artist chart for May also feature on this list. 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 Roads Leading Nowhere – Vaquelin 2 Music For A Sushi Restaurant – Harry Styles 3 Goodbye Mr. Blue – Father John Misty 4 (Don’t) Turn Around – Astoria 5 Use Me (Live) – Bill Withers 6 Let’s Dance – M Ward 7 I Love Libraries – Professor Elemental 8 Alone Again Or – Love 9 Haitian Divorce – Steely Dan 10 All That You’ll Ever Know – The Institutes 11 The Living Years – Mike and the Mechanics 12 London Calling – The Clash 13 Pyjamarama – Roxy Music 14 I Dig Your Act – O’Jays 15 What In The World – David Bowie 16 United In Grief – Kendrick Lamar 17 Happy New Year – Let’s Eat Grandma 18 Metal Guru – T Rex 19 Freedom Rider – Traffic 20 Anarchy In The UK – Sex Pistols
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We have been publishing our Mayhem Top 20 Artist Chart for a while now, so it’s about time we hit you with our top 20 song chart right? We promised you this in the last Artist Top 20 and here it is! The inaugural Mayhem Top 20 Song chart. Who will be on the hotlist? Who will be number one? Read on to find out! Well it won’t be a traditional old skool run down from 20 to 1, we thought we’d hit you with number one first and it is………. Prairie Brigade with “Is This How The World Ends”. York singer-songwriter Rubby Addy is a close second with her gorgeous tune “Roadkill”. Meanwhile, Bang Bang Romeo follow up their chart-topping of the Mayhem Artist Top 20 appearance for March with a very respectable number three placing. The oldest release on the list is “Metal Guru” by T. Rex at number 20. Eight of the artists who featured in the Mayhem Top 20 Artist chart for March also feature on this list. 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 Is This How The World Ends – Prairie Brigade 2 Roadkill – Ruby Addy 3 Cemetery – Bang Bang Romeo 4 Edge Of The World – Last Of The Fallen Angels 5 Ride Home – Katy Hurt 6 You Belong – Set Your Sights 7 Mansard Roof – Vampire Weekend 8 ROCK$TAR – Police Car Collective 9 Sunday – David Bowie 10 Colourful White Lies – Electric High 11 Pieces – Revivalry 12 I Thought I Knew It All – Marq Electronica 13 Wilder Days – Morgan Wade 14 Barbara Streisand – Phonomatiq 15 Fool Britannia – The Undercover Hippy 16 Rhubarb – Childcare 17 I Wanna Be By Your Side – Na’eemah Harper 18 Little Bit Broken – Hattie Briggs 19 If You Get To Hell First – Fury 20 Metal Guru – T Rex
We love our readers so much we have even created a Spotify Playlist of the Mayhem Song Top 20 for March 2022. Click here to give it a spin!
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Glastonbury tickets go on sale in a few weeks, I’ve registered, have you? I have been to quite a few festivals, but if I am lucky enough to get a ticket this will be my first Glasto, after all these years!
Anyway take your mind back to the first Glastonbury Festival in 1970. The first thing of note is that it was called something different then, it was the Pilton Pop, Blues and Folk Festival and all festival goers were provided with free milk. Well Worthy Farm is a dairy farm. It was almost 45 years to the day that it took place. The Kinks were originally scheduled to headline the event but were replaced much nearer the start of the inaugural festival on the site by Tyrannosaurus Rex. Obviously this was just before they became T Rex.
For many of you this is probably not new information. However, did you know who opened the festival in 1970 and then returned to the stage at the end of the second day to close it? It was the marvellously quintessential English band Stackridge! They have played Glastonbury more recently too; in 1999 and 2008. So in honour of that achievement I would like you all to get ready to “Do The Stanley”!
Have you been pestered by teenage carol singers with shite voices yet? I saw some on the way home from work but I think the weather was a tad too inclement for them! But I’m sure the greedy untalented little gits will be back. Greedy, untalented little gits? I could have been talking about the majority of X Factor contestants there couldn’t I? Anyway we really are sliding down the slope towards Christmas now, it’s 20th December! So that means it’s day 20 of the With Just A Hint Of Mayhem Advent posts and you know you’ll be getting two songs with twenty in their titles.
T.Rex are first up with the magnificent “20th Century Boy” a UK number 3 hit from 1973. The song hit the top of the charts in Ireland. It was the penultimate single in a run of 11 UK top 4 hits between 1970 and 1973 which included four number ones. In fact Bolan and T Rex never made the UK top 10 after 1973 let alone the top 5. “20th Century Boy” was not taken from a T Rex album but it was included on a reissue of the ‘Tanx’ album which was originally released in 1973. The song was used as the soundtrack to a Levi’s Jeans ad campaign in 1991. It was re-released to accompany that and made it back into the UK chart where it peaked at number 13. Siouxse and the Banshees, Girlschool, Adam Ant, Def Leppard and Placebo have all covered this T Rex classic. Placebo performed the song live at the 1999 Brit Awards with David Bowie.
From a song featuring the late, great Marc Bolan let me now take you to a song from the late, great Eddie Cochran, “Twenty Flight Rock”. Cochran can be seen performing the song in the 1956 film ‘The Girl Can’t Help It’ and it was released as a single in 1957. It was this Cochran song that a 15-year-old Paul McCartney played as part of his audition for John Lennon which led to him becoming one of the Quarrymen. McCartney has said that he thought that what impressed Lennon the most was that he knew all the words. Many artists have covered the song including Robert Gordon, Rolling Stones, the Stray Cats and Commander Cody And His Lost Planet Airmen.
Seven swans a swimming, I’ve been looking forward to this part of my 12 days of Christmas posts as it features two of my favourite songs. Incidentally did you know that the mute swan which is native to the UK has doubled it’s population since 1983? Maybe it’s the royal protection they are afforded which saw to that.
Ride A White Skateboard anyone?
Anyway on to the first of todays songs and this one was an obvious choice. It is “Ride A White Swan” from T. Rex and it is only the second signal released under the shortened name after the band used to be known as Tyrannosaurus Rex. It is also the song that helped kick off what became known as Glam Rock and the screaming adulation given to Bolan in what became known as Trextasy. The song was released in late 1970 and didn’t reach its highest UK chart position of number two until January 1971. It was produced by Tony Visconti as were many of the bands biggest hits. It was released as a maxi single. So named as it featured three and not the customary two tracks. The other tracks were “Is It Love” and a rather interesting cover of Eddie Cochran‘s “Summertime Blues”. “Ride A White Swan” kicked off a run of 10 consecutive UK top 5 hits for the band which lasted from 1971 to 1973 and included four number ones. The song could only manage a very lowly number 76 in the US chart.
The second choice for today was an obvious one for me, but do you know why it’s here? It is the stupendous “Badge” from Cream. The band was effectively an early supergroup featuring Eric Clapton, Ginger Baker and Jack Bruce. Interestingly it wasn’t Clapton that played guitar on this track, it was George Harrison. This was a favour in return for Clapton providing guitar on the Beatles track “While My Guitar Gently Weeps”. It was written by Clapton and Harrison and featured on Cream’s final album ‘Goodbye’. It made number 18 in the UK charts in 1969 and only reached number 60 in the US. Apparently it was a drunk Ringo Starr that gave the pair the line in the song which secured its inclusion in today’s post. Do you know what that line is yet? For contractual reasons George Harrison was listed under a pseudonym in terms of the playing personnel. That name was L’Angelo Misterioso.
I’m sure that you’ve heard Katy Perry’s new single “The One That Got Away” which is clearly yet another slice of perfect perry pop and a great radio song. But what intrigues me about it is the line about making out in the lyrics. It reads ‘We make out in your Mustang to Radiohead’. Firstly we get Katy Perry mentioning Radiohead, which I feel makes for quite strange bedfellows. Secondly, does anyone actually make out to Radiohead? I love the band but they wouldn’t be my choice for a sultry, seductive night in with Catwoman! I would prefer a bit of Marvin Gaye’s ‘Let’s Get It On’ album.
Having listened to the song again though it got me thinking about some of my favourite songs that mention bands or singers. You can enjoy five of them below. Let me know what your favourite songs that mention other artists are;
“Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa” – Vampire Weekend – mentions Peter Gabriel
“Destroy Rock n Roll” – Mylo – mentions a cast of thousands including Michael Jackson, Prince, Bruce Springsteen, Tina Turner, David Bowie, Van Halen, Madonna, Huey Lewis and the News, The Cars, Herbie Hancock, Bonnie Tyler, Stevie Nicks, Men at Work, ZZ Top, Paul McCartney, Weird Al Yankovic, Cyndi Lauper, Pink Floyd, Pretenders, Billy Joel, Billy Idol, Elton John, Neil Young, Sheena Easton, Patty Smyth and Scandal, Fashion, Big Country, Morris Day and The Time, John Lennon, Apollonia 6, REO Speedwagon, David Gilmour, Rolling Stones, Pat Benatar, Hall and Oates, Wham!, Rebbie Jackson, Adam Ant, Bananarama, Christine McVie, Queen, John Cougar Mellencamp, U2, Fleetwood Mac, The Alan Parsons Project, Rick Springfield, Thompson Twins, Missing Persons, Duran Duran, Police, Eurythmics, Culture Club, Boy George, Band Aid, Stevie Wonder and Relax by Frankie Goes to Hollywood.
“White Man In The Hammersmith Palais” – The Clash – mentions Dillinger, Leroy Smart, Delroy Wilson, Ken Boothe and the Four Tops.
“God” – John Lennon – mentions Elvis and the Beatles
“Punky Reggae Party” – Bob Marley and the Wailers – mentions the Wailers, Maytals, Damned, Jam, Dr Feelgood and the Clash
“All The Young Dudes” – Mott The Hoople – mentions T Rex and is easily my favourite song that mentions other bands or artists.
Last week I had the good fortune of attending an excellent multi band charity gig at the O2 Academy in Islington. It was called ‘London Rocking It For Pakistan‘ and at the time of writing has raised in excess of £3,000 for flood relief in Pakistan. Not only that but four great bands for just £10. The event was sponsored by those very nice people at the NME.
First up were Lazy Lion. Apologies to them for missing their first couple of songs because what I did see was pretty damned good. It would be difficult to compare these guys and girl. The instrumentation was a keyboard player (synthesiser I assume) and an extremely talented guitarist. That combination of instrumentation and some well accomplished rapping and singing worked very, very well. I think this collective has a future!
Next on were a three piece rock ensemble with a name that for me doesn’t really work. However that’s only my opinion. The K Shaped Rooms as they are called were truly stupendous. A classic line up of guitar, bass and drums. Some superb original songs too. But perhaps their secret weapon was the bass player, not just for his excellent playing but also for his massive and effervescent personality. He looked the part too, very rockist fashion sense plus the long hair and beard. He sure knows how to work an audience. I would definitely pay to see these guys again. Reading Festival bookers are you listening?
Second on the bill were the band who for me have by far the best name I have heard in ages; Rockwork Orange. Now ordinarily I’m not too much into covers bands but this lot were brilliant. Everything from Blondie’s “One Way Or Another” to the Kaiser Chiefs “I Predict A Riot” and some T Rex along the way. The female vocalist has a very strong and adaptable voice and the band were one of the tightest I’ve seen in ages. The music appeared to be directed by the bass player who played his instrument with a plectrum. I can’t remember the last time I saw that. He switched to guitar later in the set too. Rockwork Orange know their stuff and certainly know how to rock.
By this time I was thinking can this get any better? Well let me tell you it did! Headliners the Velvetines are something else entirely; looks, sound, songs and energy, they have it all. The rhythm section keep things really well together. The bass player also rocks a really cool eastern look. Then there are the sisters who are the guitarist and the singer. I use the word sparingly but they are truly awesome! The 70s style body suits, wonderful stage presence, well rehearsed playing and really classy vocals. I really want this band to go on to bigger things. Once again are you listening Reading Festival bookers? I would definitely pay to see any of the bands on this bill again, but especially the Velvetines. If they are playing anywhere near you buy a ticket, even if you have to sell your grandmother to do so!
T.Rex
With Just A Hint Of Mayhem 