Tales of Pills, Thrills and Bellyaching Stole the Headlines, but It’S Time Happy Mondays Were Lauded As One of the Most Important Bands of Their Era
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DOUBLEDOUBLE The Happy Mondays’ Bez and Shaun Ryder – ringleaders of the Madchester baggy generation GOOD TALES OF PILLS, THRILLS AND BELLYACHING STOLE THE HEADLINES, BUT IT’S TIME HAPPY MONDAYS WERE LAUDED AS ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT BANDS OF THEIR ERA. CLASSIC POP MEETS FRONTMAN SHAUN RYDER, GUITARIST MARK DAY AND VOCALIST ROWETTA... STEVE HARNELL very decade gets the double Roses had the mesmeric Ian Brown while our tunes from our childhood,” Shaun tells bill of bands it deserves. The the Mondays’ trump card was the laconic Classic Pop. “You could say we ripped off 60s gave us The Beatles and Shaun Ryder – a surrealistic double- or stole from those artists, but we saw it as Stones; the 70s spat out the speaking lyricist and main focal point a homage. I wouldn’t dream of doing some Sex Pistols and The Clash while alongside boggle-eyed talismanic of the things now musically that I did then, the 90s served up Oasis and dancer Bez. just the naivety of taking a David Essex tune Blur. For the baggy generation Like Noel Gallagher, Ryder was happy to and sticking it in the middle of one of ours of the late-80s, The Stone wear his influences on his sleeve, routinely for a laugh. Roses and Happy Mondays dropping in snatches of other artists’ songs “[Guitarist] Mark Day was the only positioned themselves at the forefront of and creating smash and grab mash-ups. musician among us who could really play Ea new dance rock movement that united “When we started, kids were listening to his instrument. He was into Rainbow and the head, heart and feet. Both bands were Duran Duran, Spandau Ballet and Culture Deep Purple, but was up for anything that led by unconventional frontmen – the Club, but we were throwing music into would make his playing sound different.” 52 53 © Getty Images In 1990, Happy HAPPY MONDAYS Mondays joined forces with DJ Paul Oakenfold and producer Steve Day – now back with the band after the Signed to Factory Records, the skewed Lazyitis, by now the band were Osborne for the original line-up reunited in 2012 agrees: “I post-punk of the Forty Five EP (often fully hitting their stride. Ryder classic Pills ‘n’ Thrills THE KEY was into heavy rock. Shaun and his brother incorrectly called the Delightful EP) was could see they were at And Bellyaches ALBUMS Paul invited me around to have a jam at their first flowering, followed by debut a crossroads and needed to theirs. I did have a Queen t-shirt on, which album (deep breath) – Squirrel And G-Man make commercial headway: SQUIRREL AND was not the thing to have in them days. Twenty Four Hour Party People Plastic Face “We’d made two great indie G-MAN TWENTY They were into people like Joy Division. Carnt Smile (White Out) – produced by albums that were getting written FOUR HOUR PARTY Anything that had guitars from the 70s, Velvet Underground legend John Cale. about in the music press, but we PEOPLE PLASTIC FACE that was me all over. Then I got into Frank “Tony Wilson came up with the idea of needed to make a record that CARNT SMILE Zappa – I was always changing, listening using John Cale as they were friends. John would cross over, one to make (WHITE OUT) (1987) and learning. Then the 80s came along did that album for £6,000. It was a favour some money and get us on to Top Producer: John Cale and I got used to keyboards taking to Tony, really,” explains Ryder. Of The Pops. There was nothing Mutant angular funk from a band still over from the guitar. Long guitar solos Each Mondays album saw a bigger than being on Top Of The learning the ropes. Packed with Ryder’s went out of the window. I had distinct change in direction. The Pops. It was big for The Beatles, it inscrutable lyrics, brother Paul’s fat to adapt.” rough-around-the-edges funky was big for the Stones. It was the basslines and Mark Day’s scratchy, Formed in 1980, it post-punk of their debut real big fucking thing.” unconventional guitar playing. was five years before mutated into an acclaimed Day adds: “It was funny that just the Happy Mondays follow-up Bummed a couple of years earlier journalists BUMMED (1988) released any material. a year later, which saw rejected us cos we looked like Producer: Martin Hannett But even then, Ryder Joy Division producer hooligan scallies.” The band find their feet on a darkly believes it was too Martin Hannett at humorous sophomore LP. The much, too soon. the controls. HALLELUJAH MOMENT songwriting is more coherent and “We got to making Dropping in The Madchester Rave On Ryder’s surreal non-sequiturs start records way too references to Mick and Hallelujah EPs were the making sense. Key songs emerge early,” he says. “I was Jagger’s cult movie breakthrough releases, with the including Performance, Mad Cyril, still learning how to Performance and swiping latter title track being performed Lazyitis and most pertinently, Wrote write songs and the melodies from Lennon on the same edition of Top Of The For Luck, which shows them how their lads were learning and McCartney on Pops in November 1989 that saw future could sound. how to play.” The Stone Roses swagger through Fools Gold. PILLS ‘N’ THRILLS Erasure’s Vince Clarke got AND BELLYACHES involved as a remixer but it was DJ (1990) Paul Oakenfold who would prove © Elspeth Moore Producers: Steve Osborne to be the next major player in the and Paul Oakenfold band’s upward trajectory. The Mondays at their most focused, “Vince had five fucking tunes in all from Salford. Shaun would joke: ‘go on, polished and commercial. A nigh-on the charts at the same time, but they all all taking drugs – the summer of love was give us a nosh’. I thought he wanted me to perfect blend of eminently danceable had his stamp on it,” adds Ryder. “A few a particularly happy time in Manchester. cook! I just told them not to treat me like a indie that elevated them to major really cool ‘on it’ DJs started playing the Everybody was raving and dancing – no girl and put the kettle on every two minutes. players. They’ve built their legacy Oakenfold remixes of us instead. We heard fighting at all. They were actually more respectful than on its stand-outs Step On, Kinky Afro about Paul mixing The Woodentops in with “All of a sudden it was more soulful and some of their girlfriends.” and Loose Fit. A melon-twistin’ classic. Balearic Spanish gay dance music. If we’d dancey. I saw myself like when Gloria The Osborne and Oakenfold partnership have been on a major label they would Jones joined Marc Bolan and T.Rex. When worked perfectly on Pill ‘n’ Thrills as YES PLEASE! (1992) never had allowed someone like him to you hear Get It On with her vocal on it, too, Rowetta adds: “Steve – who doesn’t get Producers: Chris Frantz produce us.” it lifts the whole thing.” a lot of attention really – was running the and Tina Weymouth As leaders of the E-ed up generation, the Despite the pills and thrills alluded to studio every day and Oakey would be Much maligned at the time – typical Mondays’ melting pot of dancified indie in the album’s title, DJing all the time. It was waggish headlines read ‘No Thanks!’, “PEOPLE rock made them chart stars – something recording sessions were all done in the day when there are diamonds among the rough they fully capitalised on with the Oakenfold productive, smooth and Paul wasn’t there. It was here, though. Don’t write it off. STARTED and Steve Osborne-produced classic relatively chaos-free. That more about his ear for it CALLING ME album Pills ‘n’ Thrills And Bellyaches in was to come later... all. Steve was the proper 1990. Another key component in their “We were doing music man that did A NATIONAL breakthrough? The inimitable co-vocalist interviews for magazines everything with us.” Rowetta Satchell. like Smash Hits and you’d The album featured the TREASURE. “I’d been a fan of the Mondays for years never have seen bands singles Step On, Loose since I saw them on [Granada TV show like the Mondays in there Fit and Kinky Afro, all IT’S BETTER The Other Side Of Midnight] doing a live previously,” Rowetta seminal hits. By now a version of Performance,” she explains. adds. “I realised this cult major chart act who’d THAN BEING “Tony Wilson had called them the greatest band that I’d joined was broken through (at least band in the world and said the same thing becoming more commercial.” on a minor level) in the States, too, the LABELLED about the Sex Pistols years before. I always Satchell had managed to seamlessly cracks (pun intended) began to show when A JUNKIE wanted to be in a punk band – I’ve been infiltrate what appeared on the outside like a follow-up was needed. Then it gets dark. a punk since I was a teenager but my the most laddish of bands. NOBHEAD” voice doesn’t really lend itself to that “I’ve always gone around with the boys TOTALLY TROPICAL TASTE SHAUN RYDER type of music. so that bit was easy,” she laughs. “But they As Ryder’s heroin habit began to become “I was determined to sing with them. could be a bit crude – a lot of Manchester an increasing problem, Factory’s boss Tony I had to persuade them, though.