On This Day 29/05/1999 Mike and the Mechanics

On this day, 29 May 1999, rock super group Mike and the Mechanics played Cardiff’s St David’s Hall.

Formed in Dover in 1985 by Mike Rutherford, initially as a side project during a hiatus period for his other group Genesis. The band are known for the hit singles "Silent Running", "All I Need Is a Miracle", "Taken In", "The Living Years", "Word of Mouth", and "Over My Shoulder".

Initially, the band included Rutherford (the only constant member), vocalists Paul Carrack and Paul Young, keyboardist Adrian Lee, and drummer Peter Van Hooke. After a decade together, Lee and Van Hooke dropped out in 1995 and were not replaced. Following Young's death in 2000, Carrack became the band's sole lead vocalist until 2004 when the band (essentially a duo at this point) dissolved, with Rutherford and Carrack both agreeing the band had "run its course". In 2010, the band was revived with Rutherford headlining a completely new set of musicians, including vocalists Andrew Roachford and Tim Howar.

On This Day 28/05/1983 The Swinging Laurels

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On this day, 28 May 1983, Leicester ska/rock band The Swinging Laurels played Cardiff’s Nero’s Funktion Suite.

Formed in 1980 by ex-member of The Wendy Tunes, Gaz Birtles, and ex collaborator of Black Gorilla, John Barrow, both saxophonists. They released their first single as a duo in 1981 and then recruited synth and trumpet player Dean Sargent and keyboardist Mark O'Hara.

They released six singles with a sound based heavily on the saxes, till the end of the '80s and they guested in recordings of other acts like The Apollinaires, Fun Boy Three, Norman Beaton, Worldbackwards, Musical Youth, Splashdown and Team 23.

The first Swinging Laurels WEA release, RODEO, hit the streets in September and featured the distinctive percussive influence of SCRITTI POLITTI drummer TOM MORLEY, but despite Radio One airplay, was restricted to the lower reaches of the national chart. CULTURE CLUB producer Steve Levine lent his expertise to the second single Lonely Boy which originally featured a fine vocal contribution by BOY GEORGE but due to contractual objections by his record label Virgin Records was eventually released minus his efforts.

1983 saw the Swinging Laurels in their own right and as a special guests of CULTURE CLUB, at the request of BOY GEORGE who was a self-proclaimed fan. They were special guests on both of their sell-out UK tours in March and December. A Janice Long Radio One session was followed by a highly-successful Dutch festival tour where they supported NICK LOWE and OSIBISA as well as headlining dates.

This year also saw the band part company with WEA Records The Swinging Laurelsformed their own label identity, Happy Records based, at their Leicester studio Happy House.

On This Day 27/05/1999 Kenny Rogers

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On this day, 27 May 1999, American country music legend Kenny Rogers, played Cardiff International Arena.

He was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2013. Rogers was particularly popular with country audiences, but also charted more than 120 hit singles across various genres, topping the country and pop album charts for more than 200 individual weeks in the United States alone. He sold more than 100 million records worldwide during his lifetime, making him one of the best-selling music artists of all time. His fame and career spanned multiple genres - jazz, folk, pop, rock, and country. He remade his career and was one of the most successful cross-over artists of all time.

Review - South Wales Echo

Review - Cynon Valley Leader

In 1999, Rogers scored with the single "The Greatest", a song about life from a child's point of view (looked at through a baseball game). The song reached the top 40 of Billboard's Country Singles chart and was a Country Music Television number-one video. It was on Rogers's album She Rides Wild Horses the following year (itself a top-10 success). Also in 1999, Rogers produced a song, "We've Got It All", specifically for the series finale of the ABC show Home Improvement.

On This Day 26/05/1989 Tim Finn

On this day, 26 May 1989, New Zealand singer, songwriter, musician, and composer Tim Finn played Cardiff University. He is best known as a founding member of Split Enz and occasional member of Crowded House.

Finn had just released his self titled third studio album. The reviewer in pan-European magazine Music & Media noted that the album "consists of 10 intelligent, well-crafted and introspective songs" and described Mitchell Froom's production as "pleasantly gritty and modest in a refined way".

The album yielded strong reviews and the New Zealand hit "Parihaka", based on a Māori village known for its campaign of passive resistance to European occupiers. Finn also created the song "Cane Toad Blues" which played during the credits for the documentary film "Cane Toads: An Unnatural History."

On His Day 24/05/1987 Tammy Wynette

On this day, 24 May 1987, American country music legend Tammy Wynette played Cardiff’s St David’s Hall. She was about to release her 27th album Higher Ground.

Wynette had a mezzo-soprano vocal range and was known for delivering singing performances with an emotional vulnerability that has been described as a "teardrop" vocal style. This delivery also helped her become billed as the "Heroine of Heartbreak".

Her original producer was the first to give Wynette the "teardrop" moniker. The Country Music Hall of Fame wrote, "Her gripping, teardrop-in-every-note vocal style seemed to weep with emotion, while she elaborated on the theme that suffering ennobles a woman."

Other publications described Wynette's emotional depth in other ways. Rolling Stone wrote, "Tammy could sustain power and complexity, whether whispering in your ear or shoving you up against a wall of sound."

The New York Times wrote, "When the songs moved toward honky-tonk or old-fashioned weepers, Ms. Wynette did more than navigate the melody dutifully; her voice showed the emotional depth that was smothered elsewhere." In 2023, Rolling Stone ranked Wynette at number 127 on its list of the 200 Greatest Singers of All Time.

Wynette helped bring a female's perspective to country music. Her music spoke for rural and working-class women who previously lacked representation in the genre. Wynette's music also helped eliminate some of the male bias at country radio by expanding women into the record-buying public.

Along with Patsy Cline, Loretta Lynn and Dolly Parton, Wynette elevated the popularity of female country artists. In total, Wynette had 39 singles reach the Billboard country chart while 20 topped the same chart. She has been said to have sold roughly 30 million records worldwide.

On This Day 23/05/2010 John Mayer

On this day, 23 May 2010, American singer, songwriter, and guitarist John Mayer played Cardiff International Arena on his Battle Studies World Tour. Support was provided by Ellie Goulding.

Battle Studies is the fourth studio album by American singer-songwriter John Mayer, released on November 17, 2009, by Columbia Records. Production took place from February to August 2009 at Battle Studies recording studio in Calabasas, California, Capitol Studios in Hollywood, and The Village in West Los Angeles, California, and was handled by Mayer and Steve Jordan.

The album debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200, selling over 286,000 copies in its first week of sales. It achieved successful sales in several other countries and produced two singles that attained chart success. Battle Studies received positive reviews from critics, and was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America, having sold over 880,000 copies in the United States.

Setlist

Assassin

No Such Thing

Vultures

(John Mayer Trio song)

Waiting on the World to Change

Perfectly Lonely

Stop This Train

Neon

All We Ever Do Is Say Goodbye

Belief

Who Says

Heartbreak Warfare

Half of My Heart

Encore:

Message in a Bottle

(The Police cover)

Why Georgia

On This Day 22/05/2007 Nas

On this day, 22 May 2007, American rapper and entrepreneur Nas played Cardiff’s Clwb Ifor University on his Hip Hop is Dead tour 2007.

Hip Hop Is Dead is the eighth studio album by American rapper Nas, released December 19, 2006, on Def Jam Recordings.

His first album for the label, it was co-financed by Nas's previous label, Columbia Records, which once distributed for Def Jam. The album's title was inspired by Nas's view of the music industry and the state of hip hop music at the time.

The album features appearances from Nas's then-wife Kelis, Def Jam label-mates Kanye West, Jay-Z, and Chrisette Michele, as well as will.i.am, Snoop Dogg, and The Game, among others.

The album debuted at number one on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart, selling 355,880 copies in its first week. His fourth U.S. number-one album, it had sold 785,000 copies by March 2014, eventually over time it went gold by the RIAA. Upon its release, Hip Hop Is Dead received generally positive reviews from most music critics.

Hip Hop Is Dead was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Rap Album, ultimately losing to Kanye West's Graduation at the 50th Grammy Awards.

On This Day 21/05/2006 The Zutons

On this day, 21 May 2006, Liverpool indie rock band The Zutons, played Cardiff University. The band had recently released their second album Tired Of Hanging Around.

Musically, the sound of Tired of Hanging Around has been described as Northern soul,rock and indie pop. Pete Cashmore of NME said the songs could be divided into two sets: "'feeling threatened' and 'being threatening'. The former camp houses the melodically gorgeous," such as "Tired of Hanging Around" and "Someone Watching Over Me". The second group, meanwhile, featured "Oh Stacey (Look What You've Done!)" and "You've Got a Friend in Me". The Guardian writer Mat Snow said the Zutons' "stylistic palette has moved on to 1972 (imagine early Roxy Music without [Bryan] Ferry or [Brian] Eno); the drums have punch, the instrumental textures a rounded warmth, and the band work hard to accentuate the songs with telling detail and ear-catching hooks".

The Zutons formed in Liverpool in 2001, taking their name from Captain Beefheart's Magic Band guitarist Zoot Horn Rollo. McCabe had previously been in the band Tramp Attack. Both Pritchard and Payne were members of Edgar Jones' post Stairs band The Big Kids (with Sean's brother Howie Payne of The Stands). The band was originally a four-piece, before Payne's girlfriend Abi Harding began joining The Zutons on stage for a couple of songs mid-set, playing simple saxophone lines. The other band members liked the way her saxophone enhanced their sound and Harding became a full member, contributing vocals and sax.

Deltasonic head Alan Wills was initially dubious about the musical talents of McCabe: "I'd heard other bands Jay had played in and I thought they were all rubbish". The Coral's James Skelly was persistent in trying to convince Wills of his friend's potential and the breakthrough finally came when the bedroom demos of the newly formed Zutons persuaded the Deltasonic head into working with them.